His name is Ryuchitoran.His name is Ryuchitoran. I fear he has not long to live. "Ryu, as I call him, was born with two problems. I have trouble deciding some days which makes his life more unbearable. The first is that he, like you, strongly prefers his own sex to that of the other. This happens from time to time; often there are enough of that kind to keep each other happy, and they are of no trouble to the rest of us. At mating time, even with reluctance most of them perform admirably, and the females among them I suppose hold their noses and wait for it to be over; the bodily joy of bearing eggs is something even they admit to liking, even if they dislike the process required to get there. "But Ryu has a second, more troubling problem. After his change, it became obvious. Ryu is a runt." "Sir?" "Ryu is growing very slowly. At the present he is only twelve feet long, and four of that is his tail. But this is not a midform, Darryn; Ryu is all Dragon at this point. But he sleeps with the daily fitfulness of a youth and he grows but slowly, if at all." Desa fell momentarily silent, thinking. "My newer apprentices frequently learn the physical basics from their elder peers. Ryuchitoran is one of my eldest students, and you will be his first. One of the things every sorcerer must learn is how to teach, to pass on what he knows. It's time Ryu learned a skill he will need in his old age, even if he doesn't expect to get there. "But in the process, young Darryn, you must do something else. If Thomorr did not lie about the size of his manhood, you will not find Ryuchia threatening. Few, if any, of the older Dragons among his kind show any interest in him; he is too small, and frequently too depressed. |