Alistor of the clan Estaria stood on his the battlements of his castle and watched the pirate fleet close on his harbor. He made no move to man his ships… they wouldn’t stand a chance anyway. No sense in throwing away any more lives than he had to. He counted about twenyfive black sails and knew that it would be a miracle if his clan survived the day. The watch tower on the point of the island had sent word, flashes of light off of polished shields, that told of the fleet. They had come under attack and what few reports they had told of heavy losses.

He was deep in thought about how they might face down the fleet, when a bright flash from the direction of the tower, startled him. He turned and looked in that direction to see… dragons? They flew up in the air and met with… gods, was that a… his mind stopped when he saw the huge silver beast gliding over the water towards the black sails. The two smaller dragons took up positions on either side of the harbor while the big one…

It looked almost like it was playing as it calmly ripped masts from the black sail ships. Then it looped back and started destroying them. A few had gotten away and the two dragons watching the harbor burnt them to the water line with little effort. The remaining ships shot those fireballs at the large one, but it didn’t look like it noticed. He could see flames dripping off the sides of it as it killed the rest of the ships… all but one. It ripped the mast from it and pulled the catapult from the fore deck, then turned toward the harbor.

His hand tightened on his sword as the monstrous beast turned towards him. He hardly noticed. When his mind finally realized, he let it go. A sword against That? He nervously chuckled to himself. The beast landed on the plain next to the harbor, then shifted to… an elf? He just stood there as if waiting. It suddenly occurred to him he wanted to talk.

It was the work of a few minutes to round up his personal guard, since they never let him out of their sight. He found himself amazed that he could speak with a steady tone and walk without his knees knocking together. The dragon had just saved his clan, but… the raw power… and the old writings. He shook his head. Best not keep the… elf-dragon waiting.

The walk to the elf had to be the hardest thing he had ever done. He was more a scholar than a warrior. Still… who else? He knew how to lead, but this? His troops lined in front of him like it was a precision drill and they were on parade. He could feel the tension radiating from all of them. Then it spoke.

“Greetings, I am called Michael.”

He couldn’t help it, it was so anti-climatic he just laughed. To his ears it almost sounded hysterical.

“Greetings to you as well, Lord Dragon. I am called Alistor of the clan Estaria.”

“I am glad that we may talk. I do not wish your people harmed this day.”

He looked at the elf and tried to envision the dragon it had been. He was so polite and mannered, it seemed impossible.

“I am glad that you do not wish to harm us lord dragon.”

“Michael, please. I get the lord enough back home.”

He wondered briefly what he meant. It did no good hiding behind his men, so he stepped forward. There was no threats and really, little they could do if it wished to harm them. Besides, he was curious.

“What are you in the hierarchy of the dragons?”

“Oh, you know of us?”

It seemed surprised. Well, it wasn’t the only one. None of the texts said anything about shapeshifting.

“We made a study of your kind and have kept it for many generations. I am sorry, but my studies sometimes goes before my diplomacy.”

The dragon laughed. “That is a good priority if you would ask of me. I am the eldest ancient.”

ARIENACH his mind screamed. He was standing a couple of feet away from death incarnate. He found his legs had given out and he was looking up at him.

“I... I had heard... your name was Arienach...” He stuttered.

He smiled and looked rather… sad? “Please rise, I mean you and your people no harm. I am Arienach. Michael Arienach. Again, please call me Michael.”

His soft voice was calming.

“What may we do for you... Michael.”

“I would ask to borrow this space for a while, I wish to know of the ones who are on that black sailed ship.”

He needed this space?

“They are scavengers. One managed to rise to power in the south and has taken the major seaport in this land. Most others would not oppose him and any that sent diplomats to talk, lost them to slavery.”

There was a crashing sound out to sea and the black dragon returned to his position. Michael waved at it and it flew over to us and landed to the side. He could feel the men tense behind him, but they were well trained. Plus they all knew that the wrong move here, they probably wouldn’t even know what happened before they were dead. Then Michael spoke to the dragon.

“What happened?”

Then the black dragon spoke. It really spoke… nothing ever said they could talk…

“Oh, a tiny boat tried to sneak away from the far side of the ship.” He cocked his head. “You know, there is no way to disable one of those little ones, they blow apart too easily.”

“Do not worry yourself. Shryke, this is the high elf Alistor, Alistor, this is Shryke.”

The black dragon executed an almost perfect bow. He knew his mouth was hanging open, but… it bowed?

“I am honored to meet you, Alistor.”

“We never knew...” Alistor said in a quiet shocked voice. “We had no clue...”

“My pardon? What did not you know?” Michael asked.

All this time, they were intelligent? It made no sense…

“We never knew that you could talk. Our chronicles list you all as nothing more than savage beasts.”

Shryke laughed. “We are savage beasts. Michael seeks to change that.”

His mind spun with the implications.

“We are working with the people over on the continent to the south moonward side of you.” Michael said with a slight smile.

“The people?” Elf clans had joined with him?

“Yes, the Horiel clan, the Rockheld and about a handful of others... I am lousy with names, though I am trying.” Michael chuckled.

“Rockheld? I have never heard of such.”

“They are dwarves.”

“Dwarves?” His mind was reeling from shock after shock.

“Yes, our people are made up of all of the races who care to join and live in peace. Many new ideas and much art has arisen from the joining.” Michael replied.

“How did you... how was it managed?”

“Quite by accident, actually. Green skins... I know them as orcs, captured Calalistos and the surviving elves sent a party of hunters north. They tried to take my herd of cattle. I let them have half, then arranged trade with them and it developed from there.”

“So the orcs hold Calalistos.” It was saddening news.

“No, I removed them.”

He removed… orcs… he removed orcs. Suddenly his mind snapped into focus. He decided to focus on the island’s problems. If he could enlist the aid of these dragons, then maybe they could free the island from those pirates.

“I can see this story requires quite a bit of telling. Mayhaps another time? What will you do about the scavengers to the south?”

“Well, we have a plan to take care of them, once we can make sure the slaves are protected. We are studying the problem as we speak. If you would, I would like you to come to my city and talk with some of the other leaders so that we would know more of what we face.”

He felt a sense of relief. They were planning on helping. It sounded like they were working to bring help from Calalistos as well.

“If I may go reassure my people, I would be honored. How would I go there? It would take at least two days by ship.”

The sense of relief vanished with the dragon’s next words.

“Have you ever thought to ride a dragon?”

His mind went blank. All of the legends and the texts… he looked at the black dragon standing off to the side. All he could see was an armored magical killing machine. He felt one of his men grip his shoulder as the world seem to tilt. Michael seemed not to notice, or was politely ignoring it.

“You can bring one other. Make sure that they do not fear high places.”

“I will go and talk with my people now.” He said weakly. “I will be back in a few hours. Feel free to use this space.”

There were about half way back to the castle when the felt it. Magic. The all turned in time to see the pirate ship drop out of a hole in the sky and land with a crash. He and his men exchanged glances. It suddenly occurred to Alistor that they were being careful. The thought gave him pause. Judging by what he had seen so far, they were being careful not to do too much damage or frighten his people. They were polite and very careful, but even the fact that they had to be careful was frightening. Just how much power did they have?

Arriving back at the castle, he climbed back to the ramparts and watched. Suddenly, the ship was back out in the water again and… The flash almost blinded him. He dove to the ground as the blast wave hit the castle and he felt the massive stones tremble. He was laying on his stomach and looked up… Rainia was laying right in front of him staring into his face. The held that pose for a few moments then both of them started laughing.

“I have someone you need to meet. Rainia. You may want to go fetch your riding gear and your scribe tools.”

She grinned. “Does it have anything to do with our guests out there?”

He grinned back. “As a matter of fact it does. We have a chance to greatly increase our knowledge this day.”

Alistor smiled as she hopped up and ran to fetch her things. He called his guards over to escort them out and to retrieve the prisoners… if there were any left. He shuddered a bit. It didn’t take Rainia long to return with both hers and his travel packs. It worried him for a few moments about putting her in danger, but he had come to believe that the dragon really meant them no harm. In the back of his mind he heard; ‘if they did, he wouldn’t be here right now thinking about it.’

They made their way back to the dragons, the guards taking the prisoners back to the castle. It was a formality now, they would be hung. He was greeting by Michael.

“Welcome Alistor, are you ready to fly?” He was smiling as the pirates were lead back. None had any fight left in them. Thinking back the the display, he didn’t need wonder why.

“Greetings Michael. I would introduce you to Rainia, my adviser. Rainia, this is Michael Arienach.”

“Tis a pleasure, milady.” He smiled and said with a half bow.

Rainia furrowed her brows for a moment. “Arienach as in the dragon Arienach?”

“Yes milady.”

She fainted.

I suppose I should have warned her. She then found out that the female dragon, Darhla, would be her ride. She only wobbled a bit this time. I walked with her to the massive beast and Darhla knelt down so she could climb up on her neck, then I walked over to Shryke. I admit, it took everything I had to go near it, but it knelt down and let me climb up. We pulled our goggles out and our scarves.

“Twould seem you came prepared, is this the standard dragon riding outfit?” Michael asked, obviously amused.

Alistor laughed a bit. “No, but if you are in with a group riding horseback, you learn to protect your eyes.”

“Tis a wise precaution. I think I am going to port to Calalistos then fly up to Dragonhaven so you can see the sights, if you wish.”

“As you wish lord dragon.” Alistor had no clue where the urge to joke with it had come from, but the look on Michaels face was priceless.

“Michael.” He replied with a sour look on his face. Then chuckled.

He walked away from the group and at first, I though I might have angered him. But he stopped when he was a good ways away and changed back to his full form. My breath caught in my throat as I looked up at him. Way up. The dragons we were on were not small by any stretch of the imagination, but Michael was… beyond huge. I stared as he walked. His whole body was shimmering in the light and his muscles rippled. He almost moved as a cat would. Then he jumped in the air and the dragons tensed beneath us. I couldn’t figure out why till the back blast of his wings caught us, almost blowing us from our seats.

“He has no clue of his own power.” Shryke muttered beneath me.

We followed him up. Our dragon working that much harder to get airborne. The ride was not smooth. We would lurch forward as they pulled with their wings then smooth out and glide, to be pulled forward again. It wasn’t bad when you got used to it, but I knew I would feel it come the morrow. A big hole in the sky opened in front of us and we followed Michael through it.

We were over Calalistos. We had traveled many many miles in a fraction of a second. We were spotted over the bay and the people stopped what they were doing and waved and cheered. I looked over at Rainia and she was waving. I smiled and waved at the people below as well. It was rather fun. The city looked larger than I remembered, but it had been a long time since I had come this way. From the look of the harbor, they had a busy port. Which was probably why Ralph and his crew wanted it.

Before we knew it, we were past the city, following a river. I glanced at it, then looked back at it. Something about it was off. It took me a few moments, but then I realized. It was uniform in width and perfectly straight. How had they managed that? I puzzled over it for a while, then let it drop to enjoy the view. I was seeing sights that few had ever seen before, having been trapped upon the land. It was a magnificent view. The river split and we took the right fork. I saw the city up ahead, then we cleared the trees to a harbor. A perfectly round harbor. A huge perfectly round harbor.

Michael circled while we landed and we were greeted by a very strange group. Two dwarves and two elves. Shryke and Darhla changed and I was surprised, as Darhla was a little slip of a girl. I felt the blast of air behind me as several tons of Michael made a landing. He changed and walked over with a big smile on his face.

“Graniel! Well met. Greetings all.” He was grinning at the male elf.

Then came the real shock as the female elf all but tackled Michael with a hug, grinning ear to ear.

“Michael, all went well?”

He grinned back. “It went quite well. Let me introduce Lord Alistor of the Estaria clan and his adviser Rainia.”

I was shocked as both the elves and the dwarves bowed. There was no hostility. None. Then Michael introduce the others.

“Lord Alistor, Lady Rainia, this is Haladoria of the Horiel, Graniel her ranger, Dorvus, chief of the Rockheld clan and

his second, Cornal.”

Then came the real surprise. “We be greeting you, welcome to the dragon empire.” The one called Dorvus said.