Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it belongs to Tamora Pierce.

I apologize to all anonymous reviewers that I had to disable that access. I hope it won't have to be permanent. Unfortunately, I had no choice.

Sarramaks: Thank you so much. That was very kind.

Sunfish Sailor: Thank you so much. I've had fun writing fluff for a change.

Alanna Cooper: Thanks

Bitterosemary: As always, thank you so much. I really had fun with the bad, bad man. You'll see in this one why Numair used the word damaged in cannon and some fun with magic.

Purple Eyed Cat: I was afraid no one would catch that. That was a funny line.

Hoshi-ko88: He was extremely worried, but it was an accident.

Goldeneyedwildmage: All ages use the "your mother" insults. It always made sense to me that other lifeforms would too. I always loved that line in the book and had to take a moment to highlight it.

Chapter 26 – Facing Down A Dragon

-Our laws bid us to first hear what they have to say.-- Numair wasn't certain who the speaker had been.

Moonwind sat up on her haunches. – They and their defenders lost their right to claim justice under our law when my grandson was murdered by their kind. Look at them. Already they cause trouble here. Already they try to seduce our young away from us. –

--We aren't seduced! – cried a younger dragon. –They're new; they're different. We could learn from them – except you and your crowd have closed minds!—

Moonwind roared, --Silence!-- Her mind-voice was so loud that Numair and Daine cringed, while the young dragon who had spoke clawed at his muzzle.

--Now you've done it,-- whispered Grizzle to the gagged youngster. –You'd better hope that she takes the Silence off you before you get too hungry.—Numair was starting to hate Moonwind. He wanted very badly to release the young dragon from her spell.

--If you felt that humans were not to be treated with under our law, Sister Moonwind, you should have amended the law in the four centuries since your loss, -- snapped a new adult. – You know as well as I that all changes in law must be reviewed, debated, and considered. You cannot demand that it be changed here and now.— Numair stared in disbelief. This creature had hung on to a prejudice and desire for vengeance for 400 years. He thought idly, Her mother had to be a wyvern. Dragons love intellect far too much to allow themselves to be stagnated by a thirst for revenge.

"Excuse me," he heard Daine say. The noise in the room was terrible. Dragons were quarrelling with one another. There were angry red scales on nearly every dragon present and lightning in sheets or threads, danced over more than a few. Numair didn't see how this farce of a debate was going to solve anything. "Excuse me!" She could never be heard this way.

"Try again," Numair murmured to her and placed a hand at the nape of her neck sending his Gift into the vocal folds to amplify her voice.

"EXCUSE ME!" Her voice thundered through the amphitheatre. Daine winced visibly and Numair released some of the amplification. "All we want is to go home – that's it. We don't like being here any more than you want us. So, if you could take us back to the mortal realms, we're quits."

-- No one asked you.—Jewelclaw did more than sit up. He stepped onto the ramp and began to walk down toward them. Balls and rails of lightening raced around his hide as it morphed to livid crimson. –You humans. How could we have allowed you to continue to exist, with your murderous hearts, your waste and your noise? It's time to scour the mortal realms clean. We can start with you.--

Numair had reached the limits of his patience with that single threat. You accuse us of having murderous hearts but look at you, he thought. His own anger swelled as his gift grew around him in defense of Daine and humankind. "You dare." A magical pressure surrounded them, anchoring him to the dragon magic he planned to borrow.

--Do you think we fear you, mortal?—the black and white dragon asked as he stepped on the ramp behind Jewelclaw. –No human can face down a dragon!—

Moonwind vanished from her station to reappear on the beaten floor. Numair saw the force of her materialization burst like a sudden wind and throw Daine back. It only served to further enrage him. He lifted Jelly from his shirt and handed it to Scamp, ignoring the darking's protests. Numair didn't want to accidentally harm the darking, afterall. He began to gather power from the posturing dragon as he advanced on her. Moonwind, in her self-important rampage, failed to realize that he was draining her.

--There are mortals who may battle us on an equal footing—said a lean, knobby dragon. Numair wasn't sure if he was warning Moonwind, or simply stating a fact. The two dragons on the ramp stopped and even Moonwind looked at the knobby dragon. –Not many, but some. Your coterie has chosen to ignore that which does not add to your overweening selfishness in regard to which species have importance, and which ones do not … Or are you merely stupid? I never could decide which it was, though perhaps I should have.—

--You do not understand the matter, Ancestor Rainbow!—retorted the black-and-white dragon.

Numair looked closely at Rainbow and realized this dragon had no pupils. But the fact that he was blind might not mean he hadn't realized what Numair was doing. Either way, he seemed to be an ally and Numair would treat him as such.

--Do I not?—he asked mildly. –Well, you are entitled to your opinions, Riverwind, however foolish they may be. I too am entitled to my opinion, which is that I grow weary of your bad manners. Leave the Dragonmeet.—

Riverwind reared, clawing the shimmering air with his forepaws, screeching so high and so loudly that the sound grated on Numair's ears. The screech diminished and he vanished from sight in a whirlwind of magic that seemed to emanate from Rainbow.

All at once the room exploded in the sound of the many mind-voices arguing at once. But Jewelclaw said. –The humans are mine!—He trotted down the ramp. Moonwind raised a forepaw and unfurled her immense wings. Numair looked back and forth between the two threats, and finally focused on Moonwind, who was closer. The air was rippling and bending visibly before his eyes with the magic he was pulling from her. Its tingle excited him and he itched to put it to use with a longing that seemed to come from outside of him.

Numair glanced at Daine. She grounded him and he needed to remember that he was Numair Salmalin, not a dragon. But at that very moment, he saw Daine leap, shifting smoothly to goshawk form and taking flight. She wanted to help and didn't realize that she did by her very presence.

--Enough!—a new voice came from the west and sounded like the one Numair had heard by the bridge. Jewelclaw seemed to freeze.

--When did my personal invitation to guests of my clan become a matter for every wing and claw in the Dragonlands to discuss, and interfere with? -- It came from what Numair had taken to be a crude statue of a dragon, as the newcomer uncoiled himself. Diamondflame – Grandsire – was a dragon over eighty feet in length. This dragon had a presence that made Numair's magical senses scream with urgency. This dragon's magic was stronger than the others on the floor. He approached Moonwind and Numair, eyeing Numair curiously.

Diamondflame was a deep blue, almost black, with flecks of gold and violet. A gold crest rose from his broad forehead and swept down to his shoulders. It almost looked like a crown, although Numair knew he was not a monarch by his understanding of the terms.

-- I understand your grief for your grandson, Moonwind, but only to a point. With no law passed by the Dragonmeet, I am entirely within my rights to welcome my grandchild's guardians to my home. It should not matter if they are human, dragons, or dragonflies. They are my guests, and no business of the Dragonmeet!--

--Ancestor Rainbow, I demand a ruling – hissed the pearl scaled dragon. –Humans in the Dragonlands are no matter of personal choice as Diamondflame has said, but of the will of the Dragonmeet. I vote to dump them into the Sea of Sand and let them cook.—

Diamondflame defended, --Will the Dragonmeet now tell each dragon what guest to have, what to read, when to have children? I am within my rights, the ones granted to me and to every dragon by the Golden Dragonmeet, to accept the visit of the guardians of my grandchild, without certain meddlers getting involved.—

--Now he calls "meddlers" those who wish only to see dragonkind return to power in all the realms!—Jewelclaw bellowed. –Have you old and conservative ones turned to wyverns and salamanders?—Numair thought it awfully rich for Jewelclaw to accuse the others of the closed-minded behavior that he was exhibiting.

--Humans or no human, I must say that I have not heard such insolence from the young in the last thousand years as I have heard today.—Rainbow lowered himself from his grassy seat and walked over to Diamondflame. –I will judge now.—The dragon stretched in a sort of grandeur, unfurling iridescent wings that had probably not carried him in a couple thousand years. –I ordain as Rainbow Windheart, governor of the Dragonmeet, oldest of the Firefolk, with a hundred centuries under my wings; by the compact of the Godwars and the vote of the Golden Dragonmeet, I speak for all of us, until the day comes that I am taken back to Mother Flame.—

Rainbow settled and turned those blind eyes on the blue-green dragon, and then he spoke icily, --Out of my sight, Jewelclaw. If I see you before a century has passed, I shall not be so kind again as I am right now.— Rainbow threw a bolt of magic at Jewelclaw. But the latter dodged it neatly and flew at the goshawk that was Daine, snarling and snapping his jaws.

Without a second thought, Numair threw the dragon magic at Jewelclaw in a large net, scooping him away from Daine and pinning him in mid-air. But to his horror, Rainbow reached for Daine magically at the same time and she cried in pain and dropped, instantly human again.

Black fire cradled her and set her gently at his feet. He knelt beside her. She was breathing, but seemed to be unconscious. –Forgive me, I meant only to pull her to safety,-- He heard Rainbow say.

Then he lifted his gaze in time to see Moonwind attempt to throw fire. Numair had left her very little magic. The dragon stared at him astonished and began to snap her muzzle in her fury. He stood and held her back with another blast of power, pinning her near Jewelclaw in mid-air. Turning to the darkings he said, "Cloth her, please." Leaf, Jelly and Scamp headed to retrieve Daine's clothes. Grizzle stood there, mouth agape, unmoving.

Looking around, Numair realized that Diamondflame was holding back the remaining separatists with a force that rippled with the strongest magic he had ever witnessed. One by one the separatists took their leave, either by their own means, or with assistance from Diamondflame.

Rainbow wandered forward, staring at the scene with blind eyes. Numair wondered what sense he used to observe. Then those milky white eyes were on him. –This is impressive, mage. But I will not allow you harm a dragon.—

"I had no intention of harm. You will notice that I did not completely drain Moonwind. The Dragon Codex says that will kill a dragon and I do not kill unless I'm forced to."

--Liar! Humans are murderous, despicable lower beings—Moonwind mumbled from her paralyzed position. A bolt of fire from Diamondflame stopped her rantings.

"Den forska pa fierstan att den allrastor efterstrava," Numair said. The amphitheatre went completely silent. "The search for intellect is the highest aspiration," he translated. "Isn't that your credo?" He knew it from the Dragon Codex. "Except, Moonwind, intellect is hampered by prejudice and a refusal to keep an open mind." He turned to the young dragon that had been silenced by Moonwind's temper-tantrum and pulled the spell into his magical net. Instantly the dragon could open its mouth again. "You should listen to your young more often, Moonwind. Sometimes a fresh perspective has the right of it." The young dragon moved closer to Rainbow and seemed as shocked as the rest of the group. "To assume all humans are murderous is as foolish as assuming the whole world is covered with sand because you happened to be born in the desert."

Rainbow began to laugh with a dry, scratchy sound. –You are a most fascinating human.—

Jewelclaw, who had remained silent and still until now, said, --In a real dragon fight he would die a quick death.--

"Accurate assessment," Numair answered. "Of course, I could take out one before I died. Be assured that one would be you. It was you who threatened to kill myself and the woman I love, so that you could take the dragonet I love as my own child away from the only home she has ever known. And yet, I stand here letting you spew your poison. Tolerance, Jewelclaw, is a virtue you should cultivate."

A roar of laughter in numerous mind-voices followed. Numair saw Diamondflame's spiraling magic reach for Moonwind, as Rainbow's spiraling magic reached for Jewelclaw. Both dragons disappeared.

"Wait," Numair said frantically, "I still have Moonwind's magic. I had intended to return it." Rainbow merely laughed again. His magic spiraled, separating the dragon power from Numair's gift neatly. "Thank you," he responded.

He returned to where Daine lay on the floor, still out cold. The darkings had returned her clothing and she looked somewhat peaceful.

-How did you come to learn to wield dragon power?—It was the voice of a gray and gold dragon, not quite 60 feet in length.

"I figured it out here actually. I've seen Kit – Skysong's magic of course. I've worked with her often to develop it. I had a brief encounter with Kit's mother when she attacked us thinking that we were the ones who forced her through the barrier. She was very brave by the way and her loss was devastating." He paused for a moment. He had not thought about that courageous violet dragon in some time. He was a little amazed at how much had changed since then. He had been unable to protect his friends from her while she attacked. Now he was glad. The means to fight here had been necessary, but might have kept Kit's mother from conversing with Daine and therefore, Kit would not have been born. The dragons shifted impatiently and he returned to answering their question. "As I watched you argue today, I suddenly came to understand how you never seem to drain. I simply had to intercept the recharging spell." He stroked Daine's hair while he spoke. "Will Daine be all right?" The longer she remained unconscious, the more worry he felt.

--If there is any damage, I can repair it.—Diamondflame answered. –We have looked in on Skysong. She seems to be in good hands and you appear to feed her hunger for learning.—

Numair only nodded. He assumed the dragons looked in on Skysong in the same way that Weiryn and Sarra looked in on Daine. He stood, pacing nervously.

--Why are you here, mage?—Rainbow asked.

Numair explained the events that brought them. "We had no idea that we would cause such an uproar. Will the separatists continue to fight you?"

--The only way dragons can live together is to vow to keep their muzzles out of one another's private lives.—Rainbow answered. –When we wrote our laws at the Golden Dragonmeet, we made sure of that. When I spoke in my office as governor, they could not argue, under the laws of that same meet.—

"Awake now!" Leaf squeaked. Numair rushed back to Daine.

"What happened?" she asked, blinking up at the scene before her.

Rainbow moved in to examine her. –Forgive my lack of precision in grabbing you out of harm's way, Godborn. I allowed Jewelclaw to upset me. What you felt was dragon magic, nothing more.—

"I'm glad it was nothing more." Daine said. "Think how upsetting it might be to get squeezed from a shape – like milk from a teat – by something big."

Numair, caught between worry and amusement at her words asked, "Is she all right? Not – damaged?"

--She seems well enough now,-- Diamondflame answered.

"You don't know her as I do. She's never this philosophical about surprises." He smiled at Daine, waiting for her usual tart response. That would tell him if she was really okay.

Rainbow helped the girl to a sitting position. She said quietly, "My bones are all wobbly." Numair reached to steady her as she turned her head, searching the arena. "Where'd everybody go?"

--Where they would have been if Moonwind and her Separatists had not chosen to meddle in business that was not theirs,-- Diamondflame answered. –They have gone home. Ancestor Rainbow ruled that your visit, concerned as it was with returning to my grandchild, was a matter for my clan alone.—

Numair and Rainbow helped Daine to her feet.

--Who will help me convey these mortals out of the Dragonlands?—Diamondflame asked.

The young dragons literally begged to go but Diamondflame looked down his muzzle at them and they silenced instantly. – Those of you who can fly are too small. The rest of you cannot fly at all – and fly you must. You will remain here, and mind Ancestor Rainbow.—

--I will come with you.—It was the gray-and-gold dragon that had spoken earlier. –I am Wingstar. Your Skysong is my grandchild. The least I can do is to bring her humans back to her.—

--Climb onto us,-- ordered Diamondflame. –I believe the Dragonmeet is done.— Most of the dragons had left, save the young ones. The rest of the older ones vanished one by one.

Numair picked up Jelly and returned him to his shirt. The little darking took a moment to grumble about being given to a dragon to hold and being poked and examined by all the other dragonets. Turning he saw Leaf was again on Daine's neck. He reached over to Daine and brushed her cheek with his hand.

--I will take you, Weiryn's daughter. You do not appear to have so many bony angles to you,-- spoke Wingstar.

Daine grinned at Numair, obviously amused and climbed onto Wingstar's back. Numair ascended Diamondflame's foreleg and then perched on his back. –Hold onto my crest,-- Diamondflame ordered as his mate simultaneously gave Daine the same instructions.

"Wait!" Daine cried. "When we came through last time, we – more me, but both of us for a while – got fair sick. We need to tell you –"

--Nothing,-- interrupted Diamondflame. –You were brought here by lesser gods, not by dragons. You will not become ill in the least.—

Numair grinned as Daine looked slighted. With that the dragons took to the air and they began the journey home.

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Obviously there is still more to come.