Thisss stood still, too stunned to speak. The lizardpeople had lived in the swamp for thousands of years, and although they did not record their history in books they told many stories of the times that came before. They spoke of times when the size of the swamp waxed and waned as the weather patterns around them changed, of the great war between the lizardpeople and the goblins, and of the recent arrival of the warmbloods into their lands. It was only their oldest stories that told of the dragons and their mysterious disappearance. Before that there were no stories because before that, the lizardpeople had been slaves.

Thisss finally managed to collect his scattered thoughts and construct a sentence. "We cannot allow ourselves to become mindless slaves again, I would rather slay myself than suffer that fate."

"I feel the same way my son, as do all our tribe," said the matriarch sadly. "But there is no need for despair. There was more to the shaman's vision than has yet been revealed. There is hope, however slim. And it is you who are the focus of our hope, for you were a part of the shaman's vision. It is from him that you will learn what you must do to save our tribe. I only ask that you return here once again before you depart. When you leave the swamp I fear that you will be gone for a long time and I would taste your scent once more before you go."

Thisss bowed his head and walked away with a troubled mind. Although the lizardpeople used the word 'slave' to refer to their domination at the hands of the dragons it was in fact far worse than the word implied. They had not been constrained merely by fear of pain or death. They were a proud people and would have fought and died bravely if that were the case. By 'slave' they meant that they were completely and utterly dominated by the dragon's voice, by its magic and the sheer force of will behind it. When a lizardperson heard a dragon speak they became completely subjugated by it. They would obey instantly and without question any command that was given to them, and would continue to follow that command for months to come, even if they had no further contact with the dragon. From Thisss' viewpoint a single dragon returning to their lands would be worse than the whole tribe being destroyed in war, which at least would offer the chance of an honourable death. The invasion must be stopped at any cost.

Thisss found the shaman gathering herbs not far from where he had spoken to his mother. The old lizardman had obviously been waiting for him. The two lizardmen touched muzzles and then Thisss waited patiently for the shaman to speak.

"Welcome home Thisss son of Elquisss," he said solemnly. "I am sorry that the conditions of our meeting are not more joyous, I have a heavy burden to lay upon your shoulders."

"My mother has told me of the dragons," Thisss replied. "I will do whatever it takes to prevent their return."

"Very well," answered the shaman, "I will now tell you of the rest of my vision. I ask that you do not share what I am about to tell you with the rest of the tribe. It must remain a secret between you, myself and the matriarch alone."

The shaman then told Thisss the full description of what he had seen. The visions only ever came in pictures, there were no words or sounds to give clarity to what the shaman saw and sometimes the images could be ambiguous. On this occasion however, the message seemed very clear. It began with a dark sky over the mountains far to the east of the swamp. Out of the darkness flew an enormous red dragon and beneath its outstretched wings walked an army of trolls, goblins, minotaurs and myriad other monsters. At the forefront of the army were strange creatures. They were roughly man sized and man shaped but that was all that could be discerned about them as they had no facial features and their skin was a uniform grey. The dragon and its army laid waste to all the lands they passed through as they travelled towards their destination, an enormous rectangular castle. Standing before the castle were five figures; an elf, a dwarf, a human, a half-elf and Thisss. A golden light was about them and they did not wait but strode forward to meet the advancing army. Just before the two groups came together the dragon swooped down upon the five heroes intending to incinerate them with its fiery breath, but as it drew close the human held up a glowing stone and used its power to drive the dragon away.

When he had finished describing his vision the shaman sighed and reached up to stroke the necklace of blue feathers that he wore around his throat.

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"I have been the shaman of our tribe for fifty years now and I have never experienced a vision as intense or as bleak as this one. We lizardpeople will fight this battle with courage and determination as we have always done, but the vision makes it clear that this will not be enough. It is you who will save us Thisss, us and all the people of these lands. You will do this not by defeating the dragon yourself but by protecting the one who does, the one who will wield the dragonstone and drive the foul beast back over the mountains from whence it came. I have no doubt that you have already met this human and her companions and that you have earned their respect and trust. You will need both if you are to survive the things that are to come. You must leave us again now and return to the warmblood lands and to these new companions. Tell them what I have foreseen Thisss, tell them of the danger we all face and protect them with your life, for that is your duty to your tribe and to their future."

Knowing that he had been dismissed, Thisss bowed his head and returned back the way he had come. His mother was still sitting where he had left her and she spoke as soon as he arrived. "I know that you will wish to leave immediately my son, such is your commitment to your duty, but I spoke to the shaman before you arrived and it will not matter if you leave now or on the morrow. Stay and feast with us tonight before you leave and tell me of your time with the warmbloods. It will strengthen you for the return journey and it will strengthen my heart as well."

Thisss nodded his assent and sat down beside his mother to tell her the tale of his past year in the warmblood lands. She hissed with pride as he recounted his victories during warrior training, and thumped her tail on the ground in appreciation when he spoke of his decimation of the goblins in their cave. However her most heartfelt praise came when Thisss told her of the battle with the giant spider, and the humble apology he had made to his teammates afterwards.

"You have grown in wisdom as well as strength while you have been away my son," the matriarch said with obvious pride in her voice. "I feel as though you were barely more than a hatchling when you left these lands but you have returned as a man, albeit a young one. I will not lie; there were many times that I doubted whether I had made the right choice by sending you away. It was such a big challenge for someone who had only just passed the rite of passage and become a full member of the tribe, but you have repaid my trust handsomely my son."

Thisss swelled with pride in response to such unadulterated praise, the scales on his back flushing closer to blue than green. "I will always do my best for the tribe mother, whatever it may ask of me," he said.

"I know you will, my son," Elquisss answered, "as will all your brothers and sisters in the tribe, but that will not be enough if we do not change our ways and accept that our own future is inevitably tied to that of the other races. I doubt that they will ever understand our customs or our way of life but we must find common ground with them if we are to survive. Isolation has long protected us but it will be our death in the future if it is allowed to continue. This is why I intended you to be the first of many lizardpeople that we would send to Gravenhall.”

Thisss bowed his head in acceptance even though he was still coming to grips with the idea of integrating with the other races. Like many of the lizardpeople he struggled to see how the warmbloods could be a threat to a tribe as strong as his. After spending a year at Gravenhall and witnessing the power of its mages and clerics he knew that they were a force to be reckoned with but he couldn't understand why they would ever try to invade the swamp. After all, it had nothing they wanted. As if reading his mind, his mother spoke once again.

"No my son, it is not the magic and power of Gravenhall that I fear but rather the normal humans, elves and half-elves that populate the land. Compared to us they are weak and they are cowardly, but they are also many, and their numbers grow every year. We have been able to live for thousands of years in this swamp only because our numbers are static, there is little growth or decline over time amongst our tribe. This is not the case for the warmbloods. Their numbers increase every day, as does their appetite for land and resources. One day that appetite will drive them to our swamp and even our ferocity and our fighting skills will not be enough to turn back their massive numbers. So, I have chosen to follow a different path, a path of friendship and necessity. We will make ourselves so invaluable to the warmbloods that they will leave us in peace because it is in their own best interests to do so. This is my hope for the future and it is my hope for you and all of our descendents, but it will be for nothing if the dragon comes to enslave us or destroy these lands."

And then for the first time Thisss felt the full weight of the task he had been given. He knew his duty and he would not run from it, but in his heart he wished that he had not been chosen as the lizardpeople's ambassador, and that he was free to stay in the swamp with his people and with his family.