Zag let out a roar as they drew near what appeared to be an out-of-place volcano, standing alone against the flatness of open scrubland and desert. Bron shortly followed suit, and they both descended in gradual circles until they lightly touched down at a spot that actually had a few trees.

“Get off here and rest in the shade,” Zag grumbled. He seemed distracted and kept looking at the nearby volcano.

Sure enough from that direction came an answering roar, as if the one it was emanating from had waited patiently for them to land before answering their challenge.

“Get off now, I am not sure how long this will take. I will send the boy back when we are done,” Zag told them with some insistence in his voice.

They all saw her emerge as they unloaded from Zag and Bron’s backs. She was just a bit longer from nose to tail than Zag, but not nearly as bulky. Her gleaming red scales were more of a ruby variant where Zag’s were the crimson color of blood and Bron’s trended towards a very deep reddish-orange color.

Liangfeng thought she was a lithe, sculpted, masterpiece of what a dragon should be. It more than blew away what she had imagined Zag’s mother would look like.

Thea was just suddenly struck how fast her environment, beliefs and relationships had changed. She was unable to escape being in awe of being this close to three of the most powerful and profound beings found in this world.

Chouyan gulped down her nervousness and scooted closer to Aisling. She was just unable to find comfort as more and more dragons entered the picture. It was like trying to convince herself that the stuff of her childhood nightmares weren't nightmares after all, and it just wasn't able to hold up when more of them kept entering the picture.

Aisling just sighed. She was nervous, although not for the same reasons as Chouyan. Her nervousness came from worry that Bron’s grandmother may not accept him, or if she did, then she may not accept her or their relationship. She looked over at Chouyan seeing her subconsciously move closer in her nervousness and gave her a resigned smile.

Bron and Zag didn't wait for all these thoughts to finish. They sprinted along the ground towards Zag’s mother with a speed no flying creature should possess.

They met head-on at roughly the same time in a mighty crash that threw a cloud of dust skyward. Before any of it even had time to drift with the wind Bron was thrown out of it and rolled along the ground, barely tucking his wings in to prevent them from serious damage.

Thea, watching this, was just astounded that there existed someone who could throw something that weighed that much such a distance. It did seem to settle Bron down as he was made aware of the difference in strength.

The movement inside the dust cloud soon receded to nothing and as the cloud settled they found that Zag had not fared much better.

His mother had him collapsed on his side and was standing with one of her back feet on his wing. She had his head mashed into the sandy soil of the desert with her front limbs and had her neck arched in a magnificent display of dominance.

Thea, Aisling and even the calmed down Bron were all shocked. All of them, having seen him fight at one time or another, had not expected this much of a gap to even be possible.

Liangfeng wondered if her strength was even something that could be compared to mortal beings, it had to be approaching the gods.

Chouyan decided to just retreat into her diplomating manners training and just not offend anyone here for the duration of the stay. This was too much for her.

Bron lifted off the ground and glided over to where the rest of them waited and upon picking them up leisurely walked back to give Zag time to explain the situation.

“Why have you taken so long to come to visit me Zaganursarrum?” his mother asked him using the language of dragons since they had not changed forms.

“I am sorry Mother, I lost track of time and became embroiled in several things,” Zag replied with a guilty look in his eyes.

“Anunnakisarratum has visited me several times even with her getting embroiled in ‘things’ as well, and she went off further than you did,” Zag snorted because he knew she was only half serious about guilt tripping him over this. “Who is the young dragon you brought with you?”

“My son, born of a human, his bloodline evolved just as you theorized would happen with partial-bloods,” Zag beamed at her, unable to contain his pride.

“Oh, so he’s my grandson, how nice,” his mother watched Bron approach their position with the rest of the party. “Anunnakisarratum never brought her child here before losing her entire family line.”

“Oh, right!” Zag exclaimed. “I’m pretty sure I found one of her descendants unless you’ve gone about in the world since I left.”

“Don’t be silly,” she admonished him. “Did you bring them here too?”

“She wouldn't have if I had asked her,” Zag explained. “She has attached herself to the right-hand man of the lady phoenix over there on The Boy’s back, and she needed him to keep their city from going up in smoke.”

“Can we speak the human tongue?” Bron asked as he made it to their position. “I’m not very good at speaking like a dragon and none of the rest would understand anyway.”

“Greetings, my grandson,” Zag’s mother greeted him still using the dragon tongue before she started shrinking down as she shifted to her human form.

“So, Zaganursarrum, for what reason has this assortment of beings been brought before me?”

Zag’s facial muscles couldn’t help but twitch at hearing her archaic dialect for the first time in a long while.

“The lady phoenix there has primordial flame, and The Covenant has been infiltrated by a bunch of humans with the ability to use a strange shadow or mist that corrodes things it comes into contact with.”

“Jann had spoken of such when he had arrived here,” Zag’s mother looked thoughtful. “I admit that such a thing is still hard for me to believe given Agios’ disposition towards humanity.”

“They seem to be able to manipulate the minds of beings to an extent, Lady Guardian Sharmelammusarratum,” Liangfeng interjected with a respectful bow.

“Would you be the young celestial serpent whom Jann considers his apostle?” Sharmelammusarratum asked of her.

“Lord Jann has referred to me as such, although I consider myself simply to be Liangfeng of the Long family,” Liangfeng responded with another polite bow.

“Well, as such, I am sure young Zaganursarrurum and the lady phoenix will manage to get more information than I have been able to from the mouth of Lord Ifrit,” Sharmelammusarratum said before turning to Zag. “Introduce the others to me, you have even forgone giving me my own grandson’s name.”

Aisling watched Sharmelammusarratum as Zag went through the introductions. She couldn't help but try to compare features between the family members. Her hair was of a lighter shade of black than Zag’s that hung down below her waist, it wasn’t gray, just not the deep midnight black that adorned Zag’s head.

Zag’s mother was as tall as, if not a finger’s breadth taller than him. It was something that stuck in Aisling’s mind as she would consider both Chouyan and Thea to be tall women, and they might not even reach her shoulders.

In spite of the height, her form was feminine to the point of being carved out of marble, to the point of making Aisling jealous. She was really hoping that the dragons would put on clothes sometime soon.

Aisling’s thoughts were interrupted when it was her turn to be introduced. She bowed, as best she could, trying to duplicate the impeccable politeness that Liangfeng had displayed earlier.

“You are the mate of my grandson?” Sharmelammusarratum asked her with a questioning tilt to her head.

“Yes,” Aisling’s voice trembled slightly.

Sharmelammusarratum leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. Aisling released the breath she had been unconsciously holding. Relief flooded her and she smiled.

“You may all refer to me as Shar if my name is too heavy for your tongues,” Shar told them. “Welcome to my lair.”

“When can we visit Lord Ifrit?” Thea asked as she glanced at the eggs in her hands.

Before a response could be had to that query a roar rang out that caused the grains of sand at their feet to bounce up and down.

Zag’s face paled like none of them imagined possible.

“Oh right!” Shar exclaimed lightly as if she had just recalled something important.