Nerai had fallen asleep leaning against Farkas on the ride to the Throat of the World, and had awoken hearing Sofie and Za'Mara shouting with laughter. She rubbed her eyes "What's so funny? She asked groggily. It took a few minutes for one of them to stop laughing long enough to explain, and even then the only discernible words were "Odahviing" "Shout" and "Bump." Her kids were strange. They were suddenly pulled into a dive. She leaned over and saw a large tan colored dragon perching on an old Word Wall. "Hold on guys!" as they landed. The scales beneath her shuddered. "Off with you. My scales ache from this." Odahviing said grouchily. She knew he was teasing though. "Oh shush, dragon. You've been through worse." She snorted "Like that time I nearly killed you." Farkas guffawed behind her, and that earned her a rough nudge from Odahviing.
Nerai helped her children off and into overlarge cloaks. Farkas got the bundle of gear down. Za'Mara screamed when she saw the aged dragon looking at her. "Oh shush!" Sofie nudged her cowering sister and walked up to Paathurnax. "He's just a dragon. If Mama and Odah trust him, we can too." She patted his snout. Nerai suddenly felt a rush of affection for her daughter. Perhaps she has the dragon blood? She had adopted Za'Mara and birthed Sofie. Perhaps. "Hello Paathurnax. Drem Yol Lok." She said. "Drem Yol Lok." He returned the greeting. "I have found that your home has been invaded." He started.
He was about to give one of his long speeches. "One moment. I need to make this place slightly livable for them" she said, gesturing to her daughters "Krosis. Go ahead." He responded.
"Farkas, can you help me for a moment? We need to unpack some things." She said lightly. They set to work preparing a small campsite and getting a fire started with the help of Odahviing. Nerai spread out the provisions they had brought. There were only non-perishable food choices, like salted beef and dried herbs. They had to be careful with this. She would have to explain the situation to her children. She sighed "Sofie, Za'Mara, can you come here please?" she started. "Do you know why we left?" And to her surprise, Sofie answered in a firm voice. "Because the Mistwalkers got into our city. We would have died if we stayed. Odah took us here because it is far away from the bad things." Momentarily stunned, she continued "Right. So we only have this stuff. I know the Graybeards will help us if we run out. Farkas and I will make a little cabin, but for now this is all we have." She indicated the peak. "We are going to hold a meeting, so you need to stay out of the way for a while, because there will be three dragons, plus Farkas and I." They nodded and went to play with their toys.
Nerai pulled her hood up and walked over to her mentor "I am ready. Should I summon Durnehviir?" she asked. "Yes. He would not like to miss a meeting like this." His voice was almost a growl. She took a deep breath and walked over to the small landing spot they had made during last year's warm months. Not that it made much difference up here.
"DUR NEH VIIR!"
Nerai shouted. The ground seemed to split open, and within a second the great dragon Durnehviir was stood on the peak. "Ahh, good to feel the fresh air of Taazokaan again. What is your request, thuri?" He said in his deep draconic voice. Nerai smiled. If Odahviing was her brother, and Paathurnax her wise grandfather, then Durnehviir was her awesome uncle. "Good to see you again, vahlok. We were having a meeting and thought you might like to join us." She said.
"Of course. Thank you for summoning me." He dipped his head. "No problem. It would be unkind to leave you out of this." She patted his snout. Nerai looked around. Odahviing was circling the Throat to make room for everyone. "Odahviing! You can land now!" she shouted. He landed on the very top and leaned in to hear. She spread out a bed roll for her and Farkas, grabbed a loaf of bread, and draped a cloak around their shoulders.
"Settled now, joor?" Paathurnax joked. She was usually picked on because of her tendency to put a bunch of padding between her and the ground. "Hey! We aren't dragon, it's not like we have three feet of fat to keep us warm." She shot back. They scowled at each other. "Enough." Paathurnax gave laughed "Anyway, we need to make a plan. We can't live in a tent forever, and we might freeze." She said. "Hmm. I could bring wood..." Odahviing said, obviously about to ask for something. "But only if you never use that vokul shout on me again." He finished. "You mean Bend Will? I think that's agreeable enough…" she trailed off. Suddenly she remembered something "Lydia!" she burst out jumping to her feet. "We forgot Lydia!" she shouted.