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Khala watched her sons, half asleep in the pool of sunshine outside the cave she shared with her little family. Old Silverback had gone out hunting, Pinecrest was also preoccupied elsewhere, so it was just Khala, Conleth, and Stanislaus in the afternoon sunshine. She smiled happily and stood up, stretching. She felt like going on a short walk around the clearing outside the cave, so that she could keep an eye on the boys.


Conleth had found some butterflies straying into reach and dashed off after them. He stayed within the clearing, otherwise Mommy would be worried. Neither he, nor his brother or his mother, were aware that they were being watched, and Old Silverback (whom he privately called Grampa) and Daddy were gone off hunting.


Old Silverback had successfully caught a fat deer and left it where he could find it. If he was lucky and he hurried, he might find another one for the growing family. He was proud of his granddaughter, her love, and his two great-grandsons. He couldn't help but like them...even if they had HIS coloring, the one who'd stolen his daughter from him.

Khala noticed something on the cliff above the cave, a hazy shadow in the shape of a dragon. Yes, the longer she concentrated her light blue eyes on it, the more certain she was that it was indeed a female dragon...who looked vaguely like Grandfather.... Shaking her head, she walked quietly toward the figure. "Is there something you want?" she called out politely to the black female above the cave.

Conleth paused in chasing butterflies. Mommy had seen a stranger? Turning around, he looked in the same direction as Mommy, but could see nothing. Absolutely nothing, insofar as he could tell. Who was Mommy talking to? Was this a new game to play with him and his brother? "Mommy, whatcha doin'?" he asked nervously. He definitely didn't want to play this game wrong, if this was a new game.

Before Old Silverback could start to go for another deer, he sensed something, a shift in the air in the direction of the family cave. Frowning in consternation, he hurried back to his earlier deer, picked it up in his strong old jaws, and hurried back to the cave, worried about that prickling sensation between his silvering shoulderblades that often meant a ghost was present and what it meant for his granddaughter, great-grandsons, and his granddaughter's mate.

Khala was startled. "You...you can't see her, Conleth?" she asked in confusion. "Oh." This was probably one of those things to ask Grandfather. "Ummm...." She turned back to the ephemeral black female. "I don't know who my parents are. My Grandfather doesn't talk about them. This little one here is my son, Conleth. I'm Khala. My other little one is Stanislaus. What's your name? Why can't Conleth see you?" Maybe this female had answers.

Now Conleth was really confused and worried. Mommy was talking to someone he couldn't see? Why couldn't he see Mommy's friend? Would Mommy explain this later? He held his tongue, not wanting to interrupt or distract Mommy.

Old Silverback slowed down shortly before reaching the clearing to walk in as calm as possible, to not scare his family with unseemly haste. He spotted Sitara right away. A whole string of swearwords crossed his mind, and it took a few moments to compose himself. It had sounded like Sitara and Khala were speaking to each other, so there wasn't too much point in hiding it. If he kept looking away, Khala would notice anyway. He set the deer down and walked over to stand next to Khala. "Hello, Sitara. Long time no see."

Old Silverback looked away. "I didn't know she had the Gift," he muttered. "You're the first one she's seen, after all." He sighed. "Besides, if I got started about you, she would have found out...that...and I didn't want to hurt her with that kind of pain," he added softly.

Khala stared at Sitara and Grandfather, looking back and forth between the two. "What haven't you told me?" she whispered in confusion. "This is my mother? Why can't Conleth see her?" She was confused, and worried about why Grandfather had hidden things from her and Conleth and Stanislaus, and everyone else.

Slowly Conleth worked out some of what was going on. "You can see Gramma?" he asked uncertainly. "Why can't I see Gramma?"

Old Silverback said softly. "Sitara died in the plague. Conleth doesn't have the Gift, so he can't see her." He turned to his great-grandson. "I'm sorry, Conleth."

Old Silverback stared at her. "What do you mean, that boy is gone? How can a pest like him be gone?" He shook his head. "I'm sorry, Sitara, I didn't want to talk about the past yet, and...I didn't think...it was time for her to find out about ghosts and the Gift, and if I'd told you, you would have hurried off to find her on the spot, which is obviously what you did." He sighed. "You know I never liked that boy, Gathii." He managed to get his temper under control before it could slip away any further. "What has been set in motion that was not set in motion when I started finding eggs to hatch?" His voice was tired. He'd lived a long time, and the time and loneliness was starting to bear down on him. Asha....

Khala still had a baffled expression. "My father's name was Gathii? What is this "Gift"? Why doesn't Conleth have it?"

Conleth nodded in agreement with his mother. He wanted to see Gramma, too.

Old Silverback was silent for a moment. Though he'd never approved of Gathii, Sitara had loved him, and this separation couldn't come easy for her. "I don't blame the northerners for those feelings," he said quietly, in a defeated voice. He sighed. So he wasn't rid of Gathii yet. Allies and unity, however, would be worth seeing his disliked son-in-law again. "I'm finding more eggs all the time, and I've set younger dragons to find more and some of them, like Khala, are having children of their own." He smiled briefly and then shook his head. "I never find more than one from a single clutch; the rest of every clutch I find are crushed, lost, or there is no life left in the babies. I gather the ones that I can to hatch, and that's all that can be done," he finished softly.

Khala was surprised. "You mean...I can see ghosts and talk to them, and no one else can?" She looked toward Conleth and Stanislaus. "I'll teach them about Ghost Speakers. Both of the boys may be latent." She cocked her head after pausing to explain the latent business with Conleth. If Stanislaus was otherwise occupied, Conleth could tell him later. "Why was it better that I didn't hatch earlier?"

Old Silverback shook his head. "There's no memory of it among the living dragons with whom I have spoken. I have not spoken to the dead in a very long time, so I do not know their minds on this matter."

Conleth smiled. "Latent means I can learn, right?" he asked Gramma, watching Mommy and Great Grampa so they could tell him what Gramma said.

Khala had to laugh at her mother's words. "My mate, Pinecrest, is out hunting as we speak. We love each other, and our sons. He's a good hunter, too."

Old Silverback watched the conversation between his daughter and his granddaughter wrap up as his great-grandson watched one-sidedly. The family was coming back together, and it was time for the dragons to rise again. Life was coming back to this world, the different sorts of dragons would communicate again...and he needed to prepare for the coming of his disliked son-in-law in his new form....