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"As well as she and Ahkshi know each other," the dragon said, sounding a bit smug at that. "We've known her just as long as each other. Technically I hatched he day before they met, but seeing as she was unconscious for most of that day I wouldn't count it."

"That's ominous," Lancaeriel commented with a faint smile.

Uruloki clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "Of course, I keep forgetting that despite your acceptance of me, most of you don't know about the different races of dragons."

He tilted his head slightly. "How much do you know about volcanoes?"

"Almost nothing, with the exception, I'm sure, of Shiro and Kaito," Earendil said dryly, chuckling as he saw Shiro about to reply himself. He glanced at his wife. "Lin? Do you know much about volcanoes?"

The waiter returned with Shiro and Kaito's orders and left again, and Uruloki began his explanation.

"Wolsic is a country of Earth Elves, located to the northeast of us here in Makshim," he began. "Tiny country. Basically a range of volcanoes. That is where I am from, as well as most of the Volcano Dragons of our continent. We are a ... solitary species, with the exception of course of matings. And though we produce our own heat, unlike most dragons, our eggs must be kept warm for incubation. So when the female produces an egg, she places it in a nest inside chambers underground, in lava tunnels."

"Sounds dangerous," Daeron commented.

"For anyone not impervious, yes." Uruloki seemed amused by the comment. "But we are Volcano Dragons. That is where they live. But to continue. The egg is left on its own - one per chamber, never more. The heat of the lava far below keeps it incubated, lets us grow, but in order for us to hatch, the egg has to be melted away. Only two things are hot enough for that - fire and lava. Sometimes an egg will be hatched by a returning parent, though that's really rare. Usually eggs are hatched when there's an eruption and the lava flows through the tunnels."

"Between one eruption and the next, or longer if lava never reaches the nesting chamber," Uruloki replied simply. "To shorten the story, Kyrie was unexpectedly caught in the middle of an eruption, tried to escape through a tunnel which ended up being a lava tunnel, found my egg and tried to rescue me from certain death. She tripped, my egg rolled into the lava, and I hatched. She carried me out of there - I was as big then as I am now, I couldn't change size for many years but now I find it easier to converse with people when I'm this small - and when we finally made it out of the tunnel, she collapsed. The tunnel had taken us all the way out of Wolsic and into the borders of Shiezin, and some men found her and brought her to Ahkshi for treatment."

The corners of his mouth turned up ever so slightly. "And so they met, and the rest is history."

After a brief pause, he added, "And these earth tremors that we feel here on occasion ... their source is the volcanoes in Wolsic. It's not so very far from here. It means there may be pressure building, and there's every possibility there could be a small eruption. Nothing to worry about here."

Uruloki tilted his head from side to side as he considered the question.

"Possibly," he said at last. "The last time it was visible from here was nearly five hundred years ago, though once, about a hundred and fifty years ago, the ash cloud drifted this far."

"Does it cause any damage here?" Shiro questioned.

Uruloki nodded grimly. "That ash cloud was thick enough that we didn't have a crop that year. Kyrie trained a few people to hunt, and they were the ones who kept the city alive that year. Everyone was grateful for the next year's harvest."

"Well, it's not that it's on the ground," Uruloki explained, "it's just so thick in the sky that it blocks the sun. Full year winter. By the time the sun shone here again, it was too late in the year to start growing anything that we could harvest before winter."

"Do you think there's that kind of danger this time around?" Daeron questioned.

"If the tremors are over, no." Uruloki shook his head. "If they continue, then there may be an eruption that could possibly affect us here. That's about all."

"Oh, definitely." Uruloki chuckled softly. "Even if it was erupting, it would be safe to go out. We're not that close to it, after all. It's a few hundred miles away."

"Good," Wren grinned. "Because it looks like most of us are done eating."

It seemed everyone except the nekos had finished their breakfasts, but considering that Shiro and Kaito had gotten there later than the others, and thus had gotten their food later than the others, it stood to reason.

But they weren't quite ready to go just yet.

"Sorry to bother you with this, Lin," Daeron said, looking at his sister-in-law, "but could we borrow that baby sling again? We left it with you at the clinic and sort of assumed you brought it back here with you again."

"Seeing as it wasn't there anymore," Iorlas added, taking the still-silent Amir from her husband's lap.