[Birdland]

The screaming of Angara blending with the answering scream of the great silver and black dragon that suddenly had appeared in the tunnel with her. The two wyrms would come in low, protecting their soft underbellies from the sword strokes and spears of the Men.

The tunnel was cramped, but the scaled heads on the long, reptilian necks would snake through the melee with the speed of striking adders, picking up the guards and piercing them with stone daggers of their teeth and smashing their forms against the walls of the caves. Those few guards who had made through the gauntlet of Men and Halflings to attack the beasts were ripped asunder by shining, adamant claws.

And deep within the being of the dragon, Birdie the skinchanger was screaming her head off. Bird was a creature of stealth and flight. She would not ever have been called a coward, never having left a friend in a pinch, but she had always preferred subterfuge and cunning to the direct attack and before joining the crew of the Lonely Star, had never assumed the role of soldier, (Though she had fled from her share of advancing armies.) The sights, smells and sounds of the Battle of the Tunnels were overwhelming.

But not as overwhelming as the form of the dragon. Never had she felt such an alien in her own skin as she did when she took on the aspect of the Wyrm. Her heart and mind was raging with the joy of combat and destruction. Her body rejoiced in its massive strength and superiority to the puny creatures that surrounded her, and died so easily. Bird's own, small spirit fought equally as hard against this other spirit unleashed within her, but it was becoming harder and harder to tell whether she wore the dragon, or the dragon wore her.

Then, as often happens in battle, a lull in the assault occurred. It was unclear whether the field had been won, or the enemy was only reassembling, but it was suddenly quiet in the tunnels, except for the groans of the wounded, the harsh breathing of exhausted combatants, and the drip of blood.

Pio and Mithadan were together, examining and dismissing each others wounds, when suddenly the Elf stared intently ahead, then called to her friend, "Bird! To the River! Cami and Rose are there with the lost children. They need you to take them to the ship, before other find them. Hurry!"

"No!" growled Bird. "You and Mithadan are wounded. I will not leave you here". She flexed her black claws like a cat kneading, and gazed at the carnage around her. Bird did not want to leave her friends, but the creature surrounding her did not want to leave the battle.

Pio gazed at the whirling silver eyes of the dragon and said quietly and firmly. "Birdland, change to your raven form now, and go. Now!"

The dragon disappeared, and the small black and white crow appeared, and sighed with weariness and relief. Then shrugging its shoulders as if it were putting on an old, familiar cloak, it spread its wings and took off down the tunnel.

*************************************

Cami cradled the wounded, silent Rose in her arms and kept up her feverish, silent calls to whoever might hear. When the little crow landed beside her, the Halfings child beside her cocked his head in puzzlement and said "Birdie?" Then he tried to grab a fistful of wing.

Bird gently disengaged her limb from the groping fingers and changed to woman form, bending over the still bleeding form of Rose. "Rose! What happened? Why are you not with the other children? What are you all still doing here?"

"There's no time to explain now. We need to get back to the ship. Change to your dragon form and carry us to the Star, Bird. Hurry!"

Bird hung her head in weariness, but Cami's attention was still on Rose's wound, and she did not see look of dread in the skinchanger's eyes. Then the great, shadowed form rose up among the Halflings. The toddler held out it's arms and chuckled with delight. "Birdie! Big birdie!"

"Get on." the dragon growled.

[ November 03, 2002: Message edited by: Birdland ]