Raven's Flight

by Chrys Cymri

  ‘I’d rather have thunder lizard,’ Tori said. Drool pooled around his lips and dripped onto the rock.

  ‘So would we all.’ Hillevi brushed the rocks to one side. ‘I’ll lead the way. We have four crossings to make, but only short flights between. Ready?’

  The others roared their response, Raven belatedly joining in. They leapt into the air, and for a moment he was left behind. A quick expansion of his gas chamber and some furious pounding with his wings soon caught him up with the rest of the group.

  Hillevi led the way through the crossing places, the dragons falling back each time so they could go through one by one. Raven ignored the changes, keeping his eyes focussed on the tail of the dragon ahead of him.

  They emerged above a land of tall grasses and large ferns. The air was moist, and Raven glanced up at the low clouds, hoping it wouldn’t rain. Only once had he hunted in a downpour, and he had not enjoyed the experience.

  He smelled the creatures before they came into view. Large herbivores, he decided, long tails and necks emerging from a thick body. Scales of mottled brown and green were brightened with blue and yellow feathers. Small heads reached deep into the vegetation, ripping it away to be ground up in the thin jaws. Even the smallest one was several times the size of a dragon.

  Hillevi pulled up in a hover. With her snout she indicated one lizard, which had become detached from the rest of the herd. The group lined themselves up as she had indicated in her rock design. Then they swooped down to their prey.

  The lizard bellowed as Jormung dropped onto the broad back. Raven saw Hillevi dive at the small eyes. Then he fixed his concentration on the thick hind leg. Tyra was already on the ground, dancing around the kicking feet. The long tail whipped back and forth. Raven timed his landing, and dashed in, digging his teeth into the warm flesh.

  The next few minutes passed in a fury of blood, dragon roars, lizard screams, and desperate avoidance of the tail. At one point, the end glanced across Raven’s side, and he nearly released his grip. The lizard staggered, and at that moment Tori and Hagan dropped into place.

  The lizard groaned. Raven jumped free as she rolled onto her side. Breath rattled in her torn throat. He looked up and saw that she was bleeding from multiple wounds. Some of his comrades were already ripping at the flesh, blood splattering around their jaws as they ate.

  Raven growled. Prey should never be allowed to suffer. He marched past Hillevi and leapt onto the lizard’s head. The skull was thick, but his jaws were strong. It took a few minutes, but he pierced through to the brain. The creature shuddered, and released her last breath. Only then did he join the other dragons at their feast.

  ‘Good eating,’ Tori said awhile later, rolling away from the carcass. ‘Just needs a beer now to wash it down.’

  ‘That’s no problem,’ Hillevi replied. ‘Veggr brewed a fresh batch just yesterday.’

  ‘A stout?’ Jormung asked. ‘I likes a good stout.’

  Tyra turned her head to Raven. ‘And you’ll join us, won’t you?’

  ‘Of course he will,’ Hillevi said. ‘He’s one of us now. And I’ll buy the first round.’

  Jormung rose to his feet. ‘That’s not an offer she makes every day. Come on, let’s get over to Veggr’s.’

  Raven followed the group into the sky. Just before they went through the first crossing, he glanced down at the lizard carcass. Various animals crept from the shelter of the ferns, their own teeth exposed and ready to consume what the dragons had left behind.

  The midday sun was a blazing disk in the sky when they emerged above the settlement. The dragon on duty at the entrance stepped to one side to allow them to enter. Hillevi led them along the wall to a section which Raven had not yet visited. His nostrils twitched at an unfamiliar smell. It was a bit like a thick broth, but with a high note he couldn’t identify.

  They approached the source of the scent. The flaps of the large tent had been propped up to create a shady space underneath. At the back, a long table was lined with large bowls. As his eyes adjusted to the dim light, Raven saw that wooden barrels lined the back.

  A dragon Raven’s height stepped into the large gap between the table and the barrels. ‘Good hunt?’ he asked, lifting up a forefoot to pick up a bowl.

  ‘Yes, Veggr, we brought down a thunder lizard,’ Hillevi said, arching her neck. ‘Beers all around. Take it from my account.’

  ‘No problems,’ Veggr said. ‘That leaves you with seven galleons and eight groats.’

  ‘Stout for me,’ Jormung called out.

  As the others placed their orders, Tyra glanced at Raven. ‘What’s the matter? You’ve pulled back your horns.’

  ‘This invisible money,’ Raven complained. ‘I don’t like it.’

  Tyra snorted. ‘Easier than carrying a money pouch to a hunt, or a swim. You’ll get used to it. And you might want to make some deposits in places you use, like bars or suppliers. Saves a lot of effort.’

  Veggr filled the bowls one by one, opening the spout on the appropriate barrel to allow the liquid to flow out. Raven accepted his own portion of the dark liquid, carrying it carefully in his jaws as he joined the other dragons at a long table. They sunk their snouts into their beers and drank greedily. Raven sipped more gently at his own, and was still only half-way through as the others went on to a second and then a third helping. They had lapsed into Welsh, and gossiped about dragons he had yet to meet. When he reached the bottom of his bowl, he quietly slipped outside and went to his own tent.

  The workers had finished. Raven took a moment to admire the sturdy oak tables, and the large pieces of obsidian. The nearest rock was a foot long. He picked it up in his claws and turned it around. Not a single flaw marred the smooth surfaces.

  Raven opened his jaws and began to sing. The stone trembled and responded. As he alternated his notes, chips fell away, slowly revealing a figure underneath. She had short cropped hair, and a dress with sleeves which bubbled around her upper arms. The feet stood apart, and the eyes gazed fearlessly out at the world. Audrey.

  Something twisted inside him. Raven deliberately sharpened his voice. The obsidian jumped and shuddered in his grasp. Then it exploded. He shut his eyes and ducked his head as shards cut into his skin and clattered across the floor.

  ‘Well, that’s a shame.’

  Raven glanced behind him. Tyra stood inside the entrance, her gaze on the debris strewn around his feet. ‘Why? I’m glad it’s gone.’

  ‘You wasted a good piece of obsidian.’ The flap dropped back in place as she came to his side. ‘I don’t think anyone’s told you? Twice a year, traders are brought here. Craft dragons bring out their wares and often make good sales. The next market’s in a fortnight. You might want to get to work on some carvings. The money from your gems won’t last forever.’

  ‘What would you suggest?’ Raven asked. ‘Is there anything these traders are looking for?’

  ‘I’ve seen them buy sets like that one you brought with you. Others like carvings of Sleipnir, or unicorns, or gryphons.’

  ‘I have no idea what any of those look like.’

  Tyra laughed. ‘Fine. I’ll take you to meet Sigrunn. She’s a painter. She’ll show you.’

  Chapter Ten

  Raven strode through the exit to the settlement. The hot sun on his shoulders did little to ease the ache left by his efforts the day before. But he took pride in the results of the work. More than sixty tents stood in a long arc. Dragons who, like himself, had items to sell were taking their places behind long tables. Those offering food or drink busied themselves in placing rough chairs into loose circles. Raven had helped roll barrels of beer to Veggr’s tent, and he had been promised a free bowl of stout in return.

  A dozen dragons launched themselves from the lava field. Raven watched them fly in different directions and disappear through crossing places. He located his red and gold tent, rented for the day from Niklas. Nearly thirty obsidian carvings covered the two tables, their black sides shining against the rough ligh
t wood. He positioned himself in the shade cast by the propped-up tent flap.

  Search dragons began to return twenty minutes later. The first one was followed by three gryphons. The next few carried other species on their necks. Raven flattened horns and ears as he watched red, yellow, and blue dragons emerge from the crossing places.

  ‘Cerfiad da o Odin,’ a gruff voice said.

  Raven looked down at the short, bearded figure. ‘Are you a human man?’ he asked in Welsh.

  ‘No, a dwarf,’ came the snapped reply. ‘How much for this one, and the one of Sleipnir?’

  Following the advice Niklas had given him, Raven said, ‘One hundred galleons each.’

  The dwarf hooked thick fingers through his wide leather belt. He was dressed in rough grey woollens, and sweat was beginning to bead on his broad forehead. ‘One hundred galleons and fifty groats for the two.’

  ‘One hundred and eighty.’ Much to his surprise, Raven found that he was enjoying himself. ‘Make it two hundred, and I’ll include the carving of the spear.’

  ‘That’s Gungnir to you,’ the dwarf said. ‘We were the ones who forged the spear for Odin.’

  Raven bit back a sudden desire to eat him. ‘Two hundred. Odin, Gungnir, and Sleipnir.’

  ‘Done.’ The dwarf counted out the coins, and dropped them into a wooden box at the end of the table. Raven pulled out several soft cloths, which his customer used to wrap up his purchases. As the dwarf left, Raven glanced with satisfaction at the gold he had just earned.

  ‘Look at our Raven, all grown up.’

  ‘Hrafn,’ he growled in correction before turning his head. A gryphon stood grinning at him, a small cloaked figure standing at his side. ‘Ysbaddaden. Aingeal. I wasn’t expecting to see you.’

  Aingeal shifted into cat shape and left the clothing behind as she leapt onto the table and rapped his snout. ‘You could sound a bit happier to see us.’

  ‘The lad was taken by surprise,’ Ysbaddaden said soothingly. ‘And since when are you “Hrafn”?’

  The truth tangled in Raven’s throat. ‘Since I came here.’

  The gryphon looked away. ‘We stopped off in the valley. The house, well, no one’s lived in it for awhile.’

  ‘Is Audrey dead?’ Aingeal asked.

  ‘Now, Ain,’ Ysbaddaden admonished. ‘I was trying to find out in a nice way.’

  ‘Audrey’s not dead.’ Raven took a deep breath. ‘She wanted to go back to London. So I took her there.’ Despite his best efforts, a bitter note crept into his voice. ‘And she took nearly all of the gems.’

  Aingeal narrowed her yellow cat eyes. ‘Didn’t she find them in her vegetable patch?’

  ‘They belonged to me.’ Raven arched his neck. ‘I won the valley in a fight with the trolls.’

  ‘Now, there’s a tale worth hearing.’ Ysbaddaden flicked his brown ears. ‘Maybe over a beer?’

  ‘You’re not visiting a beer tent,’ his wife said firmly. She dropped back to the ground and shifted back into human shape. ‘We have to fly out this afternoon, remember?’

  ‘One won’t hurt.’

  ‘But it’s never just the one.’ She pulled the dark cloak over her bare body. ‘I’ve ridden you just the once when you were drunk. Never again.’

  ‘My gems,’ Raven reminded them. ‘I found them. I dug them out. Audrey took them. She stole them from me.’

  Aingeal sighed. ‘I'm sorry to say, Rav--Hrafn, that she wouldn’t have seen it as stealing.’

  ‘Why not?’ gryphon and dragon asked almost simultaneously.

  ‘You saw what she was like,’ Aingeal said to her husband. ‘Oh, she would talk to us, she would trade with us. Always civil, she was. However, you could see it, clear as the whiskers on my face. There was always that barrier. We weren’t her equals. Not in her eyes.’

  ‘That’s--that’s not true,’ Ysbaddaden spluttered.

  But Raven dipped his head in a nod. ‘Are all humans like that?’

  ‘I don’t know about all humans,’ Aingeal said. ‘I’ve not met that many. So maybe I shouldn’t judge them by her.’

  ‘I miss her.’

  ‘Of course you do.’ Aingeal’s words were warmed with a comforting purr. ‘She’s all you’ve known, for much of your life. But you’re here now, with other search dragons. This is where you belong.’

  ‘I never felt at home anywhere, not until I met Aingeal.’ The gryphon touched her shoulder with his yellow beak. ‘Now I’m at home anywhere, so long as she’s with me.’

  Aingeal lifted a hand and ran it through Ysbaddaden’s feathers. ‘You’ll find someone, Hrafn. A handsome and clever drake like you won’t be short of admirers.’

  Raven arched his neck. ‘You think so?’

  Angeal laughed. ‘Let’s just say, even among search dragons, you stand out. And I’m not the only one who knows it.’

  Tyra was striding over to them, pausing only briefly to allow an elf to slide from her back to the ground. ‘That’s the last of them,’ she told Raven. ‘Nearly eighty traders this morning alone. There’ll be another set this afternoon. What have you sold to these two?’

  ‘Not much demand for carvings among our customers,’ Ysbaddaden said. ‘We’re more in the seed, drink, and cloth trade.’

  ‘We’ll move on,’ Angeal said calmly, giving Raven a wink. ‘Come and find us some time, Hrafn.’

  ‘I will,’ he promised.

  ‘Good,’ Tyra said as they moved off. ‘You can find them anytime. But on market day, you want real customers at your table.’

  Raven scanned the mixed groups making their way past the line of tents. Then he froze as a large blue dragon come into view. ‘What is she doing here?’

  ‘Who?’ Tyra followed the line of his snout. ‘Matriarch Eydis? She comes once a year, usually buys copper pots for her longhouse.’

  ‘She’s my mother,’ Raven said bleakly, backing away.

  ‘Stand your ground, drake!’ Tyra snapped. ‘Hold your head high! You’re not a puffling anymore. None of our dams dare to attack us, now that we’re full grown. And we protect our own. Eydis knows that as much as any other dragon.’

  Raven obeyed, but he had to dig his claws into the ground as his mother slowly made her way towards his tent. Several smaller dragons followed her, wearing leather bags which she slowly filled with her purchases. Although other customers came to his tent, Raven paid very little attention to obtaining a good price, and sold several pieces at prices which made Tyra hiss.

  Then Eydis had finished with the cloth merchant and was marching over to his table. ‘Frippery and nonsense,’ she declared, sweeping her blue-green eyes across his sculptures. ‘Who would want to clutter a longhouse with these things?’

  As she started to move on, Raven couldn’t help himself. ‘Don’t you recognise me?’

  ‘Of course I do, Hrafn.’ Eydis stretched up to her full height. ‘I always recognise my own spawn.’

  ‘You tried to eat me.’

  ‘I failed, and you obviously survived. We all have our burdens to bear.’

  ‘And he’s with the settlement,’ Tyra added. ‘Hrafn’s beyond your reach now.’

  ‘So he is,’ Eydis said calmly. Then she stretched out her head. Raven forced himself to hold still as she drew a deep breath in through her nostrils. ‘But you smell wrong.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Raven demanded.

  ‘A lovely draka stands next to you, and there’s not even a hint of musk on your skin? What sort of drake are you?’

  ‘Move on, Mother,’ Raven ground out.

  Eydis chuckled. ‘Come and visit the longhouse, Hrafn. And maybe one day you’ll bring with you someone who does stir your loins.’

  ‘Dams,’ Tyra muttered as the blue dragon stalked away. ‘Always tricky meeting them again.’

  ‘You’ve visited yours?’

  ‘Several times.’ Tyra lifted her wings in a shrug. ‘They’re still family. You can’t ignore your breeding.’

  A gryphon and several weres came to his
table, and Raven turned his full attention to making sales. After giving the merchants time to eat lunch, the morning arrivals were taken away, and a new set brought in. These stayed until well after nightfall, eating and drinking in the refreshment tents.

  Raven made one last sale and then called Niklas over. The banker carefully counted the coins in the wooden box, agreeing the amounts with Raven and Brock. The precious metal was poured into a bag, which Niklas placed on another dragon’s back.

  ‘Invisible gold,’ Raven muttered to himself as his money was taken away. But he was pleased with the day’s efforts. More than half of his sculptures had been purchased, and his savings increased by nearly two thousand galleons.

  Tyra strode over as he stretched and left his table. ‘All done? Good. Let’s go hunting tomorrow.’

  ‘Not tomorrow,’ Raven said. ‘We’ll be clearing everything away, and then I need to visit Niklas to order more obsidian.’

  She drew closer, her breath warm on his neck. ‘The day after that?’

  ‘I’ll need to eat by then,’ Raven agreed. ‘Will Hillevi be leading us?’

  ‘No Hillevi.’ Tyra chuckled. ‘Just the two of us. Make sure you’re hungry, Hrafn.’

  He watched her march away, puzzled by the strange tone of her voice. The way she had emphasised ‘hungry’ had made it sound as if she were thinking of something other than meat. He put the thought out of his mind and wandered over to the beer tent. The day’s work had left him very thirsty, and it was time he took up Veggr’s offer of a free bowl of stout.

  <><><><><><>

  Tyra skimmed near the shore just a few lengths ahead of him, her wings just a few shades lighter than the waves breaking below her. Raven fixed his attention on her snout, watching as she angled her head first one direction, then another.

  ‘There they are!’ she called out. ‘Two lengths to our left. Remember what we agreed!’ Now Raven could see the large fish which swarmed over the sunken rocks. Tyra pulled to one side, deliberately casting her shadow over their bodies. ‘Don’t let them get away!’