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Ryan's father put the last of the bags in the car and slammed down the hatch. Ryan flinched at the sound but otherwise said nothing, feeling cut off from the world and alone in his misery. His mother said his name and he looked at her dully. "It'll be alright, Ryan," she said softly. He shrugged and went back to looking out the window at the fading light of the sun. He had looked around for Tanner when they first came out, hoping to see him one last time, but there had been no sign of him. Perhaps it was better that way.

His father climbed into the car, slamming the door behind him, and turned to glare at Ryan. He started to say something and Beth laid a hand on his shoulder. He glared at her, then jerked around and started the car. He blew through the campground and onto the main road as if speed and distance would somehow undo Ryan having met Tanner.

Ryan reached over into the back and pulled out a blanket. He shifted forms and pulled the blanket over himself, trilling in misery. His father almost said something again, but another cautioning look from his mother stopped him. "Just leave him be, Allen, please? He's had a bad shock." His father grunted and they continued to hurtle down the freeway, Ryan laying in the backseat curled up as tight as he could, trying to shut out everything.

Ryan barely woke as his mother picked him up and carried him inside the hotel, still wrapped up in his blanket. She sat him on the bed and stroked his neck gently until he subsided into a deeper sleep. Allen sat on the other bed and watched them for awhile, then sighed. "I didn't handle that well did I?"

"No, you didn't"

"I'm sorry."

"I'm not the one you need to apologize to."

"When he wakes."

She continued to pet Ryan, wishing that things weren't so hard on him. She understood Allen's fear of Ryan being found out but you could scarcely lock the boy away from the world. Tanner had made her nervous as well but she figured if he had intended to hurt her son he would have done so after they had first met. If he had intended to take him Ryan never would have made it home after that first meeting.

She finally laid down beside Ryan and put her arm around him, listening to him thrum quietly, reflexively. After a moment Allen laid down on the other side of him and almost hesitantly started to pet Ryan. "He'll be okay," he said quietly to himself and she wondered who he was really trying to convince.

Tanner sat in his hotel room wondering if there was anything he could have done differently. He didn't want to frighten Ryan's parents but he couldn't well leave Ryan laying there sick like that either. If only he could have somehow convinced them that he was no threat to their son. If anything he wanted to help them help Ryan.

But if they had kidnapped him...

He paced around the room restlessly. Sinclair was looking up the boy's adoption and he hoped that was the right thing to do. He still feared getting the dragons riled up or attracting attention to Ryan and causing him some harm if there was a good reason that he shouldn't be near other dragons.

Blast but it was all so frustrating!

He pulled the luggage tag he found in their cabin after they left out of his pocket and looked at it. At least he had the boy's address and could write him. He didn't want to go around Ryan's parents but if the young dragon were in danger...

He went to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of rum and a bottle of coke. It would be one of those nights.

Sunlight shining down on Ryan's muzzle woke him with a start. Sunlight meant open windows and open windows meant people could see him in his dragon form. He looked up in a panic and relaxed some when he realized that his parents and left the upper potion of the mini blinds tilted open and the rest closed. The only way someone would be able to see him is if they were 8 feet tall. He blinked and looked round, momentarily unsure of where he was, then remember being carried into a hotel room. He yawned and stretched himself out fully, enjoying the feeling.

Then remembered Tanner and what happened last night. He almost whimpered but stopped himself. He would not act like a little hatchling over this!

But it hurt. Lord, it did hurt.

He climbed down off the bed, wondering where his parents were. He assumed they were taking a shower but a quick investigation showed the bathroom to be empty. Ryan whined through his nose as panic started to creep over him. He tired not to get upset. His parents would be right back, they had just stepped out to get a paper or bring back some breakfast. But why would they both go at the same time?

Ryan started to pace nervously, trilling quietly. What if they had decided that this was all too much trouble and abandoned him? He had hissed at them, snarled at them, and threatened them! His own mother had been terrified of him! Why would anyone want to stay with a monster like that? Ryan whimpered and shook his head. No, no, they said they would never leave him. They promised!

He paced, his mind churning faster. What if they had been captured? What if Tanner told someone about him and they had captured his parents and were trying to force them into giving him up? What if they tortured them? Scenarios flashed through his mind, each worse than the last. He was about to shift forms and run out looking for them when he heard the door knob turn.

With a frightened yelp he ducked behind the bed and peered around the edge, expecting to see the FBI, NASA, and probably a few other dark secret organizations tromping through the door to take him away, but it was only his parents. They had no sooner closed the door when he burst out from behind the bed, bounding over to them, scrabbling at their legs with his claws sheathed, wanting to be picked up. His mother sat down the groceries and scooped him up into her arms, shushing him. "Easy, Ryan, you're safe."

"I thought that you had abandoned me or were captured," Ryan said miserably.

"We would never abandon you," she said soothingly, stroking his neck.

"But I hissed at you! I was mean!"

His father sighed. "People who love each other have arguments, especially when they're worried that someone they love is in danger, Ryan. Sometimes they say things they don't really mean. That's all that happened Ryan; don't worry about it, okay?"

"Yes, father," Ryan said, ears still at half mast.

"We brought some donuts and chocolate milk for you," Beth said, hoping to distract him.

"That sounds nice," Ryan said, ears coming up a little.

She sat him down and served him breakfast. After he finished eating he started to lick his talons clean and she made a face. "Alright, into the bath with you." She ushered him into the bathroom and ran the water for him, pouring some oil from his medical kit into the water. "When you're done I'll oil you."

Ryan thrummed loudly at the thought of being oiled. He climbed into the shower and stood on his hind legs, forelegs hanging loose in front of him, eyes squeezed shut as he looked up into the stream, thrumming as the water and down his back and off his half unfurled wings. He looked over at his mother who was smiling at him. "A little privacy?"

She laughed at him and he grinned, earls perked. "Thank you so very much mother."

"You are so very welcome!" she told him, giving him a pat as she walked out the door, closing it behind her. She sat down to eat her own breakfast.

He's bathing?" Ryan's father asked. She nodded and started to eat a donut and the sighed, and set it down, just staring at it. He looked at her quizzically.

"He's so nervous Allen. I don't like it."

"He's always been that way."

"He's alway been a little timid yes, but thinking that we're going to abandon him? He's never acted that way before," she said, looking towards the bathroom where they could hear him splashing about.

Allen sighed. "I'm sure he'll grow out of it."

"You say that but are sure?"

He sat down his paper. "What do you want me to do about it, then?"

"I'd like for you to be a little more gentle and understanding of him."

"So I'm a bad father?"

"Oh lord Allen, that's not what I'm saying!" she said, exasperated. "What I'm saying is that you've been pretty harsh with him over the last few days. I know you're sacred for him, Lord knows I am as well, but I think you went to far."

"So I'm supposed to let this Tanner person continue to talk to him and tell him Lord knows what? What if he's working for the dragons and they want to take Ryan? It's obvious that he knows about them! What if he runs back and tells them we have Ryan and they come looking for him? You know his parents warned us to keep him away from other dragons!"

"I know, I know," she said and sighed. "It just seems harsh, Allen. That's all I'm saying."

He was silent. "I understand what you're saying," he admitted, "and I'll try to be a little more gentle in my approach Beth, but it's hard. I'm so worried about what could happen to him were he found out or if the dragons came for him."

"I know love, just don't let that worry cause him harm."

"I'll try. You had better get him dried off and oiled so we can get under way; we have a long drive ahead of us."

Ryan sat in class wishing that he were back at Glorieta or any place, really, other than sitting at school listening to his teacher drone on about WWII, something that he would normally find to be fascinating. She seemed bent, however, on taking any and all enjoyment out of the subject. He desperately wanted to correct her concerning the dimensions of the Essex class carriers but decided to simply stay quiet and sulk at his desk.

"Now class, here's a big bonus question for you!" his teacher said brightly. "Whoever can get the answer to this right can have the rest of the day off! You have to stay at school of course but you're excused from work."

Ryan's ears perked up, or rather they would have if he had been in his dragon form. Any way of getting out of school sounded fine to him.

"Who can name the last active US carrier ship from WWII?" his teacher asked with a huge smile, "If no one can answer it, you can all work on it over the weekend but you won't get a day off." The class groaned and she laughed at her cleverness.

Ryan raised his hand and she frowned. Ryan almost never participated. "Ah, yes Ryan?"

"The USS Cabot," he answered.

"Oh no, I'm sorry Ryan, that's not it."

"It most assuredly is!" Ryan said indignantly.

"Ryan, there are other ships that were still in service afterwards," she informed him sadly.

Ryan shook his head. "We sold her to the Spanish and she is still in use, largely under her original configuration. The Spanish navy named her Dedalo, thus she was still in standard military service. May I have the day off now?"

"Alright, Ryan," she said raising her hands in surrender. She suddenly regretted making the offer and more so that she called on Ryan. He was a precocious child at times and frustrated her on a regular basis. "You have the day off, you may do whatever you wish so long as it is not disruptive."

"Thank you!" Ryan said dryly and walked out of the classroom to the library. Why did she bother questioning him? She knew that he knew more than she did. He chided himself for the thought; no need to be arrogant about it.

The recess bell rang and he went outside in the yard to talk to the few friends that he had, mostly outcasts and misfits like himself though for different reasons, or at least none of them had ever acted like a dragon that Ryan could tell. They were discussing books they had read and Ryan happily joined in the conversation, being a rather avid reader himself. The group was, oddly enough, discussing dragons in various books, something that would normally make Ryan nervous, but he joined in and was soon enjoying the conversation.

A group of bullies walked up to them and started making snide comments about fantasy books. Ryan ignored them, for all the good that ever did.

"Reading fantasy books is for nerds!" their leader said, a chubby red head with lots of freckles.

Ryan sighed inside and continued to speak as if he hadn't heard. "So anyway, the dragon was furious that his rider had been hurt and--"

"Dragons suck!" one of the little toadies that followed the larger bullies around said. Ryan glared at him before he could stop himself and the kid grinned. "Aw, does you like cute little dragons?"

"And what if I do?" Ryan demanded.

"It means you suck as bad a dragons do!" he said, smirking at his cleverness or as close as he could come to cleverness.

Ryan stared for a moment and then pointedly turned his back on them, going back to talk to his friends. The red head looked nonplussed by Ryan's reaction or lack thereof when another one of his cronies piped up. "I like to kill dragons!"

Ryan's head snapped around involuntarily at this and the red head ran with it. "Yeah, killing dragons is fun!"

Ryan started to tremble. "You could not kill a dragon if your life depended on it."

"Oh yes I could!" the red head said, pushing his chin out belligerently.

Ryan laughed disgustedly. "The dragon would claw you to death before you and a chance to move, or just toast you, or even just fly away. You loose!" Ryan laughed again, grinning.

"They're easy to kill when they're babies!"

Ryan went cold. "You would never get close; the parents would obliterate you," he said in a low voice quivering with emotion.

The red head grinned having gotten another rise out of Ryan. "All you have to do is wait for 'em to leave and then you can break the eggs and have scrambled dragon eggs for breakfast!"

Ryan screamed and threw himself on the red head before he knew what was happening, hammering him with his fists, snarling even in his human form, using the curse words that Tanner had taught him in draconic (And told him never to use, of course)

Teachers ran over and finally the gym teacher bodily picked Ryan up. Ryan trashed about in his arms, wailing like a beán sidhe entire time and the teacher sat him down hard on a bench and glared at him. Ryan sat with his fists curled tight, tears of rage running down his cheeks. He looked down at his hands and saw the blood on them, then looked up at the red head who was being lead away by the teachers and dissolved into broken weeping.

They suspended Ryan from school for a week for fighting. His father stared down at him as he sat on the couch, trying not to meet his father's gaze. "So you attacked him because he threatened to smash dragon eggs?"

"Yes, father," Ryan said miserably.

"He doesn't know you're a dragon, I doubt he believes in dragons, and he certainly didn't believe that he was actually going to smash some imaginary dragon eggs! You attacked him because he threatened to smash something he doesn't even believe in?"

"Father you do not understand!" Ryan protested. "I had to protect those babies! I knew he did not believe in them and was just trying to anger me, but I had to save them!"

Allen shook his head. "Fine. Fine, just get to your room."

As Ryan walked away, head down, he heard his father mutter "Damned instincts." He ran and threw himself on his bed and wept bitterly until he cried himself to sleep.

Ryan's father and mother sat quietly together watching TV later that night. She sighed and he looked over at her. "What?"

"I'm worried about him."

He shrugged. "What are we going to do? Keep him home?"

"I don't know!"

"He's going to have to learn to control himself; that's all there is to it."

She nodded and was silent a moment. "He heard what you said."

He looked confused. "Heard what?"

"Damned instincts."

"Oh," he said and shrugged.

She looked at him incredulously. "He cried himself to sleep over it and all you can do is shrug and say 'oh'?"

"He's going to have to learn to control his instincts or they're going to get him into a hell of a lot more trouble than this!"

"Talking to him that way isn't going to help matters any!" she snapped.

"It's not my fault he's so dammed sensitive!"

She stood up. "Isn't it?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he said, standing as well, his voice rising in anger.

"You're constantly on him! You never let up for a moment, seldom give him a word of praise, constantly chastise him for acting like a dragon ask if he were supposed to act human! You get frustrated when his instincts come up and try to make him behave as if he had none. And what does he do? He tires to ignore them, tries to keep them bottled up just so he can please you! He walks around on tenterhooks when you're around if you haven't noticed! Is it any wonder he's sensitive?"

"What would you have me do?" Allen yelled. "We can't let him act like a dragon! Someone's going to notice eventually and take him and then what? What the hell would we do then? What would happen to us?"

"Yes, that's it isn't it? You worry more for what could happen to us than to him!"

'That's not what I meant!" he said, frustrated.

"It's what you said! Never mind that they could lock him up in a cage somewhere and do god knows what to him! Don't worry about him being someones pet experiment, just worry about what the hell happens to you!"

Allen stopped, unable to speak and she stood there, staring at him, trembling in anger. She lowered her head and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry Allen. That was uncalled for." He nodded, unable to speak.

Finally he said. "I'm sorry too, Beth. I just meant...if they take him from us and we're taken away how are we going to help him then? If we were out then at least we could try to find some way to help him, talk to the press or something."

"I understand," she said quietly. She reached out carefully and put her arms around him and he hugged her.

"I know I'm hard on him at times but Lord, Beth, the thought of loosing him terrifies me. I know he's handful and he drives me nuts some days, but I can't bear the thought of loosing him," he said as he rubbed her back.

"I have nightmares about it too," she said leaning into him. "Him being taken, us being forced to watch as they cut into him--" she stopped suddenly, freezing. He looked down at her and then over her shoulder to see Ryan standing just outside his bedroom door in his small dragon form, eyes wide.

"Ryan?" he said quietly and the dragon too a tentative step backwards.

"Come here, Ryan," his mother said softly, stepping away from his father.

Ryan froze, unable to move, and she slowly approached him until she was standing over him. He looked up at her, eyes wide, barely able to move at all, the freeze still having a grip on him She carefully picked him up and pet him. "Ryan?"

"You and father were fighting over me," he whispered.

"We're worried for you Ryan, that's all. The stress just caused us to start yelling . Sometimes when you love someone enough the though of them being hurt scares you and makes you angry, like we told you at camp," she said to him, still petting him.

"We're sorry for scaring you, Ryan," his father said, reaching out to pet him.

Ryan looked down. "You said they could take me. You said they would hurt you if they took me."

"That's always been a risk, Ryan, but one we accept when we took you in."

"But if they hurt you both, that would not be fair! I do not wish for you or mother to come to harm! Perhaps I should just go."

"No!" Allen said sharply. "Get that thought out of your head now, you're not going anywhere. You're staying here with us and that's the end of it!"

Ryan flinched and buried his head into his mother's shoulder. "Allen you're scaring him!"

Allen sighed. "I'm sorry, Ryan. We're a family and we are staying together no matter what."

"Yes father."

Allen smiled and held his arms out to him and Ryan carefully crawled into them. Allen pet him until he finally relaxed and fell asleep in his father's arms.

Ryan was given a counselor when he finally returned to school by the name of Mr. Sulvius. Mr. Sulvius was a white haired man with thin but warm, friendly features. He sat across room from Ryan, wearing a navy blue suit, and had a briefcase sitting open next to him with all sorts of papers inside. Ryan assumed them to be a list of what was wrong with him; this was not the first counselor he had been assigned so he knew the drill. Ryan stared at him across the table not trusting him from the outset. He didn't expect Mr Sulvius to last any longer than any of the others; the current record was three months.

Mr Sulvius looked at the file, then back up at him, smiling warmly. Ryan didn't buy it for a minute. "You're Ryan correct?"

Ryan decided not to be a smart mouth to start with, giving Mr. Sulvius a chance to think he as doing well. Then he would bury him. "Yes sir."

He nodded as if that was the response he expected. "I'm sure you know why you're here."

Ryan nodded. Because you're going to try to fix me, he thought.

Mr Sulvius nodded again as if Ryan had given him the response expected. "Hmm," he said and Ryan waited for him to start asking all the typical questions. Mr. Sulvius tapped his pen against his lips thoughtfully. "So what do you think the problem is?"

Question number one, Ryan thought. "I know not."

Mr Sulvius sighed. Oh, don't give up already! Ryan thought. We've not yet begun to have fun! "You're smarter than that, Ryan. I expect you to respect me and give me an honest answer just as I respect you and will always give you honest answers. Deal?"

Ryan blinked. Respect? Alright... "I know not. I am so very much smarter than they are and they do not like me for it so they make fun of me."

"Hmm. Okay, so what are we going to do about it?"

"Give me a lobotomy so I am so very stupid and fit in?" Ryan said with a hint of bitterness in his voice.

Mr. Sulvius laughed warmly. "No Ryan, I don't think we're going to do that, especially as I think the problem does not lie so much with you as it does with them."

Ryan looked startled for a moment and quickly clamped down on his emotions and tired to keep his bored expression. Mr. Sulvius smiled at him as if he knew what he was thinking, something that rather unnerved him. "I understand what it is like to be different than others, Ryan, to be smarter and picked on. You need to avoid pounding people's faces in of course but I do understand you, at least a little."

Ryan looked away, a lump forming in his throat. Being diagnosed and told he was broken or different and had to be fixed he could handle; understanding he couldn't quite bear. Mr Sulvius wordlessly pushed a box of tissue over to him. "It's alright to cry in this room. No one will ever know but you and I and I will never think any less of you for it," Mr. Sulvius said gently.

Ryan sobbed and snatched the tissue away from Mr. Sulvius, hating himself for showing emotion, hating Mr. Sulvius for getting to him. Mr. Sulvius waited for him to compose himself a little and said, "So what are we going to do about this, Ryan?"

"I know not," Ryan said sullenly.

"Well, if you know not, perhaps we should do some writing?"

Ryan winced, realizing that he had been talking like a dragon all this time. "That's fine, I guess," he said, forcing himself to use contractions.

"So what shall we write about?" Mr. Sulvius asked, smiling at him.

"Why so you can read it and figure out what's wrong with me?" Ryan snapped, lashing out at Mr. Sulvius for making him feel so weak, for at least partially understanding him.

Mr. Sulvius sighed and looked a little saddened by the outburst. "No, so I can read it and find out what you like to write about. I'm not going to read into anything or make judgments on every little move you make or every little answer you give, Ryan. How can I read your writing to figure out what's wrong with you when I don't think anything is wrong with you?"

Ryan looked up at him, startled, and felt tears starting to course down his cheeks once more. Mr. Sulvius smiled gently and walked around the table. He placed a hand on his shoulder. Ryan knew they weren't supposed to touch the students but Mr Sulvius hand was warm on his shoulder and felt comforting.

"Ryan, I want you to promise me something, okay?" He asked and Ryan nodded slowly. "I want you to promise me that you'll never again think that you're broken and need to be fixed. I don't want you to ever feel as if you're a project to be worked on, or a mistake that has to be corrected, or some outcast that should be shut up and hidden away. You're a bright, talented young man with lots of potential, that's what I see. Yes you have some problems but yours are no worse than mine or anyone else's. Can you promise me that?"

"Y--yes, Mr. Sulvius," Ryan said, trying to get control over his emotions.

Mr Sulvius smiled and sat down. "Good! So what do we want to write about?"

Ryan threw caution into the wind for reasons he would never quite figure out. "Dragons!"

Mr. Sulvius raised his eyebrows. "Dragons is it? What an interesting topic!"

Ryan winced. "Probably not a good one."

"Nonsense, it's a perfectly good topic. So what about dragons?"

Ryan thought about it. "Well, it would have to be a fantasy setting, a world with knights, and wizards and stuff."

Mr. Sulvius nodded. "Sounds reasonable."

Ryan started to pace as the idea took hold of him. "And...a prince?" he asked tentatively.

"Very good," Mr. Sulvius said approvingly. "A prince it is. So what kind of problem does our prince have?"

Ryan looked at Mr. Sulvius uneasily and the counselor sighed. "No, not what problem are you going to project on to the prince, thought it is okay if you do, you cannot help but put a part of yourself into writing. Characters in books have to have problems to solve or there is nothing for them to do, which you have to admit would make for a boring story."

"Oh!" Ryan said, blushing with embarrassment. He thought about it. "He's lonely," he finally said.

Mr. Sulvius nodded. "Alright, a lonely prince then."

"Yes, like I am sometimes!" Ryan said a little defiantly.

Mr Sulvius laughed softly. "So are we all, Ryan. So what do we do to fix this prince's loneliness?"

"He needs a friend, a companion of some sort."

"Okay, so what kind of friend? A commoner or a nobel? Another prince or princess?"

Ryan paced as the thought and finally turned to Mr. Sulvius. "A dragon?" he asked a little shyly.

"A dragon!" Mr. Sulvius said approvingly. "What a friend that would be!"

Ryan smiled at him gratefully.

Tanner walked into his flat, tossed his coat down on the couch, set his briefcase on the table, and then took off his coat and hung it up, whistling to himself. Not a bad day at work, he reflected. He really did enjoy teaching, especially when the students eyes lit up when they finally understood something for the first time. That made it all worth while, he thought.

And suddenly remembered the gold eyes of a blue and grey dragon, eagerly looking to him for information. He felt a small lurch in his chest. He missed Ryan, there were no two ways about it. The idea still troubled him from time to time. Why all this emotion regarding one dragon? Ryan was just so...so...needing of protection. He seemed so much more innocent than any other dragon he had run across and I many ways he was, knowing little or nothing about dragons. There was such an innocence about him that Tanner just wanted to reach out and hold him away from anything that my harm him. Perhaps it was just Ryan's situation, he wasn't sure.

He abruptly decided to call Perrin, a dragon he knew that lived in Northamptonshire who was rather well read when it came to dragon breeds. Perrin, or Per as he preferred to be called, was a dragon of Irish descent and heavily built like most dragons native to the islands. They had met many years ago at a dragon gathering when Tanner had become fascinated by the way Per's wings were seemingly jointed backwards as to what he thought to be normal. They had been fast friends ever since, Per being utterly vulnerable to flattery.

"Per? Tanner," he said when the dragon picked up. "No, as a matter of fact I have not missed your so called melodious voice, I simply had a question for you. Yes, I'm fine. No, I've not been sick. Alright I'll come up and see you! Yes the question can wait until then. You're a pain in the tail you know that? I know I don't have a tail...Per...Oh for the love of Pete! Bye!" He hung up the phone in amused disgust. Per was egotistical in an extreme, or rather he played at it for the benefit, so called, of dragon friends. In reality he was a very easy going dragon and one of the most helpful of the lot.

He turned to go into the kitchen to fix himself something to neat and nearly ran into Susan who had been standing there, evidently eavesdropping on his conversation. He started. "Susan! I didn't expect you here!" he said and gave her a hug. She hugged him back perfunctorily and then stepped back.

"Who were you talking to?"

"A friend," Tanner said a little evasively.

"It was a dragon wasn't it?" she asked, voice tensing.

Tanner sighed. "Yes, I was talking to Per. I had a question about a particular dragon breed."

Susan shook her head. "I thought you were going to lay off the dragons."

Tanner sighed. "Susan, we talked about this and--"

"And you said that you understood!" she snapped.

Tanner stepped back, confused at her behavior. "I'm a dragon friend, Susan, you know this! You grew up with them yourself, please don't be so harsh."

She sighed. "Tanner you well know that dragons don't like humans getting mixed up in their affairs, especially when it involves their laws and customs." She stepped forwards and took his hands into hers. "Leave off this, love. Lets go and get something to eat and afterwards you can come to my place for tea."

Tanner smiled at her but really wanted nothing more than to sit down and try to sort out what was going on with Ryan and his feelings towards the little dragon and to the situation in general. Still, he tired to be a gentleman when he could and she was right, dragons didn't care for humans getting involved in some of their business. "I would be happy to," he said.

"Wonderful!" she said and kissed him as they walked out the door.

Beth hummed to herself as she straightened out Ryan's room. She was careful that she put certain things back exactly as she found them knowing that Ryan would become agitated if they were moved out of place. Not that he really minded her cleaning his room, it was just that those items, and they changed periodically, fell under his hoarding instinct. Ryan would "hide" things and she knew most of his spots and respected them. It wasn't as if he were stashing cigarets or contraband. It was another one of his instincts and mostly it was best to go along with them.

Every so often the little dragon would stash things outside his room as well. She left them alone or was careful to put things back if she moved them. Once in awhile she would ask him to move something, much to his indignation.

Once she came across a girly magazine hidden away. It upset her, of course, Ryan had not started puberty yet and she had taught him better. She left the magazine out on his bed and waiting for him to get home. When he walked into his room she followed behind him and watched as he froze when he saw the magazine laying out. He flinched away when he noticed her standing behind him and she quietly asked him to explain why he had a girly magazine.

She just stared at him, bemused, as he explained that one of his friends had several that he had hidden away from his parents and it seemed as if they must have some value if he had them and didn't want his parents to find them. He thought that perhaps it would be nice to have some hidden away as well. He bashfully admitted to having looked into the magazine but couldn't quite understand what fascinated the boys so much about the pictures.

She was probably the only mother in the neighborhood who's son hid away girly magazines because of an instinct.

She threw the magazine away and told him that he wasn't to have such things and that if he wanted to have something of value to hide away they would buy him something. Even his father was amused by the whole incident when he found out. "At least we didn't find a copy of Playdragon in his room."

Beth dusted around Ryan's dresser then pulled out one of the drawers and looked behind it where Ryan would stash pictures of the family or cut outs of magazines or newspapers that interested him. She couldn't help but wonder at how much greater his hoarding instinct would become. Fortunately for them Ryan had never really proven to be territorial over his possessions.

She pulled out the pictures and articles and flipped through them. Grandparents, herself, his father, and a few pictures of dragons he had cut out of magazines, all things she expected to find. What she didn't expect to find was Tanner Wilberforce's business card, she looked at it wondering if he had been in contact with the man behind their backs. She carefully put everything back as she found it and went back to cleaning his room, wondering if she should say anything to Allen about it.

Ryan's mother stood at the kitchen sink snapping green beans when the back door flew open and Ryan bolted in, slamming it shut behind him, dropping his lunch pail and backpack. She nearly dropped the beans she was holding. "Ryan!"

"I am well, mother," he said as he leaned up against the door with a huge sigh and slid to the floor, breathing hard.

She sighed and dried off her hands. "Are you hurt?"

"No mother, they did not catch me," he said, shaking his head.

"What happened?" she asked, reaching out to him. He flinched away from her and she lowered her hand, closing her eyes, reminding herself that it was just instinct, it wasn't her, he was just following his instincts.

"I was walking in the alley and four boys jumped out at me. I ran," he shrugged and looked up anther as if it were utterly normal. He looked so accepting of the situation that she suddenly found herself furiously angry. Ryan had enough struggles because of his situation and he didn't need a bunch of ignorant humans making it harder on him.

Ryan sensed the shift in her emotions and looked apprehensive. "School was good, mother. Mr Sulvius seemed so very nice."

She struggled to get a grip on her emotions, not wanting to upset the little dragon further. "That's wonderful, Ryan, but I'm not upset with you; I'm upset with those kids bullying you."

He shrugged, looking uncomfortable. "May I have my applesauce, please?"

"Yes, Ryan, of course," she said softly. Ryan had always been sensitive to tone of voice. She looked up at the blinds to make sure they were closed. "You may take your dragon form if you wish."

He looked surprised, then grateful. "Thank you so very much, mother!" he said and shifted forms.

"You're most welcome!" she said, patting him on the head. She stood to get him a bowl of applesauce as he padded into the living room to watch TV.

Ryan was sitting back on his haunches in the living room when she brought it out to him, the light from the upper blinds highlighting him as it shown down. She paused to admire him for a moment. She didn't think she would ever become so used to him that she wouldn't notice his natural grace and beauty; she hoped she never would. She brought him his applesauce before he caught her staring. Ryan didn't care to be stared at even by his parents.

"Here you go, oh mighty dragon," she said, putting the bowl down with a little flourish. He looked up and flicked and ear at her and she laughed, patting him on the head, then went back to the kitchen trying not to think about how unfair life was for a young dragon in a human world.

Tanner shut the door to his flat and sighed deeply. The night had not gone well; the whole thing had been very stressful. It started with Susan prying into who Ryan was and then talking about dragons in a less than flattering light. Then to top it all off she invited him back to her place for tea and then tried to seduce him. It had almost worked, he thought guiltily.

He told her early on that he wanted to wait until they were married before starting a sexual relationship with her. His experience with women was slim, but it taught him that sex confused the issue and could make things very awkward later if the relationship didn't work out. It also made it horribly difficult for him to resist her advances. It had been may years since his last partner and the desire to have sex was very strong when it was aroused. He had to wryly admit to himself that it would have been nice, but he really wanted to wait for the right woman.

Susan, increasingly, wasn't the right woman.

He opened his refrigerator to get some orange juice which set Nicholas to freeping his little head off. "Oh you're not hungry!" Tanner said exasperatedly.

Nicholas seemed to disagree as he freeped all the louder and started to popcorn around his cage. Tanner sighed and picked up a bundle of greens and walked over to the cage. A little tan and white guinea pig looked up at him in rapt fascination, making the little burbling noises that hungry guinea pigs made. "I suspect you think you're starving?"

The guinea pig agreed, but then they generally did agree that they were starving to death. He set down the bundle of greens and picked the little rodent up and Nicholas started making the little "werp" noise that held guinea pigs tended to make. Tanner wasn't exactly sure what the noise meant, but privately suspected the best translation was "Guinea Pig to mothership, I'm out of my cage, come pick me up." He pet the little pig a few times and then put him back in his cage with his food. Nicholas started to munch on the leaves, content with the universe at large.

Tanner prepared for bed feeling tired and confused about as to what to do about Susan. She had been rather determined and became angry when he refused to go further. He shouldn't have gone as far as he did, he thought guilty, remembering the warm, round softness of her breasts. When she figured out he was serious about leaving she begged and pleaded for him to stay. He left with her being just a tad bit unhappy to put it mildly. He half expected her to call him but his mobile remained silent. He checked his answering machine and saw the message light on. He sighed, wondering if he wanted to deal with her any further tonight. Feeling guilty, he pushed the button anyway.

"Tanner, Sinclair. I looked into that American lad for you and if he's adopted I could find no record of it. It appears as if he is naturally born to his parents. Sorry that I couldn't find out more. Call me if you need anything further."

Tanner sat down on his bed wondering at what this meant.

"Good morning, Ryan," Mr. Sulvius said as Ryan walked into his office.

"Hello, Mr. Sulvius," Ryan said cheerfully, still not quite believing that he had the good fortune have someone like Mr. Sulvius assigned to him.

"Did you work on your story?"

Ryan nodded enthusiastically. "Oh yes, I have had so very much fun with it!"

"Wonderful!" Mr. Sulvius said, "Show me!"

Ryan pulled the story out of his backpack and started to explain what had come up with to Mr. Sulvius, his eyes bright with excitement. The story was about a Velanthi prince named Kesryn and his dragon, Kir. Velanthi, he explained, were like big muscular elves. Because of the way the Velanthi class structure was set up, Kesryn found it very difficult to make friends with most people, as most people wouldn't talk openly or easily with the crown prince of the empire. In response to the young prince's loneliness the imperial mage, Seir, created Kir, the first dragon in existence, as a companion to him.

"Right now I have gotten as far as Kesryn trying to adjust to having Kir around. Kesryn is not so very certain of how to raise him or even if he really wants the dragon in the first place," Ryan said and has he did he realized he was really writing about his situation as he saw it. He nearly froze thinking about it and hoped that Mr. Sulvius hadn't noticed.

"Interesting," Mr. Sulvius remarked. "Your writing is very good, Ryan; it's very well done. You should be proud."

"Thank you, Mr. Sulvius!" Ryan said, glowing under his praise in spite of all his sudden worries. Mr. Sulvius smiled back warmly and they discussed Ryan's story for the rest of the session.

As he left, Ryan worried, realizing at how often he had spoken like a dragon in front of Mr. Sulvius. He promised himself that he would be far more careful from now on. He pulled his things from his locker and headed out the door, hoping he could make it home without having to dodge too many bullies.

What a tiring day, Allen thought as he walked though the backdoor of the little apartment. All he wanted to do was sit down, eat, and then go back to sitting down again. It had been a long and tiring week, not to mention today where he had made three extra deliveries of pipe and unloaded it all by hand. It kept him in decent shape, he through wryly. He walked in the back door to find the kitchen empty. He frowned. Normally Beth would be finishing dinner this time of day. "Beth?" he called and walked into the living room to find her sitting on the couch, talking quietly with Ryan.

Ryan was in his dragon form.

He felt his jaw clinch as he walked over. Ryan looked up at him and lowered his ears ducking his head in fear, whimpering quietly. Beth shook her head at him but he was in no mood to be placated. "What's going on?", he asked in a flat voice.

"Ryan got into a little scuffle," Beth said soothingly.

"At school?" he asked, voice rising. Ryan whimpered and ducked further.

"No, as he was walking home."

He looked down at Ryan who timidly met his eyes. The little dragon swallowed nervously and he noticed a swelling under one eye. "I am so very sorry, father," he said in a small voice.

Something in Ryan's tone suddenly irritated him. "Stop saying 'so very'!" he snapped.

Ryan flinched and Beth soothed him. "Allen, he can't help it and you know it!"

He sighed. "Fine. What was it about this time? Someone threading to strangle innocent little dragons again?

Ryan closed his eyes. "No father."

"Then what?" he snapped again, what little patience he had beginning to fray.

"They cornered me father! I had no choice but to fight!" Ryan plead.

"Wonderful Ryan! What's next, changing to dragon form and biting someone?" he asked sarcastically.

Ryan cried out and ducked his head under his wing and Beth put her arms around him again, trying to comfort him. Allen stiffened, feeling as if someone dumped a bucket of ice water down his spine.

"No. Please tell me he didn't," he said in a quiet voice.

Ryan cried out again and huddled closer against his mother, trilling in distress. She shushed him and pulled him into her lap. "He was cornered, Allen! A boy came at him with a baseball bat! He'd already been hit once, what was he supposed to do?"

Allen stared down at the trembling form of his son. Ryan kept his head tucked under his wing as if trying to hide from him and Allen took a deep breath, reminding himself to stay calm. Why did Ryan have to get mixed up in crap like this? If only he were a little more bold he wouldn't be picked on nearly as much. If only he could control his instincts and stop doing crazy things to draw attention to himself.

If only he were human, part of him suggested.

He guiltily pushed that thought away. "Who saw you?" he asked quietly in an even a tone as he could manage. Ryan said nothing, keeping his head buried, trembling and his temper flared again. "Ryan I expect an answer!"

The little dragon just whimpered again, shuddering and Beth looked up at Allen, he eyes flashing in anger. "Allen, stop it!" she hissed. Allen drew in a breath she stood up with Ryan in her arms. "No! No more! What do you want of him, Allen? Do you want him to submit to you, is that what you're after? He's terrified enough to do it Allen! He's scared enough as it is, he doesn't need his own father making it even harder!

"The other boy was not injured. He cornered Ryan at the apartments across the street and hit him with the bat. When he tried to hit him again Ryan shifted forms and hissed at him, scaring him away. He shifted back and ran directly home scared out of his mind that someone was going to come and take him!

"When you think you can talk to your son like a reasonable adult then you may ask him some questions, until then just give him some space damn it all!" She closed her eyes, holding Ryan tighter, taking a deep breath. "I'll be in his room giving him what comfort I can. Supper's on the stove," she said and stalked off to Ryan's room, the little dragon held tightly in her arms, not quite slamming the door behind her.

Some time later Allen walked into Ryan's room. Beth was lying on Ryan's bed, Ryan curled up tightly on her chest, resting easily. He was motionless, save for the gentle rise and fall of his chest as he breathed and the odd twitch of his tail and wings. Curiously, though Ryan had clearly grown in his human form, his dragon form had changed very little since his first shape change after they had adopted him, or at least his small form had not changed much. His was seldom in his full sized form enough for Allen to be able to tell if he had grown. He briefly wondered if that was normal.

Beth opened her eyes when he walked over and shook her head, putting a finger to her lips. She very carefully lifted Ryan off her chest and settled him down before he could protest, petting him back to sleep. She gestured for him to leave the room and he followed her into their bedroom. He watched her silently as she prepared for bed.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"You keep apologizing to me. I'm not the one you need to apologize to."

"I still feel as if I should."

"I'll get over it. So far, Ryan has as well."

He frowned. "What do you mean so far?

"He getting older, Allen. Some of his instincts are booming more pronounced, he's starting to see the things differently, all the things you would expect from a human teenager and more.

"I'm worried that he's going to start resenting you talking to him the way you do, or worse yet, lashing out at you. Right now all he truly wants is your approval. He wants you to be happy with him, to be proud of him and what he does. Please don't let that desire to win your affections turn into resentment."

Allen was quiet for awhile. "I understand Beth, it's just hard."

She eyed him. "You need to stop being overly protective of him, Allen. Caution is good, teaching him to be careful of other humans is good, but you can't teach him to fear the world."

Allen lay back on the bed, looking up at the cracks in the ceiling. He noticed a spider sitting on the light. "What happened with the bully?"

"He chased Ryan into the apartment complex and Ryan rounded a corner to find that they had put up a new fence and that he was trapped. The boy hit him with the baseball bat so he shifted forms and hissed at him and the kid ran for it."

Allen was silent for moment. "I hope Ryan is right and no one saw him. What happens if he tells?"

Beth shrugged. "Who would believe him?"

Allen nodded. "I suppose your right." He shook his head and laughed. "You know, I hate to say it, but I wish I could have seen the look on the kids face when Ryan shifted forms. We know better and he startles us some times."

She laughed. "Ryan said the worst part was the smell as he crapped himself."

Allen looked startled and the burst out laughing.

"Why Tanner! What a pleasant surprise!" Per said in mock amazement as Tanner walked into his office. Per ran a small book keeping business that mostly catered to dragon kind as well as the odd human client.

"Oh yes, very surprising as I only told you I'd be up here yesterday," Tanner said dryly.

Per grinned. "So what brings you to see the most wonderful dragon in Northhamptonshire?"

"Oh Lord!" Tanner said, shaking his head in mock disgust.

Per laughed and stood up. "Come on, let's go back to my home and I'll shift into something more comfortable."

Tanner laughed again as they walked out of the small office building Per used and up towards his house that was just behind it. The house had what looked to be a traditional thatched roof and was probably what the creator of the word "quaint" had in mind when he coined the term. Belying the rustic exterior, the interior was completely modern. It was a perfect house for a dragon, Per explained, as it was just like one: it appeared to be one thing on the outside but was quite another in reality. The whole thing sat on a huge tract of land in the countryside, giving Per the privacy that most dragons desired.

They stepped into the living room. "Have a seat! I'll be back shortly," Per said.

Tanner settled own into the overstuffed chair and looked around. Per was forever adding things he had collected. Like most dragons he tended to hoard items. Additions this time included a huge painting of a lighthouse and an ocelot patterned cat who walked out to see who had invaded his domain.

"Well aren't you a pretty thing?" Tanner said to the cat who looked up at him with large, unblinking, gold eyes. The cat decided that flattery was completely acceptable and jumped up in his lap, settling down as if he owned it. "Bold as brass, aren't you?" Tanner laughed, petting the cat, and suddenly found himself missing Ryan.

"I see Wastrel has claimed you," Per said as he padded into the room in his small dragon form. He was about the size of large Irish wolfhound and a mostly uniform dark green color, save for on his belly where it lightened. The feline in question looked up at the dragon, then closed his eyes and went back to purring contentedly.

"Wastrel?" Tanner asked, amused.

"Yes, he showed up here a few weeks ago and has not left since. As you can see, not even a dragon bothers him," Per said and walked over to Tanner. The cat opened his eyes and deigned to touch noses with Per and then went back to relaxing. Tanner stifled laughed and Per glared at him for his efforts. He walked over to a patch of sunlight provided by some skylights and flopped down. "So, what can I help you with, my friend?"

"I'm looking for information on a particular dragon breed, actually," Tanner said, absently petting the cat. "North American breed, I'm pretty sure."

"Well, lets have a look at some of my books and see what we can find out about your mystery breed," Per said, standing up and shifting to his human form. He went into the back of his house and came back with a leather bound book. At first glance it appeared to be a fantasy book about dragons and if the reader didn't know better, they would assume that it was just that. "So what did he look like?"

Tanner described Ryan to him and Per frowned. "Well certainly North American by what you're describing," Per said. "Any unusual traits?"

"Not really. He was bicolored, gray and blue, mostly blue with gray striations. Quite a vocal dragon as well, made a whole series of noises that I didn't think dragons made."

Per suddenly stiffened. "What's wrong?" Tanner asked in concern.

"Nothing, just an itch," Per said. He flipped through the book and pointed out a breed to Tanner. "Did he look like that?"

Tanner looked at the drawing. "Mostly. Different around the throat and jaws, head was a little different shape as well. More sleek that that drawing."

Per shut the book. "Well, I'm going to guess that's what he was, just a bit different," Per said firmly. "Have you eaten?"

Tanner blinked. "No."

"Great! I'll buy you dinner! There's a local pub who has great fish and chips not to mention a wonderful draw of Guinness."

"Alright," Tanner said, wondering at the abrupt change in Per's attitude. The dinner was wonderful, he had always enjoyed Perrin's company, but he couldn't help but notice that the dragon would change the subject any time it came close to Ryan.

Ryan walked into the apartment, dropping his backpack on the ground and he walked, and slumped down on the couch. The day had been just plain lousy. They and had been studying European myths at school and the bullies started in on dragons again, trying to get a rise out of Ryan. The other kids started asking questions about dragon myths and the teacher, happy that someone, anyone, was actually paying attention devoted the rest of the day to "dragon" activities.

Normally Ryan would have enjoyed it, save for the torment of the other kids and the recent flare ups with his father. The whole thing made him sick to his stomach, all said.

The bullying on the yard was worse that normal and his friends wanted to play around as if they were dragons. Ryan refused to play with them. He had to admit to himself that he threw a fit about the whole thing and stomped off which was not going to make his life any easier. It would probably attract even more attention to him and that he was sensitive to the subject of dragons which would upset his parents even more than then already were.

Then, as always, he had to run home from school to avoid being beat on. Didn't these people have someone else to pick on? He lay back on the couch and closed his eyes, feeling them grit up, the tears threatening to spill over. His stomach was a tight knot of misery and he just wished that everyone would leave him in peace.

"Ryan?" he heard his mother say as she walked into the living room. She looked at him and sighed. "What's wrong, little dragon?" she asked him softly. Hearing her call him little dragon set the tears to rolling down his cheeks. She sat down next to him and pulled him close. He shifted forms and crawled up into her lap, trilling in distress. He finally calmed down enough to speak and she listened to him explain his day to her. "I'm sorry that it's so hard on you, Ryan," she said.

"I wish to quit mother; I do not wish to go back."

"You have to, Ryan, it's the law."

He whined. "Mother, please!"

"Ryan, you're going to have to learn how to deal with this, how to ignore them when they start to torment you and--" she started

"I dot wish to get along!" he burst out. "I hate them mother! I wish to shift forms and scatter them like the cattle they are!" He puffed out his chest, growling, bearing his teeth.

She looked astonished and then fetched him a slap across the jaw. "No! You can't think that way, Ryan, do you hear me? Your father and I are human, are we cattle just like they are?"

Ryan looked stunned. "No! You and father are different!"

"No!" she said firmly, grasping his jaw. "You can't afford to think that way Ryan! You're very powerful as compared to a human, it would be very easy for you to hurt or maim people who upset you. Can't you see how dangerous this sort of thinking is? It you start with these bullies where would it end?"

Ryan stared at her and then burst into tears, lifting his arms to her, wanting to be held. She pulled him up and paced with him, rocking him, making soothing noises. "Ryan, I'm sorry this is so hard. I only wish we better understood your instincts, maybe that would make it easier for you."

"Why did my parents not tell you?" Ryan asked, and then ducked his head at the question.

She sat him down on the couch and then sat next to him, looking off into space for a moment. She sighed. "Because we didn't know them for very long, Ryan. We only knew what they were those last few days." Ryan froze at the mention of his parents and she pet him. "They gave us your egg then."

Ryan looked stunned, reeling at the information. "You were there when I...hatched?"

She nodded, continuing to pet him. "Your egg had been rocking for quite some time. Suddenly, a crack appeared along the top of it and your mother started to trill to you, your father thrumming so hard that it seemed to vibrate the very walls. Your egg rocked some more and a piece of the top came off and you stuck the claws of your wing through. Then your head poked out as you tried to claw away more of the side. You were trilling softly..." she trailed off, closing her eyes, lost in the memory.

"You managed to push your wing all the way out and, with a final twist, the egg broke away around you. You lay there, kicking at the air, still trilling softly. After a moment you righted yourself, opened your eyes and looked at me, and I've been in love ever since," she finished, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Ryan swallowed around a huge lump in his throat. He looked into his mothers eyes and tried to speak but the words wouldn't come. Heavy tears rolled down his muzzle, dripping off his chin, around his cheeks. That his parents had been at his hatching meant more to him than he would have ever thought possible. "Did you name me?" he finally asked when he could find his voice.

She nodded. "Yes. If they had a name for you we never found out what it was. Your mother was the first to hold you; we only thought that was right."

"I wish I knew what they looked like mother. I wish I knew," he said looking down.

She hesitated and then stood up and walked into her room. After a moment she came back with a folder in her hand and sat down next to him. Ryan looked at the folder and then at her uncertainly. She opened it an inside were pictures.

The first was of a dark blond haired man standing in front of what looked like the Grand Canyon. His skin was nicely tanned, teeth a bright white, as he smiled at the camera. Sunglasses concealed his eyes. An average nose rounded out a friendly, strong face. Ryan looked at his mother uncertainly.

"Your father," she said quietly.

Ryan went nearly rigid in shock and stared, and stared, and stared at the picture. His heart raced and his mouth went dry at the sight of his father. His mother flipped the picture to the side to reveal another picture, this one of a woman.

"Mother?" Ryan asked, trembling, and his human mother nodded.

She was standing in a kitchen with her hands on her hips, looking exasperated, and Ryan got the idea that she didn't care to have her picture taken. She had red hair, a few freckles, and a rather small nose, classic Irish features but not overly so.She wore her red hair braided and the braid was slung over her shoulder.

There were other pictures. His father standing with his arms around two other men, standing in front of some huge bolder. Another of his mother grabbing for the camera, an exasperated look on her face, and Ryan could not help but laugh at her. The next was of the two of them hugging each other, looking into each others eyes, and the love they felt for each other was so obvious in that look that Ryan smiled at the sight.

The last picture was of the two of them standing on the deck of some large house, his father looking out into the distance with what could only be called an intent expression, his mother standing at his side with her arm around him, wearing a patient expression as if waiting for something.

His mother put the pictures away and closed the folder. Ryan sighed, wishing there were more of them, even wondering if there were any pictures of his parents in their dragon forms. They never took pictures of him in his dragon form; it was another one of the rules his parents had laid down to avoid even the possibility of them being discovered. "My parents," he said quietly.

"Yes, Ryan," his mother said as she took the folder away from him.

"Mother--"

"I can't answer any questions, Ryan, I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't have shown you the pictures at all."

Ryan look down. "I am so very sorry, mother."

She smiled and stroked his head. "Don't be."

As she started to walk way he noticed a larger picture sticking slightly out of the back of the folder. "Mother!" he said and she stopped to look at him. He looked up at her then shifted forms, grabbing at the picture. She held on to it for a moment and then finally let it go with a sigh. Ryan looked down at the picture and froze.

In the picture were two dragons in a huge meadow. The larger one was gold with red highlights, his patterns close to Ryan's own, staring at the camera with some amusement, his wing draped over the smaller female. She was a dark burgundy color with golden highlights and was also looking at the camera. Nestled in the forelegs of the dragoness was a egg.

A dragons egg.

Him.

Tanner stood in his classroom, putting away tests at the end of the day, when an unexpected visitor showed up.

"Hello, Tanner," the old man said in a voice that had lost none of it's presence or power despite the owners age. His head was still full of black hair, streaked with silver here and there, his eyes piercing. He leaned on a cane which seemed more of an affectation than a true walking aid.

Tanner nearly dropped his papers in surprise. "Sir!"

The man walked over to the desk, barely using the cane as he walked, and eyed Tanner. Tanner hurried around the desk and gave the man a hug, still looking surprised. "Norian, what are you doing here? Not that I am unhappy to see you, sir," he added quickly.

"Coming to see you, of course."

Tanner shook his head. Norian didn't at all care to travel, much preferring to spend his time at his estate in the company of other dragons, with his many times great grand children swarming all over him as he lay basking in the sun in his full form, chatting with old friends about how the world should be. "Everything is well, I hope?"

Norian nodded. "Fine, quite fine, boy. My mate insists on trying to make a pauper of me, buying things that the children don't really need, but otherwise things are well." He sighed. "Doubtless you heard about my little incident. The healers say the wing was just bruised and I will be just fine in a few weeks." Tanner grinned at him and he gave him a stern look. "Humans," he muttered.

"How did you hurt it?"

"Never you mind!" Norian said testily.

Tanner laughed, shaking his head. "Alright, I won't. But what brings you all the way up here?"

"As I said before: to see you. Have you eaten? Well, never mind, I'm taking you to eat anyway."

Tanner smiled ruefully as he followed Norian out the door. They walked to the parking lot and Norian lead him over to his car, which just happened to be a shiny, black, Lotus Turbo Esprit. Tanner looked at it in amazement, and then looked at Norian, eyebrows raised. "This the car of someone who hates driving?"

Norian shrugged. "I figure as I dislike it so much I may as well have a car that makes it somewhat bearable. Besides, this is one if fast and gets me where I want to go rapidly. Less time on the road, you see."

"Ah," Tanner said. "Well, as you dislike driving so much, I'll go ahead and chauffeur you."

"Not a chance, human," Norian said as he slid into the drivers seat.

Tanner sighed. "Well, you can alway try," he said philosophically.

Norian sighed, nearly rumbling, in contentment as he slipped his glass of port and rubbed his rather full belly. Tanner was pleasantly full as well and on very rich food at that, as Norian seemed constitutionally incapable of dining at anything less than a four star restaurant. This place had even furnished them with a private booth.

Norian tamped down the tobacco in his pipe, lit it, and got it drawing well, a ring of sweet smelling smoke billowing around his head. The pipe appeared to be made of ivory but Tanner knew that it was actually made of dragon horn. A rather perverse friend of Norian's had the pipe fashioned after he had broken on of his horns in an accident, so Norian would "always have something to remember him by". He didn't count on Norian's equally quirky sense of humor in using the pipe as well. The whole somewhat macabre story was practically legend.

Tanner idly watched the smoke drift up in a sweet smelling cloud. "So why did you leave behind the comfort of your home to drive all the way up here to talk to me? Why not just call or invite me down?"

Norian watched through half lidded eyes as another puff of smoke drifted aimlessly upwards. "Perrin called me."

Tanner looked startled. "Whatever for?"

Another trickle of smoke. "You were inquiring about a particular breed of dragon."

"Yes, and?" Tanner asked, furrowing his brow. "I scarcely see why he would call you over something like that and even less as to why it would make you drive all the way up here."

"Do you actually know a dragon of the breed you are asking about or has someone asked you to inquire about this?"

Tanner shook his head. "I know a dragon of the breed. Norian, what the hell is going on?"

Norian was silent for a time, making Tanner all the more nervous. He knew better than to try to push Norian, however. The dragon would say what he wanted to say, when he wanted to say it and not before then. Norian puffed on his pipe again. "Tanner, you are getting into something that is dragon only business."

Tanner blinked. "This breed of dragon?"

"Yes."

Tanner felt his heart lurch. Just what breed was Ryan and why did it matter so much? Was the little dragon in danger? "What can you tell me, sir?"

"Little. Would you be willing to give me the information about this dragon? His whereabouts, his name, the name of his family?"

"Sir, I swore to him that I wouldn't tell anyone," Tanner said. "I'm not sure--"

"You have never broken a vow to a dragon up to this point and I would not ask you to do so now without due cause. Think it over, Tanner. I would tell you more, but I cannot. Promise me this: you will not discuss this with anyone else, human or dragon."

"Am I in danger?" Tanner asked quietly.

"No, you should not be. If I thought you were I would have taken you to my home."

"And the dragon in question?"

Norian just stared at him, his silence answering his question all to loudly