A small rodent had caught Eafa's attention. He lightly raced through the grass, giving chase. The creature leaped frantically as it realized Eafa was on the hunt, leaving behind a visible trail.

Grinning, Eafa caught the creature and dug his claws into its neck, spilling warm blood over his fingers. He tied a leather thong around its feet and then to his belt before he decided to return to gathering herbs for Heri's soup.

It had been too long since they'd had anything besides fish. He filled a pouch full before he turned his thoughts to returning home. He carefully picked his way through the grassy field, mind on other things that still had to be done before the days was over.

Then he froze and bristled as his ears twisted on his head, seeking the odd sound that had reached him. It came again and Eafa crouched low as he slowly crept toward the source. He parted the grass and couldn't withhold a gasp of surprise. Immediately, he spun on his heel and sprinted away. Then he realized just what he had seen.

Swallowing hard, Eafa returned, just as cautious and wary as before. Again, he parted the grass and peered at the scene before him.

The human was unconscious, blood matting his hair and staining his skin and clothes. His lips were chapped and parted as a weak moan escaped.

Eafa sat back on his heels and looked over the tips of the grass, thinking.

Where was the other human? Or the female dragon, for that matter.

Shivering with fear, Eafa crept closer and touched a claw to the injured human's body. He jumped and waited. Nothing. Growing in confidence, he let his touch become more bold, looking for more injuries. Aside from the large cut on his head, it didn't seem the human was badly hurt.

Eafa leaped to his feet and ran to the pool to wet a cloth and returned to wipe the blood away. The human moaned in pain, his brow curving down. Pulling out some herbs, Eafa slipped the leaves under the man's tongue and put another on the wound itself. He stood and looked around.

Their cave was close, but their old cave was safer. He worried his lip, wondering what Heri would think of his plans. Shaking his head, he carefully lifted the heavy human and slowly made his way to the cave hidden by the tall summer grass.

It still smelled vaguely of smoke. Wrinkling his nose, Eafa laid the human on the ground and dug around for the old furs that they hadn't bothered to bring with them to their new cave. They were full of bugs and had lost some of the fur, but would do well enough for the human. He spread them out and folded one up to create a pillow for his head.

He replaced the leaf on his brow with another still heavy with sap and patted the wet cloth over it before turning away. He wasn't a healer. There was nothing more he could do for the human.

He left the cave and stretched his arms over his head, his wings spreading as well. Then he remembered the critter at his waist and jumped into the air. Tonight, he was going to cook and they were going to eat something besides fish.

*~*~*

Rodo woke with a pounding head. It was worse than a drunken hangover. He put his hand to his head and frowned at the feeling of the rough cloth, warmed with his body heat. Pulling it away, a dried medicinal herb dropped over his eyes.

He forced himself to sit upright and sniffed the herb, recognizing it vaguely. He squinted out into the dark night, smiling slightly at the sight of those millions of stars littering the sky. Where was he?

Groaning and holding his head, Rodo stood and walked to the cave entrance. Tall stocks of grass waved happily at him with the rhythm of the wind.

He had been with Slean and Caupa, flying high over the field, searching for that cunning dragon and fihu pair. Even more than ever, Rodo wanted that pair. Never had he seen two wild animals cohabitate and cooperate so well together. He just had to capture them and study them.

He leaned against the cave wall, letting the cool wind sooth his aching head. He must have fallen from Slean's saddle, but he didn't know how such a thing had happened. He was a good dragon rider, had owned Slean since they both were youths. It was neigh impossible for him to have fallen off her.

But, accidents happened.

What concerned him more, was how did he get here? Who had moved him and helped him? As far as he knew, there were no humans on this side of the mountain, no settlements so far away from the mountains. Who was it then?

He forced himself away from the wall with a hiss of pain and limped further into the field, smelling a vague hint of smoke. He frowned and looked around, finally recognizing where he was. The two of them, Capua and himself, had come here many times since they had chased off the dragon from his cave, so they were both familiar with the now unused cave.

He put one hand over his eyes and surveyed the sky. Slean was nowhere in sight, and he sorely hoped that Capua would be smart enough to let her have her head and seek him out. His dragon had been well trained.

Far too weak to make much of an effort, Rodo sat once more, ignoring how his belly grumbled as night gave way to dawn. With the dragons so near, he felt confidant enough to sleep, but with the wild dragon so near, he feared sleeping. Wild beasts that would hunt him would be afraid of the dragons' scent, but who knows what that wild dragon would do to him if it found him so helpless.

Sleep did take him, and when he woke several hours later, he was back in the cave, a blanket of furs covering him and a small fire burning happily beside him. He salivated when he spotted the fish on a stick over the flames.

Silently, he thanked whoever was out there and greedily consumed the fish.

*~*~*

Eafa stuffed his line back into his pack, humming to himself as he walked back to their pool and cave. The human would live and perhaps escape, so he was confidant that he had no need to return to it. Then a shadow fell over him and he looked up into the angry eyes of Heri. He'd never seen Heri angry before. In his dragon form, but never in his biped form. Tilting his head, Eafa glared back.

"What?"

"You're helping it."

"The human?"

"It want's to capture us and turn us into pets," Heri spat, reaching out and taking Eafa's arm in a painful grip. Eafa hissed, exposing his fangs and Heri dropped his hold only to tug him close, hugging him to his chest. Eafa growled, but the dragon didn't release his hold. Struggling finally gave Eafa an opening and he pushed away. Sigheri flicked out his forked tongue, lightly touching Eafa's nose. "Let it alone. Don't go back to it ever again."

Eafa rolled his eyes. "It didn't even know I was there. It's unconscious." He forced himself out of Heri's arms. "Let's get gone before it wakes and finds you so close."

With another dark glare at the cave behind them, Heri followed Eafa back home.