stones

Formerly of the Saurus Clan

Torgeir arrived as a naive hatchling, a little unsure of himself as the only rare dragon in the clan. It didn't take long for his charm and enthusiasm to endear him to the rest of the dragons, however. He quickly grew fond of the pragmatic and independent Sefyr, and after a time he realized his feelings for her ran deeper than friendship. Since Sefyr continued to think of him as a hatchling even after he had grown up, it was a long time before she realized the depth of his affection, and still longer before her feelings matched his. When the two of them finally came together, Torgeir thought it was not possible to be any happier. Then the first of their hatchlings were born, and he found it was possible after all.

Time passed. Torgeir and Sefyr raised many nests together, and if Torgeir did most of the actual hatchling-tending, he did not mind. After all, Sefyr had an entire clan to run. But gradually he noticed a change in the winds of affection. It started when Sefyr decided to forgo their usual mating time. She said she wanted to wait until more of their offspring had moved out of the lair, which only made sense. But the hatchlings grew up, and Torgeir spent more and more time alone. He missed his mate. And as their offspring moved on and Sefyr still did not come back to him, he realized that he missed her more than she missed him.

So when Eydis sought him out, Torgeir surprised himself by agreeing to make a nest with her. He thought it would be fine. He had convinced himself that it wouldn't matter. But as soon as the eggs were laid, he found himself wracked with guilt. He couldn't bring himself to look at Sefyr or Eydis, and even the hatchlings did little to soothe him. He withdrew from clan life, preferring to sit alone at the top of the lair and watch the sky. At least up there he couldn't hurt anyone.

---

Torgeir might have hidden away forever if left to his own devices. Fortunately, Sefyr had other ideas. The confrontation was not gentle - Sefyr seldom was - but she made it clear that she did not blame him for nesting with Eydis. However, it was just as obvious that she did blame him for hiding away from the rest of the clan.

'I don't have time to handle every whiny hatchling or lovelorn young idiot that comes along! I have too much to do. So you handle it!'

Torgeir protested that he wasn't much better suited to counseling dragons in matters of the heart, but Sefyr ignored him. And he found to his surprise that he actually was good at it. Somehow the dragons who were suffering from broken hearts or disappointments found their way to him, and they left with new hope for their relationships. As time went on he spent more time among other dragons and resumed his former duties as an elder. Things weren't exactly as they had been, but that was all right. Torgeir was wiser now.

If only he knew how to patch things up with Eydis...

---

The visitors from Cloudkeeper's clan couldn't have come at a worse time.

'I know they're supposed to be here to strengthen our alliance, but I don't have time to play host! We have a dozen youngsters in training to go to the Windsinger, and half of the fighters are injured or sick with cockatrice pox. I'll probably have to help with the training myself.'

Sefyr raised an eyebrow at Torgeir's uncharacteristic display of petulance. 'Are you sure you're upset about the visitors? Because it sounds like you just don't want to go to the Coliseum.'

Torgeir squirmed. 'No. Yes. I don't know. I'm just...I don't have the skills that Van and Halcyon and the others have. And don't tell them I said so, but they aren't as strong as they could be either. I know someone has to step up, but...'

'But you don't want to?' Sefyr asked.

Torgeir shook his head and sighed. 'No, I don't. But someone has to. I just can't focus on that and the visitors-'

'Excuse me...did I hear you needed someone to train new fighters?'

Torgeir and Sefyr both jumped and whirled around to face the speaker. It was one of the visiting Skydancers, the one with shiny obsidian scales. Oh no. How much of that did he hear? Torgeir wondered. He might have complained to Sefyr about the newcomers, but he didn't actually want them to feel unwelcome.

'Oh, umm...yes. We're just having a little trouble with balancing our fighting teams at the moment. I'm sorry, it's nothing to worry about-'

'We could help. Sunlight and I are fully trained, and we've trained others,' the visitor said.

Torgeir blinked. 'Could you? That would be amaz-' he caught Sefyr's glare '-but I wouldn't want to put you to any trouble. You're our guests.'

The visiting dragon shook his head. 'It wouldn't be any trouble. We would be happy to help. And surely fighting alongside each other will only strengthen our clans' bonds?'

When he put it that way, Torgeir really couldn't argue. Not that he wanted to argue. Two fully trained fighters? Maybe the Windsinger really did care.

'Well, if you're sure, then I'll take you to the armory and see if we can find something suitable. Then you can meet the trainees...I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name...?'

'Csirnis,' said the other dragon. 'And I hope you have some armor in your size as well.'

'My size?' Torgeir asked. 'Why?'

Csirnis snorted in amusement. 'So that the next time you need trainers, you have the skills to do it yourself. Wouldn't want everything to fall apart just because you've had a run of cockatrice pox.'

And that is how Torgeir truly became the heart of the Saurus clan. He had already been its emotional center, but now he was also its strongest muscle.

---

The sleeping curse caught us unaware. Indeed, we knew nothing about it until over a year later, when some of the eldest dragons began to stir. Most of the clan still sleeps, waiting for a cure.

Those who woke had two choices: stay, attempt to wake the others, and protect the clan - or go, and seek out new lives. The world has gone on without us, and we know our clan will never be the same. All we can do now is pick up the pieces and attempt to forge something good from the ashes.