But for now, Marius was happy to watch his young niece and adopted daughter run after her best friend, Kara, as they played a game of tag with Kara�s two younger brothers. The green fledgling female ran ahead of the fire-child, taunting her playfully in between bursts of laughter. Tavia tore after her friend, her long braid, now hanging to her waist, fluttering like a banner out behind her. She laughed happily but somehow maintained a focused look on her face as she gained on the dragon. Once she was close enough, she leaped and landed on top of her quarry, pinning the wings, too tiny to carry their owner in flight yet, to the scaly back and rolling head-over-heels-over-tail into one of the other participants who stopped them by his superior bulk and their loss of momentum. The yard filled with peals of young laughter.
�It�s nice to see Tavia happy again, isn�t it Marius?�
The red dragon turned to smile lovingly at his mate, her blue scales shining in the afternoon sun being filtered in through the kitchen window. �Yes, it is. I was wondering if she�d ever bring herself to join the other little ones.� He replied
�I did too.� Lora paused thoughtfully, �She�s 9 now, isn�t she?�
�Yes, her birthday was in Rose-Month.�
�That�s only 8 more years before her journey to the temple of Simione.�
�What�s that got to do with anything?� Marius turned to her his mate in surprise. Why would she bring that up now?
�Well, my darling, it will be a very difficult journey for her, especially with all the searches going on for her kind. She should be prepared, don�t you agree?� Lora�s tone was placating.
�I do. But that�s 8 whole years away.�
�But this is the time that Astarra would have been preparing her for the journey: teaching her to fight, how to read a map, how to survive in the wilderness alone, and, most importantly, how to fly. But we�ll also have to teach her how to hide her essence from mages. Astarra taught her how to cloak her eyes when she was two and we�ve already seen that she has control of all her other powers, but perhaps we could refine them. She will have need of all of them on her journey.�
�But she�s just a child. A child who�s been through a great deal of tragedy. Can�t we let her rest for a while?�
Lora looked at the red dragon staring out at the playing children with sadness and forced her look into one of stern determination, �If we keep putting it off, she�ll have to go out into the world unprepared and that will get her killed. So, I think we should start as soon as possible.� She stared meaningfully at him as she said the last part.
Marius took the hint. Sighing, he moved around the kitchen and to the front door, opening it with a touch of his claw and peering outside at the children who were sitting on the lawn talking now. �Tavia, would you come inside please, your aunt and I would like to discuss a few things with you.�
Tavia glanced at her uncle and then back to her friends sitting on the lawn. She looked at each of them apologetically and with more than a hint of regret before the green dragon shook her head dismissively, and then stated, �Yeah, we have to get going anyway, Tavi. We can come see ya tomorrow, though, right?�
The fire-child�s eyes darted to the red dragon in the doorway who nodded encouragingly. Far be it from him to keep his usually reclusive niece from getting out of the house and out of feeling sorry for herself.
Tavia� eyes lit up with glee as she turned back to her companion, a small smile flitting over her face. �Yeah Kara, that�d be great.�
�Ok then, I�ll be seeing you.� With that, Kara rose off the grass, touched her nose to Tavia�s forehead in farewell, and bounded off in the direction of her house, her brother and sister following closely after mimicking their older sister.
Tavia looked after them thoughtfully for a while before rising herself and making her way to her uncle. �You needed to talk to me, Uncle Marius?� she asked respectfully.
�Yes, darling, we did.� Lora�s voice rang out from behind him before Marius could respond, �But perhaps you should come inside, first.�
Tavia nodded and walked into the large common room, maneuvering between Marius� legs.
The common room was a large, spacious room made entirely of white stone with high ceilings that could accommodate even the tallest dragon standing on his hind legs. Bits of flame hung in glass containers suspended from roof by hooks that were imbedded in the rock. Along the walls, wooden bookshelves of glistening oak and ash broke the monotony of the plain white walls and various colorful paintings in gilded frames broke the monotony of the bookshelves. Cushions, which were basically nothing more than a huge amount of the fluff from the cattails in the hothouse, were collected into three separate piles in the middle of the room, one for Lora, one for Marius, and one for Tavia. Each was covered with a different colored blanket to keep the fluff from sticking to bodies and clothes.
The young fire-mage settled in the smallest pile which was covered with a black blanket which matched her hair, allowing herself to sink into the soft material. As soon as she sat down, she fell into her nervous habit of fiddling with the heart-shaped locket around her neck. Lora and Marius followed her lead, Lora taking the deep blue �couch� and Marius taking the red one. Tavia said nothing, but looked expectantly at each of them. It had to be something important for her guardians to call her inside so abruptly, so she waited patiently for one of them to break the silence that had fallen among them.
Marius cleared his throat once, then twice and stared at the red cloth covering his seat as though trying to read a speech that had been written in a foreign language. Tavia decided that he looked very uncomfortable. Lora, however, appeared serene and when she realized that her mate was not going to begin this particular conversation, she took it upon herself to do the honors.
�Now, Tavia, you know that when you are seventeen, you will be leaving us to travel to the temple of Simione, correct?� the blue dragon started.
Tavia nodded mutely. It was the defining moment in any fire-mage�s life. It would be the time when she would be gifted with the secret of the Star Song and become an adult in her own right.