As soon as they got back to Aaru, Kalie went into a whispered conclave with Cola and Quinn.  The upshot was they left again immediately, setting the dragon grapevine humming, while she gathered the others and made plain the situation.  Kalie had decided and Quinn and Cola agreed, that for the time being they needed to keep what had happened today quiet.  They needed time to convene a meeting of the senior dragons and discuss things.

"Where will you meet?" Jelly asked, hiding her disappointment.

"Dragon World," Kalie said as she sent a mental message to Marc and Dinah, telling them she need to talk to them.  She ignored the ripple of unease that spread through the dragons around her in the dragon bay.

"But what happened when you disappeared?" Jelly demanded. 

Kalie brushed her nose along the top of Jelly's head affectionately.  "They called us to them.  But things aren't like we imagined."

Marc and Dinah arrived not long after they'd been invited to come down to the dragon deck. Marc had a scotch with him.  He and Dinah had a fair idea of what the dragons wanted to talk about, but were a bit unsure about how the dragons might feel about it all. Certainly they knew the humans hadn't much liked what had happened.

"Hullo," Marc said, as he was greeted by Ivy and Igor, both of whom seemed unconcerned about the adult dragons.

"Hello sweethearts," Dinah said to the twins, patting them as she got comfortable.  "Where's Quinn?  And Cola?" she asked looking around.

"They're taking word to the others," Kalie said.  "That we must all gather.  The senior dragons first and then most likely all of us.  Will you come too?"

Marc's eyebrow rose.  "I'm honored. Thank you for the invitation. Certainly, both of us will come," he added, when Dinah nodded her agreement.  "I guess you're hoping to keep this on ice until you senior dragons get a chance to figure out what it means? It's something you've been looking forward to for so long.." he let the thought drift away, remembering his own long range plans and how often they didn't live up to his hopes either.

She nodded.  "Am I right that you think there will be a war?"

He frowned. "I don't see a way around it, Kalie. We won't go looking for one but if someone comes in with the idea that they can just subjugate us... well, we'll fight."

Kalie nodded again.  "We will meet on Dragon world in the morning," she said.  "We always thought when the time came we would...that it would be so simple and straight forward."

"It still can be," Marc told her. "You have wanted this for eons. Go to them if that's what you want. Don't make it complicated."

"Are we children still," she asked, "who only want to play?"

"No you aren't," Marc replied quietly. "But it isn't necessarily your fight, either. We treated you like children. We used you to fight our wars. Callously from what I've seen, using your loyalty.  I wouldn't blame any of you for deciding you've had enough."

"Why isn't it?" she asked.  "You are our friends and we love you.  Besides, the fight won't just be here, but there as well, so leaving wouldn't spare us."

"Yes we are friends. And we love you. And I'm not sure I could stand it to see a dragon fall," Marc replied looking where Ivy and Igor were playing.

"We are extremely hard to kill," she said, her eyes softening.  "Dragon World is our home, it's where we began.  We've never allowed anyone there but the First Ones."

Marc and Dinah exchanged a look. "Then we are even more honored that you are asking us." 

"You know things we don't, understand them in ways we need to, but don't," Kalie said. 

Marc frowned. "I'll be glad to talk to the elder dragons, but I'm not sure how much help I'll be. But whatever you want to know, I'll do my best to explain. Dinah too, right, sweetheart?"

Dinah nodded.  "Kalie, what do you want, hope for, from all this?  I mean I know what you've wanted forever, but..."

Kalie smiled.  "We will never be like you, building and inventing.  We have never wanted that.  As well, we aren't who we were when they left us here," she said.  "Then we truly were the children humans think we still are.  They were like our parents, or older siblings.  Even with the changes that still remains, only now we are their equals, not their charges as they know.  But we were also created for them, to be their partners, their companions and friends.   And now we can be, truly.  As we are with you and Marc.  Or hope we are."  

"We hope you think of us as friends, and equals," Marc replied. "But it's your choice, Kalie. You and the others. And no one who loves you would think badly of you if you followed your dream and rejoined the First Ones."

"We aren't worried about that," she said.  "Or rather I'm not.  It's more about what we will think of ourselves.  What we've shared with you has never been something we've taken lightly.  I can't believe we'd start seeing it as something to be thrown away now because we've reached this point."

"Yes, I understand that. Perhaps better than you might think," Marc replied.

"Thank you for saying you'll come."  She grinned, her sparkle returning.  "It will be fun.  We'll all be there."

"You're always fun. But more dragons makes for more fun," Marc replied, smiling to see her returning to her usual self.

Nicco came running in to Carmine the moment he returned to the Villa from an appointment in Firenze. Carmine smiled and swung the child up into his arms.  "Caro. Have you been behaving?" 

"Si!  I thought maybe you'd like to go up to the lake in the mountains with us tonight. Briony and Malachi and our dragons. Just us!"

Carmine laughed to hear him. "Si. I would like that, Nicco. Let me make a few arrangements and I will meet you down there, va bene?"

"Si, va bene!" Nicco shouted happily, finally getting Carmine to himself for awhile to play with.  Nicco raced down to the cavern.

Carmine watched him run off with an indulgent shake of his head, and then saw to a few things. It was only a few moments later he exited from the stairs into the cavern.

Nicco was there already as was Malachi. But the dragons were gone.  Carmine looked at the expression on Malachi's face and asked, "Caro?  Something is wrong?"

Malachi made a helpless sort of gesture.  "Nicco was telling us about tonight and she just said no.  She had something she had to do.  When I asked her what she wouldn't tell me.  When I asked her where she just looked at me and said she'd be gone a day or two."

"And this is not normal dragon behavior?" Carmine asked, as he took a seat beside Malachi, Nicco crawling into his lap.

Malachi shook his head.  "Once a year they all disappear, and are gone over night.  They never talk about it, they won't answer any questions about it.  But she's never done this.  It sounds awful, but she's never had anything to do but what I wanted since we've been together.  I don't know of any dragon who has.  And she always tells me what's going on with her."

"Well," Carmine said after a moment, "it cannot be dangerous, caro, or she would never have taken the babies with her. My advice is to come up and join us in the gardens. There is music tonight."

Malachi nodded, a bit forlorn.  "I'm sorry.  It would have been fun."

Carmine slapped him on the shoulder. "She loves you, caro. She will be back."

Julian zapped into the the villa only a few minutes late. He looked up at the roof and sighed. Puff was in the pool again then. Dammit. That brat. And without him.  He walked around the house but the pool was empty too.

"Puff?" he called.  "Puff?"  There was no answer, neither on the breeze nor in his mind.

"Uhm boss?" Tommy said.

"Yeah?" Stephen answered without looking up.

"The dragons are all gone."

"Then order some more," Stephen said, flipping to the back of the document he was reading. 

"Order some..." Tommy squeaked.  "Boss, are you listening?"

Stephen looked up.  "Yes.  You said the dragons were all..."  He stopped abruptly.  "Okay maybe I wasn't.  What do you mean gone?"

"They all just left, a little while ago.  Just flew off together, en masse.  After telling Eli they'd be back in a few days."

"And?"

"And that's it," Tommy said.  "Eli tried to ask where they were going and they just ignored him and left."

"Oh," Stephen said.