\n Hueroc let out a roar of excitement as he leapt into the air, his wings beating hard to gain altitude; the day was hot and bright and clear, without much wind.  Perfect for flying, and with a mate and three growing hatchlings to feed, he would have some flying to do to find prey for the whole family!  He glanced back down at the cave entrance as he spiraled upward, the rising warm air helping to lift him, and roared wordlessly again when he saw Loria watching him, her own little voice drowned out by the air rushing past him.

\n Leveling off, he sniffed the air for traces of prey to hunt, and smelling none he turned with the upper-level winds and beat slowly along, smelling carefully and scanning the ground below, his own stomach rumbling a little at the thought of food.  Bored for the moment by the lack of a trail to follow, he threw his body through a few rolls and other stunts, grinning ferally in enjoyment, at how easy it was to fly in summer...

\n Soon he refocused on his task, but had barely flown for another minute before he glanced at the horizon and saw two... four... five sets of wings, all in a group and flying his way.  Growling a little to himself, he paused, watched them as he flew a circle; even with the clan so close, it was unusual to see large groups like this flying together--then he remembered how his lesson the previous week had ended.  This had to be Rhean, and Emma, and her guards!

\n He paused for a moment, indecisive--to greet them and lead them back to the cave, or go back immediately and let them come at their own pace?  Since he'd told Ellora they'd be coming, she'd removed both their collars, so that was no concern...  But they knew the way, he thought, and better to give Ellora some warning, if there was anything she wanted to do before their arrival.  Wheeling around, he dove, leveled off just above the mountain peaks and raced back to his mate's cave nearly as fast as he could go.

\n Hueroc landed at the entry clearing with a blast of wind, sending the hatchlings scampering out to greet him, Ellora on their heels; her head was tilted curiously, nostrils twitching as she sniffed the air around him, as if worried about a possible injury.  "Back so soon?  Is something wrong, my sweet?" she nuzzled at his chin, then his neck, as Neth watched, and Taran and Loria raced around and between his legs.

\n "No, no, nothing is wrong."  He returned her nudging, and reached down to nose at Neth, making him purr and swish his tail a little.  "But I saw five dragons coming, most likely Rhean, and Emma and her guards.  They'll likely be here within a quarter of an hour."

\n "Oh!  Well, our cave is ready for them... the door to our little play-room is there, and shut, and we aren't wearing our collars, and the hatchlings are clean...  We should go inside and wait, I suppose.  Taran!"  She looked past her mate, and the little blue dragon stopped in his tracks, looking down the forest path that led towards the lake.  Loria took the opportunity to pounce onto his back, and the two of them wrestled for a moment before she leapt away again, grinning.

\n "Come inside, little ones," Hueroc said, chuckling, and he and Ellora shepherded them back into the cave.  Ellora sat on her belly to wait, Neth clambering up onto her back and settling down there, while Hueroc kept an eye on the other two as they chased each other around the main chamber.  But before too long the sound of wings could be heard on the air, and he had to hold the two of them back to keep them from dashing back into the clearing to see who might be coming; then the other dragons came down, two at a time.

\n The first two were a pair of large, muscular dragons, a grey-and-blue female and a dark green male.  Taran let out a tiny hatchling roar at the 'intruders,' making his father chuckle again, before the male inclined his head to Ellora.

\n "Welcome to you both," Ellora said, putting Neth down carefully and rising, smiling at the two guards.  "This is my mate, Hueroc, and our three hatchlings."

\n "They look like some adorable little rascals," the female said, smirking, sniffing the air for a moment before glancing back outside.  "Nothing unexpected here, Matriarch, and no danger."

\n This prompted the rest of them to enter, the two guards stepping to the side and the third staying by the entrance as Emma entered, flanked by Rhean.  Hueroc lowered his head respectfully, looking her over; she was thinner even than himself, with narrow wings and not much muscle, her scales fuschia and scarred in a few places, one set near her left eye.  She wore gold jewelery around her tail, one horn, and her neck, the latter supporting a small, faintly glowing orange pendant; and her eyes glowed faintly as well, the same purplish color as her hide.

\n "Welcome, Matriarch," Ellora said, also lowering her head, a bit more than Hueroc had.  Taran peeped a little, but Neth and Loria were already quiet, sitting still and staring up at the elder dragoness with wide eyes.

\n "Ellora...  It is good to see you again," she said in a strangely resonant voice, her tail flicking for a moment, prompting them to lift their heads.  "This must be Hueroc, your mate," she sniffed the air around him for a moment, "and the hatchlings...  Oh Ellora, they're beautiful!  You must be so proud."  She lowered her head to nose at each of the little ones in turn, cooing softly at them, receiving a nudge from Neth, a lick from Loria... and Taran nosed her a moment before trying to leap for the pendant hanging from her necklace.  But she sat back, caught him deftly in her forepaws and held him still to nuzzle gently at him, to which he submitted, purring, after a few growls and squeaks of protest.

\n "Thank you," Ellora purred, and took Taran back and put him down with his siblings after a moment, patting him gently on the forehead; he sat more still after that, but still glanced at his parents and peeped occasionally.  "This is Taran, this is Loria," she patted her as well, "and this--"

\n "I'm Neth," he said, making all the visitors stare.

\n "Speaking already?  You must be a very bright little dragon," she looked at him closely, closed her eyes for a moment, then continued, "and I can already feel magic growing in him... and his sister too!  Rhean, I'm sure you'll be very interested to have a look at all three."

\n "Of course," the orange dragon-mage tilted his head.

\n "But we came here for other reasons, of course...  Hueroc, might we speak in private?"  She turned and walked towards one of the side chambers without waiting for an answer, and after glancing at his mate he stood and hurried along behind her.

\n They went into Ellora's treasure-room, where she kept a few clan artifacts for display and safe-keeping, and Emma glanced around before turning back to him.  "I'm very happy for you both," she began.  "After what happened to Ellora, I feared that she might never be able to trust another dragon enough to take a mate...  But the love you have for each other is all over you both," she smiled, "and your hatchlings are beatiful."

\n "Thanks," he bobbed his head, his curiosity again roused at the mention of his mate's past, but he didn't bring it up; better to ask Ellora directly, another time.

\n "Mmmm..." she tilted her head.  "And your accent alone tells me you're from out west...  How did you come to meet her?"

\n He chuckled a little at the memory, of how she had ambushed him, bound him so tightly... so that she would not have to worry about whether she could trust him, he realized now.  "I was going on a cross-country flight, exploring, meeting new dragons when I could, seeing new lands..."  He smirked and continued, "though it might be more accurate to say that she found me, than the other way around.  I'd set down at the lake nearby, to drink and swim and rest, when she came seemingly from nowhere..."  Here he had to pause for a moment, to figure out how to tell the story without getting into the details how how she'd made sure he would be 'trustworthy.'  "Things were a bit rough at first, but as we got to know each other, the more we liked each other... until finally we'd been together so long and gotten along so well that we realized just how we felt for each other, and that we wanted to stay together."

\n Emma tilted her head, and after a moment walked a circle around him, looking him over and humming a little to herself.  "Well, congratulations to you both, of course...  I can tell what she sees in you.  You're handsome, and fit, and healthy, and... well, perhaps she might not have felt it so distinctly, but the magic emanating from you is quite powerful."

\n He flushed hot, briefly, from the praise, but thanks to his already-red scales it didn't show.  "Thank you."

\n She might have sensed it anyway, though, and giggled for a moment before sitting on her haunches before him.  "Rhean tells me this magic of yours is powerful, and dangerous...  But speaking as a dragon with great magical power, the 'danger' in any ability depends more than anything else on the character of the dragon with said ability, and how well they have been trained to wield it.  I can already tell that your character is of no concern...  You would not have such a loving mate and hatchlings otherwise.  Which means that the danger is only a matter of training, and of course I will allow your lessons with Rhean to continue."

\n Hueroc tilted his head.  "Thank you...  I'm excited to learn.  We don't work together the same way out west...  I don't know if any of Petren's line had the chance to learn from an experienced mage, and really develop this ability."

\n "Rhean told me about the beam ability you displayed to him, despite your lack of experience.  I have to admit, having only heard the myths of ragefire, I'm quite curious as well to see what you might learn, if this power of yours might be applied to more than just the beam, and how well you might be able to access it without anger to prompt its release...  Please, hold still for a moment."  She closed her eyes, and a glowing blue something appeared in the air between them, perhaps the size of one of her horns.  She glanced at it, and after a moment it raced in circles around Hueroc, making his body tingle oddly, a sense of something rushing inside of him that he couldn't quite identify...  Then the spirit stopped its circling, darted directly into Emma's forehead, and she opened her eyes again.

\n "...what did you do?" he asked after a moment, tail twitching as that odd feeling receded.

\n "Oh..."  She shivered a little.  "My spirits are more magically connected than I am myself...  I wanted to get a better sense of you, that's all.  Come; unless you have any concerns, there is no more we need to discuss."

\n "I..."  He frowned, wanting to ask about Ellora's past, but thought better of it.  "No, there's nothing," he finally said, and followed her back to the main chamber.

\n Ellora was seated, with Neth curled up on her back once again, while Taran played with Rhean's tailtip--much to his apparent frustration--and Loria climbed the neck of one of Emma's guards, making her giggle.  But they all looked up as Emma and Hueroc returned, Emma moving to stand with her guards, Hueroc nuzzling at his mate's neck.

\n "We are done here," Emma said, answering the near-silence--Taran was still growling playfully at Rhean's tailtip.  "Hueroc, you may come to the central caves tomorrow to continue your training; Rhean will have found a suitable space for your lessons by then.  And I encourage both of you to bring your hatchlings to the caves to meet the rest of the clan!"

\n "Of course," Ellora chuckled, finally reaching over to save Rhean's tail from her son's enthusiastic bats and nibblings.  "It was good to see you, Matriarch; thank you for coming."

\n "Yes...  Thank you," Hueroc echoed, dipping his head for a moment.

\n "Farewell, then."  One of her guards went up into the air first, then her, then Rhean, then the two others, the sounds of their wingbeats rapidly fading away; then finally Ellora released her hold on Taran, who began to climb his father's back.

\n "Emma seems to like you," she said.

\n "I think so too...  But something she said, that keeps being brought up...  I don't know if it hurts to remember, but you've never told me about your past, and what happened to you...  I want to know," he nosed at her neck, gently.  "Especially since that's like what prompted you to keep me bound and helpless so much when we first met."

\n She flinched, and looked away despite his gentle nuzzles.  "Perhaps..."  She sighed.  "Perhaps soon, but not now.  You still need to hunt, and I would prefer to put the little ones to bed before beginning the story."

\n On cue, his belly rumbled ominously, and he transferred Taran to his mother's back so he could stand, shake out his wings and head for the clearing outside.  "Okay...  I will hunt, and tonight, we will talk about this.  I'll return soon," he dipped his head, flicked his tail, then flew off to hunt.