Leo was in a serious snit that morning at breakfast. He'd just gotten in from a White lighter meeting, and he was not at all happy with the way that it had gone. Prue, Piper, and Phoebe were aware that something was bothering him, but knew that he disliked talking about his whitelighter duties, so they thought that it was probably best to leave him alone until he worked through, whatever it was that was bothering him.

However, after he had slammed his coffee cup into the table, and snapped twice at Piper, it was obvious that something needed to be done about his mood. Since, Piper had retreated in tears, after his last attack, Prue took it on herself to figure it out.

"Alright, Leo, come on, spill," she told him, locking him with her icy stare.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said warily. He was starting to come out of his anger, and he was aware that he had hurt Piper's feelings. He just didn't think that he could deal with Prue harping on him as well.

"I'm talking about this nasty mood that you've been in since you got here. We're all family now, so come on, spill."

"I'm just pissed off at the council for a ruling that they made, that's all," he said, trying to get out of an explanation with as few words as possible.

"Oh, no, it's about us right? Was it something that I did? You have to leave me, don't you?" Piper began to cry harder, thinking that TPTB had finally changed their minds, and were not going to honor her marriage to Leo.

"No, no, it's not that!" Leo jumped up from the table to hug Piper, feeling like an ass for doing this to her. "It's not that, I promise. It's something else." He paused, taking a deep breath. He figured that he'd gone in far enough now, he might as well tell them everything. It might end up affecting them anyway, he thought. All though he fervently hoped not. "It's kind of a long story," he began, hoping, still, to get out of this.

"Ohhh, I like stories!" Phoebe exclaimed, dashing that hope pretty effectively.

"Well, it's really all the fault of this young witch, Schyler. She's managed to convince the council that Dragon's should be given their rightful place as protectors."

"Dragons?!" Piper choked on her coffee. "Did you just say Dragons?"

"Yes, Piper, Dragons. They're not myths. And don't give me that look, after you've seen witches, warlocks, demons, fairies, trolls..."

"Ok, ok, we get the idea," Prue cut him off. "So what about the Dragons?"

"Well, they were originally the protectors of witches. Before whitelighters came along, I guess you could say. And in some cases, they still are. A witch has to call up a Dragon, if she wants one to protect her. Once she does, though, she's stuck with him. But, because they had to be called up, and not all witches did that, and also, because of the fact that, well, lets just say that a Dragon doesn't exactly make the best traveling companion, whitelighters took over, and Dragons kind of dropped out of sight. They been around though, which is the problem." He stopped to swig some coffee, obviously, he was upset over this.

"I'm not sure I follow you," said Prue, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Well, like I said, it's all Schyler's fault. She accidentally called up this Dragon, Lazarith, and has been working with him for a while now, about 6 years. Apparently, she's so in tune with him, that she never even bothers to call Sally, her whitelighter, when there's a problem, just uses Lazarith. So she makes a plea to Elders to accept Dragon's as the protectors of witches, and to sort of, have them work side by side with us."

"And they agreed?" asked Prue, who obviously didn't like the idea any better than Leo.

"Well, not at first, but Schyler is a pretty persistent witch. She offered to show any witch how to call and work with Dragons, and to sort of, be around, if something happened. A miscommunication or something. And since Schyler has a pretty good track record, and has always gotten along well with other witches, as well as being a great trainer of familiars, they agreed."

"Well, what is it that your so mad about then, if they are just around to help? Is it because you're afraid that you'll be out of a job?" asked Phoebe, who had been listening intently to the conversation.

"No, it's not that. It's that Dragons can be pretty protective of their charges."

"And that's a bad thing how?" asked Piper, not quite seeing if she'd want a Dragon hanging around, but figuring she's ask none the less.

"Well, they'll go after a mortal who they think is threatening their witch. Could be an ex-boyfriend who broke her heart, could be the jerk at the gas station who pissed her off. I just feel that they're more trouble than they're worth, although the few witches that work with Dragons say that they are the next best things since sliced bread." Leo shook his head, obviously wondering how anyone could come to this conclusion.

"So, just wondering, if someone wanted to call up a Dragon, they could?" asked Phoebe.

"Yes, they've always been available to be called, although now, it will be more common. And Schyler will have to be present at the first few callings, just to make sure that things go smoothly. Spells will be added to BoS's as needed, and whitelighters are instructed that if one of their witches wants to call a Dragon that they are to go get Schyler immediately. Although I suppose you could just call her here yourself. Incidentally, she's moved nearby, and I've been assigned to be her next whitelighter. Since Schyler never called her Sally kind of slacked off a bit, missed going once when Schyler needed to be healed after a demon attack. Poor girl had to walk around with her arm in a sling for a week." Leo finished, shaking his head.

"So Dragons can't heal?" Prue asked. It was obvious she would prefer a whitelighter to a Dragon any day.

"No, although they can do things that whitelighters can't."

"Like what?" asked Phoebe, still looking intrigued.

"To tell you the truth Phoebe, I really don't know. You would have to take it up with someone that has one." The conversation ended then, and the group broke up for the day. Piper and Prue went off to work, and Leo left to see another one of his witches.

Phoebe just sat quietly for a few minutes, thinking, at the kitchen table. "Dragons," she murmured under her breath. It all makes sense now, she thought. All those hours I spent as a kid drawing Dragons, watching any TV program that had them on. In one of my past lives, I must have had a Dragon. Or maybe, I'm meant to have one in this life. I wonder if there's a spell in the BoS on how to call this Schyler person. With that, Phoebe dumped her dishes in the sink, and headed up stairs for the attic.

Having recently discovered that she could ask the book for what she wanted and have it flip right there, Phoebe held her hands over it and said, "Dragons, cross reference, a witch named Schyler." No sooner than the words were out of her mouth, when Whoosh, the book flipped open, and began turning pages. It stopped on a page that Phoebe was sure that she had never seen before, in all of her reading of the book. Phoebe remembered what Leo had said about spells being added as needed, and she looked skyward to say, "Thanks", to the Elders.

There was a very simple Magick to Magick spell to call Schyler, and no sooner had she said the words than there was a flash of light, and Phoebe found herself looking into the eyes of another witch. Phoebe had expected Schyler to be older. She obviously, had a lot of respect from the Elders, if they had granted her request, and from what little she had glanced in the BoS, Schyler was some sort of familiar trainer extraordinaree and that didn't even take into consideration her powers! But, looking at her, Phoebe realized that Schyler was a witch around her own age, possibly even a little younger. She had a lot of energy, so much that you could practically see it standing out around her, and smile that almost never left her face. Phoebe started to introduce herself, and the reason that she had brought her here, but Schyler just shook her head.

"Here," she said, holding up her hands, palms facing Phoebe, "hold up your hands, it'll go a lot quicker this way." Phoebe did as she was told, and a blue light emanated from between their hands. In a second, it died, and Schyler nodded her head, and stepped back.

"I'm telepathic," she explained to the bewildered Phoebe, "and it just works faster if I channel it through my hands. That way I'm not opening myself up to the minds of everyone in San Francisco, trying to reach yours!" She laughed, and so did Phoebe, who found herself liking this energetic witch very much.

"So you want to call up a Dragon, right?" Schyler asked.

"Yeah, I just feel like it's meant to be," Phoebe explained. Schyler nodded, and regarded her thoughtfully for a moment.

"Well, this is my first training session," she said, "I thought that it would take a little bit more time before the Elders informed everyone of their decision, but since your relationship with your whitelighter is special, I guess I shouldn't be so surprised."

"How did you know about," Phoebe began, but stopped when she saw Schyler hold out her hands again. "Oh, right, sorry."

"What I'll do first is call on my Dragon, to come in and meet you. This will give you a chance to see what he's like, and to decide if you really want to go through with this after all, ok?" Phoebe nodded, and Schyler looked up at the sky, closing her eyes for a moment. When she opened them she twisted her head this way and that, smiling at something that Phoebe couldn't see. Finally, she began to speak to something that she obviously thought was right in front of her, but which Phoebe couldn't see at all. She looked very confused, and started to say as much to Schyler, but once again, Schyler held up her hands.

"I know your confused. But no one can see Dragons right away unless the Dragon chooses to show himself. It takes a lot of practice before you can see them without any aid. In the mean time," here she paused and reached into a pouch at her side. Schyler drew out a large crystal, and handed it to Phoebe. "You can hold this up to your third eye, it'll help you to see it more clearly." Phoebe quickly lifted the crystal to her forehead, and was amazed at what she saw. A small, but perfectly formed Dragon seated on top of the BoS! Phoebe gasped, and dropped the stone. Schyler laughed as she bent to pick it up.

"I know, it's a little overwhelming at first, isn't it?" she asked Phoebe who was trying to recover her power of speech.

"Why is he so small? I thought Dragons were huge, and does he breath fire? Should he be sitting on top of our BoS? God, he's really beautiful!" When Phoebe finally recovered her tongue, she didn't hesitate to use it. Schyler laughed again.

"Well, he's a young Dragon, only about a hundred years old or so. Other Dragons are used for other Magickal purposes, such as the Dragons of light, and darkness, and the Chaos Dragon. Guardian dragons are always young. This is their first job, to guard a witch. When they do it well, and they get a little older, they get promotions. No, he doesn't breath fire. Not all Dragons are Fire Dragons. Lazarith is an Air Dragon. You might get an Earth, or even a Water Dragon when you call. You may even get a Fire Dragon, but they do know how to control themselves. He won't harm your book, and yes, yes he is very beautiful. Any other questions?"

"Yeah, what does that mean, Earth Dragon, Air Dragon, etc?"

"Well, Lazarith is an Air Dragon, so he can fly. Earth Dragons are more comfortable on the ground and under the ground, and Water Dragons in the water. Fire Dragons can breath fire. All those images you see of the huge Dragon living in a cave, that can fly and breath fire, that is a cross between a Chaos Dragon, an Air Dragon, an Earth Dragon, and a Fire Dragon."

"Chaos Dragon, what's that?"

"That is for advanced use, and for your Guardian Dragon to tell you about. Anything else?"

"Yeah, um, does he eat? No, sorry, stupid question."

"It's not stupid, and yes he does eat. He likes ginger, and cinnamon, and anything spicy. He likes the scent of spices, too. I often have to bribe him with candied ginger to get him to stop chasing my cat. Oh, animals can always see Dragons. And since Dragons are very playful, you may have a problem on your hands if you have a pet. You just have to keep an eye out."

"So, when can I call one?" Phoebe was anxious after hearing all of this, and taking another good look at Lazarith rolling himself into a ball to take a nap atop the BoS.

"Now, if you like. You won't be able to spend much time with him today," Schyler warned, "he'll have to come home with me for a day or two for some training, and in the mean time you'll have to let your whitelighter know, so that he can prepare. At the end of that time, he'll be yours, although if you have any problems or questions, I'm always a phone call away. No more of this Magicking me here, without some warning first, ok?" Phoebe grinned sheepishly, and agreed, she was anxious to meet her Dragon.

"Ok, Laz, move, you lazy Dragon," Schyler pushed Lazarith off of the BoS, and motioned Phoebe over to it. There was a spell to call a Guardian Dragon that hadn't been there a minute ago. Phoebe gaped at it, and then looked at Schyler, who grinned.

"I know, Elder's rules, I have to be here in order for you to call it, just in case something goes wrong, and I don't know, you call too many or something. That actually happened to a friend of mine, and now she has three! I don't know how she does it. Anyway, go ahead, say the spell. But only once! Don't worry if nothing happens right away, it may take a minute for him to get here." Phoebe glanced down at the BoS, and chanted the spell that she saw there:

Little Dragons, Rainbow Bright
Good Friends of this Family,
Send good wishes to us all.
Join our rituals merrily.
Protect us through each day and night,
While awake or while asleep.
Through your love and vigilance
Do this family safely keep.

There was a moment of silence, and then Phoebe, who had the crystal pressed to her forehead, saw Lazarith suddenly rise into the air, and fly circles around a spot on the ground. Within seconds, a soft white light appeared, and then, within that light, a small brown Dragon materialized. Phoebe gasped, and gazed with delight at her Dragon. He was about the same size as Lazarith, the size of a medium dog, and he had a fat body, and short stumpy wings. Schyler nodded her approval,

"An Earth Dragon. He'll be less trouble for you, but watch out, cuz those little legs can move awfully fast!" She laughed, and the Dragons laughed with her. Phoebe was surprised to hear them. She hadn't thought that Dragons could make any sounds. Schyler read her thoughts, and answered, "Oh, they can speak, it's just whether or not they want you to hear them. Well, aren't you going to ask him his name?" Schyler gently prodded Phoebe, who was standing awestruck at the sight of her Dragon.

"Um, Hi! I'm Phoebe. What's your name?" she asked awkwardly, not sure what to say.

"Alarenth," he croaked in reply. Phoebe laughed out loud at this, and Schyler and the two Dragons laughed with her.

"Well, it's time for the two of you to get a little bit acquainted. I have to go in about ten minutes, so ask any questions quickly. Then the three of us have got to go." Phoebe was disappointed that she would only have ten more minutes with Schyler, Lazarith, and Alarenth, but she made use of her time, and asked as many questions as she could. At the end of ten minutes, Schyler announced that it was time to leave, and hugged Phoebe goodbye. "I'll send Alarenth back in a couple of days with my number in case you need me, and Lazarith will be dropping in from time to time to keep me posted, so don't be surprised if you see him. Well, I'm off, see you later." Schyler orbed out with the two Dragons in a flash of light, just as Phoebe could here Piper and Leo climbing the attic stairs.

"Wait," she called out after Schyler's disappearing form, "What am I going to tell my whitelighter?"