"That's very thoughtful of you, dear. You have my thanks" Iskra replied.

"Let's get going then, shall we, aunt Tala?"

"Yes. Best get moving on. See you later, Iskra!" Tala gave Larek instructions on how to use the gate stone in the case. Tala was not powerful enough to teleport all three unaided, but she put her hand on the stone and cast a spell as Larek concentrated on Tala's position. The effect was that, since he was holding onto his aunt and Nyx, all three were teleported to the desert, quite a few kilometers away.

The crowd turned from Toby to Orna. Seeing that they might turn against her, he shielded her with his wings. "This is all my fault! I told you this was a bad idea!" 

Vespion approached the dragon. "It's not your fault, I was running this ceremony. I take the blame."

"Er... couldn't you just restart it?" Orna suggested.

"It doesn't work that way." He looked at her. "Orna is it?" Vespion replied.

"Er... yes. I wanted to get examined to see if I have an egg." There was a long pause. "That isn't a good omen or anything is it?"

"No, but don't worry much about it. I'll accept the blame for this, as I said. It will probably be a pilgrimage to an ancient holy site or something. The other priests will let me know." 

"Alright, as you say" Kos replied, stretching and thinking for a moment. "You sure you don't want me to scratch your back or something?"

"Well, one doesn't need to be able to read music to play it, but it would make things easier" Veax replied.