Welcome to Gaia! ::

Aimus heard a surprised shriek.

Because his connection with his dragon was mangled and incomplete (manifesting as an halluncination; not believing in his companion), Aimus' contact with the dragon mind as they switched was minimized. He felt some of his emotions, but almost none of the memories that would usually be so accessible to him. The 19 year old would feel a little dazed by the switch, but as it wore off he was able to take in his surroundings.

He was in a grass feild that on one side was bordered by rising stones that met the sky in a mountain top, and on the other by forest thick enough and expansive enough that there was nothing to see through it. These hidden qualities were essential, for the clouded grey sky he had left was nearly the same one as he saw now. His connection with his dragon had given him a brief sense of dirrection, and by that he knew that if these were the same mountains he could see from the compound... he was on the other side of them, for they were in the east.

The shriek had come from a woman who stood about a yard away. She had greying hair and a sensible working outfit consisting of shirt and pants. Most women at the compound wore skirts or dresses, unless they were soldiers. This woman had a weapon but it was only a straight long knife. Her hair was tied up in a braid and she was giving him a grandmotherly look.

She wasn't the only creature in this feild, either. My goodness, but there were dozens of young dragons lying about or ending their rough-and-tumble play to look at him. A green female was sitting next to him and reached her long neck down to sniff at his hair. What the hell was this? A dragon nursery?

The older woman's confused stare melted to motherly compassion. She walked towards him slowly and shoed the dragons with her hands. They backed up a few inches but remained curious. "He doesn't want to play right now," she told them as she got in their way and took Aimus by the shoulder.

"You poor boy, I didn't mean to scare you. But you've got to understand that you did just appear out of nowhere. Here, I can take you inside if you like?" There was no indication of a building any where, but she sounded like she was telling the truth and was not the least bit insane.

"Not quite used to it yet," she admitted. "We only brought you guys here two weeks ago. Well we started two weeks ago, and had to bring you a couple at a time. If I remember right I believe that your dragon was one of the first... One of the most curious so it was easy to get him to come to me. Cedric and I took all of your half brothers and sisters here. What do you think of them?"

The old woman smiled and held out her hand. "My name is Sherel, and the house is underground in case you were wondering."

She cleared a patch of moss and opened the wooden door beneath. "Oh my...you've never done this before have you? I'm so sorry! I don't know how to explain these things properly... I'm a mage like you are, but I learned all this from experience. No one told me about it. I know! I'll get you something to drink and see if I can wake Cedric up. He'll probably know what to say."

By the time they had finished speaking they had reached the bottom of unlit stairs. The woman was going only by touch and did not light any thing until she was in a room with torches attached to the walls. "Go ahead, sit down," she offered, refering to the humble set of table and chairs in the middle of the room. It was the only thing in there, with two doors leading elsewhere.

The walls and floors were dirt with wooden supports, and that was it.

The woman was excusing herself rather quickly and he was left alone for a few minutes in the torch lit room.

Soon after, she came back with a fair skinned man who held out his hand and introduced himself as Cedric. "Young man, I'm more likely than not your father," he began quite straightforwardly. "I hear you don't know much of your powers, and that's to be expected. If you had been able to grow up here...if we had had this idea years ago, to bring all the dragons here, you might have a lot fewer questions. Well, let me see if I can answer a few off the bat...

"You are not a mage. You are bound to a dragon that is, and through your bond he can lend you his magic. The two of you can switch places, as you have done. Normally you would be in the dragon's country right now, but we took them here so that all we could talk to all those who came..."

Oddly enough the woman had vanished, perhaps being shy or busy.

Cedric nodded. "Yes, young Sir. Perhaps we should get us some rum to numb the shock?" He grinned and sat down across from Aimus. "You look about ready to faint. How old are you, any way? Oh and don't worry too much about your dragon being in such a strange place, over Feretris...most can take care of themselves."

"Seyu? Well I can tell you that I know a dragon by that name and I bet if I went out there right now he'd be gone. You kinda look like him, though that's a bit hard to explain. Seyu is very real. What, did you think you were going crazy?"

Cedric was brimming with joy as he retrieved them drinks and cups from another room.

"Well now you know." He poured the kid a straight shot and slid it towards him with a danger glint in his eye. In Cedric's eyes, Aimus wasn't an adult yet and shouldn't be using his magic. But they could address that later.

"What do you want to bet your dragon just come flying here?" After wrecking some havock over Feretris, he hoped.