The Magical Herd

A desert storm rages around Firecracker, Kaelin and you. Unable to see anything, you seek protection against the Kaelin's warm side while the wind howled and screamed about you. After what felt like forever, the storms stops as suddenly as it began. Taking a look around you, everything is different. You feel safe at first, Kaelin was of course native to this desert, but one look at him quickly changes you mind.

~The desert feels different,~ Kaelin says. ~But familiar in a way as well.~

You stand up to shake off the sand which managed to get into places you didn't even know you had. You take a couple of steps back then trip over something buried in the sand. It was a red egg.

Kaelin looks curiously at the egg for a moment then smiles. ~It's a drigus egg!~

*It appears to have beenlost here,* Firecracker replies. *Would you take care of it Kaelin?*

~Of course! My desert is large enough for the two of us. And some company would be nice.~

Then another storm begins, just a few swirlings of sand at first, then suddenly all is hidden by the scowering wind.

When the storm cleared, you could tell you had returned to Kaelin's desert. But not with an egg. Instead, a hatchling lay at your feet.

*So Kaelin, what will you call him?* asked Firecracker.

~Vyr~ the little one said.

~Alright then, Vyr it is,~ Kaelin laughs.

Just then the wind seemed to pick up again............

You realize that there is more to this place than meets the eye. Time seems to work in weird ways. This dawned on you when you found yourself face-to-face with a firebreathing drigus. After a moment you realized it was only Vyr showing off. He had grown up to be a most impressive colt, though not quite a stallion yet.

*We wondered what had happened to you. You've been gone for a long time, we thought perhaps you had left and were never coming back,* Firecracker says when he sees you.

You try to explain to them that it seemed the other way around to you. Finally everyone shrugs and leaves it at that.

You play with the three equine-like creatures until you trip over your own feet and fall face first into the sand. Next thing you hear is Kaelin calling out ~Over here!~

You blink several times to get the sand out of your eyes. When you look up, you see a magnificent drigus looking at you in a curious manner.

^You appeared out of nowhere,^ he says. ^Are you alright? You look familiar.^

You reply that you are fine, and realize that once again time has played tricks on you and this is Vyr, a proud stallion.

Firecracker quickly explained to Vyr that you seemed to be have become unstuck in time during your visit to the desert. No one had any good ideas as to why that would be, but other than have Vyr grow up rather quickly, it didn't seem to have any adverse effects on you. Since this is a magical land, the three of them seemed quite certain that what was happening here wouldn't affect you once you leave, thus you should be able to return to your own time. At least you hoped they were right!