AN: Two chapters in one day! I'll be taking tomorrow of for Mother's day. It's my mom's death-versary (funny how that worked out, isn't it?) so I'm gonna be taking the day off. On a much lighter note, this was my favorite chapter to write so far. So much stuff happens, and I really feel honored that you guys have beared with me so far. It may seem like I've strayed from what the summary describes, but don't worry, you'll learn soon enough. For now, enjoy the journey!

Senick waved Taylyn over politely, and the friendly elf walked over, heartlessly forgetting where she was planning to go.

"Kvetha, Taylyn. I had some questions about my teacher, Radi. They're important to helping me in my lessons." He rubbed his eyes tiredly from a long night of studying. Radi had been a very strict teacher, expecting Senick to learn more than he could handle in the short time he was allotted.

"I'd be happy to help you, young Senick." Her eyes took note of how drained he was.

"Why does Radi treat me so horribly? Is it something I did to offend him? If so, I'd like to know what I can do to make it better. I feel like I'm always at a disadvantage for my lessons before we even begin." He asked.

"If his teachings are too difficult-"

"No, no, it's not that. It's just that whenever I feel accomplished, he immediately finds some way to downplay it. I could understand him being serious about my lessons, but he tends to be very mechanical toward me as a person. I've seen him around you and Laudra, and he just gets stone cold to me."

"Perhaps he is hard on you to prepare you for the challenges you will encounter outside of these walls."

"I don't know, it seems like he hates me, and I don't know how to make him not hate me. I don't see him treat Laudra that way when she speak with him."

"Radi is not fond of humans, but that should not be interfering with his teachings." Her mouth turned down in a frown, obviously planning to bring it up with Radi later. Had he not learned anything over the last couple of months? Senick backtracked.

"Wait, why doesn't he like humans?" The events at Ceunon came to his attention. He didn't think Radi's coldness extended to humans in general, but now that Taylyn had mentioned it; the notion wasn't too farfetched. Senick had a knack for observation, and he could tell Radi was uncomfortable at the feast in Ceunon, and when they went to get their midday meal, Radi looked like he wanted to run away. Senick second-guessed himself. Was he afraid of humans? That was impossible, he was a dragon rider! There was no way he could be fearful of anything. Even a dragon would seem like a kitten if you lived with one in your head all of the time.

"I…" Taylyn bit her tongue, changing her words before speaking, "cannot say. I can, however, tell you of a book in which the description of all events and situations involving the riders. In the library, you'll find said book. It may help you find the answers you seek." She looked at him with a level of regretfulness beyond his comprehension. She gave him a sad smile as he rolled his blood-shot eyes at the prospect.

Great, more reading. He thought. Taylyn bowed, excusing herself and he thanked her for her help. On his way to the library, he mentally searched its contents for the right category the book would be under. Senick had to thank Radi for this, at least. Without the elf's constant barrage of giving him things to look up, Senick would not have been so intimately knowledgeable about the towering shelves of books he had access to.

It still took him awhile to find a relatively promising book. He admired its versatility. Pages could be added in the middle, making it perfect for updated information and discarding outdated passages. He was also grateful at how easy it was to find Radi's name. His excitement diminished quickly as he read Radi's section.

Radi, born in Ilia Feon in 7207. Bonded with the dragon Maelorum in 7227.

The rest of the page had been torn out. And not just that page, but the two pages after it were completely gone. Worry seeped into Senick's stomach, and he tenderly turned the pages around it, hoping they had only fallen out in his haste to find Radi's name. When his search yielded no positive results, he could only come up with one conclusion.

Radi had purposely ripped them from the book. It was the only reason Senick could think of that would explain why they were missing. He was also sure someone would have noticed the pages missing when they edited the book. Once he shut it, he was surprised he couldn't see the slight indent left in the top and bottom that signaled the theft earlier.

Senick chewed on his lip a little as he devised a plan. All he wanted to do was understand his teacher, why was the elf so hard-pressed to not open up to him? If his previous attempts to learn about Radi as a person had been met with a stern look or diversion in conversation, then he would need to use a more subtle avenue.

Luckily, Senick had to pass Radi's chambers whenever he went to bed after a long day, and today Radi was unable to teach him; to Senick's delight. They had been going over magical wards for the past few days. Radi's room had none, and picking a lock would be easy. He could slip in, find what he was looking for, put everything back, and be out before Radi would be finished with his meeting. All that he knew was that Radi was being summoned by the council to discuss some issue in the forests or whatnot.

Senick was nervous, his anxiety at the possibility of being caught made his heart flutter, but his desire to get to the truth was propelling him out of the library and to Radi's room.


Radi reached for the doorknob of his room, but his hand froze; instantly alert. Someone had entered the rider's chambers without permission; the slightly opened door kept cracked for easy retreat. The voice of a man quietly whispered in disbelief at something. The words were unintelligible, but their meaning was clear. The man was learning something he knew he shouldn't be looking into.

The door opened silently as Radi walked in, livid. Senick faced away from the door, his head lowered over the desk covered in papers. The late afternoon rays of sunlight shone onto the desk, giving it a glow in the otherwise shadowed surroundings. It took all of Radi's strength to not attack the man for the trespass.

"What are you doing in my private chambers?" The elf spoke sharply, a mix of complete shock, horror, and stress. Senick jumped around in surprise, instinctively placing the documents behind him as if he weren't reading them. Senick's eyes replied with fear. Radi had stiffened up, furious that after all of his efforts, it was all forfeit, as he understood what pages Senick held from his view. The trouble he had gone through to hide their words from the world, from Taylyn…

"I-I was trying to, um, understand you?" He fumbled out, his cheeks growing red with embarrassment, followed by a paleness as his situation dawned on him. He had been caught, and there would be no escaping Radi's wrath.

"I warned you to stop digging…" Radi's face screamed in remembered fear and the only thing Senick could see was the elf's utter sense of betrayal. He hadn't known Radi to put any trust into him, and there was no way Radi could feel betrayed without some establishment of trust. "You're just as I thought; as bad as the rest of your kind."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Senick growled, regaining some level of defense. Radi's eyes flickered dangerously at the protest.

"It means what I said. You cannot hold back your instinct for meddling. You're willing to invade my privacy to answer questions I would never tell you." Radi crossed the room to Senick, his body prepared to physically throw the young man out if he spoke another word. Senick's composure melted as he approached and he mentally geared himself to be reprimanded.

With a stiff finger, Radi pointed to the door, his canines bared.

"Get out." He growled, seething. Senick dropped the papers he was investigating behind him, rushing away from the upset elf. His legs felt like jelly as he quickly made his way to the door. His need to apologise bubbled over, and he paused.

"I'm sor-" Senick started.

Radi interrupted him with a loud order, almost as if it were a warcry. Senick's face paled at his teacher as the elf exclaimed in the ancient language.

"Get out!"

Almost of his own accord, his legs turned around and he walked the final steps to leave. As he crossed the threshold, Radi yelled another word he hadn't learned yet; the door slamming closed behind him.

Senick's knees buckled as he panted from fear. He had never seen anyone so angry at him. He could barely hear the hurried footsteps making their way to him. An unfamiliar voice calmed him, pulling him into a comforting embrace.

"Shh, it's alright, you're fine." She said. A loud crash echoed from the room behind him, and there was muffled words he hadn't heard yet. However, if he were to guess, they were empty curses. The woman who held him pulled him up, trying to move them away from the door. "Come on, let's get you some food."

Senick nodded shakily, trying to pull himself together.


The next morning, Laudra sat next to Senick and nudged him from under the table. She had spent most of her night comforting him, and this morning they met again. Laudra decided to accompany him to his midday meal with a friendly offer. Senick happily agreed; grateful for someone to talk to.

"Stop staring, he'll catch you." She whispered. Senick forced himself to look down at his uneaten plate of food.

"It's hard not to, though. Now that I know what happened…" He admitted. She looked at him apologetically.

"I know, but it's rude, and you don't want to make him angrier than he already is." She said, and Senick could tell she knew what he now knew. The shared knowledge gave him comfort, knowing he had someone to talk to if he needed to.

Across the room, Radi was picking lazily at his own salad, not paying attention to what Taylyn was animatedly talking about. She seemed to notice his downtrodden demeanor, and was attempting to bring him out of it. The male elf sat stiffly at something that had happened between him and Senick, she knew. On several occasions, she had glanced over to him and Laudra, only to find the man staring at Radi with a silent apology and desire to make amends.

Radi had given Taylyn the silent treatment on occasion, and she knew the only thing to do was wait until his emotions subsided before addressing it. Of all of the elves she knew, Radi was the only one to remind her of a snail at times; its instinct to retreat to its shell when poked. Taylyn hated when he was in this level of self-preservation. Even Maelorum avoided Radi when he was like this.

It had been half an hour of her saying random words, in sentences no one would be able to understand, before his expression turned confused. He looked up from his brooding to raise an eyebrow in question at her. In their mother tongue, he finally spoke.

"What jibberish are you saying?" He asked. She gave him a triumphant grin.

"It is about time you figured it out." She replied.

"Figured what out?"

"That I will not be ignored so easily." She finished. He visibly flinched. His intention was not to ignore her; he was only a victim of his own thoughts. Not only was he still aggravated by Senick's intrusion yesterday, but he hadn't slept after the nightmare he had last night. Maelorum all but slept through the horrors of Radi's dreams. Radi, however, had woken up in a cold sweat; his muscles spasming at how tightly he had curled in on himself during the horrible experience.

It didn't help that the room was still unrecognizable from his outburst. Radi's temper was a beast to be reckoned with, and the only two human-designed structures he possessed had been destroyed in his fit. Radi could only spend his morning chastising himself for letting it loose in Senick's presence. He should not have acted so immaturely toward his student, even if he still wanted to grace the man with the full force of his fist.

Taylyn's fingers snapped sharply and Radi blinked back at her, silently apologising. She glanced behind Radi at the two humans. This time, Laudra had been the one staring, and she quickly ducked her head back to her food with red cheeks and quiet whispers at Senick. Taylyn smiled at the sight. Though Radi was acting childish at the moment, the real children were adorable in their curiosity.

"What troubles you?" She pressed, realizing she would get nowhere with being passive about the obvious tension rolling off him. It almost hurt her to see him so lacking in energy, yet she could sense restraint in his posture like he was holding back. It perplexed her to no end and her worry was growing.

Radi only grunted his refusal to answer; looking down at the fork in his hand. Taylyn would not be so easily placated. She leaned down, her face trying to earn his eye contact. He sensed her intent and avoided her gaze.

"You know you can confide in me, elda-vinr." She whispered, hoping he would open up. His eyes closed painfully and her worry increased. Nothing Senick could have said would warrant this kind of reaction. The man and Radi may have had an unpleasant exchange, but Taylyn could tell it was not what ate at him in this moment.

"I had a dream in which you tortured me." The pain in his voice was raw, and he was clearly reliving the nightmare. Taylyn immediately moved to sit next to him, forgetting about her curiosity at Senick. She put her arms around him in a protective barrier. He leaned into her, his untouched food also forgotten. Taylyn sang to him quietly through his mind. Her calming scent enveloped him as his head fit into her shoulder perfectly.

They hadn't shared thoughts in decades. Yet, despite the lack of routine in it, he let her words drown out all other feelings that had been plaguing him from the previous night. Soon, he forgot about what his dream had been about, and he realized with a stunned pause that she was weaving a spell. The spell was relatively complex in structure, but simple in concept. She was erasing the dream he woke up from. The events of the previous day were left untouched. After a minute, he found himself returning to his normal sense of annoyance at Senick; though it had been less clouded as before.

Radi could still remember what happened, but he no longer felt the weight of self-loathing on his shoulders from it. He didn't care that Taylyn now knew everything that had happened, saw his pent-up frustration being exposed before being bottled back up, felt his twisted sense of glee at frightening Senick.

Without him realizing it, his eyes had closed on their own, and Taylyn stopped her spell in slight surprise when his fork fell out of his hand into the plate with a small 'tink'. She was so focused on making sure she made no mistakes in her casting, that Radi's now limp body threatened to buckle into any direction. She knew he was tired, but the extent was now evident in his even breaths.

She couldn't help but make a light giggle at her situation; albeit a now drained giggle. The spell took an unusually large chunk of her strength to perform. In her defense, Radi had a lot of thoughts on his mind. Too many for her to lessen all of them, but she managed to work her magic in mysterious ways. She was happy that it succeeded, not so happy that it worked so well as his arm fell into his lap.

"Are… are they a couple?" Senick asked, watching Taylyn and Radi's backs with a raised eyebrow. Laudra glanced over at them after Senick's mention, and snickered.

"If they are, it's about time." She said with a laugh. Senick grinned, and wagged his eyebrows suggestively when Laudra looked back at him. She shook her head, laughing harder.

"I… didn't need that image in my head… thank you very much." She managed between laughs.

With her mind, Taylyn called to Laudra, who was in the middle of a conversation with Senick. Laudra immediately looked from Radi's awkward lean into the female elf to Taylyn across the room. Very few people were between them, giving both pairs a comfortable level of privacy and line of sight.

Is… everything okay? Laudra asked, hoping everything was fine. Senick noticed Laudra's sudden seriousness, but didn't comment on it. Instead, he took the last few bites of his food.

Yes, but I need your help… Could you assist me in bringing Radi to my room? He fell asleep. Taylyn asked uncharacteristically sheepish. Laudra could also feel Taylyn's exhaustion in her mind.

Without a second thought, Laudra excused herself to walk over to Taylyn. Senick watched her, unblinking, as his confusion grew. Once Laudra reached Taylyn, she took Radi's free arm and bent down to wrap it around her shoulder. Taylyn did the same on his other side.

Senick's stomach dropped as he realized Radi was unconscious. He jumped up, wanting to find out why.

Taylyn whispered her thanks to Laudra as Senick's footfalls approached. He immediately questioned Taylyn.

"Is he okay? What happened?" He asked. Taylyn gave him a weak smile, assuring him that Radi was fine.

"No need to worry, he's just exhausted from a troubled night's sleep." She explained. Senick felt infinitely more guilty at yesterday's incursion. He broke into Radi's room looking for answers, and Radi must have been so upset, he couldn't sleep. Senick felt like he was going to lose his lunch, and Laudra caught his green stare.

"If you're going to hurl, find a bucket. I have a weak stomach for that sort of thing." She warned with a nervous eye. Radi was heavier than she expected, and she wondered how Taylyn was supporting him if she was as tired as Laudra suspected.

With a start, Laudra remembered where they were heading, and she smirked atTaylyn.

"So, your room, huh?" She mimicked Senick's earlier eyebrow motions, though it was a little more difficult to do. She didn't know how his facial muscles could do the motion so fluidly.

Taylyn understood Laudra's meaning and repositioned her shoulder to get a better grip on Radi's slippery form. She made sure to do it tenderly, however, so as to not jolt his head painfully. Radi nodded in slumber, his hair covering his face loosely. Every other step, his head would sway to one side and again to the other as Laudra and Taylyn's awkward gait tilted him.

"Yes, my room, unless you and Senick plan on dragging him up three floors." She teased. Laudra looked back at the stone below them to avoid tripping. Senick shadowed behind them, listening quietly until his name was mentioned.

"Your room is fine… Do either of you want some help?" He offered. They both answered at the same time.

"No, thank you."

"We have him just fine, young Senick." He nodded, looking around for something to talk about as they shuffled down the hall. Several elves had paused at the connected trio with worry and curiosity. Senick smiled at them, quelling their thoughts. At a few of them, he found himself giving physical signs of ease, such as the occasional 'thumbs up' and 'drinking motions' in reference to over-drinking. At the very least, if anyone talked about Radi, it would be a joke in passing instead of whispers of worry at his health.

Eventually, he worked up enough courage to ask Taylyn about what he and Laudra were discussing earlier.

"So… Are you two a couple now?" He asked, knowing -yet still hoping- Taylyn wouldn't consider the question too forward or 'forbidden'. He thought Taylyn would appreciate the straightforwardness. No misunderstood meanings, no hidden agendas, just good old-fashioned information seeking.

He jumped in front of the trio, opening the door for them. As they walked in, he took note of how similar the layout of her room was to Radi's. In fact, they practically mirrored each other. While Radi's color palate was blacks, dark browns, and greens, Taylyn's choice of colors were soft greys, pale greens, and light oaks.

His face scrunched up at the comparisons. Was there anything that didn't convince him that the two elves were practically opposites in every way? If he didn't know any better, he would say they were soul mates. Or twins. Taylyn hadn't answered his question yet.

She and Laudra set Radi on the perfectly made bed and Taylyn took in a much needed breath. Laudra's own intake followed hers half a second later. Looking down at Radi's peaceful face, she forced herself to not forget the two humans who watched her questioningly.

It was then that she realized she had never answered Senick, "You humans and your need to know these things." She said as playfully as she could in her weary state. Laudra accepted that as an answer, and pulled Senick with her out of the room as he admired it. He nearly tripped, too engrossed at the images sung into the ceiling. The large room really did mirror Radi's, the only structural difference was the lack of a dragon perch. Where there would have been one, was the wall that connected to the ceiling's image.

It was the image of two dragon eggs, held by two figures. One elf in the picture, was obviously Radi with his unscarred ears. He held a black dragon egg; lightning-like veins of green scattered throughout it. He stood with the egg extended outward to the other elf, just as she held her own egg out to him.

The female elf's egg was decorated in greys and pale greens. The exact same shade of Taylyn's room decor, Senick noted. Surrounding the image were trees, and the sun shown only on Radi, while the moon shown only on Taylyn.

Senick didn't get a chance to read what the glyphs said before he felt Laudra's tugging on his arm. Before he knew it, she had shut the door with them outside. He could only stare at the door in shock.

Taylyn's a rider? The sentence repeated itself over and over in his mind, as if asking himself again would yield an answer. He couldn't remember seeing her gedwey ignasia, but then again, he was never looking for it either. He hadn't seen another dragon with her, and like he remembered from his brief time in her room, there was no room to house a dragon.

He looked over to Laudra for answers. She closed her eyes as if reading his mind. There would be no placating him, and she groaned at the long day still ahead of her. The only solace was that Ignant would be waiting for her at the end of the day and their nightly routine of memory sharing would brighten each other's day.