The two new hatchlings, named the Dragoyles by Duane, raced around the clearing looking for anything they could eat. Moths, ants, grubs, worms of any kind, as well as the odd fungus were all on the menu for the odd little twins.

As long as their bellies were full, they seemed quite content. If they knew they were ugly, they didn't care. Once they were past the shock of something so different from themselves hatching, the other dragons didn't have a problem with them.

Mountain, the strongest of the dragons, rolled another log over, looking for edible delights underneath. When a mouse ran out, it was immediately snatched up by Red, who could manage mice quite easily by now. The twins made a grab for it. Red flew up into a tree, making it clear she was not going to share.

The two ran at the tree, chattering like angry squirrels. They made it a few inches up the trunk and slid back down, landing on their round little haunches and rolling on the ground. Flapping still useless wings, they made another charge at the tree. Red ignored them. They clung to the trunk for a few moments, unwilling to give up the prize. The effort proved too much for their newly hatched bodies, and they tumbled back into the grass.

Duane was rolling on the ground laughing. The Dragoyles seemed to have no idea what the laughter meant, and they ignored him. They chattered angrily at the base of the tree until Red, finished with her prize, flew off.

Pink looked at Duane curiously and turned to Aaron.

"What's the matter with him?" she asked.

"Nothing. He just finds them amusing. Do you understand any of what they're saying?"

Pink didn't answer. She was watching Duane like he'd lost his mind. That got Aaron laughing too, and Pink was getting annoyed.

Aaron, after an anxious night and an even more tense morning, couldn't control the laughter.

Soon White was beside Pink, followed by Sky, Mountain, and Yellow.

"Are they going to die?" asked White.

Pink didn't know.

Mountain climbed into Aaron's lap, stretched up into his face, tongue flickering. Yellow ran to Duane. Poor Sky stood by, trying to figure out what was going on.

Realizing he was scaring the dragons, Aaron forced himself to stop laughing.

"Seems our friends have no sense of humor," he said. "You better stop that and calm them down."

Duane sat up, still trying to stop laughing, and scratched Yellow's head. "It's okay," he said. "We haven't gone crazy. It was just so funny."

Pink and White sat glaring at Aaron. Had they been bigger, it would have been terrifying. He had to force himself not to laugh.

Watching this, Duane imagined Pink and White scolding Aaron, and didn't think he'd be able to control himself, so he ran off into the bush, followed by Yellow.

Left alone with two angry dragons, Aaron had to choke down the urge to laugh. He knew he'd scared them, and hadn't known they wouldn't understand laughter, but the furious little beasts did nothing to quell his urge to laugh some more.

Aaron took a deep breath. "I'm sorry I scared you. They just looked so funny, trying to climb that tree."

"Funny?"

Try as he might, Aaron could not explain funny to Pink or White. Mountain snuggled next to him, just glad he was okay. He didn't seem to understand all the fuss.

"Was it 'funny' when Black attacked the horse?" Pink wanted to know.

"No. That was dangerous." Aaron tried to explain the difference. "Demon could and would have killed Black. Those two today were in no danger."

Pink puffed herself up. Aaron was still struggling not to laugh. A small pink dragon trying to look angry and ferocious was hilarious to him, but he didn't want to upset her further.

Fortunately, they were interrupted by the two Dragoyles fighting over a mushroom. Aaron jumped up and grabbed it.

"No!" he said. "This one will make you sick. You'll have a horrible bellyache. Pink, can you make them understand?"

Neither Pink nor the twins had any concept of sickness, or of bellyaches.

Aaron took the mushroom and threw it as far as he could. The two ran after it. All Aaron could do was hope they were distracted by something else before they found it.

There were plenty of tasty distractions, but the Dragoyles were determined. Their mushroom had been taken away, and they wanted it back. They scoured the underbrush until one found it, and the other sank his teeth in as well, and the two chattered and fought until it was ripped to pieces. Unfortunately, they had both swallowed more than enough.

A short time later, two Dragoyles dragged themselves out of the bush with their tongues hanging out. Duane had pulled himself together and returned to the clearing.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Looks like they found the mushroom I threw away. They didn't know what a bellyache was. They're about to find out," said Aaron.

They crawled up to Aaron and sat together in front of him with mouths open and eyes pleading.

"Can't you do something?" asked Duane.

"Is this funny?" asked Pink.

"No to both," said Aaron. "They ate it. They're in real pain and they're in for a rough night. Nothing funny about that."

The two little beasts looked so pathetic he had to resist the urge to say I told you so. The sun was setting, and Purple and Brown emerged from their cave. They had not yet met the Dragoyles.

Purple was curious, and approached with a flickering tongue, then recoiled in horror when the little creature screeched and rolled in the grass, followed by his brother. Brown scrambled up into Aaron's lap, looking to him for an explanation.

"They'll be okay." He recounted the story of their hatching. "They have bellyaches."

Brown looked at him questionly.

"Pain here." Aaron put his hand on his stomach, and Brown regarded her two new brothers from the safety of his lap. Purple watched, perplexed, not knowing whether to be scared or sympathetic.

"Mushrooms make bellyaches?" asked White.

"Some can do a lot worse than that," said Aaron. "If you want to eat a mushroom, you better show it to me first."

"I do not eat mushrooms," said White.

"No mushrooms," Pink agreed.

"There are many mushrooms. Some are good," Aaron told them. "I only eat the ones I know well."

"No mushrooms," Pink repeated.

"Maybe we should take them inside," said Duane.

Aaron disagreed. "They ate the wrong mushroom. It's going to have to come out. It's not likely to smell too good."

The little beasts let out such pathetic moans Aaron found himself wishing the witch would show up. Perhaps she'd have some remedy, but there was no sign of her. The two had curled themselves into tight balls, rolling on the ground.

Duane offered them some water, hoping that would help. They took only a couple of sips, but one climbed into the pan and rolled his body in the water.

"Yuck!" Duane was horrified by the smelly mess left behind. "Now I know why they have to stay outside."

He threw the contents into the bush and rinsed the pan.

Black, unaffected by the smell, was thrilled with the fat, easy to catch flies it attracted. He was moving better by the hour, but still very slowly.

"See if the other one wants a bath," said Pink.

Aaron sent Duane for more water. It was getting dark, and the humans were wondering what to do, but a couple of smelly messes later, the twins were feeling slightly better.

Red, Green, Sky, White, and Pink huddled together in the lower branches of a pine tree. Black stared at them. Aaron lifted him into the tree, and they let him stay.

Purple and Brown, who preferred the darkness, and who still didn't know what to make of their two new brothers, wandered around looking for food while watching them carefully.

Aaron decided he'd sleep under a tree near his horse, and Mountain soon joined him under his blanket. The twins seemed to draw comfort by curling up next to Mountain. Yellow went to Duane, and Purple and Brown joined them later, once they'd eaten enough.

Minutes later Aaron found himself again swimming with Blue, who seemed to already know about Sky's difficult hatching, and of the two dragoyles. A few minutes later they were joined by Mountain.

Blue and Mountain rolled and splashed, enjoying each other. Blue caught a good sized fish and gobbled it up, and Mountain tried to imitate him. It didn't work. Blue caught another one and tried offering it to him. That didn't work either, and Aaron was pretty sure he knew why.

"I don't think we can eat here," he said. "Remember, we're sleeping somewhere else."

Blue considered that, and ended up eating the fish himself.

"What are these two new hatchlings?" Aaron asked.

"Not know. Different."

"Different how?"

Blue didn't know. He knew they'd hatched, but not what they were or why they were different.

Aaron decided to forget about questions for now. Perhaps he'd take the dragons to Hidden Lake tomorrow. Blue picked up his thoughts and agreed. Tonight they would simply enjoy the moment.