Although there were a few rough moments, particularly at first, things went well between the dragons and the humans. Serali and Kethro began venturing into town to help the villagers out. If a new house was being built, they would haul timbers and blocks of stone. Before a complicated system of pulleys had been used to put up a heavy roof beam but now Serali and Kethro could simply pick one up and set it in place.

A few problems intruded from time to time. The first major obstacle came when Serali realized that they were beginning to hunt out the area around Land's End of large game. Kethro jokingly said that they could just eat all those fat cows in the fields.

"Hmm… Not a bad idea, actually."

"What!"

"Calm down Keth. I of all people should know that humans don't like having their animals eaten. But they do like having money. Do you know how much dragon scale is worth to a human?"

"Dragon scale? Why should that be worth anything?"

"Because it's harder than steel, and lighter too. They use it for weapons and for jewelry. A single dragon's scale could probably buy you an entire cow."

Kethro blinked. "Really?"

"Really." Serali grinned. "Of course there aren't enough cows in Land's End to keep us fed, but I'm sure we can find somebody who has a lot of them. I'll ask Jerda next time I'm in town."

Jerda was duly consulted, and told Serali that the people with the most cattle were the plainsmen. "Barbarians, really. But their herds are said to cover the ground. I imagine they'd be willing to sell you enough to keep you fed for life. A few of my own best stock were bought from them, though not directly."

They made plans for a trip to the Ocean of Grass. They would head out in search of plainsmen the next week. Serali wondered that in all her time there she'd never seen a plainsman, but Kethro said that they probably avoided Dragon Stone, since most humans fear dragons. They were basking in front of their lair, discussing possible ways to approach the plainsmen when Kethro pointed up at the sky.

"What's that?"

Serali followed his line of sight and spotted a winged speck overhead. It was circling lower. "I think it's a dragon!"

A few moments later Serali was proven right. They could make out the unmistakable outline of a dragon. As it approached, they could see it was light blue in color, and then at last the recognized it. "Doran!" called Serali as the dragon landed on the flat area in front of the lair.

"Hello Serali, Kethro. I thought I'd take you up on your invitation."

"Wonderful!" Serali smiled at him.

"I couldn't help but notice how close you are to that human village back there. Aren't you worried you'll upset them?"

"They know we're here. We get along just fine. We've gone into the village on several occasions."

"Truly? I would like to see that."

"Come with us then. Breck the smith is adding a new wing to his smithy, and we're hauling timber for him. You could help out."

"I think I will."

They set off toward the town, Serali flying in front with Kethro and Doran behind her in a small wedge formation. They arrived at the smithy to find Breck already directing a group of men who were nailing boards and sawing logs. Serali introduced Doran, though she had to translate for him as he didn't speak human, and the three of them immediately set to manhandling big logs around so that the men could saw them into usable pieces. When the boards were ready, Serali would hold one in place while one of the men nailed it down. Then they'd pick up the next. Working together, the new smithy was nearly finished by the time the sun began to sink low on the horizon.

"That was kind of fun," said Doran as they flew back toward the lair. "The humans aren't as strange as I thought they would be, really. Though they have very strange lairs."

"Yes, but there aren't enough caves in the world for all the humans to live in. They have to build their own," explained Kethro.

"I can't imagine living in a lair like that. But I think I could get to like these humans. I should start learning their language. I'd like to be able to talk to them."

"I'd be happy to help teach you," said Serali. She smiled. It was heartening to see a dragon learn that humans weren't so bad, and heartening also to see the humans learn the same about dragons. She had so often felt torn between the two worlds, hearing the misunderstanding, distrust and even hatred that so often lay between the two races. But she knew, really and truly knew, that they weren't all that different. Perhaps I can do something to change the way humans and dragons feel about each other, she thought. I'm not sure exactly what, but... I suppose what I'm doing here is a good start. Hopefully I'll find some way to build from there.