Chapter 3

"No, use the dead wood," Rosa said. "We can't cut trees because it will reduce the habitat for Klyphon's food animals."

"Where do you want the fire pit?" this from a woman who could have been in her thirties or forties whom Rosa knew by name, but with whom she had had, until now, little contact.

"There, Lily," she replied, "in the middle of the open space. Here, let me help you move some of those rocks. We'll make a border out of them to help keep the fire contained."

"I think these will work to support the spit," Arno said, dropping two heavy constructions lashed together from green wood and topped with forked supports. "Tell Klyphon thanks for letting me use green wood for these. I don't think it would have worked with dry sticks."

Did you get that, golden boy? Rosa asked the Wyrm as he watched over their preparations for cooking the animal he had killed for their sustenance.

She could feel the mirth in his mind. 'Golden boy' was their little private joke. She used it when she wanted to tease him a little. I got it, Rosalinda Maria Gutierrezzzz.

Klyphon exaggerated the rolling of the 'r's in her name and drew out the 'z' as his way of getting back at her for the use of the nickname.

I still don't understand why you don't just let me flame the beast for you. Why must you go through all these elaborate preparations?

We don't just want the outside of the carcass singed, Klyphon, Rosa explained patiently. We want the flesh cooked through. To accomplish that with an animal this size, we must ensure that heat is applied evenly for a long period of time, otherwise the outside becomes charcoal while the inside remains raw.

You humans and your delicate systems! Klyphon snorted good naturedly. Ruining a perfectly good piece of flesh by 'cooking' it!

Barbaric, isn't it?! Rosa laughed. And I'm sure you'll be thrilled to know that we'll be adding spices and other flavorings as well. Why don't you go get yourself something to eat, Bond-mate? After I've had some time with Arno tonight, I think I will want to go flying again.

And... ?

Perhaps! Rosa laughed. You horny devil!

The beast took more than four hours to cook, and the men took turns rotating the spit while the others went about the daily business of maintaining their camp and preparing other dishes to accompany the mantrega, as the Wyrms called the kangaroo-like animal.

The meat contained enough fat to make it tender and flavorful, and Rosa found herself eating more than she should. It was a welcome change from the food they had been allowed by the Conquerors.

Someone had brought out a bottle of bourbon and offered drinks to those who wished to imbibe. Wendy Som, who had arrived by Tryphon Express and helped with the food preparation, surprised them by singing a song in a clear soprano.

Rosa hadn't seen Lily, the woman with whom she had built the fire pit, take any of the liquor, but as Wendy sang, she rose, and with the firelight as a backdrop, launched into a freeform dance that seemed to fit the song perfectly. As she danced, the firelight turned her clothing translucent and its glow sloughed away the years from her face.

Rosa was surprised at the voluptuousness of the figure revealed by the firelight, and the natural beauty of the woman's face framed by her short, dark hair. She would never have graced the cover of a fashion magazine back on Earth, but the firelight seemed to draw out an inner beauty that kept hidden in daylight.

As the dance continued, Rosa fancied that the woman danced, not only to Wendy's song, but to some ethereal inner music that made her movements incredibly sensuous, yet set her apart from those around her.

One of the men who had been drinking, got up and tried to dance with Lily, but she spun out of his grasp as if he wasn't there, and continued the dance unimpeded, as if nothing else existed for her.

When the song finally ended, Lily sank to the ground beside Rosa, staring into the flames for a long moment. Rosa, watching, was struck by the utter loneliness on her features - such a dramatic change from a few moments before.

Impulsively, she reached out a hand and laid it gently upon the other woman's shoulder. Lily placed her own hand on top of Rosa's and spared a wan smile over her shoulder before returning her gaze to the fire. She kept hold of Rosa's hand, however, and in a few moments turned and said, "Thank you."

"You just looked so beautiful dancing," Rosa said, "and I couldn't bear to see the loneliness in your expression when you stopped."

"You will think me crazy," Lily said, turning her eyes back to the fire, "but I was dancing with my husband, Robert. He was killed by the Conquerors a few months ago for the crime of protecting me when one of them struck me. We used to dance a lot, before the Conquerors came, and just now, it felt as though he was right there with me..."

"I'm so sorry," Rosa replied with heartfelt sympathy.

"Don't be. You and Arno are the only ones who found a way to get some of us away. I miss Robert, and wish he could be here, but you have nothing to be sorry about, Rosalinda Maria Gutierrez."

"Oh, great," Rosa sighed, "is everyone going to use my full name now?"

"Your dragon is right," Lily answered softly. "Your spirit is in that name. It is musical and sounds so much better complete. I don't understand how or why, but there is a magic to using one's full name. Take mine, for instance: Lilyann Victoria Geesh. Taken together, it is poetry, but shortened to 'Lily' or even 'Lily Geesh' it is, at best, commonplace. At worst it is comical. Yes, I like the Wyrms' philosophy of names."

"We humans grow to dislike our full names," Rosa mused, "Probably because when we are children, the only time we hear them is when our parents are angry with us. I'm a little surprised that you take so easily to the Wyrms' point of view"

"My short name drew a lot of teasing from other children when I was small," Lily answered wistfully. "When I would go home to my mother, crying, she would recite my full name as though it was the most beautiful thing in the world while she held me and stroked my hair. It's no wonder I came to find comfort in it."

Lily turned back toward the fire and Rosa left her to her thoughts. As the flames began to die and the others drifted, in pairs and singles, back to their shelters, Wendy climbed aboard her dragon and flew off to Trynor's territory. Her departure signaled the end of the festivities, and those remaining by the fire got up to return to their own places.

As Rosa and Arno rose, she noticed Lily still staring into the embers of the fire. Impulsively, she bent and touched the other woman on the shoulder.

"Would you like to come to my hut tonight, Lily?" she asked softly.

"I..." the dark-haired woman looked up hopefully, then noticed Arno holding Rosa's hand, and her eyes fell once again. "Thank you, but I'll be okay."

Rosa turned to her lover, and their eyes held a hurried, silent conference. Arno then leaned over, and with a gentle hand under Lily's arm, raised her to her feet.

As Rosa took her other arm, she noted with some surprise that Lily was much shorter than she had appeared to be while dancing - only a couple of inches over five feet tall. With the two of them holding her, though, the care lines again melted away, and in the bluish glow of two of the planet's moons, that inner beauty once again shone through.

"Are you sure?" Lily whispered, looking from one to the other.

Instead of answering, Rosa tucked a finger under her chin and bent to give her a tender kiss. Lily's lips melted under hers and her curves molded themselves eagerly to Rosa's body. When Rosa, light-headed, finally broke the kiss, Arno, bending even further, took her place. Lily flowed into him as eagerly as she had his lover, and Rosa began to wonder if she was going to get that night flight with Klyphon after all.

Do not worry, Rosalinda Maria Gutierrez, Klyphon told her. This one needs you more tonight than I do. What is her name?

Surprised, since none of the dragons had shown an interest in the names of any humans except their Riders or prospective Riders, Rosa replied, Lilyann Victoria Geesh.

Take good care of Lilyann Victoria Geesh, Bond-mate, Klyphon told her. There is an aura about her that we have not seen in a human.

What kind of aura? What do you mean?

Look at her through my eyes, Rosalinda Maria Gutierrez...

Rosa had never tried this before, though she understood the theory that since their minds were connected she should have access to his senses, as well, but she had no idea how to go about it.

Apparently, just the desire was enough to accomplish the act, because suddenly her own vision was blotted out by a view of three humans walking together. Despite the dimness of the moonlight, in Klyphon's vision, their colors were vivid and alive, but in a different spectrum than that to which she was accustomed. At first, it was difficult to match the figures she was seeing to the three of them because of the difference in color and perspective, but soon certain features stood out to confirm that she was seeing herself and her companions. To her surprise, there was a glow around each of the humans. Arno's was red and orange and did not extend far from his body, while Rosa's was golden with flashes of green and surrounded her to distance of about two feet.

Lily's aura, though, radiated wildly in a whole rainbow of colors and seemed to illuminate the whole camp. The predominance of blues and violets seemed to indicate that it emanated from a highly energetic source.

My God! Rosa thought. What is that? Why is hers so much more ... energetic than ours?

When a Wyrm has an aura like hers, Klyphon replied, he becomes a mage. Mages are very rare and are capable of manipulating Otherwhere to see into the future and to perform other feats that are impossible for normal Wyrms. They are the only ones who can go through Otherwhere as many times as they wish. It has been three generations since the last mage appeared among Wyrms.

Wait, you said 'he'. Can females become mages?

There has never been a female Wyrm who was a mage. Lilyann Victoria Geesh is the only female of any species we have ever encountered with such an aura, and hers is very powerful. If she learns the skills of the mage, she could become the most powerful mage we have yet encountered.

Rosa shook her head as if to clear it. You're telling me that she'll be able to do magic? Like a witch?

Not at all, Klyphon said. She will simply be able to control certain energies that most races who have discovered them use machines to control. The ship that brought you here is one example of such a machine, and a very crude one at that. There are many other things that can be done with the energies that exist in the universe that you call hyperspace and we term Otherwhere. Properly trained, Lilyann Victoria Geesh will be able to manipulate them without machines.

But who will train her? Rosa was more than a little perplexed. You said yourself that it has been three generations since...

I also told you that we remember what our ancestors remember, Klyphon interrupted; something he had never done before. There is one here who is a direct descendant of Nomphrin - the last and greatest of the Wyrm mages.

Rosa didn't have to ask how the descendant of Nomphrin would train Lily in the use of the powers she apparently didn't know she possessed. The three had reached the hut shared by Arno and Rosa, and as Arno entered, Rosa held the other woman back.

"Lily," she asked, "have you considered Bonding with one of the dragons?"

"Oh no," Lily laughed, "I don't mind a little adventure in my sex, but that's going a little further than I'm prepared to go." Her eyes narrowed and suspicion entered her voice. "Is that why you brought me here? To try to talk me into..."

"No, no!" Rosa hastened to reply, "It was something that Klyphon said to me as we were walking. Please, forget I said anything. Arno and I just thought you could use a little company tonight."

Lily scanned her face in the twin floodlights of the moons and, apparently satisfied with what she saw, reconstructed her smile as she followed Arno into the hut.

Rosa hung back for a few moments, mulling over the ready suspicion illustrated by Lily's reaction. Was this the attitude of the rest of the colony? Was she seen by everyone as pimp for the Wyrms?

What is a 'pimp', Rosalinda Maria Gutierrez? Klyphon asked, picking the term from her thoughts.

On Earth, Rosa sighed, a pimp is a not-very-nice person who sells the services of men and women who take money for sex. In this context, I'm worried that the other humans see me as trying to provide dragons with human sex partners.

But the sex is only the mechanism for achieving the Bond. Klyphon seemed genuinely perplexed. Granted, it is very enjoyable for Wyrms, but judging by your reaction and Som Shu-Chun's it ultimately becomes enjoyable for the human, as well. Why would they consider it to be a bad thing? This has puzzled us since we lived on Urth.

This attitude among humans has some of its roots in religious beliefs that tell us that sex for anything other than procreation is wrong, and, I believe, in a primitive belief that sex with other species is wrong. There are other factors involved, as well, making it an extremely complex problem.

Then why do they seem to have accepted our Bonding?

I think that, for the moment, pragmatism is suppressing the emotions associated with some of those other beliefs, but from Lily's - sorry - Lilyann Victoria Geesh's reaction to my question, it is apparent that those emotions are not far beneath the surface.

This is very troubling, Klyphon replied. Will it result in humans hunting Wyrms again?

It is possible that they simply need time to grow accustomed to the idea of the Bond, Rosa answered. In any case, if they do react negatively, it will most likely take the form of angry words against those of us who have Bonded. I do not think it will result in violence.

The conversation with her Bond-mate was interrupted suddenly by Lily, now undressed, who grabbed Rosa's arm and pulled her into the hut.

"You wouldn't want us to start without you, would you," Lily laughed.

The soft glow of the solar-charged light showed Lily's voluptuous figure to even greater advantage than had the firelight. Her curves were soft and sensual, and her breasts larger than Rosa would have thought, seeing her clothed.

Arno had only his jeans on, and was in the process of removing them. Rosa, feeling overdressed began unbuttoning her shirt, only to find Lily's hands already busy with the task.

"Come on, Rosalinda Maria Gutierrez. We're way ahead of you!" Lily told her breathlessly.

As the top buttons came loose, Rosa felt warm lips on the upper swell of her own, smaller breasts. She had experimented with girl-girl sex in college, and while it had been enjoyable, she never actually considered herself bi-sexual.

The thrill that shivered her spine as Lily's lips enclosed a nipple, however, brought back those old feelings and more. Her eyes found Arno's where he lay upon their makeshift cot, stroking himself. He was obviously enjoying the interplay between the two women, and his gaze encouraged and excited her.

As Rosa felt the jeans slip from her bare feet, she took charge. Taking a handful of short brown hair, she pulled the smaller woman's head back, exposing her slender, vulnerable neck. Diving swiftly, before Lily could think to resist, Rosa took a fold of the tender flesh between her teeth, drawing a heated gasp from her lover. Her hands roamed the soft, tanned flesh of the smaller woman, but avoided her breasts and the juncture between her thighs.

She turned Lily roughly away from her and twisted both of her arms into the small of her back, holding her wrists with one hand. With the other, she took possession of the woman's head and captured the fragile shell of one small ear between her teeth.

Lily cried out and leaned into her tormentor, her body yearning for Rosa's touch. Rosa pressed her advantage, pushing Lily's head forward to expose the delicate muscle between shoulder and neck. Again, her teeth bit, a little harder, and she felt a tremor pass through the smaller woman's body.