The White Ghost of Hart's Cove

22

.^^ Teilin's Gate ^^

— Teilin —

The remains of the two men were thankfully recovered, even if they weren't exactly in burial state, and they were burned soon after, while I transferred the large clutch of dragon eggs into my bag, then left them to their mourning.

Joanne looked at me from her bed, as I examined the largest of the eggs, a single pure-red egg. "What's important about the red one? I know the purer the color, the stronger the dragon, but I've seen plenty red ones before."

"Yes, but you didn't see the mother... twice as big as any Elder I've ever seen. Took up the entire roof of the council building." I hummed, and set it back in the bag. "My bag won't be enough. Maybe they'd thrive in my Farming Pocket, but my crops would be devastated..."

She raised an eyebrow. "Crops? You have actual crops in that bag? How?!?"

"It's a delicate system, one I got from an old Pre-Collapse journal. The woman used it to grow grapes for wine, year-round. I use it for normal crops. It's only about 100 acres, cumulatively, crammed into a 10-acre space, but it's enough for a lot of food." I shrugged.

She whistled softly. "Very Interesting... you'll have to teach the engineers that method, if it works that well. Might help us produce our own crops."

"And allow you to no longer rely on the surface? Destroy the Trade Economy between the ground and Skycastles? No." I refused sternly.

She blinked, and nodded. "True, I see your Point... but at least if we grew the medicinal plants that require high altitude? And sold them to the surface merchants?"

I hummed. "I'll think about it... in the meantime, I need a place to hatch these dragon's, and people to bond with them. People that will treat them right."

I noticed Gale and Pyre, both of whom were rather bored, now that Gwynn didn't really need their help with anything, and they couldn't carry too many messages without mounts.

The slow smile that spread over my face made Joanne laugh. "Oh I see, that might be interesting! Their contracts are mercantile, not military, so that would go very well, indeed."

Gale raised an eyebrow. "What? I wasn't paying attention."

"How do you feel about dragon's? You've been riding them back and forth from the isles for a while now, yeah? Comfortable?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. Pyre is the one who actually enjoys it, though. I prefer the ground, when I can."

"Alright. Perfect. Pyre! Com'ere, I've got a job for you." I grinned.

He sat next to me, and yelped when I shoved the Red Egg into his hands. "Hold onto that, and don't drop it. Yeah?"

He nodded slowly, and gazed down suddenly, as the egg heated up a bit. "Is it supposed to do that?" He asked softly, his disused voice cracking a bit.

"Yes." I answered swiftly, then handed him the Bond-Amulet, and kicked him into my bag gently when he just stared at it. Gale snickered softly, and settled down, opening a book.

Joanne raised an eyebrow. "Alright, and what's your plan, then? If they won't fit in your bag, and you don't want to give them to me to be raised in the nursery?"

"Nursery?" I asked, raising an eyebrow back at her.

"Yeah, we bond our companions from birth, so of course we have a nursery, they deal mostly in eggs from Dragon's and Griffins. Some mammalian species' do make our roster, and they also teach the rest of us how to deal with baby beasts." She nodded.