Hetin would never be open to human settlement. The three-foot-tall green-striped and big-eyed natives proved to be master mimics. Once they saw something done, they remembered it forever, and they passed it on to the others.
The first science team inadvertently taught them to speak Common. The second group taught them science. They thought it would take decades. It didn't.
The third science team lost their scout ship to the natives, and with it went the captain's extensive collection of pirate-related entertainment.
I hope they get to the part about ransoming prisoners soon. I hope someone still wants us back.
Rock troll paths were easy to spot. Rocks of all sizes were scattered left and right and formed into walls along the side of the trail, which itself was unnaturally flat and easy to traverse.
A shame it was such an obvious trap.
They hiked along the outside of the right-hand wall. Cita thought longingly about the smooth path just a few feet away. She was almost on the verge of a protest when they heard a battle nearby. No matter what fought, the sound of blade against blade, and the startled grunts of the wounded all sounded the same.
Lady Kerinis signaled them away from the wall, but they only went a few yards. No one could hear them, and Cita saw no sign of anyone watching from the wall.
"We could wait it out," Urdo suggested. "I am not sure which side we would want to choose. The rock trolls are fighting gargoyles."
"I suppose they are both fighting to get the dragon eggs," Cita suggested. "That would make it easier to decide which group to fight."
"The eggs are close," Tenon warned. "That is why they fight so fiercely. I suggest we go to protect the eggs and fight anyone who tries to get to them."
Cita thought that was as good a plan as they were going to get under the circumstances. She cast one glance at the sky and hoped to see Farlyn and Atora -- and maybe a few more dragons.
With nothing to take her interest, she followed Urdo over the troll-made wall.
They soon found dead - gargoyles, rock trolls, and even a couple of ogres. There was no way to tell who might be winning. Nor did Cita see any way to figure out who was on which side. They would soon learn, though. The roar of the rock trolls and the screeching of the gargoyles grew louder.
Fortunately, they didn't have a plan to discuss.
The rock troll path came to a sudden end at the top of a hill. The precipitous descent on the other side was scattered with boulders and bodies. In a clearing a few yards ahead of them, Cita could see the mass of the fighting. She could also see the Dragon nests, a series of hollows lined with pretty rocks into which rested a huge, multi-colored egg. She counted at least a dozen of them. One had cracked and fallen apart, but there was no sign of the baby Dragon. She saw a gargoyle fly over a nest and drop a large rock toward it. The rock barely missed, and by that time, Cita was already on the run to protect the egg. She thought her companions had much the same idea. They scattered among the nests and began fighting back the gargoyles and ogres. The rock trolls turned out to be allies. They even seemed grateful for the help.
They would still need help soon. She couldn't see where the gargoyles came from, but they seemed to have a never-ending supply of troops.
Tennon and his mother did the most work, and Cita would have thought they had worked together forever. They cleared the sky more than once, but Tennon didn't have the strength to go on for long.
Cita and Urdo had their hands full protecting three eggs. They had taken more than a few bruises, and it bothered her that one of the eggs had cracked despite all their work. That made her angry, and anger gave her a little more strength, but none of them would hold up for much longer. She could only hope that their Dragon ally would soon come back with help.
Then the griffins arrived.
Cita held one moment of hope -- but the new creatures formed up in lines with the gargoyles, circled once --
Cita threw herself over the hatching egg. It wouldn't help, but there was nothing better she could do. A screeching gargoyle landed beside her.
No, actually, it fell. Twitched once and died.
Others were falling from the sky.
"They lined them up for the slaughter," Urdo said. "Excellent work. Remind me not to trust griffins."
Something moved within the egg.
"I have a problem here! Dragon hatching!"
Farlyn and Atora reached her first. Cita scrambled out of the way and chanced to see a swarm of dragons heading in the direction from which the gargoyles came. They didn't see the final battle, but heard later that some creature had been directing them and disappeared in a flash of magic.
Dragons considered anything not a dragon to be a creature and needed no other designation. It could have been a human mage, a fae, a pixie, or an overly annoying cat.
For the rest of the year, the group remained with the dragons and enjoyed time with a dozen young hatchlings. Atora eventually acceptedd a position as teacher for the clan. It suited her.
Tennon and his mother went to find the fool who had tole him he was forgotten. Cita stayed clear of that one.
But what to do? Go back to the other reality and hunt for lost cities? Never meet a dragon again? It turned out even fae and dragons have myths about lost treasures. Cita and Urdo had lots of work.
The End
