Serali and Kethro set off several days later from Barona. They flew in a general westward direction, headed toward Land's End, but they were looking for a good place to live. A large dry cave would be perfect, but with their diamond hard talons, it would be easy enough to dig out a new cave if they could find a suitable cliff.

They were several days out of Barona when Serali remembered the cave they'd stopped at on their way to visit Janus. They reached the spot a few days later, but the cave had changed. Outside of the cavern's mouth there was a heap of oddly shaped rocks ranging from gravel to stones the size of a human. They descended curiously, wondering what was going on. As they landed, and rock came hurling out of the cave and crashed into the pile outside. It was followed swiftly by several more and then by a dragon, carrying a particularly large rock.

He was azure blue with paler silver-blue plated undersides. His head was crowned with the spikes and horns of a mountain dragon, though he was much lighter in color than mountain dragons usually are. He was also rather young looking, and smaller than either Kethro or Serali. He looked rather embarrassed as he dropped the rock he was carrying with a thud.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't think this belonged to anyone. I shouldn't have started digging out someone else's lair like this. I apologize!"

"No need for apologies," said Serali. "We don't live here, we're just passing through."

An expression of relief crossed his face, to be immediately replaced by curiosity. "I think I've seen you before, haven't I? You're that gold dragon that made such a stir at the last dragon's moot."

Serali nodded.

"I don't know your mate though. He is your mate, isn't he? There I go assuming things again."

"Yes, he's my mate. I'm Serali, and this is Kethro. What's your name?"

"I'm Doran. It's nice to meet you." He inclined his head and dipped his wings is a kind of bow.

"But why are you moving in here?" asked Kethro. "It's rather near a number of human settlements."

"I'd rather live with humans than Skrissish right now. I think he's gone totally mad."

"What do you mean?" Kethro seemed puzzled, though Serali remembered the way Skrissish had acted at the moot and wasn't totally surprised.

"It started harmlessly enough of course. He began to rule for trial by combat more often than usual. You know that the Dragon King is supposed to judge disputes that dragons can't settle themselves, and when he can't settle it they either drop it all together or fight it out. I didn't like that much, but there wasn't really any harm in it. But then some of the more quarrelsome dragons started deliberately bringing things to him so that he'd tell them to fight.

"I really didn't like that, and a lot of other dragons agreed with me, but it didn't seem to affect us, so we ignored it. But after the moot he seemed to be almost insane. He would rage at everyone, and he even got into fights with anybody who tried to disagree with whatever he was talking about. Mostly what he talked about was you, actually. He thought you'd gone and sung at the moot so you could start taking the rulership from him. Of course nobody else thought so but a few bullies that agree with anything he says because he lets them fight.

"Even that the rest of us that lived in those mountains could live with. We weren't about to abandon our lairs and go live in the flatlands like plains dragons. No offense to them, of course, but a mountain dragon is meant for the heights. What happened next though�" The azure dragon shook his head. "Well, one of his bullies had picked a fight with a smaller dragon, hardly out of childhood. And of course when they took it to Skrissish he judged they should fight. A lot of us didn't like that. The poor little thing was half the bigger dragon's size. But nobody gets seriously hurt in these things, so we all let it go ahead. Would that we had stopped it then.

"When they fought, the little dragon did better than anybody thought she would. She moved fast, used her small size as an advantage. The big fellow looked like an idiot a dozen times over as she escaped him. But at last he caught her. She'd worked him into a rage, and he wasn't very stable to begin with. Nobody realized exactly what was happening till it was too late and he'd broken her neck. He killed her! All of us were terribly upset, and we took the whole mess before Skrissish. It's become too much of a habit to go to him for justice, even now. But he doesn't even know the meaning of the word. He said something about a 'regrettable accident' and let that murder off without any punishment at all!

"Well, there was some talk of overthrowing him and putting somebody else in his place. Your name was mentioned a few times," he nodded to Serali, "since you're a royal gold, and they've been leaders since dragons started, but in the end we all decided to just leave. If Skrissish wants to rule, he can rule his bullies and leave the rest of us alone." Then he grinned. "I imagine a lot of humans are suddenly going to find dragons living near them, since those are the only places we can go and not take over other dragons' territory."

"Why not go in groups?" asked Serali.

"Dragons don't live in groups!"

"Plains dragons do."

"No offense to plains dragons, but us mountain dragons aren't meant to live like that. And besides, a lot of mountain dragons think plains dragons are a kind of lesser creature, like a smart drake, or wyvern. They wouldn't do anything that plains dragons do unless they had to."

"That's kind of sad."

Doran nodded.

There was a moment of silence, but then Serali shook herself like a dog and said, "Enough of gloom and depression. We really should get going. We're looking for a good lair spot, but there really aren't very many here. I have half a mind to go dig a cave in the bluff above Land's End. They're somewhat used to having a dragon hanging around."

Doran shrugged. "To each his own, I suppose. I'm not sure I could get used to humans, even if they got used to me."

Kethro grinned at him. "If you ever want to find out, you can come visit." He turned to Serali and added, "I think that living near Land's End is a good idea. I'm quite curious about this human family of yours."

"Maybe I will someday." Doran smiled. "It would be interesting to see how many of the stories I've heard are true."

"You'd be welcome anytime, but you should probably wait a few months at least, since the home that we're so graciously inviting you to doesn't even exist yet."

They all laughed at that. Then Serali and Kethro made their farewells and flew off toward Land's End and their new home.

"Where did those come from?"

"It's magic of course! I noticed that when I shape-shift my clothes go somewhere, and when I change back to human form the came back from wherever it was. That was my final project before I became a journeyman, figuring out where they went and how they came back. Now I can put things into and out of that place anytime I like. It's a handy trick to know."

"I can imagine." He grinned wryly. "Carrying around dragon books can be tiring work."

Less then a week after they started the lair was finished. The heap of rough stone pieces scattered outside the entrance bore testament to the amount of work the two had done in that brief time.

Serali stood at the entrance with Kethro at her side and gazed out with a sense of accomplishment. "I think it's time to meet the neighbors."

"What?"

"I've told you that the humans here have met me in dragon form before and we got along just fine. I intend to go further, to test whether the two races can really coexist."

"So you're going to just walk into the middle of town and say hi?"

"Exactly."

"You know they'll probably all scream and run away, don't you?"

"Kethro, I've saved the town before. I helped re-build the inn after it burned down. I did it in dragon form, and nobody ran away from me then but the bad guys."

"Humans have such short memories, are you sure they'll know you?"

"It hasn't been that long! Let's go."

"All right. I'm not so sure about this, but I'll go along with it."

Serali lead the way as the two of them approached the town. She left him just out of sight, deciding that two dragons, one of them totally unfamiliar, would be a little bit too alarming. She walked down the road, slowly, letting everyone get a good look at her. As she neared the town, she could see people peering out of windows. She could also hear shouts of alarm and arguments. She passed between houses carefully, watching her tail and wings to avoid doing any damage. Some people ducked into the houses fearfully as she went by, but many came out and watched with awe and curiosity as she made her way to the town square.

She stopped in the middle of the square and waited. She tried not to watch too closely when her parents and her sisters came out of the inn to see what was going on. After quite a while Bran, the mayor, pushed his way through the crowd.

He stopped in front of her, seemingly at a loss for words. Serali decided to take the initiative and bobbed her head in a polite bow.

"Hello, lord Mayor."

He started a bit when she spoke, but recovered admirably. "Hello, Lord dragon." He was about to say more, but Serali broke in.

"Excuse me, I know you aren't at all familiar with dragons, but I would be 'Lady Dragon' if you were to give me any such title."

"Oh! I apologize."

"It's quite all right." He seemed to be at a loss again, se Serali continued. "I myself should apologize for intruding on you like this. I imagine I've given some of you a fright. But I want there to be peace between us. A long time ago the people of this town sent a dragon-slayer home for my sake. I hope that this time things will go as well between us."

"Then you're the same dragon?"

"Yes, I am. I would have thought you'd recognize me."

"But, no offence, you're much bigger than you used to be."

Serali blinked. Yes, she'd been well short of twenty feet when she'd first turned into a dragon. And now she was near fifty feet long. She grinned, then realized that showing that many teeth wasn't very diplomatic. "I've grown a bit since then. It's been quite a few years."

"Why are you back then? It has been quite a few years."

"I've married since then, so I wanted to settle down somewhere. This is as good place as any."

The mayor blinked. "You mean there are two of you?"

"Yes." Serali smiled, trying not to show too many teeth, and then stood up on her hind legs and waved. From where Kethro was waiting he could clearly see her, towering above the village buildings. On that signal, he launched himself into the air and flew over the village. Trying to fit both of them in the town square would have been an exercise in futility.

Serali, aware that she'd alarmed the villagers, went back down to all fours and pointed overhead. Bran looked up. The rest of the villagers looked too. Overhead Kethro danced through the air overhead. Showoff, thought Serali with a warm inner smile.

Some people ducked their heads in instinctive fear, others looked nervous, but many looked at the graceful shape of Kethro dancing through the air with wonder and awe. I think this may just work out.

And indeed things went well between the dragons and the humans. Serali and Kethro often ventured into town to help the villagers out. If a new house was being built, they would haul timbers and blocks of stone. Before to put up a heavy roof beam a complicated system of pulleys had been used, but now Serali and Kethro could simply pick it up and put it on place.

A few problems intruded form time to time. The first major obstacle came when Serali realized that they were beginning to hunt out the area around Land' End of large game. Kethro jokingly said that they could just eat all those fat cows in the fields.

"Hmm� Not a bad idea, actually."

"What!"

"Calm down Keth. I of all people should know that humans don't like having their animals eaten. But they do like having money. Do you know how much dragon scale is worth to a human?"

"Dragon scale? Why should that be worth anything?"

"Because it's harder than steel, and lighter too. They use it for weapons and for jewelry. A single dragon's scale could probably buy you an entire cow."

Kethro blinked. "Really?"

"Really." Serali grinned. "Of course there aren't enough cows in Land's End to keep us fed, but I'm sure we can find somebody who has a lot of them. I'll ask Bran next time I'm in town."

Bran was duly consulted, and told Serali that the people with the most cattle were the plainsmen. "Barbarians, really. But their herds are said to cover the ground. I imagine they'd be willing to sell you enough to keep you fed for life."

They made plans for a trip to the Ocean of Grass. They would head out in search of plainsmen the next week. Serali wondered that in all her time there she'd never seen a plainsman, but Kethro said that they probably avoided Dragon Stone, since most humans fear dragons. They were basking in front of their lair, discussing possible ways to approach the plainsmen when Kethro pointed up at the sky.

"What's that?"

Serali followed his line of sight and spotted a winged speck overhead. It was circling lower. "I think it's a dragon!"

A few moments later Serali was proven right. They could make out the unmistakable outline of a dragon. As it approached, they could see it was light blue in color, and then at last the recognized it. "Doran!" called Serali as the dragon landed on the flat area in front of the lair.

"Hello Serali, Kethro. I thought I'd take you up on your invitation."

"Wonderful!" Serali smiled at him.

"I couldn't help but notice how close you are to that human village back there. Aren't you worried you'll upset them?"

"They know we're here. We get long just fine."

"Truly? I would like to see that."

"Come with us then. Breck the smith is adding a new wing to his smithy, and we're hauling timber for him. You could help out."

"I think I will."

They set off toward the town, Serali flying in front with Kethro and Doran strung out behind her. They arrived at the smithy to find Breck already directing a group of men who were nailing boards and sawing logs. Serali introduced Doran, and the three of them immediately set to manhandling big logs around so that the men could saw them into usable pieces. When the boards were ready, Serali would hold one in place while one of the men nailed it down. Then they'd pick up the next. Working together, the new smith was nearly finished by the time the sun began to sink low on the horizon.

"That was kind of fun," said Doran as they flew back toward the lair. "Though humans have strange lairs."

"Yes, but there aren't enough caves in the world for all the humans to live in. They have to build their own," explained Kethro.

"Strange, but I think I could get to like these humans."

The bite of winter was in the air as they flew over the unending expanse of brown grass. No snow lay on the ground yet, but it was only a matter of time. The wind blew into their faces, carrying a scent of snow. Doran talked about what it was like in his distant mountain home as they flew along.

"About now the highest slopes are covered in white. Soon even the lower lairs will be buried. A few go south for the winter, but most of us stay. We dig huge tunnels under the snow to connect the lairs of our friends. When it storms we sit in warm caverns listening to the wind blow by outside. On clear days we go out and hunt. Some of the younger ones have snowball fights.

"Many of us work on decorating out lairs, or making songs, or writing things to present at the next moot. Winter can be a hard time. Food gets scarce and the cold can be very bitter, but I love the winter."

Serali nodded and was about to reply when Kethro broke in. "Look!"

Ahead on the horizon smoke was rising. As they flew closer they could see it rose from a human encampment. There were no houses like those in all the human towns Serali had seen. Instead there were tents. They seemed to be dug into the ground so that they were halfway permanent, but they could obviously moved at need. A few humans and animals wandered around among them. A bit further on a great herd of cattle was grazing on the brown grass. Men on horses surrounded them, and every now and then a lean dog would dart out at a man's command and herd strays back into the main herd.

Serali quickly turned around and landed in a dip in the ground that would keep the humans from spotting them.

They had planned their tactics while they traveled, so now they were well prepared. Doran would remain in dragon form, since he couldn't shape shift and didn't have any other option Serali would take human form and do the bargaining, since Kethro's command of common was weak and Doran didn't know it at all. Kethro would be in the shape of a red-tailed hawk, so that if anything unexpected happened they would have a surprise of their own.

Serali swung up onto Doran's back, perching precariously between his powerful wings. Kethro landed on Serali's shoulder in a flurry of wings. Doran strode over the hill and walked into the plainsmen camp. They'd decided that flying in would be too likely to cause a panic. Their approach caused a stir as it was. Darkly tanned men poured out of the tents. The grabbed up spears and swords and ran toward the approaching dragon. Doran halted a few yards away from the nearest tent and settled to the ground. Serali dismounted. She stepped away from Doran's side and held her hands out in a gesture of peace. Kethro shifted nervously on his shoulder as the plainsmen formed a half circle in front of her, staying as far from Doran as possible.

One of the plainsmen, who looked no different from the one next to him, stepped forward and addressed Serali. His speech was oddly formal.

"Why do you come here, and how is it that you ride that creature? I had not known dragons could be tamed."

"They cannot. Doran is my friend. And I've come here because I was told the plainsmen have the finest cattle in the land."

"We do." There was pride and assurance in that simple statement.

"I would buy cattle from you."

"Why do you want our cattle?"

"I want cattle to feed my large friend here." She motioned to Doran. "I want yours because they are the best."

"And what do you have to offer for the pride of the plains? We do not give up our cattle to be eaten by strangers lightly."

"Why should it make any difference who eats them?"

"Our cattle are our wealth and our responsibility. We would not be plainsmen if we treated them like other men do."

"You care that much about cows?"

"Yes. They are not our brothers, as the horses are, but without them we do not live."

Serali blinked. "Your horses are your brothers?"

"Yes. They are the children of the wind, and they bear us only because they choose to." Then he smiled. "Perhaps a little bit like that dragon you ride. But that is not important right now. I asked you what you offer for our cattle."

Serali took a pouch out of her pocket and opened it. She poured a pile of dragon scales of several sizes and colors onto her palm. Her own small gold ones, Kethro's slightly larger green, and a few of Doran's large thick blue ones.

"Ah. I should have guessed what payment you would have, dragon rider. Yes, that will be sufficient to buy a great many cattle."

"I would buy something else as well. I know nothing of cattle and their needs, but I must get the cattle I buy safely to Land's End in Barona Kingdom. As the dragon flies it isn't far, but the road is longer. Could you send men and horses with the herd to bring it to Land's End?"

"Now you ask much. The trip is long and there are few men who can leave their families long enough to make it. We must discuss this." He motioned to the plainsmen around him. They scattered. One returned with a woven rug and the plainsman leader motioned for Serali to sit. Serali smiled and seated herself. She knew now that she would get what she wanted. It was only a matter of bargaining.

An hour later she got up and shook hands with the plainsman. He summoned several of his people and gave them lengthy instructions. A few minutes after that they were on horseback and cutting two score cows and one good bull from the huge herd. Serali admired the grace with which they rode. It was as if man and horse were one.

When they had the cattle grouped together, they headed out, Doran flying ahead to show the way.

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