After a short break...

 It's been a crazy, but fun few weeks.  And now (since everyone was undoubtedly aching for it), here's more Morgana:

Chapter Six
    When Morgana awoke, she could smell the intoxicating scent of breakfast.  She rose and remembered the tapestry.  While looking at the beautiful designs and heroic tales, Morgana realized that her hooves were tingling.  They seemed to want to leave the room.  Forgetting the tapestry, Morgana followed her hooves out of the room through many hallways and finally down a magnificent stairway that branched into two, but came back to one at the bottom.
    As she reached the end, she noticed a gigantic room with countless tables of silver and chairs of gold.  Several of the chairs were occupied with fairies of different sizes and ages.
    Olivia and Ravion were seated next to each other, so Morgana walked over to their table and sat down next to Olivia.  Her chair immediately morphed into a comfortable centaur’s chair.
    “So you are down at last!” Ravion chuckled merrily.  “Help yourself to as much food as you want!”
    Morgana suddenly realized that the tables were piled high with food of every sort!  Biscuits, eggs, jams, fresh fish, berries of all sorts, and much more.  Morgana had always been a fairly picky eater, but now she ate as though it was the last meal she would ever have!
    For the rest of the day, Morgana explored the Embassy and its surroundings.  She had her meals in the Great Dining Hall.  Never once did she get lost. The Embassy’s rooms contained more libraries, unused bedrooms, areas of worships, supply rooms, and much more.
    Finally, she retired to her own bedroom and the mysterious tapestry.  The first image was of a great battle.  Wizards and other demons were identified with black robes.  Fairies and other good creatures wore red robes.  The good creatures won the war and exalted three heroes: a fairy, a centaur, and a dragon.  They seemed to be good friends.
    As Morgana stared at the tapestry, she was drawn in.  She could actually see the events as they were happening!
    The heroes were kind and gentle; they justly ruled the land of Drynthia.  One day, in a counsel, they decided to build an embassy.  It would be a place where all good creatures could come and be welcome.  They built this wondrous place and called it the “Embassy of Drynthia.”  It was built in a circular design around a tree.  The tree symbolized life and harmony.  In a notch in the tree was placed an amulet.  The amulet was composed of gold, ruby, sapphire, emerald, and magic.  It had three parts; each from one of the rulers.  The centaur contributed the sapphire to symbolize water.  The dragon added the ruby to symbolize fire.  Finally, the fairy put in the emerald to symbolize the earth.  When together, it protected the Embassy from evil.  Many happy years passed under the good rulers.
    But things slowly changed in the land of Drynthia.  The centaur, dragon, and fairy each wanted Drynthia for their own.  A horrible argument erupted and the once strong friendship suddenly ceased to exist.
    Eventually, the fairy pushed all centaurs and dragons to other realms of the world after winning a challenge of some sort (Morgana couldn’t see this part very clearly).  Before the centaur and dragon rulers left, they took the amulet and divided it back into three pieces.  These pieces were hidden in remote places with the hopes that they would never be found again.
    But without the amulet, the Embassy would one day be vulnerable to the evil and war would once again emerge.
    Suddenly Morgana was back in her room, sitting on her bed. Her legs were bent under her body, and she was trembling all over.
    Morgana twisted her tail nervously.  She knew her mission without having to read the stars.  The amulet needed to be retrieved to the Embassy if anyone wanted to survive.

Chapter Seven
    The next two weeks that Morgana spent at the Embassy were the happiest weeks she had ever enjoyed.  Every day she explored more of the Embassy and became better friends with Olivia and Ravion.
    But at the beginning of Morgana’s third week, something changed.  Morgana had come down to breakfast as always, but today she found that her normal seat next to Olivia had been taken.  A huge dragon sat in it!
    The dragon was about 15 feet tall as opposed to Morgana’s five-and-a-half.  It seemed to also have brought a companion.   This dragon was only about five feet tall, but both were gobbling down food and showing sets of amazingly sharp teeth.
    Morgana shuddered and stood grasping the rail of the grand staircase, afraid of an impending doom.  She was about to run back to her room and hide under her silken blankets when she noticed that the gaze of the larger dragon was directed upon her.
    With a smile that Morgana did not find too reassuring, it said, “Here, sit by me.”
    Morgana opened her mouth, but no words came out.  Instead, she screamed.
    The younger dragon looked up and said, “Wot’s rong wi’ her?”  Through her great terror, Morgana recognized the language of a child and realized that the smaller dragon was nothing to fear.  The two dragons seemed fairly nice so with a beckon from Olivia, Morgana slowly made her way down the staircase, to the table, and slowly sat down next to the large dragon.
    “Hello,” she said timidly, casting her eyes to the floor.  “My name is Morgana Stargazer.  What is yours?”  Morgana had been hoping to make a good impression to seem tough so the dragon would not eat her.  But she knew that she only sounded childish and immature.
    “I’m Kazul Firebreath,” the large dragon said gently.  “This is Tinni Bigsword.”  She pointed to the little dragon.  “Here, have some bacon.”
    Morgana stared as Kazul grabbed a platter of fruit and the centaur said, “Wait a minute, don’t you eat meat and, um, like… centaurs?”
    “I’m a vegetarian,” Kazul said proudly.  “So is Tinni.”
    Morgana was amazed (and greatly relieved).  She had never heard of vegetarian dragons!
    The two talked about their backgrounds and families and by the end of breakfast, they were good friends.
    “It’s been nice meeting you, Kazul and Tinni,” Morgana smiled and walked off saying, “I’ll see you later!” over her shoulder.  As she headed back to her room, she felt quite proud of herself.  She had actually become friends with a dragon.  And now for a nap…

-Melissa