I woke to the sound of a soulful wolf, howling out to me, evidently from just within the realm of Spirane. Mahogany eyes blinked away sleep as I slowly stretched and pulled myself from the heap of pups that surrounded me. It did not take much effort for me to keep from waking them – with full tummies and the warmth of the den they would sleep until early evening. My gaze washed over each of them in turn, until I realized that one was missing. My gaze narrowed, wondering where Rhaegal had gotten off to. Panic did not consume me as it might once have; after all, they were nearly yearlings now. I could hardly believe it, how quickly time could pass, but the meal we had shared earlier in the afternoon had been evidence enough. It had been a long time since they had needed my milk, and now they no longer required me to predigest their food for them. They had fallen upon the haunch I had brought for them with vigor, puppy paws and teeth figuring out how to pull the meat away by trial and error. My little dragons were not so little anymore.

I put my nose to the spot where Rhaegal had slept; tracing his scent out of the den until I was absolutely certain he had left alone and some pupknapper hadn’t come for him. There was all of a one percent chance I would have slept through such an ordeal, but I had figured out that mothers were prone to worry about their children, and such a trait had not escaped me. Only then did I lift my crown skyward to answer the call of the female, letting her know I had heard her and that I was on my way. Barely a breath after the final note of my song came an answer – she was waiting for me, and she was not alone. For half a moment I was irritated with Rhaegal for going so far on his own, but that exasperation quickly shifted to pride in my son for intercepting the stranger.

Not a moment more was to be wasted, and I set off at a brisk lope, leaving the remainder of my litter sleeping in the den. I expertly navigated my way down the slopes of my homeland, heading south all the while. When I reached the foothills that gave way to the headwaters of the Aplos River I slowed, wishing to observe not only the foreigner but how my son interacted with her. I moved from upwind of them, that could not be helped, but I did not mind if they knew of my presence. Still, I stood a ways off and partly sheltered by some rather large bushes that still managed to cling to some of its autumn foliage. Ears tipped forward, I caught the last portion of the story she wove, a tale coming to its climax as a wolf lost his mate and home. Glancing towards Rhaegal I could see even from this distance how enraptured he was by her saga, and it brought a smile to my face. So enthralled was he that he hadn’t even noticed my scent on the breeze; though for one so young I could hardly blame him, seeing as my scent was everywhere this close to the borders.

As she spoke the moral of the story, I emerged from my not-so-hiding place and walked across the distance to join the two wolves. It was only as the cream and ebon female sat back with the final note of her tale that Rhaegal finally realized they were not alone and his startlingly unique eyes flashed over to me in surprise. Though my tail was lifted slightly, it wagged back and forth as I moved to greet my son with a most embarrassing (for him) lick atop his head. His groan of a reply and the way he squirmed away from me made me chuckle. As he stumbled away from my grasp and closer to the other female I lifted my warm – yet stern – eyes to hers and offered her a smile. “You seemed to have my son quite well entranced with you story,” I said. Rhaegal was all too keen to speak up for himself, of course, and I could see that he wished to say his piece, so I nodded to him.

He introduced us as politely as a boy who had just been kissed by his mother in public could be expected to, and I nodded my head to Sorcha. He then proceeded to tell me of how she was willing to tell stories if she could remain here in Spirane – and what grand tales she could tell at that.

“I am pleased to meet you Sorcha, and I think there may very well be a place for you here within Spirane. After all, it is not just any wolf who can get my son to sit still and listen for any length of time.” I shot a playful look at Rhaegal and he in turn grinned sheepishly up at Sorcha. So it would seem Spirane might find itself with a Bard before the year was out after all.