After being discovered on the battlefield, Dragon has to run for his life. He finds his old friend, Bear, and a new companion, Rat. With Bear's strength and Rat's brains, they decide to take up the course of freeing the beast people, better known as...
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"If we attack them we will be seen the way they see us now. We will lose the trust of the humans we have already gathered. We will quietly take what we can and offer refuge to those who have been displaced. It will look better to the humans. By the time the army shows up on our door, we will have fortified ourselves and grown enough that they might leave us alone. They have been fighting each other a long time now so they may just leave us alone."
Kyanite's father cleared his throat "And if they attack?"
I smiled at him picking up a bowl of that moss dish. "They attack us. We will be defending ourselves. They will scatter in fear of the Dragon fire. The general populace will come to us for protection as the armies strip their towns and villages of everything, leaving them open to the bandits. We will stay behind our walls and welcome humans in. The armies will attack. If we face them as defenders only we will look like what we are. A people trying to live in peace being attacked by aggressors."
I took a bite of the food as the Dragons stared at me. Kyanite rubbed his chin on my head. "This is one of the things that made me fall in love with her. She looks at the whole problem, not just the piece in front of her."
His mother laughed and his father patted his shoulder. "You are going to have your hands full with this one. You have found a bright light indeed."
"She will have to be shown how to act though." His mother was watching me eat the moss with my paw.
Kyanite laughed. "She is a Rat mother. You can't take the Rat out of her."
I looked around the room at the Dragons that were eating using only their claws. Whoops. I didn't mean to offend them.
Kyanite's father laughed. "She has no claws to eat with. Tell me, Reina, do all Rats eat like you?"
Great, now they expect me to speak for all rat kind. "We eat with our paws, but we have something in our saliva that stops infections and helps to stop bleeding. So when I lick my paws it's like I've washed my hands."
Kyanite's father suddenly looked very interested. "That sounds very useful. I think maybe the Blue Elder would like to know more about this."
I smiled at him as he went back to his meal. Kyanite rubbed his chin on my head again. I looked up at him and saw his eyes half closed. He looks... loving I think this is how Dragons show affection.
I tucked myself into his lap. His mother watched this with interest. Kyanite looked down at me and made that little grumble that told me he was happy. The other Dragons smiled at his nose.
The meal was over quickly and Kyanite's father stood. "I will miss you all at dinner, I shall sing for your safe return tonight. Go then my children, go and change the world for the better."
Everyone else stood and walked out of the room in an orderly fashion Kyanite's mother was waiting for us in the corridor. "Would you permit me to talk with you, Reina, of the Dragon Fire?"
