You know from where I draw my strength.You know from where I draw my strength. We will need that. To have any success we must be loving when I cast the spell." He tossed his head and chuckled. "Oh, Darryn, you will do anything to get one more moment out of me!" I threw my arms around his neck and said, "Yes, Ryu. Because I will miss you. I can live without you, but I will not be happy doing so." His wing slid easily around me, enclosing me against his body. "I have learned from you, Darryn, how to find peace. Let us do this, and whether we succeed or fail, we will never forget one another." "Let us hope," I said. I built a great frame, knitting a net with my hands strong enough to hold a Dragon. This alone took two weeks. Sliding it into the center of Ryu's home, I began enscribing the runes necessary to support the spell. They took another day, and when they were done I slept for many hours more. Then I asked Desa and Ryu to attend me at moonrise. They agreed. Ryu arrived early. "That is for me?" "It is. You must lie on your back within it. I hope you find it comfortable." "I will see," he smiled, easing himself into it. Slowly he turned over, struggling. "I feel like a fish in a man's net." "I hope not. I've not intention of putting a hook in your mouth or clubbing you over the head." "Or slitting my throat, I hope," he added. "No, none of that." "Are we waiting?" "Yes," I said. "Desa has asked to witness this. Does that trouble you?" "No," he replied calmly. "Desa is our master in all things, Darryn, and there is no reason we should not invite him to watch this." Desa arrived shortly thereafter. But not through the front door, oh no. Instead, a wind stirred and then a small gale erupted in Ryu's home as a great Dragon, an ancient beast of full beard and golden eyes dropped through the hole in the roof and landed, with little room to spare, on the ground. |