Alrighty, since the last one was a bit short, to sort of ease people back in to the storyline, I am putting this one up a little early this week.  Hope you enjoy.

As always, comments are appreciated and requested.

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continued from 'The Guardian's Warning...'

            Giggling madly, Kastor sprinted across the floor of the nest at top speed, racing towards the shallow, pillow lined depression that served as a bed, his scaly hair bouncing wildly, the swirling black hues of his scales flowing swiftly across him like the patterns of an ink blot test in his excitement.  Close behind, Twilight ran after his son, his hands outstretched, purposely just short of the child’s wings, growling playfully.  Smiling broadly at the pair’s antics, Karen sat back in the chair by the desk against the wall, watching as Kastor dove forward, rolling on his shoulder with draconian grace to end up on his back on the pillows, his clawed limbs upward.  Laughing, the black and violet scaled dragon pounced near his son, pretending to nibble at his ribcage, still growling, loosing a loud peal of laughter from the hybrid child, who grabbed his father’s horns and held on tight, as if trying to wrestle the dragon to the ground.  Looking up as a familiar chuckle sounded from the entrance, Karen rose to her feet, her grin widening.

            “I swear, the kid gets bigger every time I see him.” Malcolm said in greeting, sweeping the raven-tressed woman into a brief hug.  “How have you been?”

            “Well enough.  Can’t complain.” Karen replied, accepting a hug from Malcolm’s blue-green scaled mate in turn as Twilight got up to greet their friends.  “Now that the older aspirants have passed our classes, the schedule is easing up.  How did ..?”

            “Uncle Malcolm!!!” Kastor suddenly interrupted, leaping to his feet and sprinting over to the visitors, grabbing the knight’s leg in a hug.

            “Heya, Squirt!” Malcolm replied with a laugh, picking the child up under his armpits and lifting him into the air, spinning him around even as he let out a grunt of effort.  “Oof!  You are getting too big to lift!!”

            “Dad says I’m growing like a weed.” the hybrid replied as the knight set him back down on his clawed feet.  Although only actually four years old, Kastor appeared more like six, blessed as he was with a dragon’s swift growth.  “He says if I don’t stop, I’ll grow too big for the mountain.”

            “Well... you know what we do to hatchlings that get too fat...” Turquoise said, a playful gleam in her eyes.  Suddenly dropping into a crouch, the dragoness reached for him with her claws and teeth bared.  “We eat them up!!”

            “Oh no!!” Kastor cried, running off once again, a laughing Turquoise chasing him this time.

            “I don’t know how you two do it...” Malcolm commented, watching with a grin as his mate chased the scaly kid around the large nest.  “He’s like a manifested nuclear reaction.  No end of energy.”

            “Well, I can’t say it isn’t tiring...” Karen replied, grinning and shaking her head as Kastor ran a few paces up the smoothly curved wall and executed a perfect back flip, flaring his wings to extend the leap over the dragoness’ head in true dragon style.  “But, I wouldn’t trade him for the world and everything in it.  Anyway... How was the flight?”

            “Not as productive as we hoped.” Malcolm replied, chuckling as his mate finally nabbed Kastor, tickling him until he was gasping from laughter. “The safehouse looked like it had been abandoned for a while.  Only thing we found was the usual Light of Truth propaganda scattered around.”

            “Well, its not like we expected to find much.” Twilight stated, shaking his head.  “Just the fact that it existed is something, I suppose.”

            “That is true.” Malcolm said, watching as Kastor wriggled free from Turquoise’s grasp and suddenly pounced on her back, between her wings.  Far from shaking him off, his mate laughed and carried him piggyback around the nest, the dreadlocked knight smiling warmly at the sight.  “Still, it would have been nice to actually make progress for once.”

            “Well, it would certainly make our job easier if the Light of Truth would leave a list of their covert operatives lying around.” The black dragon joked dryly.  In the years since Kastor had been born, the quartet had spent most of their time trying to figure out the source of the Guardian’s warning feeling, but so far, despite tracing dozens of leads, they had found almost nothing.  Their first solid clue had been a snatch of conversation one of their human allies had overheard while spying on a meeting of ranking officers, a clue which had led them to the hidden safe house in a city not far from the dragon mountain.  “What I wish I understood is how their movement still has any momentum after all this time, and all of their losses.  You would think they would have run out of recruits by now.”

            “Well, religious people do tend to get stuck in their ways.” Karen said, putting an arm around her mate. “Its awfully hard to change their minds once they get an idea into their heads.  I mean, look at how long the Crusades lasted and that was more than a thousand years ago...”

            “You do have a point, love.” Twilight said, pulling her to him and giving her a light kiss.  The black dragon started to continue their discussion when a sudden loud alarm blasted into the nest from the Aerie proper, the air almost shaking with its magic enhanced might.  All five stared at each other in surprise, then the mate pairs hurried out into the main room.  As the chill, high mountain air embraced them as they left the nest, they saw dozens of Knights and Dragons assembling on the Aerie floor below them.  Seeing the look on his parent’s faces, Kastor quickly climbed down from Turquoise’s back, moving back into the nest so he was out of the way.  Hurrying down to the floor, the quartet found Sir Tamerin, separating the assembling knights and dragons into groups that spread out around the edge of the Aerie floor.

            “What is going on sir?” Malcolm asked when the knight turned to them.

            “One of our patrols got ambushed.” He explained, directing even more new arrivals into groups.  “They are on their way back now, and they have casualties.”

            “Again?” Karen asked, incredulous.  “This is the fourth time this month.”

            “Its worse this time.” The elder knight said, a dark look crossing his features.  “We sent out a full wing as support and they got cut up just as bad as the patrol itself.”

            “What?!” Twilight stated, his surprise overriding his deference for a moment.  “Who could hurt that many dragons and knights this badly?”

            “I have no idea.” Tamerin replied, pointing a half dozen dragons towards one of the assembling groups that looked a little small.  “Grab a spot in line, I have a feeling we are going to need your skills.”

            “What on earth are you talking about?” Karen asked, surprised at his words.  The senior officer’s reply was cut off a moment later by one of the sentries over at the entrance.

            “Here they come!!” He said, pointing out into the deep blue expanse before them.  After a moment, the rest saw what he meant, a cluster of black dots appearing in the distance.  Even from where they were standing, Karen could tell something very bad had happened up there.  Normally, even when patrols had wounded, they always flew apart, with enough space between dragons that the air currents of their beating wings didn’t make it hard to fly straight.  But this time, very few of the dots were off by themselves.  Most flew so close together that they looked like one creature from a distance.  If she hadn’t known that there were wounded coming in, she would have said it was a truly impressive display of formation flying.

            As it was, she knew that dragons only flew like that when they had no other choice, helping to support wounded comrades unable to fly on their own.  When the dots grew close enough to resolve themselves into detail, the assembled members of the knighthood gasped.  More than half of the dragons coming in were not flying at all, but rather being carried in nets crafted of magic, maintained by their fellows.  A few moments later, the first dragons soared into the Aerie, laying their burdens near the entrance and Karen felt her heart sink at what she saw.  There wasn’t a single unwounded dragon or Knight in the entire procession.  The least of the wounded, a young knight who was barely a month out of training, was rather pale looking, and had a broad, bloody slash across his back, but was still managing to hold on to another knight, the flight leader, who was slumped forward in the saddle in front of him.

            As a matter of fact, all of the dragons that were still flying carried more than one Knight on their backs, some lashed in place with magic, and all the same, more than one knight lay within a net beside their dragon.  As the knights and dragons assembled on the stone floor started on triage, Karen made a quick count and winced.  Three dragons and five Knights were not moving, and from the way they were carried, it was clear they were dead.  Shaking herself out of her reverie and taking a deep breath to prepare, the raven haired woman hurried to the nearest dragon.  The Knight strapped into the saddle wore the silver wings of a Lieutenant on his jumpsuit, but the mark was half obscured by blood, and Karen quickly caught him as he slid suddenly toward her, his face white.  The upper right hand side of his chest was just gone, his arm hanging by a thread, the wound oozing around the edges, only a magic shell over it preserving his life.  Even with the magic, it was a miracle that he was still alive, much less sitting in the saddle.  Lowering him gently to the floor of the Aerie, Karen ripped the green jumpsuit back from the edges of the wound, laying her hand on it, preparing to dispel the magic shell.  Reaching deep within herself, she brought her own magic to bear, pouring her power and her will into the wound beneath the seal, striving to reverse the horrific damage.

            Before her eyes, the edges of the wound glowed bright, the flesh knitting back together, the missing muscle and sinew re-growing out of thin air.  Once the wound had mostly closed, Karen released the seal.  She was just about to turn away to see about his dragon when the lieutenant let out a gurgling groan, lurching with sudden pain and she turned back to find the wound suddenly open again, a growing trail of blood welling from the edges of the wound, the flesh splitting all over again.  Instinct took over and Karen clamped her hands hard over the wound, stopping the flow with pressure, bringing her magic to bear once more, surprised to feel her spells unraveling.  Perplexed, Karen tried again, her magic healing the wound, feeling the flesh knit back together beneath her fingers again.  But she had barely finished when the wound began to split right back open again, the rider almost convulsing with pain.  Fighting back a sudden flash of panic, Karen reached out across the soul she shared with Twilight, feeling her mate instantly respond, joining his power with hers.  Together, they reached out, magic flooding the wounded knight, keeping him alive, pouring into the torn flesh, replacing it as it split not with his own tissue, but with copies formed of magic itself, a perfect replica of that which was missing, glowing a pulsing blue.

            Then, with the bleeding stopping, the mated pair turned their attention inward, pushing deeper, delving down, searching on instinct for the reason of the wound’s odd behavior.  For a few moments they felt nothing, then, suddenly, Karen cocked her head slightly, pausing, probing with a tendril of power.  There was something there, nestled deep in the wound, a shape almost like a sliver of glass that seemed to glow in her mind’s eye.  Gently brushing against it with her mind, the raven-tressed rider reeled, a sudden lance of pain slamming through her mind and she felt Twilight react, throwing up a shiled of his own magic to protect her from it, the Knight retracting the magic’s touch from whatever it was.  Frowning, she knew she had found it, the source of the wound and its bizarre behavior.  Now, the question was just what to do about it.

            Frowning, she reached out again with her magic, not touching the sliver itself, but rather caressing the flesh that surrounded it, pressing on it with her magic.  For a moment or two, nothing happened, then, suddenly, the sliver moved, not gradually as she intended, but almost like a bullet, racing outward.  Like a blur, the glowing sliver shot from the wounded lieutenant’s body, Karen letting out a gasp as it lanced towards her face.  Fortunately, her mate was quicker on the draw, a net of magic instantly catching it, stopping its flight a few inches from her flesh.  Acting quickly, Karen healed the wound once more, waiting just long enough to make sure it took this time.  Then, when color at last returned to the lieutenant’s face, his pained face relaxing, she examined the offending object.

            Even covered with blood, it was obvious what it was.  It was a thin shard of magic crystal, the kind that the dragons used in making technology, jagged on all edges except one that was smooth, curved in a smooth arc, and even immobilized in the shell of magic, she could feel the spells held within the crystal straining to reach her, as if trying to find a target to strike.  A deep sense of worry in her guts, Karen turned around, scanning the controlled chaos of the Aerie.  There, another knight suddenly reeled, clutching at his head and Karen immediately hurried to his side with Twilight appearing from the other direction, their magic reaching into the wound as one.  Now that they knew what to look for, it took only a few seconds to locate a second shard, the crystal reacting the same way the first had to being pulled, Karen catching it this time, ready for its tricks.  Seeing their technique, the other pairs that surrounded them were already duplicating it, more shards being pulled, none the same shape or size, but all reacting like a living thing when threatened.

            “What the hell are these things?” Karen asked, using magic to rotate one of the shells of magic, examining the crystal caught within it.  No matter which way she turned it, it always seemed to rotate itself back so it was pointing towards her heart, straining against the magic that held it.  Around her, the crowd was dispersing, many helping the most seriously wounded down to the infirmary where healers could provide more permanent help, but the mated pairs remained behind, along with Tamerin and few others, examining the strange crystals.

            “No idea.” Malcolm replied, peering closely at a few shards he had pulled from a wounded dragon.  “I think these are supposed to fit together...”

            “What do you mean?” Turquoise asked, interested, trying to see what he meant.

            “These lower edges,” Malcolm said, maneuvering two shards so they pressed together.  “They match up a little too closely for it to be a coincidence.”  When the edges touched, the quartet’s eyes went wide.  They fit perfectly, and a shared suspicion crossed their faces.  They were about to continue when Tamerin walked over, followed by the captain that had led the wing of dragons.

            “The whole thing was apparently an ambush.” he said, looking darkly at the shards that hovered in the air around the knights.  “The second our support force entered the area, they got hit by some sort of air burst shells, like flak.  They didn’t stand a chance.”

            “Sir!!” A knight called and the knighthood’s second in command looked towards him.  The knight was standing beside one of the fallen dragons with another member of the knighthood, beckoning them closer.  “I think we have something.”

            Hurrying over, the knights reached out with their magic, seeking what their comrade meant.  Sure enough, in the dragon’s chest, there was a shape far too large to be merely a shard of crystal.  Exchanging a glance with Tamerin, Karen quickly sealed the shape in a from fitting envelope of magic, weaving it tight with her soul mate’s help so it wouldn’t move on its own like the other shards had.  Then, at her nod, Malcolm and Turquoise gently worked the flesh that surrounded it, coaxing it backward, down the wound it had left, until it slid out into the light of the Aerie.  Using their magic, Karen and Twilight maneuvered it up into the air before them, revealing a shape that looked like a massively oversized bullet, but crafted out of translucent red crystal.

            “If I didn’t know better...” Tamerin began, his voice distant, as if dredging up very, very old memories, “I would swear that was the business end of a 155mm howitzer shell.  But those things were phased out more than a century ago.”

            “It almost looks like its cracked.” Malcolm commented, reaching out and pointing to an almost invisible fracture in the surface of the stone.  “See?”  Peering closer, Karen suddenly shook her head.

            “No, not cracked,” She said, a realization forming in her mind.  “Seamed.”  At her words, the elder knight’s eyes went wide and he raised his hands, his own magic forming a globe around the shell.

            “Everyone step back.” He commanded. “Karen, when I tell you, drop your spell.”  When everyone had stepped a few paces back from the projectile, most raising magic shields in front of themselves, the knight nodded to the raven haired woman.  Taking a breath, Karen dropped the spell that had encased the shell.  The second the magic dropped, the smooth, regular shape instantly seemed to explode outward into two dozen pieces, all caught by the officer’s spell, the pieces jagged edged, gleaming bright, as if eager to shred flesh.  But they didn’t surge outward like shrapnel, all heading along a single trajectory.  Instead, they bounced off the spell and ricocheted around within the globe of magic, each bounce redirecting them at another of the knights or dragons that stood around the space.  His lip curling into a snarl, Tamerin gestured and the globe suddenly contracted, crushing the shards into dust, then faded, the dust scattering on the breeze that flowed through the home of the dragons.

            “Looks like they have finally learned a new trick.” He said, frowning.

            “Trick, nothing.” One of the other knights replied. “They have never been anywhere near to this level of arcane engineering.  If they came up with it on their own, it would be like the Roman Legion suddenly showing up with assault rifles instead of javelins.  They had to have stolen it.”

            “Yeah?” a young silver dragon interjected, shaking his head. “From who exactly?  No one except us understand magic to the level necessary to create this kind of weapon.”

            “Well we didn’t invent the damn things,” The knight replied, “So where did they come from?”

            “Quiet down.” Tamerin ordered, silencing the arguing warriors.  “Its true that we didn’t invent them, but we all knew it was only a matter of time until the outside world began to imagine ways to use magic like this.  If nothing else, we humans are endlessly creative when it comes to destruction.  Malcolm, Turquoise, come with me, and bring the rest of those shards.  Maybe we can find a clue where the magic creating these things came from by dissecting them piece by piece.  The rest of you, go over these bodies again, carefully.  I want to be damn sure we got all of these things before their funeral.  Karen, you are in charge.”  When a few of the other knights protested, the officer swiped his hand through the air in a gesture that silenced them immediately, his expression allowing for no argument. “You heard me.  Now get to it.”

            Surprised, Karen exchanged a glance with Twilight, her love giving a shrug.  Although there was some grumbling, the knights and dragons did as they told as Karen directed them, going over the fallen slowly.  As it turned out, Tamerin’s instincts were right on the money, the group finding half a dozen shards that had been originally missed, one nearly spearing the knight that had been arguing with the young silver when it flew back out of the wound.  Finally, the task was done, and Karen told the others to take the bodies of their fallen comrades to be prepared for the pyres that would consume them, finally leaving her and her mate alone.

            “I’ll go and bring these down to Tamerin and the others.” Twilight said, gathering the shards into a single envelope of magic.  When his mate nodded wearily, the black and violet dragon smiled, putting his arms around her and pulling his mate into a hug. “How about we go out flying tonight, just the two of us?”

            “That sounds wonderful.” Karen said, returning the embrace tightly.  “Its been entirely too long.”  Reluctantly letting each go, the pair shared a short kiss, then parted, Karen heading back up to their nest, Twilight walking towards the stairs leading down into the mountain, the magic shards in tow...

***

            Malcolm reached out with both hands to where the shard of crystal he had been working on was floating before him.  Taking a deep breath, Malcolm reached into himself, bringing his magic to the surface, gathering it into his hands.  Bringing his fingertips together so his hands almost cupped the shard in his palms, the knight brought them apart suddenly, a magic representation of the crystal suddenly appearing in the air above the central work station of the study.  Looking up at the enlarged display, the knight reached out with his magic, manipulating the image around, then flicked his fingers, the image turning into a vague shadow, a mass of interwoven tendrils of many colors suddenly surrounding it.  Leaning back, Malcolm tapped his chin with his fingertips, scanning the representation.  Shaking his head, the knight closed his eyes and sighed, stretching his back.

            The study, like the other dozen or so in the mountain was where the Knights of Juno studied the inner workings of magic, and also the place where they designed and built new technology.  The first of their rail guns had been made here, as had the dragon swords the Knight leaders carried.  Each study had a central work station raised above the others, large enough for a pair of full grown dragons to stand on it, surrounded by at least a dozen smaller ones.  Each work station utilized the technology created by the dragons, computers that could only be used by the knights and dragons, fueled not by electricity but rather by their magic.  And that made the studies of the dragon mountain one of the few places in the world where enchantments could be examined in detail.

            Contrary to what the uninitiated believed, what people knew as magic spells were in fact made up of many pieces, subtle elements that, when combined, created the effect the castor wanted.  Usually, what people saw as a single effect, a single action accomplished by magic, was in fact many smaller actions or effects, all taking place simultaneously.  And because no two minds worked exactly the same way, so too were no two spells exactly the same.  The end result might be the same, but the elements that made up the spell were sometimes wildly different, depending on how the castor approached the problem.  In ancient times, examining the components of power that made up the spell could usually tell you at least the people that the magic user had come from, since tribes and nations all seemed to have their own distinct style.  But now…

            Working his neck around in a circle, the dreadlocked knight stretched his arms above his head, easing the stiffness that came from doing this kind of work.  Then, right in the middle of his stretch, he suddenly gasped, something warm and rather pleasant brushing against his neck, claw tipped fingers tracing his ribs under the jumpsuit.  Barely managing to stay in his chair, the knight grinned broadly even as the familiar contact provoked a shiver running down his spine.

            “That is not fair…” Malcolm said softly, reaching up and caressing the scaled shoulders of the person teasing him, his eyes still closed.

            “Mayyyybe…” Turquoise replied, giving her knight’s neck another soft kiss.  “But I’m entitled to tease my mate whenever I like.  Its part of the contract.”

            “I knew I should have read the fine print.” Malcolm replied, kissing the tip of his dragon’s muzzle, continuing the running joke.  “Find anything on your end, love?”

            “Well, other than the fact that the large shells all seem to have been enchanted by the same person, not a whole lot.”  The blue-green dragoness replied, looking up from where she was crouching behind her mate’s chair, studying the display intently.  “They really went all out on these didn’t they?”

            “Yeah…” Malcolm agreed, frowning.  “Its kind of troubling actually.”

            “How so?” Sir Tamerin asked, walking into the study from the corridor, smiling at the pair’s compromised position.  The second in command of the knights was still one of the only officers who didn’t seem remotely put off by their romance, seeming to find their affection endearing.  Looking up at the display, the knight officer frowned.

            “Well sir, candidly, I didn’t think any human outside the knighthood had this level of skill in creating enchantments.” Malcolm commented.  “I mean, look at it.  The spellcraft is perfect.  I would even call it elegant.”

            “So would I.” Tamerin replied, using magic to tease apart the bundle of threads, revealing even more threads intertwined within it, layer upon layer.  “If Lord Mikael or I had a couple of months to work on it, we could probably refine enchantments to this degree.  I suppose that a castor could have spent a couple years just making these, but that doesn’t seem likely.”

            “I hate to even suggest this, but,” Turquoise began, “I don’t think even most dragons could do this quickly.  It would take one either extremely skilled or…”

            “Or, one that is very, very old.” Tamerin continued for her, shaking his head resignedly.  “Yeah.  I really hope we are wrong…”