Armendes had researched the Elder breed of the gold dragons years ago. He believed them to be non-existent here in the Realm. At least, that's what information told him he found of them. The Elder breed had left the Realm and/or travelled and dwelled in other worlds. Still, it was quite fascinating to see one alive? Perhaps, it was the spirit of those gauntlets she wore. Perhaps....he would asked Alyson sometime about them. He knew that Lazheros had other plans with Alyson elsewhere.

*******

Quake smiled and turned to Madame Mabel, Seri, and Neven, "Alright folks, hold hands please. Here we go." The elemental used her Earth-meld ability to literally walk from the lighthouse on the island to stepping up out of the cliff top behind the Bronze Man. At least fifty feet behind him for Quake knew he was about polymorph into his true form any minute now.

"WHOA!" Neven got a little dizzy from the sudden move to the cliff top, "What a way to travel!"

"Serna, your ready? Let's go up top! The best seats in Asylum! Hold on, here we GO!" Caliaphy held the shield maiden's hand and the two blinked out of the lighthouse to the where Quake and company had just stepped up out of the earth.

"WWWWOOOOOOOWWWW!!!" Serna gasped in wide-eyed excitement, "What a view! I bet the stars REALLY come out at night if you watch them from up here!"

Lazheros shifted into his natural bronze dragon gargantuan form. He stretched his wings out wide which briefly created shade for those who chose to come up on the top.

Alyson swooped upwards into a complete three hundred sixty degree arc before landing near Lazheros. Her dragon size was smaller than his but still huge to everyone standing there in awe.

Caliaphy was excited beyond happy, "OH! WOW! OH! WOW! ALYSON, THAT IS SO LIKE TOTALLY AWESOME!!!"

The elementalist was granted totally control for the race only. The spirit of Perthanexio could take over if he chose but the challenge was acceptable in this case.

"OKAY! Here are the rules for this kind of challenge, er race between you two. You may use only one element of your choosing. You may use any aerial tactics in a non combat maneuver only. Three laps around the entire perimeter of Asylum from here at the starting point to the finish in the lagoon below us. No cheating and no outside help. All is fair in this race."

Quake felt winded after saying all that, "And so let the challenge begin!"

The bronze dragon turned briefly to the gold, "Since you are smaller of us two, you may have a head start."

"As you wish," The gold replied as she tucked her wings inward instead of outward and dove off the cliff side and deployed them as an updraft from the wind sent her skyward at breath taking speeds.

The bronze dragon chuckled, "Clever! Very clever!" The legendary creature glided off the edge of the cliff and over the water of the bay for a bit before going skyward as the a massive wave gave him the lift he needed to ascend.

********

Irzen looked up, "The race is about to begin. Care to place any bets, Scribe?"

"Yeah, I bet Alyson goes crashing face-first into a cliff wall!" The Drowling retorted still perturbed at Irzen's earlier comment.

"Hey, Scribe!"

"Yeah?"

"Relax! Take it easy!" Irzen smiled before he deadpanned, "You don't have to be a jerk every day of your life."

War Scribe just stuck her tongue out at Irzen before she crossed her arms in a huff and resumed watching the race.

Armendes ignored the banter between the two drow. He remained focused on watching Alyson fly as a dragon. So far he was impressed by her maneuvering, then again Lazheros was gaining on her due to the size difference.

"Water vs. Wind," The wizard said quietly taking notes on both dragons. "It's interesting to see how each of them is using their chosen element."

Both Irzen and War Scribe watched Alyson and Lazheros start their race.

"My money is on Alyson. How about you, Scribe?"

The Drowling huffed, "Oh! Alyson will probably be the winner. Lazheros is old and conventional, Alyson is young and dynamic and probably knows more tricks than Lazheros can ever remember."

War Scribe cautioned, "I'm not cheering for her, mind you, I just think she's going to win this race--if she doesn't smack into a rockface."

"There you go again, Scribe, being a beacon of hope for all dragonkind," Irzen replied sarcastically before War Scribe stuck her tongue out at him again.

*******

Alyson soared into the clouds but she could clearly hear Lazheros catching up. In fact, she was a bit intimidated by his sheer size, and adrenaline kicked in as they neared the natural border of mountains that protected Asylum's northern flank from invaders. If she couldn't use the cloud cover to her advantage, she could use the narrow ravines within the mountain tops to keep him at bay.

The bronze dragon broke through the clouds to see Alyson several hundred feet ahead of him. He was amused by this challenge and sought to catch up to her only to see her dive into the narrow mountain passes. Muttering aloud in draconic, rain began to descend into the mountains in the hopes that it would flush her out in a manner of speaking.

The rain pelted Alyson's wings forcing her downwards in some of the narrow ravines. She roared in defiance and a gale of wind blasted the rain clouds out of the sky above her, and boosted her with a powerful updraft. The gold dragon shot up like a rocket over the mountainous peaks. The wind also stirred up the dust creating a series of dust devils that caused the bronze dragon to take evasive action.

***********

"GO LADY!!!" Quake cheered.

"Why do you call her, lady?" Caliaphy asked the elemental.

"GO! ALYSON! GO!" Serna cheered aloud.

"As I told Seama, it helps to tell us apart since, I am an aspect of her. Two, it annoys the Chronicler." Quake replied.

"Oh. Okay, I think." The kurori shrugged and started cheering for Alyson to win with Quake.

Madeous watched the dragons intently, "Not bad. Not bad. Celestra was one of the best in this type of race, elegant, graceful, and fiercely competitive."

"The apple does not fall far from the tree," Willow responded evenly.