As you explore the weyr, you notice a well-traveled trail leading up to a small cave set apart from the weyr. Next to it, you notice various vents spewing steam into the frigid air. Curious, you enter the cave which is quite warm because of the geothermic vents around.

Inside, the room is sparsely furnished but the small table a chair both appear to be worn and slumping. On the table, a familiar bow-tie wearing Ilori sits purring.

"Back, I see. Heard the news then?" he askes in his mellow voice. Shaking your head, you say no. "Well, since your last visit a discovery has been made in the unexplored wilderness." Soft chirps and trills draw your attention to a fenced-in corner at the farthest wall. There, in a blanket filled box lies the most interesting creatures you have seen. They look to be around the size and shape of a regular firelizard, with one exception; it's wings. A single wingsail stretches from the forepaw, to a seperate "finger" that extends from the shoulder, to the rear leg and finally ending half way down the tail. Several look up at you and croon, tilting their heads to the side in curiosity.

"They are called Llithra. A wandering child discovered a small colony of them close to the geyser clearing and brought what he could catch back with him. We've been tending them for several months now and since their numbers are up, the weyrwoman decided to offer them for bonding." A small llithra appears from behind Ty and perches beside him.

"This is Nimue. Though we are not bonded, she helps me care for the broods we have." The little black chirps importantly and a high, feminine voice speaks out of nowhere, Bond! rather loudly. "They can speak?" you ask, surprised. "Yes, but you have to teach them, and they more or less just repeat what you say. Like a parrot or something. None of them have been able to form a complete sentence on their own, but I wouldn't put it past them. They are quite intelligent."

Examining the pen of llithra, you notice that some of them have the "finger" wrapped around their stomach, creating a pouch with which they are carrying young. "They hold on to the babies like that after they hatch?" With a soft mewl of laughter, Tiberius stands and leaps off the table. "The young are born alive, quite a surprise to the scientists around here. If you want to take one, those in that pen are too young to be bonded. Unlike firelizards, they have to stay in the care of their mothers for about three sevendays before they can be bonded off."

He looks to Nimue, who leaps off the table and glides to a seperate cage full of chittering llithra. "These are of bonding age, just reach in and take one. Once you pull it out, stroke it in between it's little horns. It soothes it and makes it more likely to bond you." "But the cage is so dark..." you say, squinting into it. "It keeps them calmer, they are quite hyper when free, and mischievous too! Those little wings can hold a seemingly large amount of pilfered food and trinkets. Be careful with what you bond!" Ty nods at a book sitting open on the table. "You must read the rules before I allow you to bond a llithra."