By Chris Mast

A short story based on the works of Melanie Rawn.

PART ONE

Tryst looked at the sky, wondering when sun would finally disappear. He glanced at rings that selfishly caught the last dying rays of light, and waited patiently for the moons to rise.

Those rings had symbolized and shaped his life, and rescued him off the farm in Kadar Water he had lived on as a small boy. They promised bigger and better things.

And now here I am, a full Sunrunner, a grown man now, and I still can't get over the crush that I had as a child. He thought, feeling ridiculous. What does that say about me?

In the time that it had taken Tryst to get where he was, court Sunrunner at Sweptvalley, he always marveled at the twists and turns his life as faradhi had taken. Here he was, 26 winters old now, a full Sunrunner near the High Prince's keep in Princemarch.

Far cry from the small boy who was scared witless of the ocean when he was seven winters old. Thoughts of childhood always brought a feeling of restlessness with them, and Tryst new why. He hadn't wanted to stay on the farm of his father's, destined to hold the lands for a minor athri, landholder. He had always thought he was destined for something greater, although talk of such subjects always brought a laugh from his father.

"Of course you will run the farm," his father had told him. "You will rebuild what was destroyed in the Storm God's war."

Yes, the war had decimated his father, as it had for almost everybody on the continent. But Tryst was as stubborn as his mother had been, and knew that he wouldn't be content with being forced into a destiny he felt the Goddess hadn't had planned for him. So, at fourteen winters old, he had taken a boat late one night, ran to the docks, and took to the water to throw his destiny for a loop.

All he had done was throw his stomach for a loop. Tryst shuddered as he remembered the nausea and total loss of faculties that accompanied him when he stepped into the boat and pushed into open water. He had always been queasy at the sight of the ocean, but he hadn't know it was because he had the Goddess's gifts. Being faradhi may have endowed wonderful abilities, but there wasn't a Sunrunner alive who could swim or sail, even to save their life. It was said that was because the sea was the Storm God's realm, and Sunrunners were the Goddess's property. Now, like so many other faradhi, Tryst blanched at the mere mention of water.

He had drifted off into the water for three days, vomiting until he didn't have anything left in his stomach, desperately searching for something, anything to latch his small boat onto. When he finally reached land and recovered from total obliviousness to his surroundings, he was shipwrecked at a port he hadn't ever seen in his life, recuperating from three days of all Hells, and was completely lost.

And he wouldn't have had in any other way. For now he was in control of his own destiny.

And what a destiny it would turn out to be. Tryst thought to himself. Who would have known that, stopping to rest at a small tavern, he would encounter the most beautiful woman in the world?

***

He could still remember turning around from his seat at the back of the tavern to notice a large crowd entering the bar. Several soldiers, all wearing the traditional colors of the Desert, entered first. Among them, talking to another woman who looked to be Fironese, was the young woman immediately caught Tryst's eye. The clothes alone, a long-hooded cloak and fancy riding leathers, would have told Tryst she was highborn. She had light blonde hair, he realized with a shock, and if she wore the colors of the Desert then that hair color could only mean she was a relative of the High Prince. High Prince Pol's blonde hair had become the signal mark for his relatives in the Desert.

In between swallowing the lump in his throat, Tryst had watched the group for some time. He felt like he was prying, but the young woman had caught his interest. She didn't look to be much older than his fourteen winters, but as he watched her, he began to notice something strange about her mannerisms. He noticed how little the Desert woman looked around, and how the Fironese woman, obvious by her dark skin and characteristic black hair, would glance around every so often.

It was if she was watching for something, or protecting someone.

As Tryst watched, he noticed that the bartender would address the women with deep respect, indicating their obvious prestige. Tryst would not get up and ask who they were; that would attract attention to himself. (And after three days of swallowing sea water and throwing up overboard, Tryst knew he must have smelled worse than a sheep pen.) Recalling the appearance of every highborn he had ever seen, which hadn't been many, he couldn't place where the women were from.

He probably wouldn't have had to worry about it much longer, for the Fironese woman called the soldiers together and shouted orders to leave. She reached over and patted the blonde haired woman on the shoulder. The woman turned her head around at the pat, and Tryst realized that the Fironese woman was helping her up, guiding her by the arm.

She's blind, he realized with a shock. And there was only one blind young woman who also had the High Prince's blonde hair, for her intelligence and charm had made news of her spread throughout the continent. His father would not have believed this.

Rislyn, the High Prince's very daughter.

That Fironese woman, Tryst realized, was Maara, a powerful woman in her own right.

As the guards exited to ready the mounts outside for travel, Rislyn stopped walking and looked down at a tug on her leg. The bartender's daughter had wanted to ask her a question.

Even though they were in a hurry, she still took the time to talk to that little girl. And if she hadn't, I never would have met her.

But his attention was pulled away by shouts and yelling coming from a corner that echoed off the wooden walls of the tavern. Four men- two now standing and yelling at each other- were arguing at a table. It could have been nothing more than a simple contention, and probably would have been settled by the tavern's manager. That seemed to be the concensus among Maara, the remaining guards, and Rislyn, who started out the door.

But the argument escalated, and immediately all four men were standing. Suddenly one of them flipped the table, sending mugs and glasses shattering to the floor. Three guards quickly stepped to intervene, and the men quickly turned from their own arguments to this new challenge.

Maara had enough sense to get Rislyn out of there, and was making her way to the door when she was cut off by a guard tackled from behind by another man at another table.

This is getting out of hand. Tryst realized, but there was something odd about the whole fiasco. This battle is planned. Look at how the first arguers have taken care of the remaining guards, and the new ones have blocked the doorway.

Rislyn was being shuffled through a back door behind the bar, smart enough to realize that she could be told later what was happening. Safety was the primary concern now.

"Rislyn!"

There was one thing and one thing only that made Tryst yell to her.

The glint of steel on torchlight.

Maara turned around at Tryst's call, and, yelping, pushed Rislyn out of the way of a knife that embedded in the wall behind her. Rislyn fell to the floor, shielded from the brawl by the bar.

Tryst, calling up as much courage as his fourteen winters could muster, dodged out of the way of a man thrown across his path and started to make his way over to Rislyn. She was being protected by a fierce-looking Maara and the bar, but not much else. The door was just a man's length behind them, but neither wanted to take the risk of more flying weapons.

She's as vulnerable as a sheep in a dragon's cave. Tryst thought. They were wise to shield themselves from the fighting-

-but in doing so ignored any other danger.

The door opened behind them, and although neither Rislyn or Maara saw it, a large man with an ugly scar across his chin entered the doorway. Tryst was going to warn them as he did before, but the man was too quick. He pulled out a sword, two steps away from Rislyn, and swung for her head.

Or he tried to.

A huge blast of Sunrunner's Fire engulfed the space between the man and Rislyn, who felt the heat and screamed, scrambling away. Maara looked at the Fire, confused. Tryst knew why. Maara and Rislyn were the only Sunrunners on the caravan, but neither of them had called down the Fire.

Tryst had. And was as shocked as the highborns who turned to look at the assassin, as the engulfed man screamed and fell on the floor, clothes blazing.

Maara was quick in shouting out orders, for the Fire had startled everyone into immobility. "Guards, arrest the men who started the fighting! Somebody, get a bucket of water and douse this ma--"

But the Fire was already out. Tryst stopped it with a thought, grimacing as the stench of burnt clothes filled the air.

What did I just do? Did I set the man on fire?

Guards walked over to the man and, shackling him, propped him up and brought him over to Maara.

Oh Goddess, what will the highborns do to me?

"What happened, Maara?" Rislyn asked, as she steadied herself on Maara's arm.

Maara shrugged. "I don't know. This man came from the door behind us, but someone called Fire between you and him. Did you?"

Rislyn's sightless eyes were crowded with worry. "No, I can't call it indoors because I can't see where to place it."

Maara turned to the men who were now tied thoroughly, and walked up to the one who clothes, but nothing else Tryst realized with relief, were scorched.

"What were you going to do with that sword--" she stopped as she glanced down at the scar on his chin. Revulsion filled her face. "Whoreson Merida."

Tryst blinked as the name was mentioned. The Merida were assassins who had tried to kill High Prince Pol's family since before he was born. Scars on their chin were the mark of the Brotherhood.

The Merida assassin spit onto the floor in front of Maara, who strode up and slapped him viciously. He tried to break the hold the guard had on him, but he failed.

Maara's eyes flashed. "Who hired you?"

Silence.

Maara turned away, motioning for the guards to take the men outside and ready them for travel. They would be tried at the city's court, where they would most likely be executed. When Pol would hear of this, he would probably do it himself, Tryst thought slyly.

Maara turned to the people who had been in the bar when the fight started. She motioned to the lot of them.

"There has been an attempt on the Princess Rislyn's life. Someone warned us, and possibly saved Rislyn's life. Which of you called Fire?"

Tryst, at the front of the crowd, debated running then, not knowing what was going to happen. But he had to trust the highborns to believe his story. He waited, knowing that the people behind him were vigorously shaking their heads. Eyes to the floor, he stepped forward.

Maara's brows raised. "You did this, boy?"

Before Tryst could answer, Rislyn spoke.

"He's a Sunrunner, Maara." she interrupted. Tryst realized, happily, that she was smiling as she said it.

"How can you tell?"

"Can't you sense it? He has the gifts in abundance."

Maara glanced at Rislyn and then at Tryst, looking torn between doubt and trust of her friend. She then faced Tryst and motioned him over to the windows where sunlight flooded the front of the bar. Rislyn followed on her friend's arm, smiling as if knowing something secret.

"Step into the light, young man."

Tryst did as he was ordered, and gasped as he was immediately shrouded by light and colors. He looked all about him, becoming scared at this sudden onrush of his new surroundings.

These are your colors, young man. Tryst realized the voice was Rislyn's, and amazingly, relaxed. His senses no longer bombarded by fear, he looked at the deep reds, whites, blacks and light oranges of his colors. He gasped as he took in the whole beauty of it. He tried to communicate his wonder, but found he couldn't form words.

Don't try to talk. You are not trained enough to reply, yet. Yes, this is you. Colors make up a faradhi. Only people with the Goddess's gifts can see them. It's something very personal and different in every person, like fingerprints. And this, my young Sunrunner, is me.

Tryst looked into the air in front of him. Spread out before him were some of the most beautiful colors he had ever seen. He had never before seen such splendor, and must have revealed as much through his colors to Rislyn.

Rislyn's colors shimmered, as if laughing. Yes, these reds, blues and whites are me. But Sunrunner's tell their colors after names of gemstones. My colors are ruby, sapphire and diamond. You, young man, are amber, diamond, garnet, and onyx. You will make a very good Sunrunner; Chayla will be privileged to have such a talented student.

Lady Chayla, Tryst realized, was the Lady of Goddess Keep, where all Sunrunners went to be trained. The revelation shocked him into speechlessness, and could only watch as Rislyn unspun herself and him from the sunlight.

Rislyn looked at him, eye to eye, although how the blind young woman did it Tryst didn't know. "Yes, you will become a Sunrunner, young man. Now, will you be so kind as to tell me your name so I can quit calling you 'young man'?" she asked with a smile.

Tryst had a hard time forming the words. "Tr-... Tryst, my lady."

"My name, Tryst, is Rislyn."

***

"Goddess Greetings, young man."

Tryst looked up from his feet to stare at the Lady of Goddess Keep, who wore the ten rings only the leader of all faradh'im could. It was initiation day, when people from all over the continent who had the gifts of the Goddess would start instruction as Sunrunners.

And he was one of them. Since saving the Princess Rislyn's life just three weeks earlier, his own life had turned completely upside down. He was now at Goddess Keep, the training place of all Sunrunners, standing in front of the teacher of all faradh'im. It was traditionally known that the Lady or Lord of Goddess Keep was a very imposing figure, someone who, just by their mere presence, kept unwieldy students in line.

This was indeed the case as Tryst stepped in front of the Lady Chayla of Goddess Keep. Those ten rings on her fingers only enhanced her regality, her mystery. Those ten rings told of power he could only hope to gain through years of training.

Twenty-five winters old she was, and beautiful too, but Tryst felt like he was being stared at by his father. That same knowing glance of his father's gazed through the blonde woman's eyes. Tryst tried to meet her gaze, but the courage he had mustered in saving Princess Rislyn had vanished. He bowed his head once more as the Lady looked at him.

"Goddess Greetings, my Lady," he replied meekly.

The silence that followed made the muscles in the back of his neck tighten. Was the Lady angry with him? Had he done something wrong in the traditional greeting ceremony? Maybe he wasn't worthy of the Goddess's gifts after all.

Soft laughter echoed through the hall. "You may look up now, Tryst. It may seem like Goddess Keep is imposing, but once you're inside, that shouldn't be the case."

Tryst looked up to find Lady Chayla's gaze soft, her eyes echoing pity. "Yes, my Lady."

Chayla waved her hand through the air in a dismissive gesture. "Stop that. Call me Chayla."

Tryst's jaw almost dropped to the floor. There was no one else but in the Goddess's Hall, but if there would have been, Tryst was sure their jaw would have done the same. The Lady of Goddess Keep wanting to be addressed by her real name?

"Yes, you can call me that. You did save the life of my cousin, after all. If that doesn't warrant you 'worthy' of calling me by my real name, then nothing will." She motioned him closer to the upraised dais that she sat on. "Come, Tryst."

Tryst had forgotten in the formality that flooded this place that many of the highborns on the continent were related. Lady Chayla, through marriages that went back decades, was Princess Rislyn's cousin. The blood bond was acknowledged quite kindly, although no one spoke of it very much. He strolled closer, trying hard to conceal his shaking.

He stopped within a couple of handspans of Lady Chayla, but she motioned him closer. "I don't have the Plague, Tryst. Come, give me your hand," she said as she extended hers.

Tryst suddenly relaxed. Lady Chayla was quite friendly, not as overwhelming as Tryst had thought. That made him relax, and the shaking disappeared as he gave her his hand. Trust had been earned without being worked for.

Chayla took his hand in a soft grip, catching his gaze with deep blue eyes. "You saved my cousin's life, and for that all of her family owes you. The High Prince has told me to represent them all," she said formally, and then smiled. "For you would get very tired going to visit them all to have them pay there respects."

Chayla's smile disappeared and she reached into a pocket for something. Her ten rings attached to bracelets caught the sunlight wickedly, but something else caught the sunlight too. Tryst gaped as he saw Chayla take a ring adorned with several different gems out of her pocket.

"This ring symbolizes the debt that all of Princess Rislyn's family will forever owe you," the Lady of Goddess Keep said. She placed the ring on his right hand, ring finger. It fit as if it had been there forever.

"But that is not all it symbolizes," Chayla continued. "The ring is also your first Sunrunner ring, earned for Calling Fire."

Tryst's mind flashed back to the Inn, where he had instinctively scorched the assassin who would have killed Rislyn. He knew that Sunrunners were able to do many different things, and Calling Fire was only one of them. He would be trained to do them all. It would take time, he knew, but he would be patient. The Goddess had blessed him with her gifts, being patient was the least he could do.

"Lady Chayla, it will take time to become a full Sunrunner, won't it?" Tryst inquired.

"Yes," she replied. "But I think you will have no problem with it. After all, you've already earned your first ring before you even set foot inside a classroom."

"I didn't want to earn my first ring the way I did, my Lady." He admitted.

To his surprise, she nodded her head. "That's good, because the first and most important lesson a Sunrunner can learn is that it is forbidden to kill with their gifts." She paused, and caught his gaze. "You came dangerously close to doing so when you called Fire between the Merida and Rislyn, Tryst."

Tryst couldn't think up an eloquent reply to this warning. "Yes, my lady. I won't do it again." He managed, then found strength in justice. "But--"

"--Rislyn would have been killed had you not. I know, Tryst, and the ring I gave you thanks you for that. But Sunrunners who use their gifts to kill will be dealt the same fate. Think on that before you decide on using the Goddess's gifts unwisely."

She continued. "Tryst, I know you for a trustworthy young man, who will most likely earn quickly his rings." He smiled, but she cut off any reply he may have had.

"Your colors revealed you as so. You are talented, young man, many Sunrunners do not call Fire until they are taught to do so. You did it on your own, only the most promising can do that. But in time you will come to see power as a burden, and not a promise." Her eyes told of horrors Tryst was sure he didn't want to see. "That is why you were sent to me, to learn how to use your abilities to their fullest, but also to learn when not to use them. Power is addicting, the more it is used, the more attractive it becomes. The prior Lord of Goddess Keep knew this lesson very well."

Tryst had heard stories of the formidable Lord Andry, who had ignored all tradition in ruling Goddess Keep. He was a powerful man, and Tryst knew that in the end that was what had killed him.

The speech had made Tryst unsteady. Perhaps that was the intention of it, he didn't know. He looked to the only person he had to look to.

"Lady Chayla, will you help me..."

"...to become a good Sunrunner?"

Tryst shook his head. "No. Will you help me not feel alone in my talents? The Lord Andry could not even trust his own family."

A smile made all doubts disappear. "Yes, my young apprentice. And with the presentation of that ring, you are now an apprentice faradhi. Goddess Greetings, Sunrunner."

***

Goddess Keep was drafty, clouded with fog during the winter months, and the studies were long and hard.

But Tryst had to thank the Goddess he was there. It beat farming in Kadar Water.

He had started off studies the day after he had spoken to Chayla. Instead of learning how to Call Air or do other powerful Sunrunner magic, the next two months were spent learning how to read. It was a skill that he excelled at, learning to adequately read by the time the first Spring of the year had come around. Upon that, he began studying ancient, history lessons on past Sunrunners. It bored the Hells out of Tryst, who had thought coming to Goddess Keep would have meant becoming a powerful magician in service of the Goddess.

But as the lessons continued, and no magic was spoken or even given hint of, Tryst realized that his thirst for becoming a powerful magician had disappeared. That was the genius in telling and retailing the history lessons to every generation of faradhi'm. If every Sunrunner knew what their predecessors had done and what had been expected of them, faradhi'm would know what was expected of them. It was an excellent way of keeping people with the gifts from misusing them, and Tryst realized the power that legend had on the behavior of people.

Upon the end of the history lessons, the instruction on traditions and duties of a Sunrunner was commenced. Tryst learned all the simple rituals that the people of the continent lived by, and how he could fit into them. Take, for example, Burning. Tryst would be required to call fire to any member of his family who died. He would then call Air to dispense their ashes over the continent that birthed them. It was a simple, yet sacred ritual, and one that the young faradhi was excited on being a part of.

But time went on, and he drilled all the expectations, tradition and lessons of Goddess Keep into his memory. He knew everything he had been taught like the back of his hand, memorizing it until he could recite it all without looking at the texts. He felt he owed it to the Goddess to know what he must, and know it well.

The months sped by, and the first year anniversary away from his family was a tough one. Tryst was becoming complacent about staying at Goddess Keep. Ancy feelings of escape were beginning to infiltrate his mind. But then the formal studies of Sunrunner magic began.

And Tryst excelled.

He called Air before anyone else in his "class" did, astounding even the teacher by blowing the curtains off their rods in the classroom when he called a powerful gust of wind through the windows. Calling Air was only his second ring, and Tryst's teachers knew that he would earn the others quickly.

Conjuring pictures through Fire were what earned Tryst his third ring, and gained him full Apprentice status. Upon that, the formal magic training ended and Tryst hit the books again. More lessons on tradition and a more formal education followed, and Tryst studied and excelled, although at a more formal pace now, and the years passed by.

He didn't miss his family after the first year, for he had begun to become attached to his friends and teachers at Goddess Keep. That made becoming a Sunrunner easier, and Tryst quickly gained status as an astute Apprentice shortly after earning his third ring.

Upon becoming an official Apprentice, Sunrunners were allowed to visit other courts to see how other Sunrunners attended to their duties. Since word of his talent had passed from Goddess Keep, he had been chosen, to his surprise, to train at the High Prince Pol's castle, Dragon's Rest. He wondered if Rislyn hadn't had something to do with it.

And so the years at Dragon's rest passed by, and Tryst was pleased to meet and greet all of the continent's highborns. He knew them all on a first-name basis, now, and missed the irony of the whole situation. He had never before seen a highborn three years earlier, and now, thanks to a little courage in a seaside tavern, he knew them all.

He still excelled at magic, and the abilities he learned were the ones that he really, really loved. Sunrunning, the faradhi'm name for riding the sunlight to various places on the continent, was his favorite. It gave him the sensation of flying, sending his colors out to ride the veins of sunlight like the Goddess intended, leaving his body behind. But as pleasing as the sensation was, he was also taught of the dangers. A Sunrunner could only sunrun in broad daylight, when there was no risk of a shadow or cloud coming between them and the sun.

Shadow-lost. That was the term for the empty, mindless shell of a body that was left when a Sunrunner had been careless enough to have contact with sun broken. The mind continued on it's journey across the continent, leaving the body when it's string of sunlight was broken. By all accounts, it was a horrible way to die, and one that Tryst did not want to fall privy to.

Sunrunners could also talk to one another while sunrunning, and that was why they were stationed at major castles throughout the continent. Sunrunners were the major line of communication between princedoms month's rides away from each other. So Tryst, upon earning his fourth and fifth rings for learning how to Sunrun and conjure without fire, became an official Sunrunner. He was stationed at Sweptvalley a new castle not twenty measures from Dragon's Rest in need of a Sunrunner, upon receiving his sixth ring, for moonrunning. Essentially the same as sunrunning, only it used the moon's light.

Not bad, he had thought, as the eight anniversary passed at Sweptvalley, for someone who would have been a farmer in Kadar Water. I guess my stubbornness about having a different destiny than the one my father wanted for me really paid off.

And now, at the beginning of spring in his eighth year of service as Court faradhi at Sweptvalley in the princedom of Dragon's Rest, Tryst sat, waiting for a touch on the moonlight of the girl who had started all the twists and turns in his life. And he couldn't have been happier waiting for the woman he still loved after twelve winters.

PART TWO

Goddess Greetings, Sunrunner.

Tryst gave a violent start as someone's colors touched him on the newly-risen moonlight.

It's just me, Rislyn said, her Sunrunner voice laughing. I surprised you. Where was your mind, Tryst?

My dear Princess, Tryst replied wryly, it was only dwelling on you.

You flatter me, old friend. But what were you seriously thinking about?

Oh, I was being sentimental in my old age. I was just remembering the first time I ever met you. Coming off the sea stinking of salt and vomit. How could you even stand to be near me?

You saved my life, what could I do? It would have been bad show for a Princess to step away from someone who just saved her life. I know I haven't told you this in a long time but-

-thank you. I know. You thanked me last year at the Rialla, for the hundredth and thirty third time. And once again I have to tell you not to say another word about it. It was just a lowly vassal serving his Princess, he thought with a smile to himself.

Rislyn's colors shook with repressed mirth. You're one stubborn Sunrunner, you know that? I don't see how we're still friends. Well, you're so obstinate you'd probably chase me across half the continent if I ever disowned you.

Across all the continent. That stubbornness came in handy later though, remember? I stood in front of father and told him to his face that I had the Goddess's gifts and was going to Goddess Keep to become a Sunrunner. He looked at me, the first time seeing his son in seven days, didn't hug me or ask me where I'd been, looked at me and said "Humpf, chores!" Do you remember how surprised Father was when he found out I really was faradhi?

Yes, but I wish I could have seen it. Tryst noticed that Rislyn's colors had darkened with that same old despair that came at mention of her tribulations with blindness. He wasn't going to have her melancholy the rest of the visit, so he decided to cheer her up.

I didn't think Father was ever going to let me go to Goddess Keep, he remarked.

Well, a visit from a Princess seemed to make him swallow any disagreement he may have had over the incident. Rislyn's colors sighed. Even after all these years, I still hate the fact that I can only see on sunlight. Don't get me wrong, Tryst. I love the fact that I'm not totally blind, but the helplessness is so overwhelming sometimes.

Can't go anywhere without an escort, unable to see outside of riding the sunlight- it must be terrible. But if I know my Rislyn, then she takes it with a grain of Desert sand, just like everything else that's happened to her.

Yes, I do. And if I know you, then despite everything that has happened to you, you aren't humbled in the slightest. You haven't ever compromised or settled for anything, even if it was to meet the Goddess herself! Twelve winters since you saved my life at that tavern, Tryst, and you still haven't changed. Stubborn as my own dragon, and about as sentimental.

Tryst was taken aback. I resent that, my Princess. I can be sentimental when I want to be. Listen. Your eyes are as beautiful as Desert sand, your hair shines like the Desert sun-

And your poem is about as dry as the Desert!

Both of them continued joking, like old friends would, on the sunlight for some time. It reminded Tryst that he still hadn't gotten over his crush, a boy's crush on Rislyn, in twelve years. He hated to be reminded of any matter concerning love, because he had grown sick of fending off questions about whom he would Choose as his wife. Thoughts of affection- regardless of whom they were for- had crowded Tryst's head for the past winter. He had hoped talking to Rislyn would clear his thoughts, but Tryst realized now that was futile.

Sobering, he turned his thoughts to the day's events.

What are your plans for the rest of the summer? Tryst asked.

That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I'm coming down within the week to visit Jihan, and I came to ask an invitation, Princess to Sunrunner, for a few days stay at Sweptvalley. Officially, of course.

Officially. Unofficially, you don't even have to ask. You're welcome to stop at Sweptvalley anytime you travel to visit Jihan. The attachment Rislyn had to her twin Jihan was well-known. Many twins had an attachment that went beyond normal family bonds, and Rislyn and Jihan were no exception. There was something else, however, that made it impossible for the twins to stay apart for any length of time.

Rislyn and Jihan, High Prince Pol's daughters and heirs to his princedoms, were both gifted in faradhi arts. There had never been any other twins who were both Sunrunners. There was a story Pol had told Tryst once about Rislyn having a fever as a child and Jihan feeling it as if it were her own, even though the twins were measures away from each other.

But there is some other reason you wanted to talk to me, isn't there, Rislyn.

No...well...

Yes, there is. Before you would always tell me you were coming to Sweptvalley when you were only a day or so's ride away, making the chamberlain go crazy with trying to prepare the castle. Now you tell me before you even begin the trip. Why?

Stubborn old dragon. Yes, there is another reason, but Maara didn't want to worry anyone over a typical visit, so she didn't voice any concerns to anyone. Have you heard any rumors about the Merida, Tryst?

Merida? They were the ones who tried to assassinate Rislyn at that tavern twelve winters before. Only the usual ones about how they're have been incidents with them in towns close to the sea. But there have been "incidents" of them for several years, Rislyn. They haven't been a serious threat since your father defeated them during the Storm God's War. They were nearly slaughtered down to their last man at that battle, Rislyn. It will take decades for them to establish another power base with which to work from.

I... have this feeling there will be an another attempt on my life on this trip.

Absurd. Another attempt twelve years after the first? They wouldn't have grown strong enough in that time. Where would they get the manpower to attack an entire envoy of guards who are intent on protecting their Princess?

Rislyn was silent for a time, and Tryst sighed as he realized he shouldn't have blown her concerns off so easily. He knew that sometimes Sunrunners had visions sent from the Goddess that told of the future. Either Rislyn had a source within the weak Merida, or she had a vision of her own death.

Tryst...

What did you see?

I didn't "see" much of anything. There was a cliff, but...it was more a feeling. Falling? I don't know... The anxiety in her voice convinced Tryst she wasn't lying. But I know that at the end of the dream, there was...nothing. Empty. Blank, Tryst. She said the last words almost accusingly, he realized. She was hurting.

He cut her off before she could say anything more. Rislyn, if you have a feeling about this, I don't think it should be ignored. Didn't your grandmother have "feelings" about things that later came true?

He could sense her relief at his faith. Yes. Granda Sioned had visions that later came true. But she always said that the future wasn't set in stone-

-and that even if it was, stone could be broken. He continued for her, finishing the old Sunrunner proverb. I see your point. All we have to do is change the future, or "break it", if your feeling is what will come true. What do you need me to do, Rislyn?

Keep an eye on things. If you see or hear something suspicious, Tryst, tell us. We will be there in two days. She said, and with a laugh at his surprise, left on the moonlight.

"Now that's the Rislyn I know," he snorted, and readied his horse for the journey back to Sweptvalley.

***

The two days until Rislyn arrived went by very quickly for Tryst, for he was involved in every major security plan that was being put in action for Rislyn's arrival. If they were going to make an attempt on her life, they were going to have to make it through an entire cadre of Sweptvalley's honor guard.

Tryst had spoken to Sweptvalley's Captain of the Guard, a tall, somber man named Ichean. He was only two winters older than Tryst, and to attain such a high position in the keep so quickly, Tryst knew he had to be brilliant.

But Tryst's concern was whether he was trustworthy. He had talked to the captain very few times since being stationed at the keep, because Sunrunners typically did not interfere with the military, and Tryst had no love for such matters. He met with the man a short time after ending the conversation with Rislyn.

Tryst decided that the best way to test Ichean's trust would be to lay the entire situation on him at once. Upon telling Ichean, and he only, of the suspected assassination, he found the man to be complex, but also honorable.

"Did you tell the Gordan about this, Tryst?" Ichean had asked.

"No, Captain. You and I both know that had he known, he would have worried about it so much he would have the entire keep in an uproar. As much as I respect him, for the owner of this keep he's a terrible leader."

Ichean nodded. "For all his ability at formal matters, if there were war the athri would be totally unreliable. It's just good that the High Prince has kept the peace for the past 15 years, or else Gordon probably would have already been replaced."

"The High Prince probably would have the keep given to me if Gordon ever stepped down, knowing how I saved his daughter, but I want nothing to do with the business of running a keep. The notion itself abhors me. Now, can I trust you not to tell anyone about this? If it leaks, this keep and probably the whole continent will be in an uproar."

"There shall be no one else who will find out, Sunrunner. Now, would you like to help me design a reasonable plan to protect the Princess with?"

And they had. Non-stop the two men had met, discussed options, and finally decided on the necessary precautions that they could take. Tryst grew to like the man, for despite being very terse and brooding, he was also patient and didn't treat Tryst as a novice at military matters. If there was something he didn't understand, Ichean would take the time to explain it to him, and then Tryst would be able to provide his insight as to what would be the best course of action. All in all, Tryst decided they made a quite effective team, and whatever could be done to protect Rislyn would be done.

***

Tryst woke early the morning of Rislyn's arrival, bathing and dressing in appropriate garb to meet the Princess. He knew that even though she was blind, she would watch Tryst on the sunlight, and for that he needed to dress formally. One had to keep up appearances, he thought, even though he knew he had more personal reasons for dressing like royalty. He was meeting his favorite royalty.

He frowned as he picked out a dazzling outfit, wearing the colors of the keeps he was from, Goddess Keep and Kadar Water. The red and blue of Kadar Water matched very nicely with the white of Goddess Keep, and Tryst complimented the outfit very nicely by putting on a dazzling necklace that complimented his own sunrunner colors of amber, diamond, garnet and onyx. His own light brown hair made the outfit come together. When he left his room, he felt ready to meet anything.

But he was wrong. It had been at least a year since the last time he had seen Rislyn, and the sight of her at the front of the caravan made his heart flutter. He cursed his feelings and went out to greet the Princess, along with Ichean, and the athri Gordan and his wife.

Rislyn had made her way over to the gate of the keep, and Tryst saw that the Lady Maara had come to escort her. Rislyn looked tired, but she smiled as Tryst came up to greet her.

"Goddess Greetings, Sunrunner," she said.

"Goddess Greetings, my Princess. Welcome to Sweptvalley." he said officially.

Tryst helped Rislyn off of her horse, leading her over to exchange greetings with Gordan, and while she did so, he talked to Ichean.

"Is everything in order?" He whispered.

"If the Goddess herself had planned it, Rislyn couldn't be better protected," Ichean reassured him.

Tryst nodded and went over to lend an arm to Rislyn. He bowed to the Lady Maara, and she laughed.

"I see you haven't gotten any better at bowing, Tryst." she said.

Tryst assumed an insulted look. "I beg your pardon, my lady. But such beauty does not come to this backhole keep in the middle of the desert very often, so I haven't had the practice to perfect my bows. I hope I didn't offend my Lady."

Both Rislyn and Maara shook their heads. "You haven't gotten any less stubborn." Maara said, still laughing.

"So I keep telling him," Rislyn replied.

Tryst pointed to the keep. "You will find adequate means to make yourself comfortable, my ladies. And I know you would probably like a bath most of all, Maara. The desert tends to make one smell like less than royalty."

"Yes, that would be nice. Thank you. I guess you will take Rislyn to her room, Tryst, as always?"

He nodded, extending his arm to the Princess. "Yes, I shall, I shall see you at the dinner tonight, then?" he questioned as Maara walked away, nodding. When Rislyn and he were adequate distance away from the crowd, he lowered his voice in conversation.

"You didn't have to come so soon, Rislyn."

"If I hadn't surprised you, would I be me? Besides, from what I hear, you and Ichean have me firmly protected no matter where I go."

"What? How did you kno--" He stopped as he remembered that Rislyn was blind, and therefore had better hearing than average.

"You try to keep it from me, but you know I heard it."

"Yes. We have been busy preparing for everything that could happen. But that doesn't mean that anything will, Rislyn." He led her inside and up the stairs to her room.

"Whether it will change, I don't know. But I had the dream again last night, Tryst. Falling was the only thing I pulled out of it."

"We shall try, my Princess, to keep you alive why you stay here. Your my friend Rislyn, I'd not have you go to meet the Goddess yet."

She smiled, and grabbed onto his arm tighter. "I know, Tryst, I know. This scares me more than anything..."

"...but you have to keep up appearances or people will know something is wrong. I know, it's stupid. If I were in charge, I would cancel your visit, just to make sure there is no chance of anything happening."

Rislyn frowned. "But I didn't get a definite location on where I would fall. It could be here, or somewhere else. I don't know when I'm going to fall. It could be a year from now."

"I know this sounds fake, Rislyn," he began. "But as long as I am here, I will do everything in my power to keep you safe. I did once before, remember?"

She smiled, and he led her through the door into her room. "That's sweet, Tryst. Now I have my own little personal protector."

"You've always have, Rislyn. You always have."

PART THREE

"It should be quite a scene. The dragons fly over Desert only once every three years." Maara said, milling over but not eating her dinner.

Tryst sat on the right side of the Rislyn, Maara on the other. The keep held an official dinner whenever important guests showed up, and Rislyn, Maara and the other highborns of the keep were all enjoying the exquisite food. Ichean and Gordon were seated on the other side of the table, listening to but not adding much to the conversation.

"The dragons made their way to Stronghold already," Tryst said. "They'll follow their usual migration to Dragon's Rest, flying over Sweptvalley sometime tomorrow."

"I wonder if L'rheia will fly by." Rislyn said.

"Wouldn't she tell you if she was?" Tryst asked.

"If she is migrating, she won't be able to contact me from the sky. She has to land first, and she won't be much warning before then."

"Wouldn't you know when she's coming? She is your dragon, Rislyn." Tryst said.

"Well, it's more like I'm her human, and no. She speaks to me on sunlight whenever she wants to, and it's almost like I'm her belonging. Dragons are so strong, they have such primal strength. I always leave with a headache when ever I talk to L'rheia."

"I'm glad no dragon ever chose me. From what I gather, they're more of a problem than a delight." Tryst replied.

Rislyn shook her head. "Don't discount something you haven't ever done, Tryst. I find that despite the headaches, talking to L'rheia is something wonderful, something you can't quite describe.."

"Dragons are so dangerous, but they're also so beautiful. I wouldn't want to come within a measure of one." Gordon said.

Maara laughed. "I don't think you have to worry about that, Gordon. They'll stay up in the sky until they're nice and ready to come down. My dragon, Retaln, doesn't have any subtlety whatsoever. I have a hard time relaying the pictures to her when I reply."

"That's right. They don't communicate in words, do they? They communicate in pictures, I forgot about that. I wonder what it must be like." Tryst replied.

Maara shrugged. "Maybe you'll get chosen someday, Tryst. It's like nothing you've ever experienced. They communicate with you, and you get to Name them."

Ichean, speaking for the first time, turned to Rislyn. "Your dragon, L'rheia, that means 'Princess's eyes' in the old language, doesn't it."

She nodded, smiling. "Yes. Appropriate, don't you think? She knows her name, and she earned it. She helped me to learn my Sunrunning abilities when I was a small child. Without her I'd be totally blind."

"How does she do that?" Tryst asked.

"It's hard to explain, but..." Rislyn paused, looking for the words. "When she talks to me, I see things as she would, as if it was from her point of view. And when she showed me how to do that, I was able to learn the other abilities, like Sunrunning abilities and conjuring."

Tryst leaned back in his chair, satisfied with the meal, putting his hands behind his head. "It should be quite a scene. High Prince Pol is able to sense the dragons before they come, isn't he?"

"Yes. In fact, I believe his daughters inherited the ability. Am I right, Rislyn?" Maara asked, venturing a look at the blonde-haired Princess.

"It's almost like a faint buzzing on the edge of your mind. Like something you can't see out of the corner of your eye. Jihan was able to do it alot earlier than I was," Rislyn replied.

"It's sort of the insignia for the High Prince's line. Pol's father had it, Pol has it, and now his daughters do," Maara continued.

Ichean, speaking only when he felt the need to, caught the eyes of the group. "Well, we'll go out to cliffs to the south, where the dragons have mated in the past. The caves there are no longer suitable to the dragons, but they should give us an excellent view of the flight."

Rislyn looked at Tryst, sightless eyes not dimming the worry that was hinted at in her face. He grasped Rislyn's hand, reassuring her. The dinner was beginning to break up, and Tryst was tired of the idle talk. He pushed back his chair, stretching tired limbs.

"Does Pol want us to make an official count of the dragons tomorrow, Tryst?" Maara asked.

"No. They'll do it when the dragons fly over Dragon's Rest. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to call it a night." He nodded goodbye to the rest of the group. He knew that it would probably be best if he stayed, because he wasn't going to get any sleep.

There was something about the plans for the next day that didn't ring right in his head, but he couldn't figure it out, and until he did he wouldn't say anything to Ichean. They were going to ride out to watch the dragons with five guards, and Ichean had assured him that the patrols through those areas had found nothing. There was no apparent danger to Rislyn.

But apparent was the key word, and he knew that he had a long and very slow night ahead of him.

***

The sun beat down on the back of Tryst's neck, making him wish that the caravan would go somewhat faster. But the movement was slower than Tryst would have cared, because he wanted to be over and done with watching the dragons as soon as he could. After this was over, he could shake the feeling that he had that something wasn't going right.

As they neared the cliffs they intended to watch the dragons from, Tryst looked over at Rislyn. He was startled to see that her sightless eyes were blank with the sign of Sunrunning. He knew she was looking at the cliffs, and greeted her when her eyes regained their normal life.

"Are they more than you expected?" Tryst asked.

"Yes. They are so large. Where do we intend to watch the dragons from?" she asked.

"From wherever you want to, Rislyn. It just depends on how much climbing you want to do. There is a first bank of caves almost level with the ground, and the others are spread out throughout the range. It looks menacing, but I know a path to the top, and Ichean knows these cliffs like the back of his hand."

"I would like to watch the dragons' from the top then, Tryst." Rislyn concluded.

He nodded. "Whatever you want, my Princess. I think that if L'rheia would want to find you, the easiest place would be on the top of the cliffs anyway."

As they neared the cliffs, Tryst banked his head to take in the huge nature of the range. It ran along the bank of a modest river, and while that posed no threat to the faradhi because it was spanned by a bridge, the sheer heighth of the cliffs was something that was to be wary of. The small river had taken hundreds of years to clear out the side of the cliffs, and the caves that accompanied the cliff had been the hatching caves for dragons in the past. But as the climate of the area changed over time, Tryst knew that the weather had become to cold at this place and the dragons just flew over it now on their way to more hospitable climates in the Desert.

As they reached the beginning of the rise, Tryst was wrenched out of thinking as a whistle echoed from someone riding behind him. He looked over at Maara, who, to Tryst's surprise, was very pale and looked dazed.

"What's the matter, Maara?"

It took her a few moments to quit looking at the cliffs. "The cliffs. They're so... huge. I... I can't climb them, Tryst."

"Maara's has had a fear of heights since she was a small child." Rislyn told Tryst.

"You won't get a very good view of the dragons from down here, Maara." Tryst said.

She shook her head. "I will be able to see all I want of them just fine from down here. The only way you could get me to climb those cliffs is if Retaln would fly me up there. And I see enough of my dragon as it is."

Tryst nodded, then looked over at Ichean. He motioned him over, and the somber captain of Sweptvalley turned his horse next to Tryst's. "It's safe?"

Ichean nodded. "We've been up and down these cliffs. There's been no odd activity." he said softly.

"Station guards around Rislyn at all times. I don't want to see her without protection." Tryst whispered. He felt relieved as he saw Ichean nod and steer his mount away and toward Rislyn.

The caravan stopped at Ichean's order at the base of the beginning of the climb. He spoke loud enough for all of the caravans fifteen riders, five nobles, five guards and five others from the keep who wanted to come, to hear.

"There are basically three good lookout points on the cliffs. Which one you all watch the dragons from depends on how brave you are. There is the one just up from here, around the bend, just a little above here and not a steep climb.

"The second is a tougher climb, and anyone who goes up there will have to leave their mounts tied on secured ground. I will leave Gordan to find that one, and will lead whoever's brave enough up to the summit of these cliffs. It's the best view, but it's not for those whose stomachs get queasy at the view down."

Rislyn tapped Tryst on the arm. "That is where I want to go."

Tryst looked concerned, but he knew that she had made up her mind, and there wasn't going to be any changing it. He simply said, "I will be there to help you, and carry you if need be."

She laughed and nodded. "Just so that I make it up there in one piece. I'll sunrun to get the basic outline of the mountain, if you will help me."

He nodded and they moved away from the crowd. He rode the sunlight with her, showing her the trail they were going to take to the top and the caves they would go into at the top to get out of the sun. The incident stirred feelings in his heart he had thought long buried. The last time he had shared his gifts with her like this had been fifteen years ago at the inn. He pushed the same old crush on her down to where it had been before, hoping she hadn't felt it.

When they both returned from Sunrunning, the groups were spreading out to the different paths of the mountains. Tryst laughed as they passed Maara.

"Not going to join any of them, are we Maara?" He yelled as he passed her.

"I'll be just fine at this look out point. There is a cave I see over there," she pointed to a small black indent not much further down one of the trails, "that's where I'll watch them from."

Tryst nodded, but that strange feeling was back. He wondered if it didn't have something to do with the caves...but whatever it was with them, it didn't matter. If there was a threat to Rislyn's life, it would have happened already, he told himself.

PART FOUR

Tryst watched Rislyn as she was led up the steep path by Ichean, with Gordon watching anxiously. He was careful to choose only the easiest ways for her to step, but even with the caution, she was still having a difficult time making it up the trail.

He made his way back from scouting the trail, and offered to help guide Rislyn so Ichean could walk ahead. He gave up her arm, and Tryst guided her up the steep trail.

"How much further, Tryst?" Rislyn asked, sweat beeding on her brow.

"Not much further, Rislyn. We've only got to round a cliff and make one last steep climb and then we'll be at the summit," he replied. "How are you faring?"

"I'm fine, if that's what you mean. Just because I'm blind doesn't mean that I can't climb a measly cliff," she said, laughing.

"Oh, I see. A normal man would have trouble climbing to the summit of this mountain, but my Rislyn is so strong that even though she is blind she can do it. You are really exceptional, my dear."

"I want to see those dragons, Tryst. I haven't seen L'rheia since I started the trip to Sweptvalley. We are roundiing that corner now, aren't we?"

Tryst was surprised. "Yes, we should be at the top shortly... what is it?"

Rislyn's gaze was far away, up at the sky, and Tryst wondered what it was. She wasn't Sunrunning, he would have felt it if she was, so he waited until she came back from wherever she was.

"What is it, Rislyn?" He asked as she turned to face him.

"Do you feel it, Tryst? They're coming."

Tryst didn't need to ask to know it was the dragons. Suddenly, as if on cue, a screech echoed through the cliffs, the cry of a sire that was leading the flight. Tryst squinted his eyes, and could see shapes rapidly expanding over the horizon, for the view from the cliffs was exceptional.

Then another cry echoed through the cliffs, but this one wasn't a dragon, it was a horse panicked, and then a cry of a person could be heard. Ichean turned around to look at Tryst, concern written clearly on his face.

Tryst ran forward to the Captain. "Did you hear that? Where was it coming from?"

Ichean scanned the cliffs surrounding them. "I'd give my sword to bet that it came from below us, but it sounded like it came from down and to the east, but there's no one down there. The second part is only slightly below us to the south."

Realization dawned on the Sunrunner. "Maara! Something must have happened!" Take Rislyn to the caves at the top of the summit, Ichean, and watch for anything."

"Where are you going, faradhi?"

"Back down to Maara."

Ichean smiled and unhinged the long sword that was sheathed at his waist.

"Take this. I know your as good with it as I am."

Tryst nodded, smiling. Only Ichean would have known that he like the long sword as opposed to the traditional faradhi knives, because Tryst had been the only one to beat the Captain at it. He made his way back down the trail, only this time he wasn't as careful to pick the easiest way. He scrambled down the path, knocking rocks loose as he sometimes jumped the heighth of a person down to the next level plane. Another screech of a dragon could be heard, as if to set the mood, but Tryst noticed that this one was much closer than the last. He scanned the sky around him, noticing that one dragon had separated from the rest, and was flying right toward his area.

Although he was concerned with the dragon's motivations, he was more worried about Maara. His mind flashed with a dozen things that could have happened to her, but as he scrambled down the mountain, he saw something that told him what was happening.

He stopped as he saw something out of the corner of his eye, and turned to where he had saw it. He gasped as he saw a person, clad in the green and yellow of the Brotherhood of the Merida, come out of a cave on a cliff lower than Tryst. The man was covered in dust, telling Tryst that he must have been sitting waiting for sometime, but the colors and signs of the Merida were unmistakeable.

They must have been waiting around for a number of days, living off provisions waiting for us. Goddess! I knew there was something about the caves that we neglected. We searched the cliffs for the past couple of days, but not the caves! They snuck in here before us, and now...

Oh Goddess... Maara!

Tryst was only halfway down the cliff, and still had the worst part of the climb to negotiate. He could risk Sunrunning because a Merida could find him at any time, and steel in a Sunrunner's viens during a working meant death. He would just have to scramble down the cliff, and hope Maara was oka--

Blinding colors burst upon Tryst senses, staggering him for a second before he regained balance. There were thousands upon thousands of colors, in such turbulance, and Tryst knew as he cried out in pain that this could only be one thing:

Dragon! Goddess, stop! He screamed through his colors, but the dragon who had touched him-the one who had been flying toward him- wouldn't let go of his colors. Suddenly, an image of the cliffs below was forced upon his senses with battering strength. Through the pain, he made out Maara, fallen on the ground holding her dagger in front of her. Coming toward her were two Merida, who most likely attacked her when she had gone to get out of the sun in the cave she had talked about.

She's broken her leg...Tryst thought, looking at the grusome angle her left leg was pinned underneath her. The whoresons probably pushed her down a flight of rocks. Goddess, what am I going to do?

Suddenly, as if in reply, the dragon changed it's view to another cliff.

Tryst followed the path the vision took him-down a steep embankment, over to a cave he hadn't noticed before. The cave went straight through to the other side, and came out just a little ways off from where Maara was!

Tryst realized the dragon knew what was going on, and silently hoped he conveyed thanks to the dragon through his colors. It took all his strength, but he broke off contact with the dragon as it loosed it's hold on his colors. He was rewarded with a stab of pain that shot straight through his head. He waited until the haze in his eyes cleared, and then made his way down the shortcut the dragon had showed him.

He smiled when she shrieked, echoing through the cliffs, for it mirrored his mood. He wondered if his dragon would mirror how he felt from now on. He had been chosen by a dragon, and it couldn't have been at a better time. Although he was fighting just to stay awake, he felt...whole, he couldn't describe it any other way.

But he also felt scared for his friends, and that made Tryst as dangerous as his newfound dragon.

***

He skidded down the steep embankment the dragon had shown him, concern for Maara making his steps quick, his eyesight sharp. A normal man would have had to go down the flight of loose rocks slowly, but he flew down them a man's heighth at a time, convering the ground to the cave in mere seconds. Tryst knew it was probably the rush all people get when they or someone they love are in danger, but he felt little regard for his own safety over Maara's.

He entered the cave at a run, his breath beating in his lungs. The cave was not very long, and he could see the sunlight as he entered it and was shrouded in darkness. His eyes adjusted quickly to the gloom, and he raced through the cave. He skipped over rocks, stalagtites that almost made the cave look like teeth, and other debris. Finally, he reached the exit on the other side of the cave, skidding to a halt as he reached sunlight. Immediately he took to the sunlight, riding it to get a better view at what was happening below.

He flew down to where he saw the three figures, and realized that no more than seconds had passed since he had seen her in the vision. She was still alive, Tryst saw with a rush of relief. It was probably due to the fire she could call at a moments notice, like all Sunrunners. But she couldn't call fire at both of them at the same time, and they had gotten within her defenses a number of times. She suffered from numerous cuts, none looking too serious, and Tryst realized that the Merida were playing with her. For that alone, he vowed to kill them. But in would not be with his gifts. No, despite the rush to kill them, the old faradhi traditions were still born and bred into him. He would see them die on the point of his sword, and slowly.

He then turned to the cliff he was on, and, feeling foolish, realized he was standing in open view. The Merida were too busy tormenting Maara to see him, but they would pay dearly. He located the quickest way down, and formulated his plan. He unspun himself from the sun, making his way as quietly as he could down the steep embankment.

The Merida did not see anything, for they were too busy playing a cat and mouse game with Maara. But he watched them, instead of watching his footing, and jarred loose numerous rocks witch clattered down the hillside. The Merida turned to see what had caused the sound, but before they could, a ring of fire sprung up around Maara, causing the Merida to curse and spring away. Neither of them were on fire, but Tryst had made sure they might lose an eyelash or two.

One of the Merida rolled to the ground, fearing he was on fire. He stopped as he rolled into someone, then stopped and looked to who it was.

Tryst smiled. "Good night, whoreson." The blade came quickly and smoothly, and the head rolled cleanly from the body.

"Tryst! Behind you!"

Tryst turned around and just barely parried a slice that would have done the same to him as he had done to the Merida who lay dead at his feet. The other one, an ugly man with red hair, grunted and backed away. Tryst knew he intended to fight a duel, and he was more than happy to oblige.

Swords clashed, and parry and riposte were exchanged. Tryst grunted as they exchanged blows again.

Damn the Merida. He's good.

Tryst, ignoring training, thought he saw an opening in the Merida's defense, and level a heavy double-handed slash at the man's stomach. As he started however, he realized with horror that he had been tricked. The blow missed and Tryst realized he had left himself wide open. He waited for the blow that would gut him...

...and it never came. Tryst turned to look at the Merida beside him, who was staggering back, a look of horror on his face. Had Tryst been a normal man, he would have thought the man was going crazy, but being faradhi he knew the man was fighting off something that wasn't there, a conjuration. Maara was working Sunrunner magic on the Merida, saving Tryst's life.

He took the opportunity and leveled a painful blow to the Merida's temples as he turned to run from whatever he was seeing, and the man dropped heavily to the ground.

Tryst walked over to Maara, examining her for signs of injury as he neared her. All Sunrunners had been trained as physicians at Goddess Keep, and although Tryst hardly ever used the knowledge, he remembered enough of it to make a reasonable deduction of Maara's condition.

She had two cuts on her arms, and her leg was broken, presumably right below the knee, so he didn't offer her a hand as he came to stand over her.

"Don't think I'm being rude, but your in no condition to walk, so I'm not going to offer you a hand." he said.

"You don't have to tell me that. My leg is broken at about mid-calf level," she grimaced as she accidently aggravated the injury. "Moving it could only make it worse."

He nodded, then turned to look over his shoulder at the cliffs. "I've got to go back up and check on Rislyn. She had several guards around her, so she should be safe--" He stopped as he noticed that she wasn't listening, and her face had the far-off look of sunrunning. He waited until she returned and was going to say something, but the look on her erased any reply he was going to make.

Maara grabbed his gaze with her own. Her face was ashen and her voice was urgent.

"Tryst, Rislyn's been attacked!"

"What? How many Merida?"

"I don't know, I only saw four or five, and they were being held back by the guards, but there could be more."

Tryst turned to run, near panic. "Goddess, we can't alert Sweptvalley, there's no one there who can Sunrun. I'm the court faradhi! If you see anyone who can ride, tell them to get help!"

Maara was going to reply, but Tryst was gone.

***

He flew up the way he came, climbing faster than he would have thought possible. He remembered the way to the top with crystal clear accuracy, because Sunrunners had uncanny senses of direction. But it wasn't the route he was going to take or even what he was going to do that was flashing through his mind. It wasn't if Maara would be all right, for now that she was momentarily safe and not taken by surprise as she had been, she could use her gifts to defend herself better than any cadre of armed warriors could. No it wasn't any thought of safety for anyone that entered his mind.

It was something totally new to him, something he didn't know he felt.

It was more than trepidation that flooded Tryst's being, because if it was simply concern he would have been calm and collected on the way up here. But instead he ran, his mind empty of everything but rash feelings of panic that threatened to overrun him. He had never felt so feverish, so weak, and at the same time so strong.

And Tryst knew it wasn't simple fear for Rislyn that made him run faster than he had ever thought he could.

It was love. Love stronger and more deeply buried than he had thought. So deeply hidden within his mind that they had been chalked up as childish feelings, without knowing how much strength had built up behind this love for 15 years.

Images of Rislyn smiling, of her laughing, simply anything having to do with his single reason to exist flooded his mind now. And the woman who had been his first and true friend was now in danger...

... and Tryst would do anything to keep her from harm.

Old Sunrunner traditions and laws were thrown aside in his mind, each as they surfaced. And Tryst realized with both concern and relief that he no longer cared about his loyalties to Goddess Keep. Love had set him free, but danger to that love had focused him. Maybe it was simply alarm that made him prioritize things as he flew toward Rislyn's location, but to Tryst it no longer mattered.

What mattered was a short, beautiful blonde-haired love who was now in danger of no longer existing.

But what would Lady Chayla say, the stern yet friendly Lady, who had been his one friend? What would the people of Sweptvalley think if he did something rash? People didn't tolerate something they didn't understand, and faradhi'm were already shunned in some ways. How could he just throw away everything he believed? What made it so easy that he thought he could?

A pair of simple green, blind eyes.

Tryst flew up the hill, and the shriek of the dragon behind him caused him to halt in surprise. He stopped to catch his breath, and once he did his dragon bombarded his senses with it's colors.

He tried to get the dragon to calm down, but it's rage and concern overrode him. The dragon felt his hysteria, and he knew his dragon was feeling the love and fear he felt for Rislyn, and it shrieked in the sky. He was going to break contact with the dragon, not caring what it did to him or it, but suddenly an image was thrust upon his senses.

He was flying, or rather he was seeing what his dragon did as it flew. And suddenly he caught sight of blonde hair blowing wildly in the growing wind around the heighths of cliffs. His attention was focused there, and he made out shapes of people he knew, and the green colors of Merida.

He watched as Ichean, Gordon, and three guards fought off seven advancing Merida. Rage burned in his being as he saw the superior numbers of the Merida overcome his friends. He watched in horror as both guards fell, although they had taken out a Merida apiece. The remaining four advanced upon Ichean and Gordon, each using their superior sword training to barely keep themselves alive.

Then Tryst was back in his own body, the vision ended. Terror burst upon his mind anew as he realized that Ichean and Gordon were outmanned and they were all that stood between Rislyn and the realization of her "feeling." Again he wondered how he could have been so ignorant of all the clues the Goddess had revealed to him, all the signs he could have taken and shattered the future that had been hinted at. Frustration turned to blind fury, and Tryst flew up the cliffs, as enraged as the dragon that had chosen him.

Up the path to the top he ran, his heart pounding all he could hear in his ears. The path to the top was burned into his memory from both his own trek up it and the view from the sky his dragon had given him. It was amazing, he found himself peculiarly thinking, that he had been chosen by a dragon at the worst time he could have been. But then again, his dragon--he hadn't had time to think of a name for it-- had supplied him with the information to save Maara's life.

And while it had given him the way back up to Rislyn, it hadn't given him a means of travel up there.

So he flew up the hill, despair, concern, anger, all of it shoved from his mind. Only one thing would be allowed to enter.

Protection for the woman he loved.

Tryst flew up the final twist of the journey, ignoring the bloody fingers that had been lacerated during his swift climb up to the summit of the cliffs. He sprinted around the trail, throwing his head skyward for a view at the summit.

What he would see would haunt his thoughts for the rest of his life. He would wake up, screaming their name, as he saw their fires extinguished in his mind, to be blown to the wind by Tryst at the final death ceremony- Burning.

Ichean and Gordon had been backed up to within two man's lengths of the edge of the cliffs, fighting off Merida. Rislyn was behind them, on the ground, and Tryst felt rage explode inside him as he realized that she could have no idea what was going on. Ichean and Ronald had given a good account of themselves, killing three Merida, but they had been seriously hurt, and the Merida now had the upper hand. As Tryst rounded the corner, he saw them as he would forever in his dreams.

"NO!"

A part of him died as the Captain and the athri of Sweptvalley were finally overpowered. He was spared their particular instant of death by the distance between them, but their death screams burned his ears. He watched in horror as the two green-clad Merida took his friends bodies, and with a laugh at the helpless blonde-haired girl before them, threw them over the edge. He could not hear the sickening crack of bone on stone as they jarred with the rocks on the side of the cliffs, until they disappeared in the bottom of the chasms. And as they fell, veangence full and powerful permeated his being, and a red rage fell over his eyes.

But it was gone as fleetingly as it appeared. And all the years of training and promise and tradition once again mounted an assault on his mind. He would not kill them with his gifts, it was dishonoring the Goddess. He would not do anything but watch destiny fulfill it's rightful heritage.

The future was set in stone.

Stone can be broken.

It would be said later in private between the two, both in fear and compassion by Rislyn, that had she been able to see her love, she would have seen Fire spring from his eyes as it did mere lengths in front of her. She would tell Tryst that she was not burned. She would tell him, in both awe and disquiet, that the Fire had been so intense that it had been both an assault upon her faradhi senses and had sprung forth no heat. She would tell him, that looking upon his works by Sunrunning, that there was nothing left of the Merida that had almost killed her. And Tryst would not reply. He would not say anything for a long time, for what he would have felt if he had would have frightened him into insanity. All the fear, care, love, compassion--

--all of Tryst's being had been that Fire. The stone of the future hadn't been broken, it had been burnt away by the Fire that was the consummation of Tryst's being.

And as he looked again to the cliffs, he could see the Fire returned back to him.

The fire of Love, in Rislyn's eyes. EPILOGUE

The fog was intense as it caressed the cliffs, making the couple unable to see the bottom of the chasm.

Tryst put his arms around Rislyn, balancing her as well as protecting her from the cold being high in the mountains brought.

He turned to her to face him, and as she noticed the shift in position she turned to look up to where his face was. He admired how her beauty could lighten even this atmosphere, and he knew that even though he had broken all of his faradhi vows, he would do it again should the need arise.

All for Rislyn.

His voice was soft and compassionate as he broke the silence. "You know, we'll never stop mourning them."

She nodded, turning her head as if looking out over the cliffs whose peaks could be seen poking through the fog. "They've gone on to the Goddess, Tryst. They'll always be with you in spirit." She turned to look back at him, smiling. " Just like I will always be with you."

"My Princess," he whispered, raising her face to him. Silence fell between them, and as the love he felt for her sprang anew at the sight of her face, a tear fell from her eye. The atmosphere was thick, as the past three days had been.

But Rislyn broke the dark mood. "My athri."

Tryst laughed and shook his head. He still didn't know what to think after yesterday. He had debriefed Prince Pol on what had happened.

Pol's colors were silent as he finished listening to the story. Then he laughed.

Tryst was shocked. What's so funny?

This opens up a wonderful window, Tryst. he replied.

For what? he wondered.

There is no one to take over Sweptvalley. Gordan only had a wife and Ichean had no relatives at all. Then he was silent. That leaves only one person who I've been trying to give a castle to for a long time.

Tryst was silent as he tried to figure out what Pol was saying. Then it dawned on him. NO! I don't want a castle, I've said I don't want to have the headache of managing everything--

You will do it, and that's an order, athri. He said, laughing at Tryst guffawing colors.

So now Tryst went from a normal Sunrunner to landholder. His father would laugh. But despite that good news the last three days had been a nightmare. Tryst had Burned Ichean and Gordon, acknowledging the ritual that served both to heal and ease the pain. Rislyn had helped ease the hurt of his friends' death, but he still saw their deaths when he slept, as he thought he would for the rest of his life.

But as horrible as the last three days were, there were many good things he could thank the Goddess for. He had gained the love of a girl he had been infatuated with as a child. That was what eased the pain the most. And, as he looked over as the sun broke over the fog making the fog a rich gold, he laughed at Japhur. The purple and black dragon shrieked over the sky as he watched, looking many times at Tryst and demanding his colors. He silently pushed the dragon away, who had learned subtelty over the last three days. He would not ruin this moment by giving his dragon his time.

Japhur had been the only bright ray of laughter since the deaths. Japhur, Dragon's love in the old language, had been Named shortly after Tryst and Rislyn returned from the cliffs. Tryst had been challenged trying to conjure up the right pictures between he and his dragon to introduce the dragon to him and his world. He had been amazed at the intelligence of the sire, who almost seemed human despite it's massive size and power. Japhur had even known that Rislyn, in dragon relationships, was Tryst's mate. He remembered the image Japhur had given him of he and Rislyn, and then the sights of dragons mating. He had laughed and nodded, conveying approval.

But now he would not sacrifice time for his dragon, and it roared in aggravation. Rislyn laughed as the sire flew there overhead, and then frustrated, flew away to hunt.

"He would demand your time when it seems you don't want to give it," she said.

"I've been trying to teach him a little subtelty, telling him if he tries to force his colors on me, I might very well collapse. I think he's beginning to understand, even though he's still as new to it as I am. Does L'rheia do that to you?"

"No. She's been soft with me ever since I've known her. I imagine it's because she's a female and they don't have the brute force of a sire."

He watched Japhur fly away, seeing his colors glint as they caught the emerging sunlight. He marveled at the beauty of his dragon, as he imagined he always would. And he would marvel at the beauty of someone else, also.

He turned to watch Rislyn's golden hair blow behind her, and she turned to him as if she knew he was looking.

"How do you know when I look at you, love?"

She smiled at the endearment, reaching up to put her arm around his neck. "I can sense your colors, Tryst, just like I did all those years ago. You have beautiful colors, Tryst."

He jerked in surprise as his colors were displayed on the sunlight, as easily as they were fifteen years ago. All of him was there, amber, diamond, garnet and onyx, as familiar as his own face. And suddenly there were another person's colors were superimposed over his own on the sunlight, and he smiled as he recognized Rislyn's own sapphire, ruby and diamond.

He tightened her grip around her as he watched the ease with which she used her abilities. "That's the way it will always be, won't it Rislyn."

She nodded, turning to look at him, love in her eyes. "I will never leave you, Tryst, as you have never left me." He noticed her eyes become faraway as she used her sunrunning abilities. Then she returned, and she smiled. "You look very handsome in the fog, Tryst."

"And you are as beautiful as the desert sands."

Her smiled disappeared, and for a second he was afraid had had said something wrong. But then she laughed.

"Just...hold me Tryst. When you try to be sentimental you're not yourself."

"Yes, my Princess as beautiful as the sun over fog woven cliffs."

She laughed again, shaking her head.

"Stubborn old dragon."