Ardeshiri had needed her sister's support, or she would have given up the very idea of a frenzy more times than she could count, especially once the date actually arrived. Siebel had stuck to her promise, however, and cheerfully dragged her and her own bond, the human Ineju, to the site the morning of the frenzy. There were dragons everywhere, all as alien as Siebel had said they would be. Some were frightening, but most were friendly, and for a while, while they waited for afternoon and the official start of the events, both sisters managed to entertain themselves with socializing.

For the first time Ardeshiri could remember, she saw dragons other than her sister and herself who did not have wings. The Avengaean Earth and Water dragons-- apparently they were named for the magical elements of their world-- both all wingless, the former covered in round, hard stone-like things, and the latter webbed for swimming. They weren't even the strangest sights outside of Driolo. Other Avengaeans were there: a number of fluffy Fires, a cheerful, older Air, and a pair of them who were of two breeds. There were a pair of snake-like dragons which seemed able to fly, one of them even without wings, and a couple ferocious creatures, one which was more like a rabbit than a dragon and another which was apparently diseased. Ardeshiri didn't know why they'd let that one even on the premises, but as it was she gave her a wide berth. The worst, though, was a dragon that seemed more shadow than solidity. Everyone gave him a wide berth.

The frenzy was finally supposed to start. Ardeshiri stood anxiously with her sister as the black centaur-like creature-- supposedly another from Avengaea, a daemon-- fitted a band of cloth that sparkled faintly to one of her forelimbs. Siebel had already been gifted with hers by the same daemon, and though Siebel had tried cheerfully to engage him in conversation-- apparently not nervous at all-- he'd only grunted, not giving her more than a couple words in return.

"How can you not be nervous?" Ardeshiri asked incredulously as Siebel trotted casually towards the launching field. Or launching strip of desert.

"Me? Nervous? Come on, Arde', I'm never nervous. You shouldn't be, either."

"I've never done this before," she protested. "What if one of the mean ones decides they like me?"

"There's not very many of those, and if any latch onto you, I'll protect you!" Siebel made a growling sound that was more comical than threatening, and Ardeshiri laughed despite herself. "Besides, Arde', it's not as if you can't escape. You're a teleporter, for sand's sake!"

"That's true," Ardeshiri admitted, perking up a bit.

In fact, as they sat down to wait on the sun-warmed sand, she was starting to feel quite a bit better about the whole thing. Still nervous, but it was a good kind of nervous. She felt a little tingly, the river beside the field made a friendly sort of babbling sound, and the afternoon sun was pleasantly warm on her fur. Other dragons were starting to gather, all wearing the same arm bands, males and females, of all different kinds that she'd seen or met since their arrival. Most of them, thankfully, looked friendly-- and some of them even looked as nervous as she probably did.

There was no obvious sign when the flight, or run, or whatever it was began-- except, of course, for the first dragoness leaping into flight. Demulcei, the Avengaean who'd been the instigator of the whole event, was also the one to begin it, leaping up with a downbeat of her wings and a spray of sand. ::All right, lets do it!:: she called out over the dragons assembled, and a whole host of flighted dragons followed her.

Ardeshiri very nearly froze on the spot, pleasant tingly feeling or not, at the sight of the large Earth dragons pounding into a run not far from her. She was supposed to run, give them something to chase-- and catch-- but for that one instant, she couldn't move.

Then Siebel gave her a shove with her shoulder, laughing. "Race ya!" she dared.

That was familiar enough to break her moment of fear, and as good a reason to run as any! Laughing a bit, herself, she exclaimed, "You're on!"

Both of them took off; neither was really faster than the other, and they both won or lost about evenly against each other. Ardeshiri's greater height and longer stride matched Siebel's increased speed, so they could never quite match paces but were well-matched in a race. Now, they ran nearly side by side, one pulling ahead now and then for only a few paces before the other caught up to overtake her again. Combined with the joys of running and racing and being with her sister, the scents and stirrings and the chases over her head seemed almost to fit, unfamiliar though they were.

::You'd better believe that I'm winning!:: she taunted her sister, revelling in the motion and throwing her words telepathically rather than trying to gasp them out.

::So not!:: Siebel laughed. ::I'll be sitting on that hill before you have a chance to take ten more steps!::

::No way! You're gonna eat my dust, Siebel, just watch!::

::Mind if I join in?::

Ardeshiri was so startled by the masculine mind-voice that she lost several paces, and Siebel raced ahead. ::Ack, Siebel!::

::Hey, this was your idea in the first place, sis!:: the red dragoness tossed over her shoulder. ::Looks like I win!::

::No fair!:: she called back.

The fluffy dragon-- it was one of the Avengaean Fire dragons-- was gliding along beside her as she loped at a slower pace. He was one of the friendly ones; she thought his name was Char-something-or-other. Well... she had come here to take a temporary mate, after all, and he was kind of cute. And he was certainly one of the nice ones. She tossed her crest at him, almost coyly. ::This'd better be worth it,:: told him with a wrinkle down her muzzle, even as she was slowing down, ::for loosing my my race!::

The Fire dragon laughed, back-winging heavily to slow himself down, as well. ::Maybe I'll make it up to you,:: he said amiably.

And, actually, he rather did.

Chapter Three

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