The window of Tias' room was almost clear. Three translucent streaks ran around the edge, creating the impression of a whirlpool. Much like water running out of the large garden pool that her father had built.

Her father had made the pane as well. All of the rooms here at the guild had windows of glass.

Tia looked out to sea. To the east ran the foothills of dragons-mount. Currently, the late evening sun drew their shadows across the bay.

Leaving her old and much-used school book on the desk, she rose gracefully and made her way to dinner.

The Guild was currently the biggest and most sacred building in Pride. It had been hewn out of the west face of dragons-mount by The Architects.

The ten founders of Pride had begun life simply, many years before, in a cave not far from where the majestic guild now stood. They had learnt to cut and shape the stone of the mountain using strengthened metal tools of their own design and manufacture. Building ever-improving homes and structures they extended the town from their guild to the town square and now to the newly imagined harbour. Trade with the metal-rich Darnians was becoming mutually profitable and their two trading visits per year was soon to become four. With rumblings that other seafaring towns over the Eastern Ocean were interested in The Architects tools and materials.

Tia skipped happily towards the dining hall. Through corridors of perfectly aligned stonework and occasional intricate sculpture. Her mother and her mother's friends had added touches of colour by way of cloth hangings and flowers.

The dining hall was full. The guild was home to six families. Six of the original founders still lived there.

Tia encountered her mother, father and seven siblings at their usual table. There was no rank or hierarchy here and all were equal in the guild of Architects.

Her father Soloman, however, was the alderman of Pride and ran the town with the other architects and a council of the townsfolk. All were elected. There was no room in Pride for personal politics. The contentment of the people and the growth of the town were the main concern of the council. How long this would last however kept Tias' father very much on his toes.

"Tia. You are late. It's your turn to serve." Adria, Tias' mother shouted over the hubbub. "They still need a hand with the vegetables."

Tias' happiness disintegrated on entering the hall.

"It can't be my turn again, surely it was only the other day I served?"

"It is your turn daughter. We all pull together here." Solomons' calm voice belied his frustration.

"Yes, father."

She half curtsied, hitching her vivid orange dress and bowing slightly. Forcing a sarcastic smile she stormed towards the kitchen without a backwards glance.

Communal life was wearing her down. She longed to get out in the world and do her own thing. Life here was dull. There was only so much 'pulling together' she could handle.

The kitchen was buzzing. Tying back her long black hair with dyed green twine she made her way to the cook. Smiling her violet eyes at Esme, Frida and Brin she got her instructions and headed for the veg platters. Brin walked briskly up beside her.

"Are you busy after dinner Tia? I would like to walk with you if I may?" He gave a shy nod towards the gardens. "The weather seems warmer of late."

"Oh, Brin will you never give up! You know I walk with Artemis. I cannot walk with you." exasperation showing in her voice.

Brin frowned and bowed politely, careful not to spill his platter.

"I will never give up. Your beauty lights my days." He halted to let her pass.

Esme and Frida followed behind Brin, both giggling and putting their fingers towards their mouth as if to feign vomiting. If Brin noticed he gave no sign. Tia laughed with them. Why was Brin such a fool?

Artemis however? Well, he was just as boring, to be honest, but marginally the best of a tiresome lot. At least he washed more regularly than most. Walking out with him meant she had an excuse to refuse the others.

After the meal, Tia helped to put the platters and the goblets into the indoor stream. The natural stream had been cleverly diverted to run through a room behind the kitchen. Dishes left in the bottom of the running water would be cleaned in no time at all and with a tiny amount of wiping later would be ready for the next meal.

Tia whistled softly to herself as she filled the plate washer. Pride and the Guild had its place but surely there was an adventure out there somewhere.

The slopes of Dragons-Mount were covered in the softly swaying flowers of the Cascadia. The pale yellow flowers gave their name to the Dragon that lived there. The powerful and elusive creature that was Cascadia had not been seen for many leaf falls. The last time she was seen, five ekwids from the ranch had gone missing along with three hogs. The townsfolk hoped old Gaskin had gone to visit family down south. As he had not returned that day either.

At the top of Dragons-Mount Tia knew she would be able to see all the way to the North-East horizon.

Would that way be the way the Darian boat would come from and maybe just maybe? Anton would be on that boat. He would take her away from this tedious existence. He had almost promised the last time they had spoken.

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Anton was dashing and exciting and handsome, all those things that the little boys of Pride would never be.

The well-trodden track over dragons-mount rose and fell gradually here. Tia followed it to the fork. Here she could walk to the left, get a little higher and see most of the eastern coast but with the mount still blocking a third of the view. Or take the right path, steeper up the mount, almost to the pinnacle and see the full vista where the sea meets the sky.

Today was a day for a climb she thought. No one would miss her till even-time. As long as she kept her dress reasonably clean her mother would not fuss over her return.

The lush, flowered grass gave way to sparser outcrops of moss and rocks. The previous heavy rains and storms had caused some movement of stones and scree on the side of the incline. Most noticeably a larger rock had ended up in the middle of a patch of swaying blue poppies. Having crushed a path through to where it now innocently sat looking out of place and lost.

The crashing of the waves grew louder below as Tia rounded the pinnacle. The breeze was discernibly stronger as she faced the full coastline. No ship. She saw only the breathtaking view of an agitated, lively, dark blue sea.

Eventually, the cold made her think of returning.

Going down the mount was always more dangerous than climbing up. There seemed to be more loose stones than she could remember and she narrowly avoided skidding on them on a couple of occasions. As she walked back around the peak she looked homeward. To the guild in all its glory, the newly built square in the town. The town-hall and further to the other horizon. The land was reasonably flat further out. Many small wooded glades tried unsuccessfully to hide the main track to Kingsport and there! Between them. An army! Legion upon legion. Moving slowly but surely towards Pride. She must warn them. No-one else could see them from the town she must move quickly. Frightened she slipped off the track feet first, bumping her backside. As if time had changed its speed she saw her feet go over the ledge, she could not stop herself. The safety of rock beneath her disappeared behind her. She was falling. The ground had opened into a chasm. Tia fell into the crack in the mount. Jarringly her head hit a rock. Her shoulder crashed into the side of the chasm. She did not lose consciousness she felt every blow on the way down. Like a puppet from the market stall, with its strings cut and twisted, finally to lay in a heap deep inside the mount.

She was aware of movement beside her. She ached all over. She had never ached this much before. She opened her eyes to blackness.

"Ah. Child, you are surely one of us. To survive such a fall with your body in one piece" was followed by a friendly chuckle. "As you regain your wits-if you had any before you arrived-I will tell you a tale. I have been very lonely and longed for a chance to chat. Your discomfort will soon pass." The beings' voice was raspy as if the vocal cords had been singed by fire, as in fact, they regularly were.

"I must fix that roof." A shaft of dusty light shone through the roof of the cave. Illuminating the head and snout of a beautiful yellow-scaled dragon.

"I am Cascadia, you will love me."

Tia was content. There was a sense of magic here. Her hurting body was bearable and the dragons' hypnotic voice soothed and calmed her. She would rest for a while and recuperate. There was a nagging feeling however that she should be somewhere else.

"My name is Tia. I should be dead." Tias' voice sounded feeble and far away.

"Yes. I am guessing you have never felt pain or ever been sick?"

"No." Should she be surprised? "No. My family and the guild are all very fit and healthy" Her voice felt detached. Her head felt fuzzy. "We sometimes have travellers at the inn who are sick or visitors that need rest."

"Ah. You live in the guild. Your magic is strong." Cascadia bent her boulder-sized head to the right. Tia could see that her eyes were the colour of her scales and it was as if a light shone behind those yellow suns.

"Your magic comes from my progeny. You live in the guild which by its proximity to my nest is bestowed with great magic. The whole of Pride benefits from this. Sickness and pain are kept away. Those in the guild are doubly blessed. Your fall should have killed you. It should have shredded the skin from your bones and bashed your head to a pulp. You survive with bruises and maybe a headache. There is another more subtle magic that is passed from me to you. That is power over others. You and the people of Pride have the influence over others to make them follow you and even to love you. This is not to be underestimated." Cascadia shifted her great bulk and ended up in a squatting position. She lifted one of her claws to point. Tias' eyes had become accustomed to the gloom and could make out where the dragon was pointing. It was an egg. A single egg the size of a large hog. Lovingly placed in a circle of stones. Runes had been etched all around it by a careful proud claw.

"I have tended my nest for eighty leaf-falls. It will be another twenty leaf-falls before it hatches. Then I will be free to leave this world and follow my mate and the others of my kind. I hope their trail is strong."

"You will leave this world? Where else is there?" Tia managed to sit. One leg wouldn't bend and the other would not straighten.

"This is just one place in many, many others. We go where our instinct calls us. My pup will remain and carry on the cycle."

Overwhelmed and dazed Tia realised this was not a dream. Her energy was returning. Both legs could function now. She stood and walked gingerly up and down.

"Do you ever leave this place?" Tia asked the dragon.

"I used to get out more." The dragon replied. With a toothy smile. "I tend to hoard food for a leaf fall or two."

"Do you eat people?"

Cascadia laughed and snorted fire. Careful to aim it upwards towards the hole in the roof.

"I am afraid so. After nearly choking on that tramp fellow- Gaskin, however, I think he called himself. I avoid all prideans. They are just too tough."

"Oh, well thank you for not eating me."

"I have enjoyed your company. Fate definitely bought us together. Could we be friends? I don't have any." The dragon spoke uncomfortably. It was if she was afraid of Tias' reply.

"It has all been a bit much for me. I would love to have you as my friend but I am hoping to leave Pride and find adventure elsewhere. I may not be around for long."

"Do not worry. Distances are nothing to me." Cascadia stood and unfurled her gigantic leathery wings. "As you can see I am built to fly. The dragon squatted down again and seemed deep in thought for a moment. "I have something for you." Cascadia moved over to her egg. Carefully moved it to the side and started to claw into the earth below. Hitting something solid she breathed fire onto it and broke a bit off. Tia caught the sparkle of a gemstone as the dragon replaced the bigger chunk into the ground and replaced the egg.

"If you are to leave Pride then you must take a bit of Pride with you. Look after this crystal and use it to call me if you need me. Can you stay here for a while?"

"I must go. I have to warn the town. That's why I fell. I remember now. Ooh, I must go. I must go. There is an army about to attack Pride I must warn them. I need your help now!" Tia became anxious and agitated almost hopping on the spot. "how do I get out of here?"

"Hold on tight, friend. I will get you home. I will watch your back. It will take more than an army to conquer this town."

With that, the dragon waited for Tia to hold on to her neck and flew. Through the dark. It was as if she could fly through the rock and out the other side. Speeding over the sea and back to the harbour.