Thisss walked contentedly down the road, enjoying the feel of the dusty earth beneath his feet. He liked walking and considered himself very good at it, especially compared to the warmblooded races he had been spending time with lately. The difference mostly came down to the fact that he had a truly magnificent tail while they, of course, did not.

It had been a largely uneventful journey so far although there had been the usual indignities associated with travelling through warmblood country, such as the pervasive smells of their cooking as well as their own monkey-like stench. There had also been warmbloods pointing, warmbloods running away and sometimes warmbloods running away while screaming, but thus far no one had actually tried to attack him with a pitchfork or any other garden implements which was pleasing. Now that he was close to ending his journey and once again squeezing the mud of the swamp between his toes he felt very happy, euphoric even. He couldn't wait to feel the water flowing over the scales on his back and rejuvenating their iridescent shine. He wasn't, however, one hundred percent, completely happy. There was that one unpleasant spot of uncertainty, that one nagging thought that kept cropping up in the back of his mind. Why had he been called home?

Many things had changed for the tribe when the old matriarch had died eighteen months ago. A new leader had been selected and she was very much a forward thinker, constantly pondering the future and how to prepare for it. She also happened to be Thisss’ mother. It had been strange at first, having his egg mother selected as the leader of their tribe. He had been incredibly proud of course, and absolutely agreed that she was the best choice for matriarch, but it had certainly changed their relationship in ways that he was still getting used to.

One of the new matriarch's first decisions had been to send Thisss to live with the warmbloods for a period of five years. It was his responsibility to perform an in-depth study of their ways in the hopes of improving relations between his tribe and the warmblood community. Thisss' mother was no fool and knew that the lizardpeople were vastly outnumbered by their warmblood neighbours. She'd decided that the safest long term approach was to first become friends with these unusual creatures, and then become indispensable to them in some way or another. Hiding in the swamp and hoping the warmbloods didn't burn it down to make more paddocks for their livestock was not a strategy that the new matriarch could continue to support. There had been some grumbling about this plan of course, there always was when big changes were made, but she was the matriarch of the tribe and her word was law.

Thisss had not relished the idea of spending five long years living among foreigners, but he knew his duty and had not complained when the task was assigned to him. Gravenhall had been chosen as his base of operations for two reasons. Firstly it was the easiest way for a lizardperson to obtain gainful employment among races that would almost certainly fear and distrust him. Secondly it gave Thisss the chance to have interactions with a wide swathe of the general populace. So far it had all been going very well. Thisss had of course excelled at all of the warrior training Gravenhall had to offer. He'd also learned a lot about warmbloods in the process; their strengths and weaknesses as well as their virtues and vices. But now he'd been called home almost four years early and he wondered greatly what could have happened to cause this change of plan. With a sigh that sounded more like a hiss the huge lizardman returned his focus to walking majestically down the road. By this time tomorrow he would be back in his beloved swamp, bathing in the mud and slime of his home. Then he would have his answer.

------------------------

There was no clear boundary that marked the edge of the swamp where Thisss had spent almost all of his life. The transition was gradual; the ground became slowly soggier, the grass plants slowly reedier and the tree trunks slowly mossier. When this change began to occur Thisss increased his pace, driven on by the desire to once again hunt and swim through the bayous of his home. It wasn't long before he was doing just that with strokes of his powerful tail driving him towards the centre of the swamp.

The lizardpeople built no houses as they were untroubled by inclement weather and preferred to sleep under the open sky. However, they were not nomads and had a permanent settlement deep in the heart of the swamp. They split their time between this home base and venturing throughout the swamp to hunt and patrol its outskirts for intruders. It was one of these patrols that provided Thisss with the first contact with his own people in over a year. They greeted each other in traditional fashion by bumping the sides of their muzzles together before speaking.

"Welcome Thisss," said the largest of three lizardpeople. "It has been too long since we last tasted your scent. It is good that you have returned."

"Thank you Quisss," Thisss replied, "I have missed all of you very much. Do you know the reason that I have been summoned home?"

"I do not," Quisss answered, "but we were told that the shaman has had a vision. It was a vision of pain, suffering and death. We have been told that we must prepare ourselves for sudden change."

Thisss nodded. "In that case I should hurry onward. If it is still my duty to live in the warmblood lands then I hope that our paths will cross once again before I leave."

Quisss nodded before leading her companions away towards the borders of the swamp. Thisss continued his journey inward, troubled by the news he had just heard. The shaman was a mystical figure amongst the lizardpeople. The matriarch's word was law, but in spiritual matters the shaman always had the final say. Shaman only ever had visions before times of great upheaval and change, and those visions were never wrong. Something terrible was coming and the lizardpeople were going to have to adapt to survive.

When Thisss reached the settlement he was immediately brought before the matriarch and the two lizardpeople touched muzzles before she spoke. "You have been away so long my son, it is good to taste your scent again. Nonetheless, I am sorry for calling you back here before your task was finished. Have you made progress in that endeavour? Have you earned their trust?"

Thisss lowered his head in respect before he spoke. "My progress has been slower than we'd hoped. It has only been in the last few weeks that I have become part of a small, newly formed tribe. Since then my progress has accelerated. I have earned their trust and they have accepted me as their leader. You were right to send me to them. Their bodies are weak compared to ours they have other skills and abilities that will make them powerful allies."

"That is well," his mother replied, "for we will need all the allies we can muster in the times ahead. The shaman has had a vision. The dragons are going to return."