Jesi was not her real name. Of course - elves and spirits didn't have names like that. But none of the wizards and witches she knew had names like Je'hezbahalanoza'rajasz. Well, maybe some in the couple hundred years before her birth, but not modern ones.

Modern wizards were Harry and Randall. Witches were Iris or at most Sineus. Long unpronouncable names were a fasion statement that her elfin mother clung onto almost as much as she'd clung onto Jesi before letting her go to Domina's for education. Clung like ice on the trees in the far north where she was from.

Because she was only half-spirit, her father could only imbue a certain amount of his abilities in her before leaving on his journeys. Where did ice spirits go? They followed the winters. Since the mundane world was corrupting the weather of the world, he had to hide in more and more remote locations. Even more so, the elves and other forest creatures that used to run wild across every terrain.

Jesi missed her father - he had a low, full voice. Like the voice of a creaking tree in the weight of full snow. She looked almost nothing like him, save for her hair which was that icy-tipped white. His too had frosty blue ends - but he wore a big beard and his hair wasn't straight. Her mother's was fine and straight, she kept it quite short and looked very pretty that way. Her fair skin and bright eyes were mirrored in Jesi. She was a wild elf, not one of those long-domesticated horrifyingly ugly enslaved elves. A true elf, of lore. She parted with her daughter carefully, but did not have the courage to come to the school herself.

Upon her entry to House Domina, and begining to take classes in regular human magic, Jesi discovered not only that her name was too long for her friends, but that she was at a terrible disadvantage. The servant elves were not allowed to weild wands. And, since she was not human in the slightest, Jesi was not going to be allowed to buy one for herself. She had gold, that was hardly difficult to come by. But her oddly mixed heritage was now putting her in a bad spot.

Pouting, Jesi wandered the halls of House Domina, and noticed in the back of her mind that snow was falling outside. It would blanket everything nicely, just like home.

She felt also, the presence of an odd member of the student body. His footfalls told her who he was right off.

"Svedok," she said, tilting her head a little and turning like a snowflake on the wind. "What brings you out of class?"

"Well," he said, "I thought you could use a little cheering up. I heard about that whole wand thing."

"It doesn't make any sense, I mean, magical creatures need a focus just like humans."

"Sure, but magical creatures can do so much more than them without one, and that's what they're afraid of." Svedok, the half-dragon 'taur shaped son of Lucas Kalkin plopped his hind end down to sit when they'd reached the corner of the hallway. Two large windows looked out to the back of the castle, where the new sports field was being covered by snow. "They're always afraid of us, when it's really the other way around. There are so many humans..."

"But you're half human," Jesi said. She gave him one of those girl-eyes, "sort of."

"See?" He said, flexing his wings. "You could pass for human, just cover your ears a bit and don't do any magic without thinking about it. I can't - I can shapeshift," he tried it for a moment, "but it doesn't last long without concentrating on it..." he gained back his wings and long tail. He hadn't even lost his hind end.

"Yes, but what do you need a wand for anyway? You're half dragon, and you've got that beautiful black dragon for a partner!"

"Dairruinth is a lot of fun, now that we're studying books from Earth mages," Svedok said. "He only ever had access to his native Eien books. And he doesn't need a wand either," the dragontaur pointed out.

"Yes, yes... But that doesn't make me want one any less..."

"Well, how about you concentrate on a familiar instead?" Svedok suggested after a moment of just watching the snow fall. "You could find a pet, maybe a dragon-flit, or ..."

"Are you thinking what I hope you're thinking?" Jesi asked, and a big smile spread across Svedok's oddly inhuman lips.

***

"Welcome to Fukeru Ukuure," said a pleasant voice. Suddenly a flurry of feathers bombarded Jesi and Svedok, and caused the human-shapeshifted Dairruinth to chuckle, at least he didn't lose his size or shape because that might have been a problem...

Jesi stood in awe, the Fukeru was blanketed in snow too - but this was not her home. This was a place far far away! The colorful furred and feathered Fedra that Svedok told her about were flying everywhere. They were not large, not ridable like Dairruinth was in his dragon shape. But...

"They are beautiful," she told Danin, who had introduced himself and his own Fedra in greeting them. "We've got a few days for winter break, so... Do you think that the eggs will hatch before the break is over?"

"Don't worry about that, Jesi," Dairruinth said. He was towering even while human, and with ebony black skin almost wholly opposite hers. "We will take care of getting home in time." Then he glanced up at one of the signs near Danin and muttered, "hmmmm, library..." And moved away to go look through their books.

Svedok nudged Jesi when Danin asked for her name. "Je'hezbahalanoza'rajasz," she blurted out, "but you can call me Jesi."

"Thank goodness," Danin chuckled.

Jesi practiced her incantations while she was rooming at Ukuure, less disappointed now because she simply had all the snow and ice around her she could manipulate with her own innate magic. Snowball fights? Forget it - if she started one it would be the last thing you'd do. Ice sliding? Of course! She built a half-pipe.

She spent her days and nights in the blissful chill - not wanting to get too close to the fireplaces and heaters, her father had insisted she remain cool if her powers were to be used. She didn't mind, she never shivered or caught a cold.

Though, when someone dared another local to lick her and see if his tongue would stick...

There were so many eggs, Jesi couldn't count them all. But while she was there enjoying her time off from school, all winter long, they didn't stir an inch. It was only after the first dripping warmth of Spring that they began to shake. And then, they began to hatch!

All manner of colors and combinations hatched, from dusty violet to stunning cyan... And the eggs kept breaking... But they didn't come over to where Jesi stood. She wondered, maybe since they'd taken all winter to mature, maybe they didn't want any more winter in them. And that's all she was about!

There were apparently only a handful of eggs left, and all but a couple people - Jesi included - were left standing alone waiting. Worried, she gazed around. But there had been two eggs which hatched, and one trundled off to its bond.

The second fedra was light, light blue in colour. She padded up to the half-elven girl and smiled. I'm Lajaheth, Je'hezbahalanoza'rajasz, and I think your proper name is quite lovely, she said. Jesi laughed.

“You may, but then you don't have to twist your tongue around it. You just think it,” she replied, grinning. Lajaheth pondered this, then grinned back.

I suppose you're right, she said, and the last pair of bondeds headed off the field. Actually there was one solitary further bonding, but Jesi and Lajaheth missed it.

The moment that she could, Jesi began to research what kind of Fedra she'd bonded. While Lajaheth was busy eating and drying out her feathers, she commented, Ice and Weather, of course, and Jesi was quite happy with that.

Lajaheth flew overhead with glee, as they arrived back at House Domina. Since it was coming up on fall, and the place was warm and dry, the pair decided to put a little winter back into the house's landscape. Between the two of them, they'd soon covered the grounds, trees, and the whole of the castle with a fine white snow powder.

"So.... that's how it is, huh?" Said Zora from the large doorway, arms crossed and grinning madly. "When Leny gets back, you two should have a ball..."

Jesi laughed when Lajaheth asked who this Leny person was, so it was a complicated afternoon of explaining the weather-witch, and how some witches and wizards could control their stronger powers, and others couldn't.

I can control mine just fine! The fedra announced, fluffing her wings and perching on the outcropped gargoyle carving near the entrance. It growled at her, and momentarily she was found flying about the campus examining every single thing she might not want to sit on...

Jesi sat in on classes with more interest now. She had much to learn, and enjoyed hanging out with the others who had found draconic friends. Potions was working well for her, as a class, though she had to overcome her outright fear of fires and warmth to really benefit from the class. But Zora encouraged her to do so, because in many other ways she seemed confident and capable. "Conquer this, and you'll be able to move on to new things more easily," Zora said. Jesi took that information to heart.

With high scores in Potions and some Charms, Jesi was busying herself with History and Mathmancy. Neither of those were seemingly of much use to her, but history at least was a bit more fun than the weirdly behaving numbers... As she was ending the semester, Jesi felt sure that she would at least pass all her exams. Her reward for that would be something very special indeed.

Lajaheth had discovered there was a place that had dragons and snow all at the same time... Nidus Ryslen! If they could get everything ready, for Winter break they'd be visiting a lovely snowbound dragonry!

Struggling with the squirmy numbers, Jesi groaned and stood. She sought out the help of a 2nd year student, Fausto Salvatore, who was probably the school's best Mathmancy practicioner. Other students might have scoffed at a mere second-year, but House Domina was very different than other places, and encouraged kids to take the classes they'd be able to succeed in. Faust looked up, happy to have Jesi as a visitor, because she'd helped him out in Charms earlier in the year.

"What can I help you with, Jesi? And how is Lajaheth? She seemed really excited when I saw her this morning." He scratched his head, grinning, "And whatever it is, can I get in on it too?"

Jesi gave off a musical laugh, "Well she's found a dragonry, I think you'll have to ask Zora if you can come with me there. Right now, I need some help with these equations." At the mention of dragonry, Fausto's face brightened up. Obviously he wanted to go, so he helped right away.

"Oh these are the Diamante formations," he said looking at her scroll. "They're really good for analyzing properties of distance and depth." He helped explain this or that formation, and eventually Jesi felt that she understood well enough to put one or two into use, and into her exam later that week. She thanked him and ruffed his shaggy red hair, promising that she'd put in a good word with Zora about coming along to Ryslen.

By the time the weekend rolled around, and Winter Break was starting, the dragonry was full up with kids waiting to be flown home - what a great way to travel! And Zora had found her own dragon at last, what a beautiful gold! It was to her that Jesi walked, and found Fausto standing beside her already.

"Are you ready?" Zora asked. Jesi nodded, and Lajaheth flew overhead chittering and causing a downpour of prickly icicles. Jesi and Fausto nodded in unison, and were helped to mount the gigantic golden dragoness Calmath. Fausto was happy to sit between Jesi and Zora, he might have been so fidgety he'd have fallen off otherwise! The trip into the air was a thrill ride for the boy and both women - who could ever tire of riding a dragon?!

"It'll be easier to go through the Nexus, than to apparate," Zora said, "So hang on, hold your breath, and try to keep relaxed." She hunkered down a bit and the others did likewise, and Calmath went into a climb. She didn't have to, the fact is she just liked flying out in the open so much she just couldn't help it! At the peak of their arc, she shifted her attention on their destination in her mind, and then began her teleport.

**

The Nexus was quiet, chilled to the bone... but lit up like a holiday tree! It appeared that the souls of the dead, the travellers through the Nexus, and whoever else was visiting this space-between-worlds were glowing as brightly as stars. Perhaps a billion of them, moving in strings from place to place, time to time... It was clear that Zora was crying, but Jesi held together. Fausto hugged Zora tighter, unblinking and with a spreading warmth.

Outlines of 'spaces' such as a Nidus, the Den, and a variety of other places became visible, though none of those places really existed 'in' the Nexus. It appeared as though thousands of pink, yellow, blue, and green lights moved around strung from one locale to the next. A brightness stood at the center, at least one of the brightest areas, and Zora had to guide Calmath away from it. Not their destination, Alabaster wasn't on their agenda just now. They began to emerge from the Nexus but it was almost as though they hadn't left!

Nidus Ryslen was dolled up and covered in snow, and had lanterns strung about casting colorful light upon the evening scenery. Lajaheth was already there, it looked as though the journey through the Nexus hadn't phased her at all. They landed laughing and hugging each other - it was something special indeed to have seen what they saw in the Nexus, and even Calmath shifted into her human form to hug the others. "It was beautiful," she said, "I couldn't help myself from dawdling there.

"It was pretty, Ryslen is too," Jesi said, scratching Lajaheth's neck and settling into the snow with comfort.

"Are all those lights... people? Dragons?" Fausto asked quietly. Zora nodded, explaining that only some people were able to see through the darkness of the Nexus, mages like them often could, but psionics and very special technological effects could do it too. It didn't detract from the idea that they'd been let in on a secret viewing place for a gorgeous light display.

Jesi took Fausto's hand and they went to Ryslen, hoping that the clutch hadn't begun to hatch just yet...

Jesi and Fausto noticed that Zora had settled in along side Lucas, and both were attended by their dragons; well, their human-shaped dragons! There were a ton of people, but it was snowing and blustery for most of the time Jesi was there. While she felt more at home in this weather, it wasn't her home world, so she was a little distant.

But all that changed when the hatching began. There were just tons of eggs - and some little baby dragonets which had been born live not a few days or maybe even hours before everyone was led in. The massive sands had a red tint, though not because of blood, but since the sands of Ryslen were simply red.

Dozens of beautiful snowy-shaded hatchlings broke their shells, and even Fausto walked off with a gorgeous dragon of his own. But Jesi waited, something was gnawing at her and it turned out to be a certain dragon.

Jesi's attention was more on the eggs than ever, and just in time too. From the egg came an ice blue dragon, long and sinuous. His hide was marked in a diamondback pattern, in a brilliant blue, a silver, and snow white. The hybrid Hathian-Myrsilkian moved across the sands in a most magical way. This was so much cooler than a wand... (but she still wanted one.)

The hatchling wound his way across the sands until he stood before her. Hi Jesi. He said right into her mind, eyes shining and happy. I want to do magic with you. You're pretty.

The winter spirit laughed and threw her arms around the dragon. "Of course, Briski! Magic is what I do."

She didn't see Zora's chuckle and rolling eyes up in the stands, she was a tad preoccupied.

Briski knew that he was special, from the moment he bonded to Jesi. From the moment he hatched, in fact. To have come from the Flurry sands was one aspect of it, but to have such a special friend... And such abilities which could be trained by the instructors and dragons at House Domina! In time, he learned much about how to control ice and snow, mostly from Jesi herself. He learned to fly from the dragons around him. He grasped a lot about metals and forges - though he didn't need a forge to work with true ores - from Dakota the artificer. There were occasional elves - forest elves, not the wretched little servant elves that lived everywhere - that taught him things to do with his water magic.

It was the Light magic which he needed further help with. Thus, he headed to a place which his mother hailed from, Clan Akelara. It was winter break, Jesi and he could afford a little time away from House Domina. So they traveled quickly from their icy den in the country near the school, to the Crescent-shaped dragonry.

Though he was as bright and cheery as the day he was hatched, never let it be said that Briski was a simple minded dragon. He was able to soak up information easily, adapt to new things, challenge himself. He and Jesi would compete artistically, making ice items and creating mazes.

So here he found a pair of bonded females, both of which had a strong Light magic trait. And it was with them helping him, Briski learned that he had less talent for it than he thought. He could brighten an area, cause a magically-tuned stone to glow, and move light through different colors, but none at the same time, and he figured it was just as well - he was already quite talented in other ways.

But there were four tall spires with libraries in them - and it was in these where he learned all manner of other things! The history of his mother's kind, their habits and traits - which he shared only portions. Though he was a very strong ice mage, he knew better than to compare himself with pure Myrsilkans.

So on an afternoon that he'd spent a while inside, he stretched out - so long in body and tail - to get the kinks out of his spine. Down below, he spotted a lovely local dragoness sunning herself. Briski wanted to get out of the library, shake some life into his limbs, so he sent a thought to Jesi down below. I'm going to show off a little, if you don't mind.

Now why would I mind, you go right ahead! Jesi's thought came back to him from below. She fit in pretty well with the humanoids down there, they could talk about magic and whatever else, enough different that there would always be something new for them to discuss.

So for the moment, Briski had the wide open skies all to himself. There was nary a downdraft to be had, the warm air coming up from the ground was able to fill his sharp wings with lift. He soared over the sunning dragoness, who blinked and harrumphed. She slipped away, somewhere inside. Apparently his hybrid self wasn't of much interest to her.

However, word traveled extremely fast - not just around the Nexus but ... rather especially around females. He wasn't sure who she was, but she must have said something to another dragon, who poked her nose out, who went along and chatted to another - and within fifteen minutes, while Briski slid through the air enjoying the sun and the wind, there was a clump of varied females down below gazing up at him.

They were all large, some bigger than others - all reasonable enough matches for him.

He suddenly realized... he was the object of desire of more than half a dozen ready females! That would probably put Jesi in a tizzy, but just at this moment when he did an energetic loop in the cloudless sky, he didn't really care what his bond might think while he was enjoying himself!

He looked back down toward the group of females, who had split themselves up a little more. Now that they realized it was serious, this mating business, they weren't about to let each other in on their flight secrets! There were two in particular who could be heard even in the skies, hissing and yeowling at one another in anger or at the very least in competitive spirits. They were both feline-dragons, it seemed. The smaller of the pair poofed away in an explosive takeoff, probably to get away from the other's snarling.

She fluttered up into the sky, and it was there that Briski got his first good look, sort of, at her wings. They were hardly there, golden shapes which flapped too quickly to really see, and clearly they were more ornamental than functional. She was among the smallest of the group, and quite a lot tinier than Briski. But she was warm, her blue-black fur tickled a little when she sidled up to Briski's shoulder.

"You're very pretty," she purred.

And was abruptly interrupted by the second of the feline-appearaing dragonesses, who was darker and more mottled in color, and was quite a lot larger. Again the little one sped off in a puff of fur and glittery golden wing-beats. "Interesting," Briski said, tand turned a bit away. The other dragon followed his moves, and in the corner of his eye he noticed that the others had taken wing too!

This was turning out far more interesting than he thought it might! After all, he'd only come here to educate himself. But now... He had a pack of desirable females all vying for his attention! Down on the ground, he sensed Jesi's surprise, but didn't bother with a reply to her query about what he was doing. She'd find out soon enough.

The sturdiest of the group, a bold, burnished golden shaded Pernese, gave a loud bellow and swept overhead. You're mine, I think. She telepathically called to Briski. I don't know what you might think about those other little... twits, but I'm perfect, you need to follow me. It's more proper for a male to chase a female, after all.

"Need?" Briski said, aloud, his voice carried faintly on the wind. "I am merely flying, my lady," he kind of lied, as she spun upwards in a classic Pernese mating-dance move, "And while you're beautiful, you're not really ... my type."

With that, the gold harrumphed and snapped her tail toward him, nabbing him on the shoulder. It was a move meant to show power, something that Pernese males might find extremely attractive... But to Briski it meant she was a bit full of herself. Her great wings spread open and as she passed, she displaced so much air with them that Briski almost couldn't remain afloat! She had much bigger wings and was more sturdy than the others there - and he did have to admit that she was a lovely color. If she got over that attitude of hers, she would probably make a great mate for someone more appropraite.

Distantly, Briski could hear the cackling of the other females as the gold went back to wherever she'd come from. Briski wasn't too sure that he'd encourage that kind of thing - after all the sting of her tail snap was tiny compared to what her claws might do, and heavens forbid a bite! But she was of a species which didn't take kindly to multiple females flying together, and knew when to scoot out of the way.

He'd learned that fact from someone at House Domina, when their own dragons started acting a bit randy. He was too young then to really have gotten involved, but now...

What was interesting to note was that a second Pernese-type was also following him. A green with golden-tipped wings, a little less bold and a lot smaller, and clearly not fully Pernese. She held her own, as they flew across the skies, and he'd keep an eye on her. She was skilled in flight, but also he learned from watching as he snaked around himself and dove down, she was able to better predict where he'd be flying. Interesting.

Another green, with mottled speckles of bright silver on her hide, rose to greet him and swept her own tail around his nose. But she wasn't intent on smacking him silly, for that he was a bit grateful. She was overtaken by two others - a feathery-tipped green, and ...

She just kept going past - this red-and-cream marked dragoness. She was clearly not really flying with those two pairs of wings, there had to be something more than that keeping all of her aloft! "Helloooo," Briski said, and suddenly went into high gear. He wasn't trying to get away - like the Pernese females. He was pretty far from that actually. Briski wasn't really certain where to ... hold on, actually - but he found out soon enough. Ohrazah's delighted (and delightful) laughter filled the skies and for a moment, it looked like an explosion of rainbows had erupted around them. Perhaps it was a good sign - they both had light power! Ohrazah's sleek form was immensely fun to wrap around, they wove through the air like thread on the wind.

Finally, they separated, but the other girls had clearly not gotten the impression that it was the end of Briski's flight. Oh, not by a long shot.

The darker, larger feline dragoness approached, her heavy wing beats keeping up but barely, she wasn't as long as Briski. They might have weighed the same, but their proportions were all different. Ziry giggled, "did you enjoy yourself?"

"Why yes, I did!" Briski blurted out, before he realized it was going to lead to something less polite if he wasn't careful. She was making conversation! She didn't want to know how the sex was with some other female! "Have you seen the libraries here?"

"Oh yes, they're quite wonderful," she said, and they chatted while the other dragonesses took time to bathe below, or find something to chew on while they waited this out. But what was happening in the skies? It certainly wasn't mating! No, it was that Briski and Ziry had much in common and much to talk about!

Eventually, Briski said, "I do not think I could give you enough of myself, to be a proper sire to your offspring, Ziry, but I'm sure that you will find someone at the right time." They split up and Briski glanced down at the waiting batch of other females.

It was almost a moment later, just after Ziry had cleared the sky, when the little violet-blue and black feline popped back into the scene! What a change in pace that was, and Briski had to admit: it was her wings which intrigued him greatly, and ... he wondered what their little hatchlings would be like! What with his golden accents and hers...

The other females were growing more aware that their handsome suitor was willing to catch more than one of them. Obviously - but ... he would have to choose properly between two of the Pernese-type greens if he'd have either of them. It was clear that the silver-spotted Yinaleth was more chatty and friendly than the gold-tipped green Hariath, their disparate cultures were obvious when Hariath sped ahead and dove around below Briski.

"You turned down a gold," she said, a bit out of breath. She'd had to race up into the sky which was now filtered with the first strains of sunset. "That says a lot about you," she continued. However, it looked like Briski's attention wasn't on her, though he freely admitted (without saying so) that she was probably the brighter of the two. Yinaleth caught up, the smallest of the whole group, and tried to butt in. However, the greater size difference was obviously going to doom any attempts at mating she wanted.

It was, however, sort of clear to her that Briski wasn't going after her golden-tinted competition either. Now, she had to get back to her bonds - and try to explain that no, Briski didn't mean to hurt her feelings, not everyone can win a flight after all. And it was true that he'd turned down a gold.

There were still two greens left: one, the more bipedal shaped - and glowing - Raindraught, and the other the one with the lovely feather accents.

By this time, Briski was starting to feel the weight of the world again. He was an ice mage, not an air commander. If he had been perhaps he'd have stayed up in the skies to please all his lovely suit..er...esses... But as it was, his wing-arms were growing strained, and he hoped for any chance to glide or float on another updraft. The sun was setting, however, and the air growing cooler. Since there was not a hint of moisture in the air, he couldn't really shape the snow or ice to 'support' him, which was something he might have tried, having read about it just a few hours before in the libraries.

At last though, it was Raindraught that Briski chose to end the afternoon's flight with. Her company was enjoyable, peaceful, and he commented often that her markings and his would certainly draw attention!

When he did finally come back down to the Crescent's inner courtyard, he spotted one or another of the girls who'd come to fly for him. While it was difficult to formulate just the right words, he thanked each and every one of them (more or less, the golden queenlet had flown off long before now) for their consideration, and hoped they would find their right mates sooner or later.

"Preferably sooner," Sair'Banina chuckled, the others nervously laughing with her. They eventually split up - but now, what?

The three he'd found would want to remain on? So would he - they could transport back and forth to House Domina if need be, Jesi could probably just remain with him here for a few weeks while they worked out the details. But he was bound and determined to see the end of this. After all it would be an incredible learning experience, having offspring of his own!

Jesi and Briski along with Lajaheth were on another Winter break, another season at House Domina splitting the students up and allowing the staff some time with their own families if they had any. Since Jesi obviously didn't, but Briski did, they flew along the Nexus routes until...

Hey, I think.... I think I recognize one of those dragons! Briski alerted his bond, and shortly they had landed on the Healing Den's wide parking-lot entry. It bled into several different dimensions already, all of them covered in snow.

Sure enough, though, a brilliant green and red female came slipping up to them with a delighted sound. Briski was reunited with one of his offspring, Siere! But what was she doing here?

Why, showing off her own offspring! There had been a themed flight (so many of those, apparently, with such incredible results!) and now there were eggs and young waiting to be shown their partners. Most of them appeared to want some form of caretaker, some more attached than others. And while it was obvious that the green female that approached Jesi would have a close mental affection for the humanoid, it was more or less to her grandsire that she'd actually bonded.

I will learn much from you, Briski! She thought, eagerly. I am Tessiminiks! She wasn't nearly as long, and certainly not built in the same sinuous shape as the mostly-Myrsilkan, but it was still quite clear that they had enough in common to make a true family bond.

Her abilities with ... well, tinsel, were unexpected - but perhaps it was just Briski's inherited metal-magic at work? They were fire and ice, warmth and brightness. Jesi had to admit, that she might even be able to ride the dragoness a bit more easily than Briski. But don't tell him that.

Lineage

Mates and Descendants

Lineage

Mates and Descendants