Welcome to Gaia! ::

Cedric's dragon seemed to be aware of his contribution to the sacred ambiance, curling his neck back much like a swan, until it almost touched his shoulders. Welcome, he intoned. No other two humans in the entire world would be as welcome at this exact place and time. That meant, in plain speech, that he planned to petition their assistance. Drxis already knew for what.

The large, scaled head swung suddenly to point at Harlan, who stood rather dumb-struck at the entrance, somewhat behind and to the side of Katrina. A king was about to speak? the beast prompted.

Harlan shifted his weight from one foot to the other as he cleared his throat. "I had an answer to Lady Katrina's question... or rather a lack of one. This is not the first generation to skip the ceremony, yet we do not know." Harlan inclined his head under the larger one hovering above himself and Katrina. He inclined his head then to Drix. "Perhaps your knowledge is greater," he said to them both.

((Im thinking that any one in that space experiences their bond more deeply and easily, but only while they are there. A unique experience, but not an incredible advantage?))

Don't look at me, he flustered sternly. Your lot is that of a half-breed. You may be less sensitive to the enhancing powers of this place. Put in simple terms, this place is closer to our world. You can practically feel the other side pushing through here. Of course, it was not like Katrina was the first half breed ever born. It happened all the time, since the first dragon was bonded.

A more interesting question, her father chuckled, is why are we bonded in the first place? What is it that humans have that we don't? Ah, an academic question.

King, your other half is stubborn, or have you heard word? He won't help us in our little game.

King Harlan didn't expect to be put on the spot, as used to it as he was. "We have our reserves," was all he said at first, abruptly. With the dragon staring at him like that, though, he found it necessary to continue. A dragon's patience can be overbearing. "We have yet to study the affect of the bond when both are in this world. Our young ones-- excuse me, the hatchlings-- know nothing of this world that they presume to affect."

So you speak for your other half as well? You confer?

"I do." Harlan looked to Katrina for her reaction. "As willing as my brother is to make himself and his progeny guinea pigs, you ask me to further risk the stability of my country."

Dheadrix raised his head in a sort of dragon-shrug. My intentions, and that of my human, are honorable, he boomed, and from his tone, seemed unlikely to explain any more. His next words were to shift the focus from the subject; We have sought counsel already in the dragon world, and there we have been given permission to perform this act. It has been left up to each dragon-pair, individually.

Harlan had his jaw clamped shut, pensive. "Go on, then. I can't stop you."

Not liking his tone, Dheadrix reminded Harlan in a flippant tone, This land was given to you by my ancestors, human.

Harlan flourished a bow, though how much of it was mocking was difficult to tell. "Do what you will with my people, our land. It would be a great tragedy indeed for our peoples to become enemies over this."

Dheadrix snorted. We return to our rightful home, and remain entwined with your fate. Have faith in your own family, your own brother. Who knows how many others will be grateful for this deed when it is completed? We're willing to put ourselves at risk for this chance. Katrina! Drxisisliege! There are preparations to be made. Should either of you need rest? I might rest here or return Cedric to this world until the time is ripe. Or will you be ready today?

If you wish to talk to him...

And then Cedric was there. "Brother!" he noticed first. "You're just as stubborn in the dragon world, you know. Sorry to find you all awake at this late hour." Cedric began walking towards his brother.

"You would have been just as happy to do it under my nose," Harlan grumbled.

"Yet how can you claim the right to stop me?" As he reached Harlan, Cedric encompassed him in a bear-- er, dragon?-- hug. "I heard that my daughter wishes to speak with me," he said as he released his brother. "Have you turned her against me, too?" Despite his accusatory words, he sounded cheerful, playful. He was ready to go, even though he didn't understand what would be going into the effort to bring him and his dragon into the same world.

Cedric was, of course, the most impatient, although his brother also seemed to catch his excitement. Excitability seemed to run in the family, at least on the male side. Although Katrina and others had worked hard to make this as safe as possible, spending time mostly in the dragon world where time passed faster than the human world, the overall task had been rushed. It was possible to rush it, though, because of the old text and the slow work that dragons had been doing on researching this very thing, and related phenomenon, over the past few generations. For quite a while, they had been content with their new world, still overshadowed by the fear they had experienced when their species had seemed on the brink of extinction.

Now, thanks to the bond and their bonded's fertile tendencies, dragons were relatively plentiful, and had begun to turn their sights on their original, home world again. Cedric's dragon was not the only one willing to come over, nor the only one willing to offer himself up as a first guinea pig for a dragon his size. However, Cedric was determined to be one of the most expendable subjects, of those who were willing.

Now they stood, long necks cramped, in the cave under the Tower of Kay, where for generations Cedric's kin had been ceremonially introduced to their bonded, once they reached the proper age, and first entered the dragon world. In the dragon world, this place was a bowl where it seemed that long ago a meteor had hit, and grass had overgrown the old destruction. Their human counterparts, for the most part, stood in the dragon world. The induction was underway, the stones linked now to almost every dragon, and almost every human, in both worlds. They would serve as an anchor, a reference point, so that in their enthusiasm the large group did not accidentally send their guinea pigs to another realm altogether, or send an arm one place and a head another place. A low melody echoed in the cramped cavern, a physical manifestation of the dragon's concentration.

Cedric's main job was to concentrate on his bonded. His biggest fear, if indeed there was any fear in him, had to be that the bond could be severed entirely. It was a process like this, but longer and more involved, that had initially bonded the two disparate beings long ago. It was hard to concentrate, though, in part because paying so much attention to the bond caused the image of Dheadrix to float uncertainly across the changing space between them. It was difficult to hold unto the awareness that his bond traversed dimensions; who could tell how far away the dragon really was at any one moment? It seemed that the bond wavered with the constantly changing distance, rather than stayed the same as he had previously thought. It was at its strongest that the bond was most confusing, for at those times he could not separate his own sensations from those of his bonded.

Cedric was closing his eyes tight and murmuring to himself when the mental image of his bonded was whitewashed and he lost consciousness. It was at this time that the others involved in the ceremony had reached the peak, the point at which Dheadrix's body was yanked into this realm. Dheadrix nearly fell on his own human in the sudden disorientation, though he'd been warned that it could happen that fast, and that roughly. Then, because his bonded was unconscious, though he felt he had the strength to stay upright, he also crumpled to the floor.

Although by all appearances a probable success -- after all, the bonded pair were not missing any bits of themselves -- not all of those involved in the magic were able to pay attention to their physical surroundings. Some few, the weakest, fell out as the bonded pair had, while the strongest felt the burden of tying loose ends in the spell. And so, on the dragon side, most of the humans were at the very least on their knees, sustained by their stronger halves and the presence of supporting dragons. In the human realm, in the last moments of the spell, the cave was haphazardly strewn with drained and disoriented dragons, with one or two that had fainted outright. Any injuries were as yet unclear in their depth or duration.

Not too bad for a first try.

Cedric's breathing was shallow, and he had fallen in an awkward position, but he was still alive. It had simply been a shock to his system, as it had been for every one else, and moreso for the humans involved than the dragons. He would probably be ok, physically at least, after rest and other amenities.

Dheadrix was in a more certain condition, snoring peacefully for the sole reason that his weaker bonded was also unconscious. If they had planned to move the dragon to a more convenient location, that may prove difficult for now.

The other dragons that had passed out were being nudged awaken by their fellow dragons. Although many seemed groggy and possibly injured, they started to head out of the cave without communicating clearly to the others. Harlan would have to follow up on that later, since the sudden appearance of dragons outside might cause a stir. They had picked night as the appropriate time for this exercise for that very reason.

Right now, because Katrina was looking over Cedric, Harlan looked to his sister. She seemed to be in a worse state than Cedric, being younger and more susceptible to disturbances in her bond. Not knowing what to do, Harlan began to pick up his sister, and shout out random orders to no one in particular. One one dragon, besides Dheadrix, was left in the cave, and she turned to see what she could do to help. Having no healing magic of her own, she decided to switch with her bonded, though exhausted from the recent efforts of the spell. The tall, middle-aged woman who appeared began ordering Harlan around in turn, telling him to take his sister back to the castle while she garnered more help for them.

Once the cave was practically empty, one of the orderlies finally approached her. "Would you be wanting your rooms, now?" she asked politely, confused as to why the both of them were still there. "Surely a bed would be more comfortable than rocks for the both of you."