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Ishi's Travels

Between, a cold blackness that only fire lizards and dragons could enter, unless one was riding a dragon, but other than that only those two could enter this implacable realm. John had gone between countless times before, but even if he was to go between a million times, he still wouldn't be able to accustom himself to the chill that pierced the bones and set ones teeth to chattering and he shivered a little against Ulteth's scales as he counted the time it would take for a man to sneeze thrice. In the next moment they were both soaring over an expense of mountains that the locals called "Dragon's Range" due to the fact that the highest mountain had somehow been carved so that its peek look like the angular face of that of a dragon.

Around each side of the "head" the mountains ranged around them in the semblance of a dragon taking its wings and wrapping them protectively around something, and in the middle was a basin where a small lake that wild beasts gathered. None of this concerned John though as Ulteth flew towards the Head and kept flying towards it till it looked like he would fly into it when he dropped out of the sky, along with John's stomach, and flew towards a black opening in the side of the mountain and landed on a large patch of sand. John hopped off of Ulteth's neck as he lowered his head to the sand and then took off, kicking up some of the sand as John walked off to go to his perch.

With his feet firmly on the ground instead of dangling uselessly in the air, John headed for the living quarters that some of the dragon riders shared to gather his wing to help him with this task. As he walked down the worn corridors he found his mind wandering back to that of Rinya and Ishi and hoping that the two of them were alright. When Ulteth took off he had a sinking feeling in his stomach and thought that he should have taken the two with him before leaving, but he trusted that Rinya would keep them both safe and that soon he would be able to take the two of them away from that horrid place for good.

Within a few short minutes he reached the old oak door that led to the living quarters and forced the door open with a slam, surprising some of the men that were gather in there, but his wing didn't jump or anything as they were already dressing appropriately for flying and the terrain that they would be heading into. "My wing, ready up." was all the command that he gave to them all and then left the room as they called out their affirmations to his back. John wasted no time getting back in heading back to the hatching grounds and mounted Ulteth to await the arrival of his wing.

It didn't take all six of them long, as it was only moments after he had mounted onto his dragon's neck, before they too were mounting up on their dragons and without him having to utter a single command they all took off. He didn't need to talk so much now that they were all with their dragons, as he could tell Ulteth who would then tell the dragons of his wing and then tell their riders. It was why he didn't need to tell them where they were going or why, but to quickly got ready to leave. They all flew up towards the opening in the ceiling, almost looking like they would collide as soon as they tried to fit through, but they somehow made it without the wings themselves touching and then flew east before all going between. Soon they were all flying towards the little place that John had found, he himself landing inside while the other dragons landed outside to await those that they would be ferrying, and John quickly moved to Rinya. "Is everyone ready?" he asked as he looked around to see if Ishi was there with them or off getting some of her siblings.
 
Although relieved to see John and his reinforcements, Rinya's eyes reflected a hollowness about him. When John asked about Ishi, he came right out with it. "She's disappeared. I've had every able bodied person looking for her. There are a few that say they saw her being lead away, and if I know the Master it will be a the safest place on this compound....his dungeon." Rinya paused allowing his anger to find some control. "She'll never survive in there for long, John. The master knows her hatred of being locked up and will use it to subdue and control her."

Rinya turned in the direction of the Master's dungeons. "There is an entrance to it on the west side of the mansion." He said, pointing in the direction. "About ten years ago he made renovations to it, not long after Ishi was sent to the fields." Looking back at John, "I had the distinct feeling these changes were made because of Ishi. And not for good reasons either." Turning his body back towards John and facing him full, "He can't let her leave if he wants to live. Before Ishi came, he barely scraped out a living. Slaves died from poor food, dirty water, and disease. Ishi changed all that. He has become rich off of her gifts and yet somehow, Ishi does not even notice. Material things mean nothing to her, only being outside where she can be free of close quarters. If he has taken her, she will be in one of those renevated rooms there. And its going to take both of us, and your dragon, to get her out."

Rinya turned once more towards the mansion..."I can't even imagine what he's done or said to her. So help me....if he touches her......" Rinya's hands grew into white knuckled clinched fists at the thought. There were so many things that could affect a mind so innocent and pure like Ishi's. He had not only been guarding her all these years, he had fallen madly and deeply in love with her as well. "I will go by land, you by air. But watch those towers." Rinya pointed to the north and south towers. "The other two merely have one guard each, today there will probably be three or four, but its the east side the Master favors and in those two towers will be heavy duty fire power."

Glancing back at John, "He knew you'd come one day." He looked at John a long time with stone eyes. "A man of dragons and fabled lore.......will fall from the sky like an executioner......to right the wrongs of heaven's cursed......lives returned, his will insured." Rinya let the words sink in. "I work near the mansion and I heard this repeated many times for 5 days 10 years ago. Then suddenly, no one was allowed to repeat it, and Ishi was in the fields. I think you are that man, and it is your destiny to get her out of here, and her destiny to get her people free. You both are one.....don't ever hurt her. If I don't return, tell my father what I promised here, and he will fulfill it in my name. And........and tell Ishi......Tell Ishi I will always be with her." Suddenly Rinya was gone, he was in no mood to discuss this with John, he knew this compound better than anyone. He had to know she was alright. He had no doubts that no obstacle would be able to keep John from getting her free. He had also known the moment that he first set eyes on John that the prophecy had been fulfilled. He knew the Master had felt it too.

Rinya skirted around the people and through the barrier that was was already being erected around the mansion's exterior until he was at the south end of the building. Rinya's eyes darted here and there, not seeing any of the soldiers he had come to know well. Unfortunate, it would've helped him to remain unnoticeable if one came along that took care of the dungeons, he could then get a way in, but no luck today. He took this risk on the idea that everyone at the Mansion would be too emotionally charged to notice a familiar face milling about. So he slowly edged his way to the mansion.

Sure enough, there were many men in the back of the house, each milling around to where someone was always watching the building at any given time. Until suddenly there was a commotion heard to the north. "John!" he said with relief. As soon as all eyes were straining to see what was causing the excitement, he sprinted to the dungeon windows and called out as quietly as possible. Suddenly Ishi could hear him and leaped up, running to the window and calling his name. Reaching it, Rinya intended to let her know that help was on the way. But as he told Ishi to be calm, John and Ulteth were on the way....he suddenly jerked forward with large eyes, his mouth open as if he wanted to scream...but no sound came from his lips. Turning, he staggered out into the sun. It was then that Ishi saw the machete stuck between his ribs. After reaching some spot that only Rinya understood, he turned back towards her, fell to his knees, then to his face with one arm outstretched towards her before dieing before her eyes.

Ishi's eyes watched it all......an ear piercing scream came up from her very soul....but she didn't know it was coming from her. It sounded like some wild animal, not even human. Then a pair of shoes, appeared before her. As she looked up, it was the Master, looking at her cold and hard. "No one.....and I mean no one will save you Ishi. You are mine, and always will be." As the Master walked off, a coldness filled Ishi's heart, sanctified by her tears and blessed upon a vow of freedom from this day forward. Gone was the joy, the illusion of being taken care of or even ..... loved. No....for there on the ground before her was the only man that ever loved or cared for her like she was his own.
 
John cursed under his breath hearing what it was that Rinya told him. He knew he should have trusted that feeling in his stomach and turned back to take them both back before leaving to gather his wing and then continued to listen to what it was that John had to say to him. He could only nod his head at the information that Rinya gave to him, knowing what he was to do. "I'll get right to it Rinya, good luck my friend." he said, watching his new friend going away to the door as John went back towards Ulteth and took off a small pouch from his belt and began to feed small rocks to his dragon who ate it up without complaint. It was a mineral called Firestone, and when fed to a dragon it would allow them breath fire but they had to be constantly fed it or else they soon lost the ability to do so.

"You know what we have to do buddy." John said to his companion as he slapped his neck lightly and saw Ulteth bobbing his head at John, receiving a thought that he was sure that they would be fine from whatever Ishi's master could throw at them both. "Let's go buddy." John said as he jumped back onto his neck and with a few powerful strokes of his wings Ulteth was immdeietly airborne and already flying over the compound. He flew higher than the weapons the soldiers could bring about on them, but John had Ulteth fly closer to get all of their attention, even flying low enough to get the attention of those in the garden area. He kept his companion moving though, weaving aerial acrobatics to avoid the arrows, shots and whatever else they threw but on his seventh pass he looked down and saw Rinya stumbling out of the mansion and fall to the ground. "Ulteth take us down now!" he shouted and he fell straight away and john jumped off so Ulteth could keep the soldiers occupied.

John ran and approached Rinya's fallen form, crouching down and looking at his new friends now cold corpse, seeing the machete that stood through his body and then at the door that he came from. "YOU BASTARD!" he shouted as Ulteth sent him a thought about how he felt a connection from both Ishi and Rinya, a connection that they would never now be able to explore. John took out his own blade, a finely crated short sword with runes etched onto it that burned the eyes when one looked too long at them, and then went through the door himself and confronted the Master. "You bastard. Who do you think you are, thinking you can cut a man's life short?" he demanded, brandishing his sword and readying himself for a quick fit.
 
As Ishi's eyes were still on Rinya, her heart began to shrivel until she could feel no more. But movement in the air slowly drew her eyes upward, as the sky seemed to fill the distance with winged dragons and her people riding on their massive backs. John had kept his promise. He was saving them all. And if not for the loss of her beloved Rinya, the vision before would have sent her spirit soaring like a hawk through time and space. But like a pulley with too much weight, her eyes were forced back down to the ground and the lifeless body of Rinya.

Suddenly, the earth before her shook, fire and smoke filled the air and her lungs, as John and Ulteth dramatically appeared on the scene. Chaos enfolded the courtyard as dust and smoke began to cover everything in its wake, except for John, who stood in the midst of Chaos like a savior ready to do battle for his fallen comrade. He made a epic picture, his sword glistening in the air, his face ready for revenge. Never had Ishi seen anything so close to her image of a God in all her life. In that instant, she knew that John would revenge Rinya and take her out of this place she had dared to call home. A place where even her mother cursed her to live. A hardness was forming inside her. How far it went, not even she knew. And yet, all that had come about this day was because she had found a man hurt in the garden. The thought opened many new questions in her mind.

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Gingari of Deramu had closed and locked up the huge doors to the dungeon the moment he had witnessed Ulteth landing. The words John had shouted rang through the hallways like the trumpets of Jericho. Gingari had not counted on this foreigner to care about another slave, he thought he was only after Ishi. Oh well....these doors would hold back the dragon rider. He had built this place for one very special person....to keep people out and in at the same time. The fact that Ishi had been so quiet told him she had accepted her fate. That was a good slave. The family was safely sheltered at the back of the underground space, safe from harm. He had planned out everything, every detail. Except for one..........if it was strong enough to keep out a dragon rider.

As he and his special guard waited inside for the battle outside to continue to its end, they all felt safe knowing that in the end it would be up to them to repopulate the compound with new slaves until the cycle of buying new slaves to replace the old and dead ones began again. Each of his guard, anxiously looking forward to the prospect with lustful glee. Of course, Gingari had his eyes set on Ishi. He was even more sure now that he would bare with her an army of children that could destroy anyone that came here in the future. The silly girl knew nothing of what she was capable of. And all he had to do was tell her what he wanted her to believe and she never questioned it. The picture of taking her young body and doing what he willed with it began to give him a hard on in his own lust when suddenly the door flew open, and there in the midst of the battle outside stood John.

The dust and smoke billowing down the narrow hallway, and Gringari's bellowed laugh seemed to follow the smoke lazily. "Yes, I am a bastard. A bastard who can cut any man, woman or child's life short. AND WHY?!! Because I..own..them!" He pounded his chest with his own sword. "I have the blessings of the Goddess herself. What do you have that has the power behind them to defeat me?!!!" Nodding to his men, they formed a V like shape in front of him. "So come into my trap dragon rider and die like one of my slaves. And no one will remember your name. No one will sing songs of your triumphs but of mine! Come!!! If you do not fear death!"

Although Gringari's words were hard and powerful, for he was a huge man, the very fact that John had gotten through the door so easily had caused him concern. If nothing else, he would sacrifice these men to give him time to get Ishi and his family out through the secret passage. Gringari was a coward at heart. But the Goddesses favor had made his mind swell, his ego even larger than his body, and human trafficing a means to a lifestyle. But he had powerful arms, and could cut a human in half. He had trained as all men of their time. However, he was no ones fool, he hadn't survived this long for nothing.
 
John didn't expect a real answer from Gringari as the man was, to him and possibly any others, insane. But listen he did as he needed to know why it was that the man thought the way he did, and at the conclusion of that John could only shake his head, a very dark and forbidding look enter his eyes as he glared at Gingari and his assembled men. "You might have been the master of these people, but even a bastard like you has no right to take away their lives, especially of those of woman and children. Only a monster would willingly want to kill a woman or child, something that you are, and like all monsters you must be killed to bring the land at peace." he said, bringing his sword up to his face and placing it so it looked like his face was cut in half. "Ishi, do not worry. You will soon be free and taken away from this wretched place, once and for all." he cried out and then charged to his left at the nearest soldier.

The soldier had been caught off guard by the sudden dash towards him and John took advantage of that, aiming his blade and stabbing upwards thought the mans neck and piercing him though as John kept his arm bent to quickly pull his blade out and blood started to squirt out of the mans neck as he clutched at his neck. "You will die, just like this soldier has already fallen!" John shouted out and charged at the next soldier in line. He was better prepared for the attack after seeing what happened to his companion and deflected John's first blow, but john quickly began to rain blow after the blow on the man until finally even he was defeated by a blow to his chest.

John then stopped and quickly backed himself towards the entrance to the room, his blade held at the ready as he moved back slowly as the other soldiers finally seemed to wake up and approach him on all sides. John knew he wasn't going to be killed though as he backed up only a few more steps before turning and running back up. He knew it would look like he was running away from the fight, but once he was out the door Ulteth landed close by and stretched its head towards the door and in one breath it breathed fire down the hall, black smoke quickly following the flames as they licked down the clean halls of the mansion.
 
The bedlam that John began took Gringari by surprise. He knew he would be skilled, but, in such close quarters, he hadn't expected him to be so fast. Pushing his guards towards John, Gringari quickly moved backwards until he was at the door of Ishi's cell. He debated whether to open her door, grab her and run to his family and away, or leave her. But how could he? How could he leave the only treasure he's ever found behind for someone else to profit from? Glancing inside the cell, he found Ishi standing not too far from the door with her eyes looking straight into his. It rather shook him to the bone, that look she was giving him. He hadn't seen that look since........

But he didn't have time to finish that thought, as the battle in the small corridor heated up with flames quickly scorching the walls towards him. It didn't take much for him to realize he had to cut his losses and go. Looking back at Ishi with a murderous look, he was suddenly gone with flames covering his tracks. Instantly, she sensed Uleth and mentally called out to him, as the bright flames disappeared from view. Ishi stood planted in that same spot, neither moving left or right even an inch. She knew her freedom was imminent, and also realized another heartbeat within her senses. "John" She whispered.

So much had happened within a few short hours this day. It was as if this were her birth, her awakening. Once the door to her cell opened, nothing would ever be the same again. A short shiver coursed down her spine as the imagination spun on as to what that would be. She wanted to cry, but she couldn't. She wanted to scream, but no sound wanted to come from her. What she was experiencing was shock. And she was waist deep in it. Too much pain, too much change......too many unanswered questions. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of someone trying to get inside her cell.
 
As John left the corridor so Ulteth could breath down a cleaning flame, he lifted his cloak up to cover his nose as soon the smell of fire, smoke and burnt flesh began to filter out and fill his nostrils. He was used to most of those, having ridden on a dragon for about 4 turns now, but the scent of human flesh burning was a bit nauseating to him, hence why he was using his cloak to filter out the smell as he then quickly ran back into the mansion's dungeon when Ulteth turned away and stopped breathing fire to turn its attention to the soldiers that were gathering around them and kept the at bay with a combination of flame and claws.

The scene was, thankfully, obscured by the smoke that lingered and stung John's eyes as he kept the cloak up to keep the worst of the scent out of his nostrils, but he couldn't help when he had to step over the charred corpses and was glad when he was back into the room that he first confronted Gringari and his now dead men, and saw the man trying to get into the cell that he was sure that held Ishi and take her away. He wasn't about to let that happen and Rinya would kill him if he let such a thing happen to his love, and John quickly rushed with his blade level and impaled the bastard and pushed him forward to fall onto the ground and held his hand out to Ishi. "Please take my hand, we need to be away from here and now and I don't think Rinya would want you to stay here, even with your Master dead." he said, waiting for her to take his hand and be away from there.
 
Once again, John came into view amidst clouds of smoke like a warrior God, flashing his sword into the gray mist, withdrawing a blade now tarnished with blood. As Ishi watched this without emotion, he reached his hand out to her. She stared at his hand for a moment before putting her small hand inside his and letting him guide her back to the entrance to where Ulteth was waiting for them both.

But Ishi wasn't getting on without Rinya. Raising her hand towards her friend, she raised him off the ground as she climbed upon the dragons back. A silver cloth covered his body and golden ropes lashed him to Ulteth's back side. She said nothing, simply looked down at John, waiting for him to climb aboard and they would be off and away from this lie, this fake home. The family, that she thought loved her, simply feared her. Now they were left for the guards entertainment, there was no husband, no father to protect them now. But only two souls knew her thoughts at that moment. And neither of them would speak of it.
 
John understood why Ishi was acting so unresponsive, having seen the same reaction to to those who once had a dragon and are now dragonless, but he merely took the hand that she placed in his hand and guided her back out and guided her out of the dungeon and to Ulteth. He was about to help her up onto his neck when she went away from him and instead somehow got Rinya up onto Ulteth's with a cloth covering him out of nowhere and the same with the ropes. He found it a little unsettling that Ishi could bring things out of nowhere at will, but he shook his head and climbed onto Ulteth behind Ishi to wrap his arms around her. "Time to be off." he said and Ulteth surgged forward while flapping his wings to carry them quickly away from there.

Looking back, John saw the last of hopefully Ishi's siblings being taken away by his wing and flying between to take them back to their home, and John could merely nod his head at his dragon. "Time to go my friend." he said and once again they flew between as John held onto Ishi tightly. Once again the bone chilling coldness of between struck them and John shivered against Ishi, but knew that she would be having it worse than he was and then they left that unknown realm to appear back at the base as Ulteth dove down and landed on the warm sands, letting John hop off and offered his hand to Ishi. "Welcome to your new home, for now that is until you get used to freedom." he said, giving her a small smile and waited for her to get off his neck so John could help her get cleaned up and dressed in some new clothes.
 
Once in the air, Ishi's eyes wandered about at the spectacle in front of her. From the ground, to see such an assortment among the clouds would cause quite a stir on the ground. So out of it, Ishi leaned backwards against John's chest, her body too tired to fight for strength anymore. It was a sign of her total resignation to the situation and it was was a surrender that was bittersweet in her mouth. Rinya had trusted John, telling her to do so as well. But all she could see was his bulging eyes, looking at her in surprise....and hear the thud of her master's death swing. She was quiet, deathly quiet. The only thing keeping her from any emotion at all was her desire to do the right thing by Rinya, as he had always done for her.

She didn't notice when they landed. Not until John had to move her to get off. But as she looked down at him, once again his hand extended towards her and she took it. Sliding off Ulteth's back, John caught her about the waist and gently let her down until her feet touched the ground. Ishi took a good look at the "new home". It was certainly different. There were no walls....not at all. A tinge of fear tingled her senses. How easy for something to come into the group and harm them.

Glancing back at John, "I must return Rinya to his father. He deserves to know his son's bravery. When can that be arranged?"
 
John looked down at Ishi as she asked how soon it was that they could get Rinya's body back to his father, moving over and undoing the ropes and taking the body off of Ulteth who took of for his perch with the body to settle down for what rest he could get and to protect Rinya as the dragon saw fit. "We will return the body as soon as we can, but we cannot leave to do that now Ishi. The timing is terrible, the eggs will be hatching any moment now and I nor you can be away when it happens. I'm sorry but his body will have to stay here until the hatching is over." he said, and then took her hand back into his to lead her down a passage way that was carved in the mountain wall, different from the one that he used to get to the living quarters.

This hallway he took led them upwards as they climbed a few flight of stairs and then stopped in front of a door for a moment before he opened it and led her in and then closed the door behind him. Inside was a simple cot that was pressed against the wall, big enough for two if needed to be so, while a large chest sat at its end and a large quilt hung on the opposite wall, depicting a scene of dragon riders and their dragons in action fighting a rebellious and evil king. John left Ishi standing there at the door to move over to the chest and opened it to rummage around in it a bit, picking through all the things it contained before he made a snow white robe and a brush appear from its confines and then walked back over to Ishi to hand them over.

"Here's something for you to wear once your down washing and you can brush your hair with this," he said and then walked over to a quilt and brushed it aside to reveal another entrance, "this will take you to my personal bath. There's cleaning sand aplenty in there for you to use so that you can clean up. I'll be here waiting for you when your all done." he said and then sat down on his bed to await for her to go in and wash up and then come back out all clean.
 
It was strange how John handled Ishi like a puppet, pulling her here and there. Yet in her state, she had no strength to fight him. But he had stretched her limits when he expected her to bath and tend to herself with him sitting in the next room so close? Not even the master allowed any of his men that close to her. So she simply looked at him for the longest time before asking, "And you intend to sit here while I am undressed and bathing in just the next room?" Her eyes became piercing. She was perfectly capable of bathing alone.
 
John watched her curiously, wondering why it was that she hadn't moved on to go to bathe, but she made that apparent soon enough to him as he nodded his head, stood, and bowed to her. "I understand your concern. I will leave and you will bathe in peace," he said as he moved to the door to his room and opened it, but then looked back at her, "and Ulteth tells me that you can communicate with him. That's curious, but for now when your done tell him when your done and then I will soon return so that we can get you and the others settled in." he said, and then left his own chambers to return to the hatching grounds.

He stepped softly onto the warms sands of the grounds and then slowly began to approach where the eggs, which were nearly his size, before he stopped a good distance from them. He did not wish to get too close to touch them, on the old myth that if you touched the egg then the little hatchling wouldn't impress, or to incur the wrath of the old Queen for coming so close to them. Instead, he sat himself down on the sands and let his mind drift back to the past, back when he was a boy of 16 turns and he was standing there scared as he watched the little dragonlings break from their eggs and then approach each of the boys in turn before choosing the one boy they would want to be with for life.
 
Ishi watched him leave. Even without the smoke of battle, his gait was that of a strong man that knew his life's work. But at the moment, from the back, there was a hint of tiredness in his gait. After the door shut behind him, Ishi locked it, feeling much safer now. Going to the back bath, she stared at the huge stone tub on the floor and wondered where the fire was to warm the water.....everything was wrong! She realized, this world was nothing like her own in more ways than one. Slowly, she began to slip out of her clothes until she stood naked. In no hurry to get into a cold bath, she took this time to look around his bath, lightly fingering the different bottles on shelves and soft towels at her disposal. "Riches of a Master." She said softly. How strange that John had saved her from a man that lived so much like he himself lived.

Ishi, walked back to the tub, pausing as she watched the water moving. Sighing, "Well, I've taken plenty of cold baths before." Carefully, she stepped down into the water until it barely touched her breasts. To her surprise, the water was neither cold nor hot, but tepid. Dousing herself, she came up out of the water and began to undo her hair. Walking towards the edge, piece by piece the stays that held her hair upon her head laid in a row, her hair falling down her back, the end barely covering the top of her behind that sloped down towards the full curve of her cheeks. It wasn't long before she found some sweet smelling musk soap and lathered herself up. This was indeed a luxury bath, and she relished it, for who knew when she would get another. Then she took the soap to her hair, washing it not once, but twice. A wealthy man like John would surely not complain.

As she bathed herself, her hair and her spirit, she walked about the tub with thoughts of what these new owners would require of them and the reasoning behind freedom, as they called it. When she finally stepped out again, she knew she had never felt so clean before in her life, and it delighted her to feel so. Picking out one of the expensive towels, she dried herself thoroughly before she realized, she had no clean clothes of her own. Glancing at her old clothes, for the first time, she did not want to put them back on, not over this fresh, cleanliness she was feeling now.

Boldly she walked over to John's clothing and picked out a rather long shirt and slipped it over her. It fell just above her knee. But it was light, soft and made her skin tingle with each movement she made. Gathering her clothes and shoes, she brought them back to the room she arrived in, set them aside, unlocked the door and waited in a nearby chair for John to return. Her thoughts raced to Ulteth..."I am afraid!"
 
John had let him go back into his past, letting himself forget where he was until Ulteth told him that Ishi was done and waiting for him, knocking him out of his trance like state. Looking up towards the hole in the ceiling, John saw that the sun had fallen a bit and that there were now more dragons gathered there at each of their perches. How he didn't even realize dragons had been flying into the same room as him John didn't even know, but it also told him that the time was most likely upon them and that he needed to prepare Ishi for what was going to soon happen.

He stood up off from the ground, dusting himself of all the sand that clung to his clothing from sitting there for so long, and then walked back to his room. Gingerly he placed his ear against the door and listened for any noise before he slowly opened the door a crack to peek in. "You dressed?" he asked and when he spotted her in some of his old clothing he could only smile and motioned for her to join him as he went and stood in front of the quilt. "Listen, I don't know exactly what kind of powers you have since your the offspring of a goddess, but having you on our side would make things better for us in more ways than one," he began to explain as he let his hand drift slowly to the quilt and then trace its designs, "we need a woman like you. The last queen we had let her dragon overeat and she isn't the brightest candle. That's why we need strong woman like you. Tell me you'll t least try to impress the new Queen when the Hatching begins."
 
Ishi had obediently followed John to the tapestry. As he spoke she looked at the intricate designs and solid work of a master. But, John had a tendency to only say part of what needed to be said, leaving large holes for the receiver to fill in. This was horrible for a servant who had never been allowed to think on her own. "You speak in riddles John. I do not know what you are talking of except that there is a dragon queen and you want me to impress her somehow. And my powers, as you call them, are no more or less important as everyones are." Glancing him up and down for a moment, she asked, "What are yours?" He seemed so intent on knowing so much, perhaps she should ask him what his were. To Ishi, gifts were distributed to everyone, not just because your mother was a Goddess.

Shaking her head, she closed her eyes and turned away from John. "Ultheth.....he makes no sense. I cannot do what he asks if I don't understand what exactly he wants!" Too much had happened for one day. Bringing her hands to her head, she tried to make sense of his words. If only Rinya were here, he would understand and explain it all. But he was not.....she was all alone in this world. No friend, no home of her own, no protection. A tear escaped her lid at her hopelessness.

Wiping the evidence from her eye, she turned sharply and demanded, "I wish to be with Uleth. I shall serve him and will not shame you."
 
John should have known that she wouldn't understand what he was saying to her without him actually explaining it to her in detail, not in riddles like she said that he was doing but then he found it weird that she was talking out loud to Ulteth and then sighed at what she said next. "Alright, if that is what will make you feel comfortable..."he said as he trailed off while taking her hand and guiding her around his home until they were at the hatching grounds again. He stopped there and pointed to her the eggs that the Queen had laid, 16 in all including the golden egg that a new Queen would hatch from. "These are the eggs that new dragons will hatch from. Browns, bronze, greens and blues will come forth from them, but there is no way of knowing what egg holds what color of a dragon. Only the queen can easily be separated from the group." he explained to her as Ulteth came down to them both and gently took them up in his claws to fly back up to his ledge.

Once they were up there, Ulteth let his serpentine tongue slip out from its cavernous maw and licked Ishi as carefully as he could, not wanting to hurt her and ruin her skin like he did with the first lick when they had met, but then he moved over to the body of Rinya that he took to keep an eye over him, curling up around the body tightly as he wouldn't let it out of his sights. "Ulteth musses him as much as you do Ishi." John said sadly as he walked over to scratch one of his eye ridges and looking back at Ishi to see what she thought of what Ulteth was doing.
 
Again, Ishi obediently followed John to the hatchery. It was different being able to see the jewel colored eggs all together like a collection of large gems. And John was right, the golden egg vividly stood out from the rest. Its shells brightly reflecting the smallest ray of light around it. "Will they all survive?" She asked, having seen many baby animals die before they drew their first breath on the compound. Looking at the future Queen's egg, she sent her thought to the babe, "And how does one impress a Queen as glorious and beautiful as yourself? For I am but a servant within your realm and have nothing to offer." It was evident that John took this part of his job very seriously, she could tell. His voice seemed tired, as if he hadn't slept in weeks. Perhaps they all were tired and needed to rest.

Just then Ulteth had them in his grip and they were aloft before they knew it. Ishi had to smile as he licked her. For he was chuckling in her mind at her comment about serving him. Such nonsense, Ishi. As he moved over towards Rinya, Ishi followed. He was still covered in the golden cloth that kept him perfectly preserved for his family. The sight of Ulteth's tender care of Rinya's remains watered her eyes in gratitude. Hearing what John told her, she glanced over at him, then back at the scene before them wondering how Ulteth could miss him so, "Aye, I can see this is true. Which surprises me, for he has known us for such a short time." Then her eyes came back to John's "Night is approaching. Where will I sleep tonight? Or will I be staying with Ulteth." She asked looking around the loft. It was huge compared to her small hut. Plenty of clean straw and hay. A few blankets, she was sure she could be comfortable here. Looking back at John, she wondered what he would order for her to do, where he would want her to go. John was the strangest Master she had ever encountered. Not that she had encountered that many.

The idea of thinking for herself still could not find fertile land in her mind to take root. To her free will was deciding what tool she would use in the garden that day in order to get her job done. To her, free will was deciding whether to stop and eat lunch or continue through it to meet their quota. Free will was having her own little hut all to herself to do as she pleased in at the end of the day. Oh such freedom as that was rare at the compound. Most had to share their quarters.

But there was no little hut any longer, no privacy. Simply this big loft among the dragons. Perhaps that is all she deserved....though she could not complain. At least Ulteth was here. That in itself would inspire her to survive this. Once more her eyes lifted to John for his answer. Her large dark eyes, half hidden beneath long lashes searched for a clue within his eyes.
 
John looked over at Ishi as he absentmindedly scratched at Ulteth's eye ridge. She had asked him a number of questions that he had yet to address since Ulteth was bringing them up, but now he could answer them. "Not all of the dragons hatch from their eggs. Occasionally you'll get one or two that doesn't hatch. Its a shame, cause thats one less dragon and dragon rider we will have. There was one instant though, during the last hatching when I was impressing Ulteth. I heard talk that a boy saw an unhatched egg and ran out onto the hatching grounds and began to kick and cut at the egg with his knife, the eggs being a tough thing to crack. But he helped the little white dragon that was in and impressed it, so there are chances you can say, but they are rare," he said as he looked towards the ceiling and saw that night really was beginning to fall on them, "I just hope that all of the eggs hatch this time."

With a shake of his head, John then walked back over to Ishi and looked down into her eyes, his own reflecting that he was tired where his body hid that fact but also his eyes showed that he cared about what would happen to her. "You will have your own quarters, as will most of your siblings, and since you are my responsibility until the Hatching occurs you will be residing in the room next to mine. Its been unoccupied recently and all of the furnishing should still be there for you to use as you will and maybe some clothing will have been left in the dresser as well, but you'll have to see me about what to wear when its time for the hatching." he said, moving over to the edge and sitting back down to look out at the eggs again. "If you can impress the new Queen, I can promise you your life will never be the same again, even though your a child of a goddess."
 
The idea that some eggs may have a problem hatching was sad. But the fact about life and death was the same for all creatures and humans. One just never knew what could survive and what couldn't. But Ishi was seeing another side of John whenever he spoke of the dragons and the babies. A softer side than that stern, harsh side he displayed at their first meeting.

As he sat down on the edge and looked down at the eggs as if they were his personal children, Ishi was confused by him. Sitting down beside him, she only had eyes for the golden egg that even from this height shown bright. He said she would be residing in the room next to his. "And if I were not your responsibility? Where would I be staying?" She pulled her eyes from the egg and looked deep into his. "Your constant vigil over my whereabouts makes me more slave than free. Its as if you fear I will run away and disappear. All the handling you do of me will not make me love this queen, nor cause her to love me. You push too hard, John. If its meant to be it will, if not......will I become a useless piece of flesh to move far away from you?" Ishi had always thought in this way. Direct and to the point. But it did not do to speak such things out loud until now.

"From the moment I've arrived here, I have yet to see those that were rescued with me. Do you fear of an uprising? Have they caused you trouble?" There was something just too planned about this whole situation and.....without realizing....like a queen inquiring about her people, she was concerned as to what had become of them.
 
John sighed knowing that he should have reassured her with that subject right away, not waiting until she brought it up for him to tell her and he tore his gaze from the eggs to look deeply into her eyes. "Your siblings are all here, safe and sound and being taken to quarters of their own by those of my wing. Those that are old won't have to worry about doing any more kind of work and the young will be taught lessons from singing to just about anything else that they may prove to be of use and make a living off of. I promise you that they have all made it from that awful place, just look around," he said, waving an arm at some of the other dragons that were there and resting and he pointed out the 6 dragons that belonged to his wings, "they were the ones that ferried your siblings here and if there was anymore left then they would be seeking them out right now, but instead they have them all and are now resting for doing a good job."

"And if you weren't my responsibility there would still be a chance that you would be placed in the room next to me. After all, this hold can house up to 500 dragons and twice as many people, servants included. And yes I do fear that you will try to run away after what happened, especially after the trouble I went through and the sacrifice Rinya paid to help free you from that bastard of a man. He even agreed to let me see if you can possibly impress the Queen, if not then you will still stay here for awhile and adjust to your new life before you can leave and go where you want. I promise you that I will let you go, but we still need to see if she will choose you or not." he said, then looking over at Ulteth. Think you can help talk a little sense into her?
 
Ishi's eyes looked deep into John's. "There is so much pain in this man, Ulteth. As if the world rode on his shoulders. Ulteth glanced over at Ishi as her thoughts filled him, knowing he would not be able to hide them from John, and not wanting to. "I will not run away, John. This I promise you." Ishi looked over at Ulteth, "It would be so much easier if I were a dragon like you, my friend."

"I am ready to go where you lead me, John." She said softly, as her eyes focused back on him. Ishi did not wish to make John's life more complicated. She only wished for peace while adjusting to this place where creatures lived as well as their caretakers. Men who only wanted to serve, not be served and a fallen friend was valued as much as a Queen being born.

Ishi nodded to Ulteth and headed to the edge and jump down to the ground as easily as if she could fly. Walking over towards the jeweled eggs, she waited for John to join her and lead the way. Again she spoke to the golden egg. If you are even half the dragon Ulteth is, I shall surely love you till the day I die."
 
He looked up at Ishi and hearing what she said made him smile up at her. "Thank you Ishi." he said as he watched her go over to the edge and then jumped off. He freaked out at this and ran to the edge himself and looked down just to watch her floating down to the ground and not even a scared looked passed on her face. He could only watch and then laugh at himself as Ulteth picked John up with his tail and gently placed him on the warm sand so that he could move up and join Ishi as she stared at the eggs. Absentmindedly he took her hand in his and leaned towards her a little. "Its such a wonderful sight to see the boys as they impress the dragons and even seeing the new Queen impressed. She's the most important of them all, without the Queen the dragons would die out." he explained.

Smiling softly at her, he guided her out of the hatching grounds to help lead her back to her room that was situated next to his, opening her door for her as he stepped aside so she could go in. "If you need anything don't be afraid to knock on my door and ask what it is you need. I'll do all that I can to get what you need." he said and then moved over his own room and closed the door behind him gently. He went and sat down on the edge of his bed and shook his head while smiling at himself. "At least she agreed to stay. Now I can only hope that the little Queen will choose her." he said to himself and then undressed himself until he was down to his undergarments and laid down to go to bed, quickly falling into a light rest that could easily be interrupted by a light knocking on his door.
 
Ishi could feel John's presence before he was beside her. But she hadn't expected him to touch her. When his hand took hers, her first instinct was to pull back and she started to, but he didn't seem to notice as he started telling her about the dragon courtship process. Her eyes went to his face as she watched it literally light up as he spoke. What a strange man this John was.

Before she could ask the question milling inside her mind, he had her off to her apartment. It wasn't long before they were standing in front of a door down the hall from his apartment. He explained that this would be her room, even showed her the door that lead to his room. He assured her she could knock on his door any time, and then he was gone. She stood there for a long time, starring at his door before going over to it and knocking lightly on the door. Patiently she waited as she could hear some scurrying inside. Such a strange man! She thought to herself, then suddenly heard Ulteth's muffled laugh inside her head. That made her helplessly break out in a grin herself.
 
It felt like John had just gone to sleep, and maybe he had just only fallen asleep only a few seconds ago, but soon he was quickly awakened by the sound of knocking at his door and he immediately jumped up to answer it, opening the door open wide and standing almost completely naked before Ishi without even thinking. "Well that was awfully fast," he said as he could feel Ulteth's laughter in the back of his head making him wonder why he was laughing, "What is it that you need Ishi? Is something wrong?" he asked, once again taking her hand if she was feeling scared or anything.
 
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