by Sarah Hite
“Pycan’s a good place to hide.” The girls turned to see that the others had returned. They had brought down two deer and several rabbits. “It’s isolated and in Mobren’s territory. They just forgot about Pycan’s faithfulness toward dragons,” Lukair added. Pai went to collect the deer, and brought them back to the stream. He gave the larger one to Saydene and directed her to eat. He waited until she had begun before starting on his own.
While the dragons were eating, Ania introduced the rest of the gang to Saydene while Stone and Lorex began cooking the rabbits. Then she went to the stream to refill the water skins and let Stone fill in the others while they waiting for their dinner. After hearing her story the group made several objections. Flame stood and crossed the clearing to the dragons. “My lady, it seems to me that it was not your fault, but the hunter who failed to make his deliveries.”
Ania looked up from filling the water skins. “I agree,” she said. “If he had done his job you would not have been forced to hunt.” She stood, the water skins now full. She smiled at Saydene and returned to camp. She came back a few minutes later carrying a large item wrapped in cloth. “I think this belongs with you.” She laid the object at Saydene’s feet and began to unwrap it.
Flame nodded approvingly and Pai said, “You were the Clutch Guard. It was your duty to protect the eggs. There is still one left.” As Saydene saw the egg, and the peculiar pattern of veins across its pale shell, she leapt to her feet, nearly knocking Ania over, and let out a small, surprised squeal. She could not believe what she was looking at.
Pai was regarding her strangely and the teens by the fire where now watching the proceedings curiously. Flame was smiling and Ania said, steadying herself, “So we were right; this egg is from the Keep.”
“Yes, it is,” Saydene responded, speaking gently. She carefully picked the egg up and turned it over, examining it. She recalled the trouble it had caused during the week of her nesting.
“You know,” Flame theorized humorously. “I don’t think she’s going to put it back down.”
“You don’t understand,” Saydene said tenderly. She brought the egg to her chest as if to hug it. “The egg, it’s mine.”
Family Tales
Kei-ata Lorbrein stepped out on the ledge. He stopped and studied the dragon in front of him. Her hide was light brown, almost tan, and marked with the smallest traces of gold. The gold being the only thing that marked her as the Mountain breed, she was often mistaken for a Desert dragon. He interrupted her study of the sunset. “You sent for me, your Highness?” he asked. Kym turned around. “Shaman, yes, I did.” She turned back to the setting sun for a moment before going on. “Before we start—”
She stopped and said instead, “Elder, Ryou, welcome. Now we can begin.” Kei-ata Lorbrein turned to greet the two who had come out on the ledge behind him. “I asked you to meet me because I seek your approval on something I fear may become…,” she said with a pause before continuing. “I need someone I can trust, for His sake.” The council members exchanged looks. “Do you need our help finding someone to help you with something?” Lorbrein asked, slightly confused.
“Oh, no, I have someone in mind. I just need to know… if I can trust…”
At that moment a dragon flew around the mountain and angled in for a landing. The dragon had something in its claws. The incoming dragon did not see those on the ledge and came in quickly; by the time she saw the others it was too late. She tried to slow down and pull away but could not. She crashed right into the queen. The small mountain deer she had been holding stumbled free and bolted for the cavern entrance. The young dragon untangled herself from Kym, apologizing the whole time. It was not until she realized who she had crashed into that she said, “Your Majesty! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to, really.”
Kym, who had picked herself up by then, only laughed. “Yes, yes, I heard. The fault was mine; I’ve been waiting for you.” Before the young female could respond, Elder interrupted, “That was some landing! Are you both okay?” They nodded, then the young dragon, who Elder had identified as Saydene’s friend, turned to the queen and asked, “My Lady, may I ask, why were you waiting for me?”
“You first,” Kym teased. “I thought you could fly better than that.” The young female gave the queen a comical look. “I can, Your Majesty; but it’s very difficult to fly, let alone land, carrying a live animal.”
Kei- ata Lorbrein and Elder exchanged glances, then Kei-ata looked away, troubled sorrow dimming his usually bright eyes. “We know,” Elder said, remembering a day long ago. The female then explained that one of the mothers had been ill and her son could not leave for his hunting lesson due to an injury of his own, so she had brought the lesson to them. “I can see why Saydene liked you,” Elder told her.
“I’m sorry,” Kym turned to the other female, “I don’t think I asked your name.”
The younger dragon smiled, “Hana, My Lady.”
“Hana? Isn’t that a human name?” Kym inquired.
“Yes, it is. I was named after a human,” Hana replied.
“That’s a story I think I would like to hear,” Kei-ata Lorbrein said, speaking up. “Yes, please do,” Kym agreed.
Hana looked at the older dragons, ending with Ryou. He nodded in support and she began. “My mother was a messenger for the Forest clans. She would often deliver messages to the clan chiefs. She lived with the southern clan at the time, but was preparing for her first nesting. She was due to nest within the next four weeks, so the chieftain said she wouldn’t have to deliver any more messages until after she had nested. Soon after she came to her asking if she would be willing to deliver a message to the chieftain of the northern clan. She decided to do it,” she said, and then paused a moment before going on. “She had made it halfway there, when the nesting pains started. She was forced to land and nest on the ground. Luckily she was able to find a cave and didn’t have to nest in the open. Soon after she’d nested she’d had to hunt. A rockslide had trapped her in a canyon; it took her over a month to find her way out.”
“Didn’t anyone go looking for her?” Kei-ata Lorbrein interrupted, rather taken aback.
She shook her head. “They didn’t know she was missing. She wasn’t expected to return right away. Our chieftain wanted to make sure she didn’t overexert herself, so she told Mother to stay there for as long as she thought was necessary. She even gave Mother approval to nest there if needed. It was only when an envoy from the northern clan came asking, that they knew something had happened.
“They found her as she was crawling back to her nest. She’d hurt herself climbing out of the canyon and was weak from having not eaten. She explained what happened and someone went to hunt for her. The rest went with her to see what happened to the eggs. They found the nest intact and well taken care of. Human tools were scattered around the cave and symbols had been painted on the walls. They recognized one of them as the Dragon Guard’s sigil. There was a large fire pit in the cave that was still warm. Mother thought they must have seen her coming and left. We hatched about a week later and were brought back to the clan. I was the only female and, when our shaman inspected the cave, he was sure a female human had been there, so Mother named me the only female human name she knew, in honor of the one who saved us.”
Kym lowered her gaze. “A remarkable story, Hana.” Elder nodded in agreement. He said, “It seems your mother and Saydene have some things in common.” Kei- ata Lorbrein shook his head, his thoughts now elsewhere.
Kym faced Hana again and declared with some enthusiasm, “By the Ancestors, I think you’ll do fine.” Then she surprised Hana by asking, “Would you like to help me raise Moon’s first hatchling? I can’t be at the Keep all the time, as my duties will call me away; and Kyeon has other duties.”
Shocked, Hana stared at her. “It would be an honor! But, your Highness…” she broke off and turned to the only other dragon on the ledge. “Father, what do you think?”
The queen and other council members tun
ed to Ryou. He stepped forward and replied, “It is your choice child.”
She nodded and refaced Kym, “When should I start?”
Kym nodded satisfied, “Come, let us discuss this somewhere more comfortable.” They left together and passed the king on their way back inside.
“Lyong, I wasn’t aware you had had any clutches,” he said to Lyong Ryou.
“Hana and her brother were our first clutch, sire,” Ryou returned.
“There are more?” Kyeon asked; he was sure he had never met them.
“There was another, sire; but they did not survive the first decade out of the shell. One disappeared only a week after he had hatched; he was never seen again.”
“My apologies,” the King said remorsefully.
The Hatching
The group continued to travel southeast toward Aretell. They would continue their route until they came to the Liek River, which flowed south from the mountains and joined the Eliek Ocean outside of Shaedod. Reaching the Liek River would tell them that they were in the southern flatlands. They knew they were getting close as they watched the mountains become hills, and the hills slowly decrease into flat, gold and brown fields of maze, wheat, barley, and other grains. A few more weeks and they would enter the southern mountain range, which curled north again as it passed the capital, somewhat resembling a curled dragon’s tail covered with spikes.
The day after they had found Saydene, though she insisted they call her Moon even though she was a princess, the mission had come to a near halt. The group had set up camp in a grove of willow trees that bordered a stream near the edge of the woodlands.
“Can we go home now?” Stone had asked. She had not quite recovered from her illness and was not sure she wanted to climb the mountains. She knew their mission was to bring the egg to Dragons’ Keep, but they had found its mother; and she thought, maybe, they could go home.
“I don’t see why not,” Lorex had answered her. He really did not want to climb the mountain range either.
“No.” Ania had not wanted to disappoint her friend. She knew Stone was not fully recovered, but she also knew their mission was not complete. She knew even though they might not be actual guardsmen, they were still children of the Guard, and she considered that a reason to do more than just return a stolen egg.
“And, why not, we did our job; we were supposed to take the egg back to the Keep, to its mother, but its mother’s here, so our job is done,” Lorex argued.
“Wrong, we haven’t returned the egg to the Keep. We all know it won’t be safe until it’s there. Moon’s half starved; she can’t protect it right now. Her emotions are too frail for her to be able to speak to her brother on her own, without support; and the egg is likely to hatch before we can get it there, so we’ll need her help, as much as she needs ours, ” Ania explained.
Lorex snorted but did not object further. “What are you thinking?” Flame asked while turning to her.
“Pai wants to go home. The egg needs to be returned and things need to be settled between Moon and her brother, other than what was previously said.” She paused before adding, “Even if we can’t get Moon all the way, maybe we can get her close enough to talk to her brother. You can go home if you want, but I can’t let this go without trying to help. I’m going to see this through. That’s what our parents would want.” Everyone but Lorex agreed that this was true and knew they had to continue. They knew they had to get the dragons back to the Keep and try to smooth things over with the king.
They had traveled for another day before reaching the river. Soon they would be within sight of dragon territory. They followed the river for a quarter of a league until it widened and dropped out of sight. They could hear the river raging behind a wall of dirt and stone. The group had stopped about ten feet from the edge of the ravine. Lukair dismounted his sorrel gelding and walked to the edge. He looked down and judged it to be a fifty-foot drop to the river below, and there was not a bridge in sight. “What do we do now?” Tyanna asked.
“We need to get to the other side,” Flame said, dismounting as well.
Pai snorted and said, “And I would prefer not to have to carry the horses across.” He leapt off and flew to the south, following the road. Moon watched him go, then she explained, “He went to find a more suitable place for you to cross.”
He returned about a half hour later. “The bridge is about three miles farther south, and then the road splits off and keeps going east,” he said. They realized that must be the road to Locrin. Moon suggested they take the bridge and meet them across the river by the woods next to the turn off. They agreed and set off. After crossing the bridge, Tyanna suggested part of the group go to Locrin and sell the wagon. Since they would be traveling off road, it would be hard to pull it among the dirt and trees, and they needed the money. The others agreed and Lukair and Lorex took the wagon to town, since Lorex’s chestnut Morgan gelding was pulling it. They would meet the others in the tree line when they returned.
***
Hana had just finished clearing sand from the shelf and rearranging the crystals and shells that decorated it when she heard the sound. It had been very quiet so she was not sure if she had heard it or not. She continued to work, clearing and rearranging the shelves, and then when that was done she checked the temperature of the sand that was surrounding the egg. As she turned to continue working she heard it again.
She froze and then turned back to the egg. It was impossible; she had just checked it earlier that morning. No egg hardens that fast. She called in the messenger who had been assigned to her. “Ask the Queen to come here,” she told him. “Tell her it’s important.”
Kym came quickly and Hana explained. Together they watched over the egg and, when they were certain it would hatch, Kym sent the messenger for Kyeon, Kei- ata Lorbrein, and Elder. They arrived together and, after briefly examining the egg, the shaman agreed it would hatch, “probably by midday tomorrow at the latest.” He also found it unusual that the egg had hardened this much in less than a day. It should have taken at least a week to harden completely. Hana was sure the egg had been no harder that morning than it had been two days earlier, when the shaman had last checked it.
A loud squeak interrupted their conversation, and the egg began to shake slightly; after a few minutes it grew quiet and still once more. This pattern repeated for the rest of the afternoon. By evening, the egg had begun to shake more violently, although the squawking had stopped. Hana looked at Kym; she stepped back and allowed the Queen to come closer. She was not sure if she should be there. Perhaps, this should be a private hatching for the King and Queen, she thought.
Before she could maneuver herself out of the room, the egg gave a shriek and cracked down the middle. Then the two halves shattered as the hatchling tore through them. He sent the pieces flying with a fury only found in the Mangjul line. He stood amongst the fragments, covered in slime and breathing heavily.
The Shaman gently picked him up and examined him, although the tiny dragon squirmed and squealed at him. He had the modeling of a Mountain dragon hatchling, which was oddly combined with the spotty hide of a Forest hatchling. He also bore the spikes of the Forest breed. Kei-ata Lorbrein merely nodded and said he was perfectly healthy. He seemed exceptionally strong after that entrance; he could imagine the child would grow to be something like his uncle. He handed the hatchling over to Kym and patted her on the shoulder as he left. Elder spoke with Kyeon for a moment and then followed. Hana begged her pardon as well, leaving the royal family alone. Seoung soon arrived; however, he had stopped the shaman to see if he knew where Kyeon was and had been told the news.
***
The kids rejoined the dragons several hours later. It was just growing dark, and the dragons surprised them by having already scouted a perimeter and setting up something of a camp farther into the woods. Tyanna helped Stone make dinner while the others continued to set up camp. They went to sleep shortly after.
It was late and Ania had not been able to
sleep. She had been trying to figure out how to sooth the king’s temper and explain how what had happened at the Nesting Cave had not been Moon’s fault. They had a little over a week to figure it out before Moon would leave the group and they would reach the Keep. She still refused to re-enter her people’s land, claiming they would not accept her. She feared the animosity, and was sure they would decide a further punishment than banishment, if she did return. She looked up at a noise, thinking it might be Lukair coming in from watch, but she did not see anything. She went back to solving Moon’s problem when she heard it again. It was a small noise, like the squeak of a mouse. She sat up and listened intently, but it was gone.
She knew Pai was awake, so she got up and went to talk to him. He looked down at her but, before either of them could say anything, the noise sounded again quite loudly.
“There it is again,” she said more to herself than to him. She looked up at him and asked, “Do you know what that is? I keep hearing it.”
The sound had startled Pai. He cocked his head and listened but the forest was quiet. As a shaman in training, he had an idea as to what the sound might be but found it hard to believe. Slowly, they stood and went to the fire where they had left the egg. He asked if Ania could retrieve it so he might examine it. As she did she was startled to find that the egg had completely hardened. She pulled it away from the fire and looked up at Pai. “You don’t think?”
Almost as if to answer her, the egg squeaked again and this time shuddered. “Pai!” Ania shouted with a startled tone, almost dropping the egg and waking the others. Pai called Moon back with his mind; she was walking the perimeter they had made earlier, alert for danger.
Lukair came running in just as Moon landed. He said he had heard Ania shout. She apologized and explained that the egg was going to hatch. She handed it to Moon, who was also surprised at how hard it had gotten. She looked at Pai but said nothing. Taking the egg, she moved several feet from the fire. She dug a shallow hole and laid the egg inside. As she curled up around it, the egg began to shake. It made no more noise but continued to rock back and forth.
