Welcome to Gaia! ::

Earendil chuckled softly. "Excellent. Then we'll do that. And before we go, perhaps we could take that trip to the Dragon Caves. I've wanted to visit there since Rhea told me about it."

"Is there dragons like Mama and Ada's?" Amalirahc asked eagerly.

Kelirahc laughed. "No. There are no other dragons like ours."

"No dragons," Earendil replied surely. "Once it was the home of dragons, but Aerin killed the last of them. There haven't been any dragons in four hundred years."

"True story," Caranthir spoke up, grinning as he always did. "I was there. And Captain Striate tells us that there have been no dragons on the entire island in centuries."

"And I have been scouting the island since that time," Aurin added from his seat across the table with Rhea and the twins. "I have seen scores of gnomes, though they are also mostly gone now, but there has not been a single dragon of any size."

"Far from it," Earendil replied solemnly. "Most dragons are not good at all. They eat our animals, and when they are big enough, they eat people. They kill everything in their paths ... no, if you see a dragon that does not belong to Kelirahc or Leyenda, then you must run and hide as quickly as you can."

"Not that there are many out there," Rhea pointed out. "Most people go their entire lives without seeing one. But there are a few, and your father is right, Miyuki, they are dangerous."

Earendil had to think about that before answering.

"Well ... it's not that they're bad," he murmured slowly, "it's just ... that's what they are. Like fish swim, moor cats hunt, goats eat grass ... it's just the way they are. They eat meat, and they're big enough that they can eat people and not be too worried about being killed by them."

Earendil was starting to sweat - metaphorically speaking.

"Miyuki," he murmured, "I don't know much about dragons at all. I don't know what they're like, or ... well, much of anything about them, really. If you want answers, you're going to have to ask someone who knows more than I do."

Earendil looked thoughtful. "Well ... Queen Aerin might know something, she used to hunt them ... Rhea might, she knows a lot ... perhaps King Caranthir, he was with Queen Aerin for many of her hunts ..."

He knew of other people here, but he didn't know if any of them had any experience with or knowledge of dragons ...

Earendil chuckled. "Yes. Perhaps you could ask someone if they're not busy. Just remember that they have jobs to do, and those must come first, all right?"

He grinned at her and put one hand on her head.