You enter a cavern through a door that is partway ajar. It is a small cave that seems to have a tunnel rather like a hallway leading further away. You are surprised to find warm, thick, white carpet over the floor, and a small, decorative side-table and mirror on the wall facing you. It's like it's a human's house, but you know that Dragonmaid lives on the other side of the Sanctuary. Curious, you wander around the little cavern, and spy a painting on the wall beside the door. It shows several of the dragons of the Sanctuary, Dragonmaid and another girl that you haven't seen or heard of before. She wears jeans and a tight-fitting shirt, and has long blonde hair, piercing green eyes, and very pale skin, especially next to Dragonmaid who is distinctly tanned in colour.
You hear a crashing sound, and a tiny dragon comes flying past you and out of the door. You hear a shout, and a blonde girl comes running out of the tunnel and out the door after the dragon. You stand there, completely puzzled. The girl comes back in, grunts, and slams the door behind her. Her hair is up in a classic 1850's kind of bun and she's wearing a american indian sort of dress, not jeans; but it is clearly she is the girl from the painting. She looks up and realises you are there.
"Oh my god! Oh, I'm so sorry... Gees, um, I'm Kaeliah. You have to forgive me, I'm so embarrassed! That was Corinth, he visits me from time to time and always manages to break something. He continually does it, so I don't know why it infuriates me. Anyway, I won't be seeing him for another month. He'll turn up with some big priceless piece offering that he'll break the next month, bless him." She whistfully smiles, and then suddenly has a horrified look on her face, "Oh, where are my manners! Please come inside!"
She motions you towards the tunnel, and she follows. You see that it is rather like a short hallway, and it leads to a large cavern which is also carpeted, with a large sofa and recliner chairs. On the coffee table you see a shattered vase; flowers; and blue coloured water dripping on to the floor.
"Have a seat, if you're not comfortable on the sofa, then there's cushions on the other side of it. I just have to get a sponge to mop up this water or I'll have to have my carpet coloured or something."
Whilst Kaeliah rushes off to mop up the mess caused by Corinth, you make yourself comfortable. You notice a rather large nest, like a bird's nest, in the corner. It is lined with rugs, sheepskins, and cushions. Curious, you look towards Kaeliah to ask what it is there for, surely she doesn't sleep in it?
"Oh, No!" she laughingly exclaims after you ask her about it, "I sleep in my room down that tunnel," she motions to another opening in the cavern, "that's a nest that I'm preparing for a dragon impression. Well, at least I hope it's what I'm preparing it for, I don't know if a little one will like me yet. I've applied at Dragonskies Adoptions, well, Dragonmaid applied for me. She's been really good to me, and when I mentioned that I could remember being at a dragon impression when I was young, she suggested that I try for one. I mean, it may even jog my memory. Would you like something to drink?"
You wonder what she is talking about, and decide having a drink may not be such a bad idea. She offers you apple cider or coffee. "I don't drink tea - I don't think I ever liked it, and Dragonmaid can't stand it, so I just keep coffee and fruit drinks. You can have milk if you like?"
Settled down with your drink, you tactfully enquire how she came to live at the Sanctuary.
"Oh, well, it's sort of a long story," she takes a sip of her coffee, "One stromy night, I just found myself at the entrance of the Sanctuary without any knowledge of who I was except for my first name, or that I love dragons. I could sketchily remember little things, but not anything important. Dragonmaid decided that she couldn't just leave me out in the cold, and so decided to give me a home until such time that I remembered who I really was and what I was doing outside the sanctuary on such a horrible night. Of course, I can stay on after that, and with this fine home, I don't think I'll be permanently leaving in a hurry. Everyone is so kind to me, most of this stuff comes from the dragons. Rein rustled up this lounge suite, I have no idea where from, and he just gave it to me claiming it didn't fit in his horde chamber. He's such a sweetie." She takes another sip of coffee and makes a face, "Hmm, it's getting cold. Anyway, this is why I'm trying to impress a dragon. You know, they've all been so kind to me here, and I used to help Rein and Aphrodite out a bit in the nursery, but Imogen and Negomi are there now and I have little to do. So, if I can impress a dragon, I'll have something more to devote my time to. Anyway, at the moment I'm helping Jeunesse in his garden, tending the flowers and such. Sometimes I drop round to the Adoption agency, help Gemma out with the eggs. I would just like to know how I got here."
The two of you have a number of quite long conversations over the next few hours. Suddenly, you realise the time, and mention that you should really be leaving.
"Oh, well, it's really nice to meet you. Drop round at any time, my doors always open."
You laugh at this, since the door was actually open. "Really?? Well, it seems little Corinth has some more to answer for then I thought. He brought this necklace to me this time," she pulls it up from wround her neck to show you, "he claimed that he couldn't possibly break it, and I just managed to put it on when he broke my vase. Silly really, he doesn't mean it, he's just really, really clumsy. Maybe I should take him in too," she gets a puzzled look on her face, "You know, that's not such a bad idea. He'll probably be hiding out behind the bookshelves in the Scroll Archive. Djebel said something about that when I saw him last. I'll walk you out if you'd like?" She smiles and grabs a coat off the back of her chair. You make for a doorway, and she quickly follows. She laughs, and directs you to another tunnelway, "That leads to my bathroom, you have to go out through this one to get out. I know, it was rather confusing to me the first few times too, but you get used to it."
You go out to the entrance cavern, and Kaeliah lets you out. She turns on the way out and utters something you can't quite catch. "Door lock. Dragonmaid taught it to me when I first got this 'house,' it's quite useful especially when any of the dragons are out hording. I know that they don't mean to, but anything valuable and they get all distracted by it. I'm sure you know all about it. Anyway, I'll seeya, I've got to go catch up with Corinth before he goes out to try and find another peace offering."
She quickly walks off in the direction of the Scroll Archive, and turns and waves. You stand outside her house, wondering what exactly you should do next...
Kaeliah gives a shout, and you turn, slightly worried. She races back toward you with a joyous look on her face, and it's like she's racing to hug you or something. She turns slightly though, and reaches a crack in the rockface that her cave is in. She reaches in and brings out little Corinth. She smiles at him, they converse a bit, and then she brings him inside her home, waving to you happily as she does.
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Corinth actually adopted from Teeny Dragon Adoptions II. Go there to adopt some of your own!
© Dragonmaid (Lynnette Faggotter)