"True.  They might get lost if they wander too far." she said.

"Humans do generally have a poor sense of direction, so that probaly explains that behavior. When I first met the keepers, they were still young enough to have a sense of wonder about them. They were a little afraid when I first showed my true self, but they got over that quickly," she said, looking over to he stairwell when she heard some footsteps, "Looks like they sent someone already."

Peaking over the stairwell wall, a young child ducked back down when he saw Ahnah look over to him.

Goldenscale smiled and lifted her head to peek around the corner.  "Don't be afraid little one." she said in the human language so he could understand.  "No harm will come to you."  She ruffled her feathers.  Her voice had a somewhat childish quality to it, or so she had.made her voice sound.  She wondered whether the young boy would find her less I timidating if she she sounded young as well.

"I...I've never s-seen a dragon up close before," he stuttered, falling back when Goldenscale peeked around the corner. Slowly picking himself up, he made his way over to Goldenscale. "You're not like other dragons are you," he asked, carefully running a hand over the edge of Goldenscale's wing, "Dragons don't normally have feathers."

"You'd be right there, most dragons don't. There are only two native species of dragons with feathers and one from a world beyond ours. Goldenscale here is unique beyond that though. It would take me too long to explain, and you would still need an understanding of nature to understand that," Ahnah said with a smile, "There's more to her than what her appearance gives."

"Mother says all dragons are mindless feral craetures not meant to be controled by human kind. I see now that only part of that is true. A mindless creature wouldn't be able to speak. Oh, my name's Nathan by the way," he said, sitting down beside Ahnah, a small flare of magik surounding him for a moment, "There's nothing wrong with being unique. I just wish being unique wasn't so hard as a human. Mother says I can't be seen without my ring  because of something she doesn't want me or anyone knowing."

"I know she loves me, but she also wants me to be accepted by the other kids. She says I'm not fully human, that I contain part of a ancient defender. She wont tell me what the part is, just that I should never remove my ring. I did once, what I saw in the mirror was something I didn't recognize," he said, patting Goldenscale's head, "When I asked mom about it, she tried to deny it. She eventualy told me that I just need to avoid taking the ring off in public."

"Due to the ring, I have no trouble fitting in. I just have trouble understanding what I am. When I ask, mom only say, 'You'll know one day.' I just want to know what I am, even if it is something strange," he said, a quiet pur of his own rumbling in his chest, "She just doesn't want me knowing for some reason."

"We might be able to help there, what do you think Goldenscale," Ahnah asked, looking to Goldenscale, "We might be able to figure out where his differences come from."

"Well, it's worth a shot," Nathan said, taking off a smooth silver ring. After a brief flash of light, he could be seen as he really was. Covering the most part of his body was a course black fur. Covering his forearms and digigrade feet were thick  bluish grey scales and black claws. On both sides of his head, his ears were extended back in sharp points with the inside covered in a bright red fur that extended out around his eyes. His upper jaw was a chitonous beak that curved down over the felin like lower jaw. His once blue eyes now the same color red as the fur around themSrouting from the base of his spine, a thick tapering tail with the last foor covered in removable spikes. Along the outer sides of his arms, wing like protrusions with razor sharp edge were folded flat against his arms."So, any ideas," he asked, curling his tail around to rest it in his lap, "I've never seen anything like what I am in part."

"Can't say I've seen anything that would match you completely, but I've read of a creature that would be a fair match. The creature itself can only be found in the forest of ancients where the elemental pillars are hidden. If I remember, it's call a nargacuga, a psudo-flying wyvern," Ahnah said, pulling a book from her bag, "Along with the other creatures of that forest, they can command powerful primal magic. My only question would be why one would be out this far from the forest to court a human."

"Oh, wait, I think I have a book that would help," Ahnah said, digging through her bag again. A few moments later, she pulled out a diary like book labled "Hunter's Guide." Opening it up, she flipped through the pages before stopping on a page close to the back. "Here it is, Nargacugas. Creatures known for speed, stealth and mastery over the jungle bioms, and desert bioms in the case of the green sub-species. To be avoided on solo missions. All nargacugas have sharp edge wings attached to their forlimbs and tails that produce sharp, and poisonous in case of the lucient sup-species, spikes that can be shot out like arrows. When enraged the spike will fan out, making their tails equal to spiked clubs, and their eye begin leaving a deep red trail," she said, reading through the notes, "Most mature nargacugas are around the size of the average caravan cart. Lucient nargacugas are know to be roughly twice this size. While normal and green nargacugas are easy to track with one's eyes so long as they stay withing one's field of view, lucients can render themselves completely invisible except for their eyes."

"Wow, that's cool," Nathan said, pulling one of the loose spike from his tail. "I wonder why mom is so reluctant to tell me this stuff," he said, half to himself, "I can see why she makes me wear this ring though. It would be very hard to fit in looking like this."