Sage nodded at Commander Thorone, then turned the full gravity of his stare upon Merrin. "Yes, Merrin Dragonrider. The Crystals are capable of time travel."

The Council broke into scattered murmurs at this. Patiently he waited for the tulmult to settle before serenely continuing, "Do you remember the legends that circle the ancient Dragonwars, especially the Lost Battle at its very climax?" His gray eyes misted over, as if recounting his own buried past. "The valley was fertile no more. The earth sobbed upon the fall of strong warriors by the ten thousand. Dragon blood poured from the skies like rain. And they say that in the end... no side won. For a great cataclysm shook the land, destroying all in its vindictive path.

"None survived."

Sage hung his head. "The bards speak of a curse that has befallen dragonkind since that day. At first, neither side believed the tales." And here he stared hard at Thorone. "But do you not notice how, year by year, your hatcheries wane? But you attribute it to natural causes, do you not? Slights in breeding, perhaps. Or simply an infertile year."

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Thorone's expression was fixed, his mind in turmoil. Of course he'd noticed the waning generations of dragons, the receding amounts of clutches not born dead or somehow crippled, and indeed the lessening amounts of any clutches at all. Female dragons bore riders years without a single offspring. "Aye," he concurred gruffly. "Aye, the hatcheries have not been full in my lifetime."

Merrin drew a shaky breath. Wyvern had been one of only three eggs in his clutch that hatched without mishap. Now he crouched behind her, a gently thrumming testimony to the majesty of the dragons of old - but he was small, a mere fraction of the size of his ancestors. Her heart went out to those whose kin and friends died in that battle...and now she saw the peril this generation faced. "You want me to save the dragons," she managed, voice barely above a whisper. The gravity of the task pressed upon her stiflingly.

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Quietly and unnoticed Kalma glided downwards, he regonized many figures below him and a few in the skies around him. Dragons and their riders, no of which had no idea of the invisible white gliding around and already pondering wether he should cause some chaos amongst them. It had been long since Kalma had tested himself in battle and thrown down his petty rivals.

Because of him the number of white dragons had diminished greatly, but he held no regrets and in fact his legacy would be guarenteed by his offspring to come. Deep within the ice mountain stronghold of the north layed 4 eggs that Kalma had fathered, of course after he had slayed their mother afterwards yet that they would never have to know. Their existance was so secret that not even Garthag knew of them yet of course the mage had his doubts, mages always did for it was their nature to suspect and reason.

Indeed it seemed that mages and wyrms began to look like mere fragments of their earlier existance, but soon when the great purging would be complete Kalma could make sure that the only dragons left would be his children. The invisible white dragon descended closer to the renegades fortress and decided to stop somewhere to wait his chance to sneak in.

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Let him curse my name
On these blood stained pages of misery
Let him call me a tyrant so cruel
Let him curse my name, but remember the truth!

(errrr wasn't he with Semri?)

Semri shrugged, but kept her back to Demon. "She and her dragon tried to escape...they went southeast, into the sky"
They went to high and now thier dead...that's what comes of loyaltysnarled Rano savagely.
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Far away in the vally jemx awoke slowly. His head hurt...alot. In fact everywhere hurt, he needed Evlyn. Ahhhhh wake up Evlyn, come on i need you're help...When no answer came he looked around, memoried flooding though him, she wasn't here, maybe she'd fallen to ground somewhere else...he searched along thier link but he couldn't feel her...was she dead? no he would about that. he hunckered down...and saw the marks of other dagons in the ground, other humans; someone had taken her. EVLYN!!!!! EVLYN!!!! His roars of pain and grief echoed though the vallys.
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Slowly, ever so slowly Evlyn opened auzer eyes, then quickly closed them against the light. "Jemx...?" She whispred. Something didn't feel right, she felt...so empty. she tried to get up, then fell back weakly. She opened her eyes agin slightly and looked at those around her. There were dragons, riders, white stone. It was beutiful, but she didn't recognise it, it definatly wasn't Meiltha.

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Made by Lembas

Snarling in turmoil, Demon scanned the southeastern skies for any paltry sign that Evlyn and Jemx lived. What now? He had no doubt that a mage of Garthag's potential would soon unearth the Cloud Crystal's capacities. And what devastation would ensue, should he traverse the rivers of time...

By the time he reported back to the Meiltha stronghold to assemble a legion, it could be too late. He had to act now.

"Semri," he spoke, snaking his neck around to look her imploringly in the eye. "I know of the Cloud Crystal's unspeakable boundaries, and I know how to use them. Do you really believe Garthag intends to share power? But in our hands... we could bring the Meiltha to their knees. Your sister failed, did she not? But with the Cloud Crystal in our clutches, failure is inconceivable..."

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Sage closed his eyes, as if in resignation. He opened them once more and nodded at Merrin. "Yes, Merrin Dragonrider. This task falls upon you, blessed of the gods." He looked up at Commander Thorone. "There is little time to waste. She should go tonight when the moon is full. I have divined the precise location. One mile east of the southernmost outpost, upon the grassy bluff. Starlight will bathe undiminished by Vryngard's fires, and it is there that the Star Crystal shall sing."

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Time travel... Merrin felt stunned, unable to comprehend the enormity of this journey. Had any ever before gone back in time? Changed the events of the past?

Wyvern moved closer, sensing her inner trepidation.

"Aye, tonight...but they cannot go alone, her and Wyvern there," Merrin heard Thorone saying, as with an effort she brought herself back from the turmoil of her thoughts. "Is there not someone we could send as well...?"

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Kyleren's muscled body shifted underneath Knorr as Evlyn stirred where he held her. He heard her mutter a name, perhaps that of her dragon. "She's waking," he said sharply.

Reina strode back into the courtyard. "The subcommander's occupied currently," she informed them. "He says he'll be with us in a moment."

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So young, yet so burdened with the weight of the world... Sage felt his geriatric heart softening at Merrin's utter consternation. "Indeed, she cannot." He glanced at Thorone. "Your best dragonriders? But sometimes, even the best cannot overpower evil." He turned shrewdly to Merrin. "Or do you, child, have another of choice?"

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The first name that sprang to Merrin's mind was the first one she expected and initially, she thought, the last one she wanted at this particular moment - but who else was there to choose? Merrin had few friends in Vryngard, and the best dragonriders were insufferably self-absorbed. She'd rather go alone than have one of them along.

"Yes," she found herself saying, and met the Commander's grey eyes. She wanted Kendath above all of them, she realized. The thought of asking him, seeing his reaction - and she could just imagine the cutting sarcasm - made her cringe inwardly, but Merrin pressed on. "Commander, I...I want Kendath."

She would not justify it, she would not. They could think what they liked.

Thorone sat back in resignation, as if he had expected it. "Shall I send a messenger - ?"

"No," Merrin almost cut him off, a gesture that could have been construed as rude except for the anxiety in her eyes. "No, I'll tell him."

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Sage nodded with an inward smile, as if he'd been expecting this all along. He stood and placed a hand on Merrin's shoulder. "A wise choice. I believe I sent him down to the north courtyard and the hatcheries this morning. When the time comes at nightfall, I shall send word."

The great silver doors opened - a subtle reminder that Merrin was dismissed from the lofty affairs the Council was wont to debate.

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Stimulated by an overwhelming need to occupy himself with something - anything that would keep his mind off the one person he didn't want to think about - Kendath showed up at the hatcheries asking for a job. After a few suspicious glances his way, the handlers sent him to the opposite side of the courtyard, where a dozen initiates were hard at work scrubbing the flagstones.

They didn't want him anywhere near the precious dragon eggs, and to be sure, he couldn't blame them. He procured a mop and stoically obliged with the tedious and rather humbling work. The slender jade female, Gyre, kept him company the first hour or two, her mind gently melding with his. But as the sun reached its apex, she grew bored and flapped off to join the other Renegade dragons.

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Merrin practically fled the chamber, steeling herself inwardly and wondering what in the name of all the gods had possessed her.

Thorone watched her go, a diminutive figure cloaked in silver-grey, and wondered what he would say to her family if she did not return. With difficulty he buried the thought.

Wyvern wisely left his troubled rider alone, off to some business of his own while she descended Vryngard's many levels to the hatcheries - and ran desperately through what she would say. Kendath, I'm about to attempt to save the dragons, want to tag along back in time? We might die, of course... Merrin groaned aloud, and as she traversed a last flight of stairs she fought the impulse to turn and flee.

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Kendath straightened to stretch his back. The other initiates were finishing up for the day, as the marble flagstones were now so immaculate, he swore he could see his own reflection. He trailed along behind them toward the hatcheries to return his mop and bucket of soapy water.

Halfway across the courtyard, he glimpsed her.

She was coming his way, to... what? Just his luck. The one person in the world he'd been avoiding.

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For a moment Merrin thought he wasn't there, and felt simultaneously relieved and distressed that now she would have to hunt him up, facing the thought of around every corner steeling herself to confront those black eyes - but then her gaze fell upon him where he stood.

Quailing, she simply stood frozen for a moment, and with an inward air of one about to descend into a den of lions began across the courtyard. Come with me...I can't do it alone, I need you, she wanted to say, but of course these were not the words that came to mind when after what seemed an eon she'd reached him. In fact, none did.

Failing to notice even the pail of water he held, and the mop - not objects she generally related to Kendath - Merrin opened her mouth and shut it again, swallowing frantically. Say something!

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Unspoken thoughts, untold confessions... they all whirled in his head, contending for expression. A part of Kendath wondered bitterly why she'd come, while another part - as vehement as the first - couldn't deny that he felt his spirit soar at the mere sight of her.

He gestured for her to wait while he hurried back to the hatchery to return his borrowed supplies. He returned two minutes later, daring to approach her even as he felt the familiar steel trap encasing him once again.

"Merrin," he greeted simply but not harshly. He judged by her anxious mien that she had something important to say.

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Having spent those two minutes - too short and yet at the same time far too long - thinking desperately that if he said no she didn't think she could bear it, Merrin stopped twisting the fabric of her cloak in her hands. Even now she felt as though his closeness made her breathless, and not for anything would she have met his eyes.

There was a very awkward pause after his greeting - or what was it? Merrin couldn't read the tone of his voice at all. Was he angry? - and finally driven to desperation she began very haltingly. "I have been - er - in the Council," she ventured, and after one timid glance up at him fixed her gaze determinedly elsewhere. The next words came in a rush. "Sage said that the dragons are dying - no, they're not, he said, he said since the Lost Battle they haven't been the same, and, and the Crystals can go back in time - no, they can make you go back in time - and..."

Merrin gave herself up for lost. What an utter mess she was making of this. "I need to save the dragons," she blurted. "And go back in time, and do something and - and will you come?" Oh, I sound absolutely juvenile... she thought in despair. Nothing to do about it now, though if Kendath refused to accompany her after that ridiculous display of nerves Merrin really had no viable excuse to blame him.

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Kendath withdrew to contemplate the overload of information she'd just heaped on him. Dragons dying? Saving them? The Crystals...? Across the rifts of time, Sage had said. He'd always assumed the rambling Druid had meant it figuratively, not literally.

He gazed at the downcast Merrin and felt his integrity weakening. In the weeks since he'd first encountered her, he couldn't remember a time when she'd been more aphasic. With a stab of guilt he recalled their less than amiable parting the night before.

"Of course I'm coming," he replied, as if she'd proposed something utterly ridiculous. "I, too, intend to unearth this mystery that is the Star Crystal." He paused, then added in gentler tones, "The dragons are dying?"

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Merrin felt the gigantic weight that seemed to press down on her lighten some small amount. For a moment she dared to think - but then he added his intentions to discover the mysteries of the Crystal and her hopes were dashed back to earth. Of course he wasn't going for her sake. This was the opportunity of a lifetime, why should he miss it? So with that entirely sensible conclusion, why did she wish somehow that he'd agreed to go because she wanted him to?

"Thank you," she managed, feeling almost weak with combined relief and myriad other feelings she couldn't begin to name. Scanning the hatcheries, Merrin realized the place to have this conversation was not here; discussing the possible demise of the dragons outside their very hatching place would not earn them much appreciation from the fanatical keepers. "It's - complicated. I'll explain."

The temporary inability to express herself seemed to have passed, and as Merrin turned with a gesture for Kendath to follow she wondered if she really wanted him to. Certainly his very presence made her aware of every movement she made, every word that passed her lips. But when he was gone she couldn't begin to banish him from her thoughts in any case. With a rush of loneliness she realized the Kendath of last night was gone, and though he did not seem to have quite retained the cold persona of a few weeks ago - the one who had seemed almost inhuman, who'd bound her hands and tossed her adragonback like so much baggage - Merrin wondered what she'd done to bring about the abrupt change.

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