Auli strode forward a few paces. "Honored dragon, may I ask a favor?" she asked.

"What is it, small one?"

"Could you come down here and let me see you up close?"

Sapphire said nothing, but lowered her head to where she was just in front of and above Auli. The Sha'Kar reached out with a trembling hand and put it on Sapphire's snout, over the lips but under the nose, touching her small diamond scales tentatively. "Her scares are very smooth," Auli told them. "And they're warm. They feel nice." She traced her finger along the seam between two scales, and that made Sapphire snort and flinch away slightly. That act made Auli stagger back in sudden fright, into Tarrin, who grabbed her and steadied her so she wouldn't fall down. The Sha'Kar finally showed fear.

"Sorry, but that tickled," the dragon told her with an amused look. "I didn't mean to startle you."

Auli laughed ruefully. "Well, I almost wet myself, but it was worth it!" she told her with another infectious laugh.

"This is Wizard magic, Sapphire?" Dar asked, who was literally climbing up onto the book to look at what was in it.

"It is," she answered. "Your Wizards would be able to read these pages, young human. It is written in the same language as theirs. Even though we dragons use it a slightly different way, Wizard magic is still Wizard magic. If you weren't a Sorcerer, you may even be able to learn it yourself."

Tarrin and Auli climbed up onto the cover of the book and peered over huge pages that looked to be made of stiff leather and looked over the page. The pages were written in glyphs that were two spans long, large glyphs that the dragon could read easily. Tarrin realized that as big as Sapphire was, if she could even manipulate a human-sized book, the writing in it would be so incredibly tiny to her that she probably wouldn't be able to make it out. The humans and Sha'Kar were like small dolls to her, easily fitting in her forepaw, and anything smaller than them would be very hard for her to scrutinize. It was like sand. Tarrin could see a grain of sand, but Sapphire probably would not be able to do so. Sand seemed grainy to him, but to someone like Sapphire, it would be as fine as the most powdered dust, almost as fluid as water. Even now the dragon's massive bulk loomed over them. From nose to tail, Tarrin realized that the dragon was about five hundred spans long. Over half of it was tail, and about another sixty or seventy was head and neck, but that still left about a hundred and fifty spans or so worth of body. Her legs had to be at least thirty spans long each. Probably closer to forty. Everything about her was massive.

Tarrin, Auli, and Dar climbed down off the book, and the dragon entertained them with a story about her five dragon children and her home back at the border between the desert and Saranam. She told them all about how they studied magic and enjoyed their existence, about her duties as shazil to watch over the clans in her territory and keep them from fighting too much with the copper dragons that shared their preferred territories, and how they would watch the Selani when the nomadic peoples filed through their range. The dragons knew that the Selani knew that they were there, but they were very good neighbors. They respected the dragon's territory, moving through it quickly, and never trying to find their lairs or bother them when they did see them up on the mesas sunning themselves. Because of their amiable nature, Sapphire and her clan discouraged humans from Saranam from trying to invade the desert, as they had a penchant for doing.

"Where is your male dragon?" Auli asked. "You know, the father of the babies?"

"Males live more or less alone, Sha'Kar. Female blues don't take permanent mates. When we are ready to mate, we make it known, and allow the males to compete for our favor. The one that proves himself strongest, most intelligent, and most magically experienced earns the right to sire my clutch."

"That sounds fun," Auli said with bright eyes. "At least your kind's advanced enough not to limit yourself to the same old male all the time."

"I've had the same mate for the last few centuries, Sha'Kar," Sapphire answered. "Tenshale is the oldest, wisest male in the eastern marches. Every time I want to raise a clutch, he proves most worthy. I've grown quite fond of him," she admitted.

"Sapphire isn't your real name, is it?" Tarrin asked suddenly.

"I've grown fond of it," she smiled at him. "Before they called me Midnight because of my dark scales," she said, unfurling her wings and letting them marvel at how handsome her scales were, "but called names are changed easily. Since I keep my given name a secret, I choose how I want others to address me. When I get back, I'll let it be known that from that day forth I am to be called Sapphire, and that will be that."

"Why keep your name a secret?" Dar asked.

"A name is a powerful thing, Arakite," Sapphire answered seriously. "Especially for beings of great power, like myself. You can control someone if you know their true name and the right spells. A Wizard that knew my true name could use it as a weapon against me. No dragon will take that risk, so the only time a true name is voiced is the day we give it to our hatchlings. We then give them a called name and use that from that day forward."

"I didn't know that," Dar mused.

"Then your trip here wasn't in vain," Sapphire said, looking down at them. "No journey is for vain if you gain knowledge in the course of it."

"You're really wise, Sapphire," Tarrin said appreciatively.

"After two thousand years, I would hope so," she said with an amused look.

"Auli!" an enraged voice came from Auli's amulet. It was Ianelle, her mother. "Aulienne, you come back home this instant!" she raged. "And while you're coming back, make yourself useful and see if you can find Tarrin! Kimmie's frantic!"

Auli looked at Tarrin and laughed. "I think it may take me a while," she said with a wink. "I just can't seem to find you anywhere!"

"Why aren't you answering her, Auli?" Dar asked.

"Because I never do," she told him with a mischievious grin. "She knows I won't. That's why she just yells at me."

"Well, at least tell her that Tarrin's alright," Dar said. "Kimmie's worried. You can do that without giving yourself away, can't you?"

She shook her head. "If I use the amulet, my mother can track it right back and pinpoint where I am. Then she'll Teleport here so fast I won't have a chance to get away. I made that mistake once before, Dar," she grinned. "I learn from my mistakes."

"You are here without permission?" Sapphire asked intently.

"Well, we didn't think we'd need permission to visit you, honored dragon," Auli said with innocent eyes. "After all, doesn't Tarrin have the right to come see you whenever he wants?"

"You talk fast, Sha'Kar," Sapphire said with amusement. "Almost as fast as Skulker, my youngest and an endless handful for me. Always getting into trouble. You two seem cut from the same cloth." She rose up a little. "But you received orders from your mother, and you will obey them," she said bluntly. "I will see that you get back to the town."

"B-Back?" Auli stammered. "You're taking us back? You mean you're going to fly us there?"

"No, child," she said with a smile. "You are going to answer your mother, and she will get you back to town."

Auli looked a little crestfallen, but even she wasn't crazy enough to defy the dragon. She put a hand to her amulet sullenly. "Tarrin's with me, mother," she answered. "Me and him and Dar were out walking, and we decided to come visit with the honored dragon. We'll-"

Whatever they were going to do would remain a mystery, as Ianelle, tall and regal and with her blond hair and handsome face reminding Tarrin that she was definitely Auli's mother, simply appeared not three steps in front of them. Her eyes were very cold, very hard, and she had her hands on her hips in an aggressive posture. " What are you three doing over here?" she demanded.