I want to take a moment to give super huge thanks to everyone who continues to read and review! I'm very grateful, and a special thanks to Warrose and alyssacousland who I chat with outside of the stories, as well.

Thanks a ton to every one of you, though!

I wish I had more time to post more, but trying to squeeze story time in is taking a lot right now, much less being able to chat and such more. So I also appreciate everyone's patience when I don't manage to get to replies and whatnot as quickly as I really wish I could.

Part 37: Discovery

Simon was once more marching through the barracks Mathinas had added. They were on the opposite end of the excavated courtyard from the labyrinth, and tucked up behind the solar-heated incubation area. He kept coming back there in his search, despite the fact that he had searched it and searched it repeatedly already.

This time, though, Blake and Shirra were with him. They wandered, and Simon half-heartedly knocked on the walls, but they were nearly all stone, so it was relatively pointless.

Finally, seeing Shirra flirting with one of the Guardians, made a shooshing gesture to Blake and pulled her aside. Glancing at Shirra to make sure she was still preoccupied, he grinned and pulled Blake into the broom closet.

Turning to her with a grin, he began to stalk towards her. In mock fear, she scrambled backwards deeper into the closet, but she had nowhere to go. Now openly smirking, he took his time getting to her. Giggling, she tried to dart past him and he grabbed her, pulling her against him.

"Now that I've gotten you away from the dragonlady, I'm going to ravage you," he growled in mock threat.

She pretended to swoon, and he dragged her against him for a fierce, passionate kiss. He found himself lost in her lips, in the feel of her body beneath his questing hands. He wanted to pull her up and wrap her legs around him and completely forget that he was a gentleman.

She felt so warm, so welcoming that he forgot where they were, and that it was supposed to be a quick kiss. His legs felt weak, he wanted to… Oh, the things he wanted to do!

Her arms wrapped around his neck and she tightened her grip on him, keeping his lips glued to hers. He groaned in frustration at the clothing—and heavy plate armor—between them. Stepping her backwards, he trapped her against the wall, so that he could keep her firmly against him while his hands ran up and down the sides of her body.

Leaning against the wall, he started to raise her skirts, wanting to feel the softness of her skin.

Then the wall gave way and they were tumbling into empty air. Blake, despite her usual rather stoic nature in the face of danger, shrieked. He yelped in surprise as he struggled to turn in time to not land on her.

Rushing soldiers sounded from outside the closet and suddenly there was many times more light than the moment before, when the door had been open only fractionally.

Shirra's irritated voice came from the now open doorway. "Very funn—" Her eyes widened in shock. "Maker's breath! You found it!"

Simon turned to look and felt his blood run cold, then roar into a surprised rush. Ahead of him stretched a natural cavern. At the other end, it had been cleared so that it was high enough to walk through—though the work was shoddy at best.

Dusting themselves off to the best of their ability, despite the fact that some of the dirt on them was mud, Simon and Blake peered into the darkness.

"Pip!" Simon thought. He knew Blake was doing the same to Senistraz. "Pip's asleep," he said out loud. Then he tried Alistair, who didn't respond, so must be in human form. Velistara was obviously asleep as well—she was carrying eggs again and was unable to transform to human form at the moment.

"PIP!" he mentally shouted. At his sleepy, half-coherent reply, he showed him the mental image of the broom closet and the tunnel beyond. Instant awareness flooded his mind. Pip could contact Alistair even while he was in human form, so it wasn't long before Pip rushed into the room.

The guardians all stared at Pip, since it was, at best, exceedingly rare to see him in human form. Simon had had a robe made for Pip, so he was properly attired. It was simply that he was an unusual sight, and the Guardians present would be able to tell others what he looked like—which was a big deal around the White Fortress and especially in Margarite.

But everyone, including Simon and Blake, were staring in surprise at the woman beside him, who could only be Senistraz. She was pale, and tiny. Her hair was white like Velistara's, but it shimmered with color, as if it, too, were pearlescent like her scales. Her eyes were lavender like Simon and Blake's.

"Senistraz attempted to copy you," she said to Blake. "She did not do well, but Pip says that while she would be unable to hide in a crowd, Senistraz looks acceptable. She borrowed an old robe of Abbie's."

Simon looked at Pip, then back to Senistraz. "Are you certain you feel comfortable with this? It's your first time in human form, and this will probably be terribly dangerous."

"Yes, Senistraz is sure." Her voice brooked no compromise or refusal.

"Acceptable?" Simon glared at Pip. "You are as beautiful a human as you are a dragon, My Lady."

Alistair came pounding into the room. "You really found it?" Then he screeched to a halt. "Whoa! Senistraz?" At her nod, he blurted, "You're gorgeous! You look so much like your mother, I—" His eyes filled with tears and he grabbed her in a hug. "I'm so proud of you. You've been through so much, yet you're going in there with us to rescue your sister." He set her down then and cleared his throat. "You're amazingly strong, and I'm so proud to be your father."

He turned to the others. "Who's got the torches?"

"Er..." Simon said.

Alistair sighed. "No torches? What are you waiting for?"

"I think we ought to bring Dugan at least," Blake said. "The dwarves are best in this kind of environment, I think."

So Alistair asked Velistara to call up Dugan and ask him to bring whomever and whatever he felt appropriate for exploring dangerous and possibly treacherous unexplored caves and tunnels. Oh—and torches, too.

Some time later, Dugan showed up with three diggers, the unofficial leader of Dwarf Town named Pauliette, and a master digger named Gillim.

They all set off into the tunnel, torches in hand and Gillim leading the way.