FSE

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"Xavi, come on girl!"

She stirred at the elated whisper, blinking at the ceiling. "Eh... err?" A slightly arched ceiling. A small room. Swaying slashes of light from a partly shuttered lantern.

"Hop up, Xavi! You asked me to wake you, remember?"

Jadere. It was Jadere whispering, Xavi slowly realized. And the events of the previous day crashed back into her mind in disarray. "Oh..." Another day of this lost city, ahead.

Wait, if Jadere was waking her, that had to mean... the dragon! Xavi sat bolt upright, blinking in the dimmed light of the vixen's lantern. "It's... You found it? Him?"

A sliver of light flashed across the Jadere's toothy grin. "The well in the northeastern-most plaza. He's still there - hurry, you might be able to catch him!"

Already extricating herself from her bedroll and going over the spells she'd need, she spared a nod and breathless "Thanks" and dashed out.

They'd opted to sleep in a cluster of chambers at the end of a rather long hall - firstly so they were out of the way, but if anything did wander where they were sure to find the slumbering expedition, Jadere's wards at the mouth of the corridor would give them plenty of warning.

Not halfway down the hall, Xavi spun about to call to Jadere in a tone she hoped was loud enough to carry, but not loud enough to wake Warrav, "What time is it?"

"What what?" The fox shot back.

"Time?"

"Not an hour to sunrise."

"Thanks." Xavi nodded, hurrying away. Northeastern plaza? That was on the other side of the city from where they'd first seen him.

But since the dragon wasn't likely to linger long at the well, she urged herself to hurry. She would have broken into a run, but she also had to concentrate on the illusions she wove under her breath - they were considerably simpler because they targeted only the tag she'd placed on the dragon, but she couldn't afford to mess even one of them up. She soon passed from gloomy halls into gloomy twilight. The brightest stars were still visible, though there was a pale halo around the horizon, visible through the crack in the rock formation that sheltered the old city. Stepping briskly, the raven girl worded one spell after another to blot herself from the eyes and ears of her quarry. And, ramshackle as it was, she prepared to trick his sense of scent just as she had yesterday.

The last spell slipped into place, completing her shroud. Finally, her focus no longer demanded, she allowed herself to take in more of her surroundings. The city, with its high mushroom-buildings towering overhead like giant oaks, held an odd sort of majesty in the twilight. It felt old and lonely, but somehow... not quite dead. She recalled her artifice glass, but decided she didn't really need it. At least, not yet.

Xavi blinked as her spells alerted her. They wouldn't have triggered already, unless...

Admittedly, she'd covered more ground than she thought she had, and only now realized she was breathing hard for the pace she'd set herself to. She was approaching the plaza. And the dragon was there, still by the well, heaving up a rusty chain paw over paw... or rather, paw over teeth, with his other foreleg supporting him on the raised edge of the well. Being white, he was very easy to see even in poor lighting. He was drawing a bucket and, even as fast as he went about it, he seemed to be giving it a smooth ride. He was no stranger to the act, obviously.

Xavi mentally ran through the spells she'd cast and reassured herself she hadn't missed anything important.

Finally the bucket - no, it was a cauldron - was within reach. The dragon dipped his head down to lift it by its broad handle and set it on the plaza flagstones. It was a squat, rotund thing bigger around than the dragon's chest. Deft white paws quickly removed the chain from about its fat, battered handle, which he then snapped up in his teeth again. Slowly, so as not to spill the cauldron's precious contents, he began to walk northward.

Xavi cocked her head. He wasn't drawing it to drink? Or maybe he would once he reached shade. Or maybe he already had, and he'd drawn a second cauldron-full for later? At the rate he hauled that chain, Xavi imagined the dragon could've done it twice since Jadere's ward first caught him.

The white dragon was rather easy to follow at his painstakingly careful pace. It was apparent he was making for another of the structures set into the cliff face, though - not one Warrav or Jadere had investigated yet. This one had a broad flight of shallow steps rising to a door flanked with imposing pillars carved with the mandatory grooves, plus artistic depressions: full-body depictions of proud lions, weathered and faded but still holding their heads high.

The dragon tripped on one step, a bit of water sloshing out of his cauldron. He grumbled something, but through his jaws clenched about the cauldron's handle, Xavi couldn't make it out.

Most of these large buildings Xavi had seen so far, the main doors led directly into a large main hall. This one opened into an antechamber - large, but nothing compared to a main hall. To either side, massive stone counters were fashioned, and open doorways lay beyond them. Directly ahead, however, was a set of broad double doors crafted of heavy wood and bound in steel fashioned with ornate, unfamiliar lettering.

The dragon stepped up to the grandiose, imposing doors. Setting his cauldron down to one side, he placed both front paws on one door, which swung open with surprisingly little noise - only a slight groan from the aged timbers and the creak of the heavy hinges. He picked up his cauldron in his teeth once more and stepped through.

It struck Xavi that if he frequented this area and the door was closed, that must mean that he purposefully closed it. As soon as she realized this, she heard the cauldron hit the floor on the far side. With a start, she hurried through before could push the door shut - and she made it not a moment too soon. Her spell wouldn't have kept the dragon from realizing a door was moving!

Actually, she could probably manage exactly that, given time. But it was easier to just hurry through. Her fingers were already clutched about the glass artifice. Once the door shut, she did not expect there would be any light.

But that was not the case. A low fire crackled in a hearth at the far end of an aisle between row after row of packed bookshelves. She glanced to both sides to seethe ranks of shelves marching into the dark beyond the firelight. The ceiling was nearly lost to shadows even above the hearth. And if every shelf was as full as the ones she could make out... this place was brimming with the knowledge of a lost civilization. Xavi's heart leapt into her throat; oh, Warrav was going to love hearing of this.

A dull clunk drew her attention back to the dragon, setting down his cauldron of water by his fire. The hearth was huge, tall as a doorway and half again as wide, and the fire was only built in a small patch in the middle. Obviously, it was not built to be a cooking place: the iron peg the pot hung on was driven into the middle of a faded, soot-obscured relief sculpture. Another pot, perhaps half the size of the cauldron, hung over the fire. The dragon was sniffing at it.

"Looks more ready than that," he said, his head swaying. "Perhaps it is..." His eyes shut and he took a deeper whiff. Then he growled, "Your nose is playing tricks on you."

Xavi cringed. Whatever the contents of the pot, he was trying to judge it by scent, and Xavi's own spell hampered the dragon's ability to discriminate. If he started growing suspicious, Xavi thought it might be better to release the spell than let him grow more suspicious.

But if the dragon was especially concerned, it didn't show. He stepped away, vanishing behind the shelves.

Xavi hurried forward with a start. Fascinating as this place might be, she was still following the dragon, after all!

As she neared, she peered at the blazing branches. Actually, they didn't look like any wood she knew of. Perhaps it was too burnt to tell, but they looked more like some kind of root. In the corner by the hearth lay several more pots like the one over the flame, a few lidded and the rest upturned. On the floor nearby lay some kind of tool - little more than a simple rod. Perhaps a poker that had belonged to this hearth long ago, heavily rusted, its handle broken off and its tip worn down. But nearly half its length was stained black.

Xavi couldn't quite resist taking a few cautious steps out of her way to peer into the pot, careful to mind the hem of her robes as she leaned over the heat. She instantly blanched; whatever it was, it did not smell like food. Boiling languidly in the pot was a yellowy-brown, thick-looking goop. Every bubble that burst upon its surface lingered as a hollow pit which the substance slowly oozed to refill. It was slightly translucent, however, and she could make out something at the bottom of the pot... something like a pile of white twigs. Small animal bones?

She stepped back. And stumbled backward over rod on the floor, nearly falling. As it clattered and rolled away, she caught herself and glanced where it was rolling just in time to see a white head appear from a doorway. He surely couldn't have heard the noise - it was close enough to Xavi her spell had stricken it from his mind - but his jade eyes went instantly to the rod. Nothing Xavi could do could hide the fact it was rolling.

Swinging from the dragon's jaws by their tails was a gaggle of dead rats and mice - at least a dozen of them.

Xavi hurriedly backed up toward a shelf, lest the dragon discover her by physically walking into her. She held still and tried to keep her breath quiet by force of habit.

Padding near, the dragon set down the rodents in a pile and nosing about the rod. His gaze shot in every direction as he slowly sat back on his haunches. "They would... They would come for this, wouldn't they?" He groaned as though pained, staring at the double doors across the room.

Somehow, Xavi didn't think he was so worried anyone would come for his rod. Did he mean the library? Maybe he was worried Xavi and the others would have an interest in 'his' library?

Well, he'd be right...

"But... They're not here... Not yet." The dragon frowned at the rod and sniffed at it again. "What, then? Rats?" He growled out toward the shelves. "What, did it smell like cheese? Or is this revenge? I'm coming for you next! Yes..." He sighed, turning his eyes to his pile of rodents hungrily. "But for now I have you."

His stomach gurgled.

"And you shut up!" The dragon snapped, curling his neck and addressing at his gut. "You have to wait a little longer."

Xavi nearly chuckled at the exchange with his stomach... Though she was going to have to be more careful of her step in the future. She didn't want to worry the poor thing about intruders.

Well, she supposed she was an intruder. But only to be a passive observer.

The dragon set himself about... Xavi wasn't sure what he was doing, in truth, but she watched with interest. He first procured one of the spare pots from the stack and dunked it in the cauldron to fill it. He then grabbed the pot off the fire with his bare paws - which seemed to have no effect on him whatsoever - to pour its contents into now only half-full cauldron. Pouring took quite a while as the thick fluid seemed more apt to stick to the sides of the pot than flow anywhere in a hurry. The dragon placed his claws over the opening, catching the solid contents from the bottom. Those were indeed the skeletons of rodents, boiled clean.

When he'd gotten most of the goop out of the pot, he rinsed his dripping claws and the bones in the cauldron's considerably waterier mix. The bones he tossed in one of the lidded pots; judging from the collection of little skeletons inside, that was it's sole purpose.

Next the dragon poked through the fire and fished out a pawfull of blackened chunks of wood, root, or whatever it was he was burning. These he clasped above the cauldron and ground between his paws. Fine flakes of soot trailed down into... whatever it was he was mixing. Xavi wracked her mind for any inclination of what he was doing, but came up short.

Before long, the mix was quite black - as were the dragon's paws, no matter how he dusted them. Now the dragon settled down on his belly, tail flicking eagerly as he arranged his cauldron and its sooty contents, the pot of clean water, and his pile of rodents - presumably his breakfast. With one paw, he took up his rod and began to stir the mix in his cauldron.

"Yes, now you may eat..." He grinned. His other paw plucked up a fat-looking rat and popped it into his mouth whole, its tail dangling out like a lolling tongue.

Xavi winced; surely rat fur didn't taste particularly good. Goodness knew where those had been.

But the dragon didn't seem to mind. His jaw seemed hard at work at a delicate task. His eyes were half-closed, and side from stirring his cauldron, all that seemed to matter to him just then was going on in his mouth... and, likely, his stomach.

Realizing he might be eating quite a while at this rate, Xavi seated herself on the floor. The dragon wasn't likely to talk much while he was eating either, but there was much to be gleaned just from what he was doing. Since she'd found him drawing at the well, he'd been doing everything with a purpose; he was following a process he was obviously very familiar with. He showed restraint in saving his kills for even a meager meal. He had determination, and it showed even in how intently he focused on his morsel.

The dragon bared his teeth, reached a pair of claws into his maw, and yanked out a wad of wet, matted fur, and dropped it to the side. He'd skinned the thing in his mouth. Moments later, he reached back in and extracted the rest of the rat - or what was left of it. Most of the good meat had been chewed off, but enough tissue remained to hold the grotesque little skeleton limply together. These remains he dropped in the pot of clear water.

Odd he didn't just chew up the bones and everything else, Xavi thought, considering little food the dragon came by. Then it dawned on her: she'd heard of the practice of boiling animals' connective tissue to make certain kinds of glue. But still, what did glue, soot, and water make? She sat up to peek into the cauldron as he stirred. It already looked pretty well mixed, an oily black liquid. It seemed familiar, but like an itch she couldn't quite scratch, the answer eluded her. It definitely wasn't food, though.

The dragon was working on his second rat already. Xavi examined the remaining rodents more closely. Not one had so much as a tooth mark on it. Many looked to have been simply pounded - the dragon's handiwork on the hunt, apparently. But there were a few who seemed to have been spared such a massive impact. These looked to have been killed by a precise blow to the neck by something much too narrow to belong to the dragon. The only thing she could thing was the dragon had made one or more contraptions not unlike the common mousetrap to help him hunt as he continued to grow.

At the rate he was eating, though, the dragon would be laying there quite a while. Xavi wasn't sure she wanted to sit around that long. No... Warrav would be thrilled to learn of this library, and likely Jadere would too. And since she seemed curious about the dragon as well... Yes, Xavi decided, getting to her feet. She'd grab Jadere and bring her back here before the dragon was finished.

Warrav... He wouldn't like it, but she had to tell him about the dragon eventually.

Not yet, though.

She started toward the entrance. Oh. Right. She'd have to magic away the sound and sight of the heavy door opening...

* * * * *

Jadere glanced up at the rip-rap of Xavi's talons, setting aside the artifice-engraved candelabra with crystals in place of candles. She grinned at the approaching raven. "Hello again, girl; you've found me."

And where else would she have been but the vault full of artifice? It was the first place Xavi thought to check, and here she stood. "I found him too."

"Oh! Since there was hardly a chance earlier: good morning." The vixen grinned warmly. "How did it go? You're visible, I see." The fox chuckled.

"Not to the dragon, I'm not. Neither will you be." Xavi beckoned with a toss of her head. "Come see."

Jadere cringed and glanced about the vault and its unexplored wonders. Regretfully, she shook her head. "I'm not sure I should... What is he up to?"

Of course Jadere would be torn. Xavi supposed she should have expected it. "He's eating and... making something. In a library."

"A library?" The vixen lit up instantly. "Well that is a find! We'd better grab your brother, too. I'm better at practical translation," she waved at the retracted puzzle lock door, "but he might have a better idea of where to start in a library. And if any of it's still readable, the universities will... What ever is the matter, girl?"

Xavi's head sank. Of course, she should have realized there was no keeping her brother out of that library. It was, after all, exactly what he'd come hoping to find. Had Xavi really thought that, just because she and the vixen had been a bit friendlier, Jadere would abandon her business relationship with Warrav?

And if anything in that library proved readable, soon there'd be more than mere expeditions here - any scholar of import with any interest in Adaia would flock to the place to comb it for history, culture, and knowledge. And what of the dragon then? He might simply run and hide from a simple expedition, but a constant presence threatening to drive him from his home?

"Xavi?"

Well, they were likely to find the library anyway, she told herself with a sigh. To Jadere she just said, "Can we wait before telling Warrav? I still need to tell him about the dragon..."

"Why?" The fox's brow lowered. "He saw it too. So you didn't want to tell him you were going to trail it - but now you've proven you can do it."

"He won't like it. He never does..." The raven snapped her beak. "He'd never let me go anywhere near the dragon again, if he knew! And he'd hardly let me out of his sight if I insisted. He doesn't have a clue what I'm capable of - doesn't think I'm competent enough to look after myself."

"Ah," Jadere nodded slowly. "So, tell him you found a library, you think that will soften the blow?"

Xavi sighed, spreading her wings helplessly. "I doubt it would help... But there's no way around it, is there?"

Jadere laughed.

"What!" The raven ducked her head.

The vixen's finger hooked under Xavi's beak and lifted her head until their eyes met. "Student of illusion, you've walked unseen in the shadow of a dragon. I doubt your brother could stop you. If he believes you must be sheltered - which you needn't - prove him wrong."

Jadere allowed her paw to fall, and Xavi pulled back. "Maybe you're right," she muttered.

"I believe you were going to show me library? And the dragon, if he's still there."

"Yes. Let me just cast a few spells so he won't see or hear you..."

"We'll still be able to speak, I take it?" The fox asked, "Without him knowing, I mean."

"Yes; our respective enchantments will hide sounds emanating from our vicinity, and only from him," Xavi explained. "But try to keep your voice down in large rooms. It doesn't block echoes very well."

As they walked, the raven carefully wove the same spells she had for herself, only this time for her companion. Except the scent mask; that effect worked for them both. While incantations droned from her beak, Jadere studied her quietly. The fox kept quiet, knowing full well the kind of concentration Xavi's spells required. When the chanting fell silent and the last sigil woven in Jadere's direction, the vixen gave her a questioning look.

Xavi gave a nod in turn. "Yes, that's the last of it."

"So..." the vixen began slowly, a bit of a coy grin forming. "You and your brother have obviously had your spats. Did he disprove of some young man you took a liking too?"

Xavi's glance turned into a hollow stare. Lifting a wing, she traced a sigil in front of her face. She didn't voice a deafness spell, didn't cast it, but the message was there.

"Oh, very well, nothing about your love interests." The fox threw up her paws in truce. "But you obviously have precedent to think Warrav would react badly. Just one example, dear?"

Xavi sighed, relenting. "Well... How about the year I spent trying to convince him to let me attend university a few years early? He was was studying with Gaven Monthaw..."

"The Monthaw?" Jadere blinked. "The lupine? The former authority on the Aldaians, dead now?"

"Yeah, that one," the raven girl rolled her eyes. "Met him once. Every bit as stuffy as Warrav."

"Ah, so that's where he got it from?"

"No, my brother was always like that," she sighed, shrugging her wings. "Anyway. Warrav was just a hired hand at a few dig sites at first, but he caught Monthaw's eye. That was his back door onto the field of Aldaian history. As I was saying, Warrav could've gotten me recommendations."

"I'll say!" Jadere laughed.

"But no," the raven spread her wings helplessly. "I was 'too young' and 'obviously not ready'."

"Obstructing your education?" The fox humphed. "That doesn't seem like Warrav."

"He was hoping I would give up the notion of applying for magical studies... Said he would be happy to get me in if I were studying something 'logical'. But you should know, there's plenty of logic to magic!"

"And plenty that's mysterious about history, too," Jadere chuckled. "So he made you wait just like everyone else?"

"He gave up and I got in one year early. By that time, Monthaw was going senile, but Warrav had other contacts."

"See? It's not all bad." The vixen patted Xavi's shoulder. "He just would have preferred you'd studied something he could understand. But at the end of the day, he still wants you to excel."

Xavi grumbled under her breath, but couldn't really argue. She had never felt as though Warrav had been anything other than a restraint, but deep down she knew her brother didn't truly mean her harm.

Mercifully, they reached the library soon enough Xavi ushered the vixen in through the door she'd left ajar. Though, as far as the dragon's eyes and ears would tell him, it was quite closed and perfectly silent, even when Xavi shoved it shut for real.

Jadere awed at the library, but Xavi glanced instantly toward the hearth. The dragon was gone. So was his cauldron. The pot he'd been dropping the leftovers of his meager meal in was steaming over the flames now.

But he couldn't have left, could he? The door was exactly the way she'd left it.

"Xavi... this is incredible! Some of these are still intact."

Setting aside her confusion, the raven glanced back. Jadere was easing a tome off a shelf, brushing the tops of the dusty pages with a thumb. "Vellum... Pretty brittle, but not as much as I would have thought... Did you notice the pot steaming? If that dragon boiled water in here often, it might've kept up the humidity, helped preserve the pages." Then she hissed through her teeth. "Hope he wasn't burning any books..."

"No, I don't think he was." Xavi strode toward the hearth. Maybe the dragon had gone back down that passage back there where he'd fetched his rats from?

"Well, that's good." Jadere gently replaced the tome and followed the raven to the hearth. "So where's the dragon now?"

Xavi stared down the aisle between grooved wall and dusty bookshelves. There was not just one passage, she realized, but three along that stretch of wall between the hearth and the corner of the library. And there were two more when she glanced the other way. "Wondering that, myself, just now... He was right here."

Jadere held a finger to her muzzle, mouthing "hush". Her ears perked and tilted left, then her eyes followed. "I think I hear him... You said he talks to himself?"

The raven nodded. The fox followed her ears, and Xavi was a step behind. Jadere stepped silently, and the raven couldn't help but smirk at the unnecessary stealth; she forgot her own spells sometimes, so she could hardly blame the vixen.

despite her caution, Jadere wore a grin, as though this were quite the grand adventure. She crossed to the edge of the library, aiming unerringly for the farthest archway. A broad hall lay beyond it, lit by a dim lamp hung rather crudely on an old sconce. By its meager light, Xavi discerned a half-dozen doorways spaced along one wall.

"I don't hear anything," Xavi whispered.

"He stopped, but I'm sure he was down here somewhere... Look there." Jadere pointed out the fifth doorway down.

"What about it?" Xavi peered at that doorway, noting nothing unusual about it... "Oh." A faint glow eminated from within - another lantern perhaps. She gave the fox a nod.

The first pair of arches they passed by led to rooms with long tables and low chairs, their faded wood appearing old and frail, which only seemed to enhance the elegance of the etching in their surfaces. Alcoves and swooping arches overhead lent a grandiose air, as though what occurred in these rooms were matters of great import. The third room was architecturally identical, but it contained four tables stacked atop one another, and a large, rickety-looking pile of chairs. The fourth room was empty.

Finally, the fifth room. The lamp was set by the lefthand wall, where they found the dragon sitting on his haunches before an alcove, his head bowed.

"And there he is," Jadere whispered, grinning as she studied his scaly white frame. "First dragon I've ever seen this close, too."

"No need to be that quiet," Xavi told her.

The dragon's head raised, and he drew in a long breath through his open mouth, and he began to speak - though not in words Xavi knew.

"What's he saying?" The raven's eyes shifted to Jadere. "Do dragons have a language, or...?"

"Look!"

Xavi's eyes followed Jadere's pointing finger to the dragon once more; he'd lifted his left paw, holding his stirring rod.

No, it was a different rod. At one end was a black tuft, bound to the rod with a metal band crimped with dragon teeth. It was a simple brush, and the dragon was painting a column of tiny, intricate symbols there on the wall.

"That's Aldaian." Jadere's jaw looked ready to fall off her face. "He's writing Aldaian! Could even be speaking it, for all we know - speaking a tongue over a hundred and fifty years dead!"

"Surely he's not that old...? You said he looked young-"

"And what do either of us know about dragons, really?"

The dragon's words cut off, and both females' eyes shot to him. His head was bowed again.

Jadere stepped further into the room for a better look in front of him. Xavi followed more slowly, eyeing the vixen as much as the dragon. But her eyes were drawn to see what the dragon was dipping his brush into.

Wait. That cauldron! Soot, water, and a simple adhesive. No wonder the liquid had seemed familiar to her! She was just used to seeing ink in much smaller pots. She hadn't thought about what went into making it before, either.

The fox stepped up next to the wall, and Xavi peered around the dragon's front leg to follow her gaze. The dragon's eyes were absorbed with a book. The state of it made Jadere cringe; the binding was crumbling, the browned page he seemed to be reading cracked into five pieces, brittle and barely legible. When the dragon lifted his head, he began to speak again, elegantly inscribing another column of letters. Though the symbols were unfamiliar to her, Xavi could tell he was copying them from the page.

Compared with what could be discerned of the book's script, though, the dragon's calligraphy was nothing short of artistic; his letters were tightly packed, but never overlapped, and he still managed to paint each one with a bit of a subtle flourish that turned simple shapes into a graceful flow.

Finishing the column, the dragon set his brush in the cauldron and reached for the book. Jadere visibly tensed, as though it was everything she could do to keep herself from trying to keep those claws away from the crumbling book. Yet he touched with painstaking care, turning over each bit of broken page. His eyes were rapt with the kind of determination Xavi usually saw in her brother when he was translating. The dragon's eyes were prettier, though - the thought brought her a smirk. His slitted jade eyes were so vivid against his white scales. She thought he was cute with his brow lowered in concentration and his frilly ears perked up with attention. It almost pained Xavi to look at the rest of his starved body.

The vixen slowly relaxed. "Most of the books back in the library didn't look this bad. I wonder... Do you think he might actually be... preserving what he can from the books in the worst shape?"

Xavi opened her beak, but made no sound - she didn't know, and it was plain in her expression and shrug. "Can you read it?"

"This is Warrav's thing, but l can make out some. Here, this phrase," she pointed to the end of the last column he'd finished. "'To see the sixteenth tower crumble'. It's been found in many places, thought to be a quote, and it seems to reference the political infighting, a precursor to the civil war that brought Aldaia to its knees."

The dragon took up his brush once more, dictating as he put ink to the bare wall. Jadere's eyes followed his script, and she leaned closer to Xavi, translating to the best of her ability. "'To remember...' No, 'For those who remember, we took up this...' I think that's 'banner', must be referring to the war. 'We took up this banner in the name of...' Hmm?"

The dragon had stopped. His eyes were unfocused, and his ears began to droop.

Jadere's eyes were on the last letter the dragon had painted, only halfway down the column. Then she glanced at the page. "Oh, come on, the next word's plain as day... Why're you stopping?" The fox questioned as though he could hear her.

"Mother..." The single word slipped from the dragon's tongue.

"No, it's plural possessive - 'our mothers'." Jadere corrected him as though she were correcting Warrav. "'In the name of our mothers.'"

"Hush," Xavi stopped her. "His mother is a... sore subject, I think."

"Wha...? Oh. Well, he can't hear us anyway." The vixen laughed dryly. "What am I doing?"

"Quiet! That echoes!" Xavi hissed at the fox's laugh.

The dragon winced, a low whine issuing from his throat, only to be choked off. Jadere sobered at the forlorn sound. Who knew if the dragon heard the echo of laughter, but he didn't seem to have it in him to continue. He set his brush down, and reached past his cauldron for a mismatched lid, which he set atop his ink.

"Would think someone a hundred and fifty would be over its mother," Jadere mused. "Maybe he's not that old."

"Come on," Xavi said, grabbing the vixen by the arm. "We don't want him to walk into us."

As she suspected, after a moment the dragon got up off its haunches and plodded out of the room.

Jadere chanted swiftly, tracing a sigil after him.

"What was that?" Xavi asked.

"Set a ward on him, like the ones on you and Warrav. This way I know where he is, and if he's up to anything interesting." The fox explained.

The raven nodded, sighing slowly. That poor creature...

"Xavi," Jadere began softly, "I know you say your brother won't like you following the dragon..."

The sigh became a groan.

"...But he has to know about this library. And you're right, better he know about the dragon first. Listen," she grabbed Xavi by the shoulders, "You've proven yourself reliably able to conceal yourself, and now myself. You're more than capable of this, more than I'd have expected from a student at your level, and I'll say as much to your brother. But if he - the dragon, that is - if he really can speak Aldaian... We'll want to talk to him."

"Talk to him?" Xavi recoiled.

"Yes, talk. He could know an awful lot about the contents of this library by now, plus he reads and writes Aldaian fluently. He may have a wealth of knowledge, if he's willing to share it. And when larger expeditions visit - because of that there is little doubt - he ought to be forewarned. But if he's... delicate..." She glanced at the unfinished column of letters on the wall. "Far be it from me to call a dragon 'delicate' lightly, but from what I've just seen... I think you should talk to him first."

"Me?"

"Yes, you." Jadere smiled gently. "You've watched him the most. You can get close without scaring him. Find a way to approach him. See if he'll talk with us."

"But... I've hardly... I'm not..." The raven pulled against the paws gripping her shoulders.

Jadere released her quickly. "Do you really think he'd hurt you? You'll be fine, Xavi. You're the best choice, too; Warrav's an arse, and I tried to attack him with magic the second I saw him."

"I barely saw him any more than you did! I... Maybe if I observe him a bit more?" Xavi shrugged desperately.

"Better you talk to him before we tell Warrav about all this," Jadere motioned back toward the hall, and the library beyond. "If the dragon proves friendly, Warrav won't have anything to complain about you stalking him - the dragon won't be a threat, and that wouldn't be necessary anymore. But the sooner Warrav learns of this library, the better. But he'll have to know about the dragon too, or else he'll walk in here and scare the poor thing."

"I should be the one to tell him about the dragon." Xavi folded her wings beneath her breasts. "And you're right, I should talk to the dragon first, but I'm just not ready..."

"Ready for what?" The vixen threw up her arms. "How he'll respond? You'll never know until you try."

Xavi's gaze dropped. "I just..." She didn't want to reveal herself, for one thing. How would it help the dragon's sense of security to know someone had been spying on him? And how was she supposed to talk to him? She was an illusionist, not a diplomat. "I need time. A few more days, maybe..."

Jadere balked. "A few more days? Xavi, we only have a few days to loiter here!"

"Six!"

"And how much more 'ready' would you feel in five? The only thing putting this off will do is make Warrav that much more annoyed about being kept out of the loop. You could walk over there, say hello to the dragon, invite him to lunch, and tell Warrav the whole story - end of problem."

Th raven spread a wing toward the dragon's unfinished writing project. "He's upset right now!"

"Go follow him, and talk to him when he's not." Jadere pressed her muzzle into her paws. "Don't make this difficult, Xavi..."

Glancing away, Xavi knew she was overreacting. And it was embarrassing enough she had to do it in front of one of Warrav's coworkers, let alone over a stepping stone in their goals. It made her grit her beak, but Jadere was right. There was little legitimate reason to wait. But this was a dragon they were discussing - a creature that could easily rend her in two with those claws. Suddenly she was sick to her stomach with that mental image. And to think, she'd thought he was cute... Delicate? He obviously couldn't handle his emotion very well. If he felt too threatened...

And he might turn violent if he knew intruders had discovered his library. Xavi very much doubted he would go through the trouble of copying a book unless the written word held value for him. Dragons had hoards, right? If any old dragon in a cave protected its hoard, why would this one not protect his library?

Jadere lowered her paws from her face, haggard but significantly calmed. "Look... He is upset. You're right there. But he can't be upset all day. Life doesn't always hand us perfect opportunities when we want them. Don't make me go to Warrav without you."

Xavi nearly squawked, "You wouldn't! You wouldn't even know about this place if not for me!"

"And what do you think will happen when the full expeditions arrive? They will find this place." Her eyes were hard. "Would you trust some bookmonger like Warrav to extend sympathy to a dragon in the way of his research?"

Grinding her beak until she could no longer deny it, the raven sighed. "No..."

"Then please..." Jadere swept her arm toward the doorway. "Talk to him. Today if you can. It's for the best, in the long term."

The raven swallowed, finally nodding a bit. She was so used to hiding from the dragon... now she was going to have to confront him. Alone, and with no protection.

"You'll be fine." The fox smiled - though there was a hint of weariness in her expression. Slowly, she set a paw on Xavi's shoulder once more, as though to impart her confidence. "Go on, girl. Speak to him or watch him; go."

"I don't even know where he went," Xavi sighed.

"Library, by the hearth."

Right, Jadere's ward.

"Come on," the fox's paw edged her toward the doorway. "I'll head back to the library and poke around a little."

Stripped of excuse, the raven went. The dragon was indeed by the hearth, staring at the flames beneath his next pot of glue. He may as well have been a marble and ivory statue but for his breathing and the periodic twitch of his tail. With his ears listless, utterly unthreatening as Xavi watched him, she felt slightly better about speaking to him. Though, she still didn't want to bother him while he was upset.

Jadere soon lost herself in the labyrinthian aisles of the library, and Xavi was more or less alone with the dragon. She stared into his eyes, and the flicking orange reflections of the fire dancing within them. She found herself entranced in the intensity and depth of his gaze. So deeply entranced, she was startled when he moved some minutes later. Leaping aside before he walked straight through her, Xavi collected herself and hurried after him as he trotted toward the closest passage left of the hearth.

It was a stairway descending into darkness. Xavi felt at least a small spark of pride, plucking the artifice glass from a pocket; this was why she brought it, after all. Pressing it to her eye, the dark stairwell was significantly brighter. Though everything was grayer, like a faded painting. The dragon, though, already white as he was, looked positively aglow.

Below the library was a warren of corridors, and the dragon seemed to have no trouble navigating it. Since he'd had a lantern upstairs, Xaxi surmised he needed less light to walk by than he needed to write by. They passed by rooms similar to the grandiose meeting halls above, though smaller, with less elegant tables and chairs. Many were cleared of furnishing, their walls coated with Aldaian script. How much could one dragon possibly write?

Fortunately the path the dragon took wasn't too complicated. The dragon walked to the very end of a long hall and took the very last passage to the left: its walls were written upon too, however the script seemed sloppier, the columns crooked and scrawled in uneven patches. A half-dozen doorways led to the smallest rooms she'd yet seen in the library, and glancing into a few she found still rougher letters. One entire room was devoted to rows of each character. There was also a huge ink stain on the floor, and black paw prints all over; the sight made her chuckle, for he must've been half the size he was now if those were his prints.

This was where he'd learned to write.

The raven followed the dragon into the very last room. Across the walls were not ink stains, but faded scratches and something that looked like chalk. In one corner had been piled a filthy-looking mess of cloth, which the dragon collapsed upon, curling up and placing a paw over his eyes.

Xavi was a little surprised to find any cloth survived. They might have been linens, rugs, or even drapery once. Whether eighth or ninth era, these ruins had weathered most of the tenth at the very least. Anywhere more humid than such a desert, century-old cloth would be little more than dust by now. All that remained of the upholstery of Aldaia was now a dragon's bed. And a meager one at that.

A threadbare bed for a threadbare creature.

Xavi sighed as she gazed past the dragon. She didn't want him to know she knew about his library until he understood she wasn't a threat, so she'd have to wait until he left. If he left.

And if he didn't... Hopefully Jadere wouldn't tell Warrav. If she could, Xavi wanted to speak to the dragon elsewhere. Perhaps if he went hunting, or to fetch more water from the well.

Seating herself in a corner and against the stone walls, she determined she'd wait out the dragon if she had to.