Dragon’s Weir

by Stephanie Burke

  Generally, they stayed together, protecting the egg, and eating in shifts in isolation. Zol had pointed to an aerie that connected to their main room by a thin ladder. This aerie was considerably higher than their main room, almost touching the sun it seemed. Zen explained that it was where they would go to deliver their eggs and where Zen and Kyo would stay until the eggs hatched. It took their constant supervision, in their main forms and at times in their secondary more human form, to see that the eggs were kept heated a the right temperature and nourished with the love the blood Quad bound would send to them.

  But if they had these wonderful crèches to carry their eggs around in, it meant that there would be times when the Alpha’s could come out of total isolation and do things like emit their wastes and take small short meals with their submissive partners while keeping their eggs close to their bodies.

  Immediately, Star began creating plans, designing the shoulder straps for comfort as well as for the larger broader bodies of the Alpha males. Soon, the first crèche was complete, designed for Father’s large bulk, and tested with a large round melon, a Klika, that the agri-growers grew that were roughly the size of a Dragonish egg.

  After donning the crèche and stuffing it with the fruits, Kyo was able to run in place, jump, climb from one aerie to the next, and even dive from the upper aerie to the lower without any problems at all. Moreover, the way Star had sewn in the padding had helped stabilize the egg in comfort while providing an insulation that kept the fruit at a safe comfortable temperature.

  Kyo and Zen had taken her design to the trade guild and to the palace, which Star had yet to visit, and it had garnered instant approval.

  Every Alpha wanted a crèche, even the ones who had not yet bonded with their females. They all wanted one because it gave them a measure a freedom they lacked before, and it was something that had never occurred to them, sunk in tradition as they were.

  “You can learn a few things from humans,” Star smugly informed them as orders came pouring in.

  So Star put even Zol to work designing intricate beadworks to sew onto the bags, making each one an individual and original piece of art.

  Before too long, Star had a backlog of requests. It took time to weave the threads into color combinations pleasing to the eye as well as connect everything together so that the crèche pouches were safe and sturdy as well as pleasing to the eye.

  Star refused to relax the quality of her work. In this way, she was just as demanding as Zol and dedicated as Kyo and Zen when it came to their daily training and patrols.

  But that lead to situations, like this one, when Zol was gone for a few moments to retrieve more silken threads for weaving. Usually, Star would have accompanied them, but knowing she only had a set number of hours daily to work, Zen did not want her to exhaust herself, she decided to stay and work on a crèche commission while Zol retrieved her materials and delivered a commission of his own.

  She swore to him that she would be fine and would stay in the main aerie for the few moments it took him to drop off a necklace of gold and retrieve her silks from the silk masters.

  But after he left, Star realized that she had a powerful need to relieve her bladder. She was not a child needing an adult to hold her hand…but having Zol there to escort her safely across the thin covered bridge would have been handy. They had bridges, but no hand railings. Why would they? The Dragonish, even the children, feared no heights and would traverse the short bridge within seconds.

  Star had a habit of looking down to see where her feet were placed, and that unfittingly always sent her into a small panic seeing nothing but clouds where the land was supposed to be. It was a transition, embracing the full Dragonish side of herself, but the height adjustment she feared, she would never acclimate herself to.

  She carefully made her way across the bridge, wishing that she could have held it longer so that Zol could return and assist her across so she would have a backup plan if she fell. She was staring so hard at that hard stone bridge that she never even noticed the thing swooping down at her…until she was tumbling backwards.

  Her eyes widened in horror, her mouth opened in a scream that stuck in her throat, and her limbs flailed uselessly as she began to fall.

  Her heart leapt into her throat and oddly enough, the only thing that filled her mind was sheer terror.

  There was none of that life passing before your mind’s eye thing that they had been warned about. And this was the second time she stared death in the face. Still, no regrets for the things she could have done or the things that had yet to happen…children, larger family circle, the sight of her loved ones’ faces….

  Instead, she felt fear; fear and anger.

  And as she felt the cold wind pass by her naked body, felt the growing curls about her head whip her in the face, felt her need to pass water deflate, the fear began to lessen and the anger grew.

  She could not even relieve her bladder in peace! What kind of sick monster knocked a woman off a bridge when she was tying to urinate?

  Some things were just too much to take.

  Her mouth, still opened in shock, began to emit some of the most disturbing noises she had ever made. The growl sounded unnatural and angry. It grew in volume until it became a roar, a roar that drowned out the sound of the wind rushing past her face, and killed what remained of the fear.

  It was not the time to accept this fate! It was time to…to…act!

  Her body flipped in mid-air, soaring downwards so she could look around and spot…there!

  There was an overhanging arch of some kind. It would do.

  Acting on pure instinct now, Star pulled her arms and legs in, twisting her body so that she no longer fought against the wind currents that flowed around her. Instead, she became one with them.

  She stretched out her body, pointed her toes and angled her head so she was aiming for that stone arch. She felt her fingers and toes tingle as the now familiar talons exploded from her flesh. She gritted her teeth in determination as she pulled in her stomach, tightening up her center of balance and willed herself towards that waiting arch of stone.

  She landed, nearly perfectly, but just a bit off. Well, a lot off, but she got close enough to touch the stone and that was enough. Her arms swing out and her palms slapped against the warm rough stone. Immediately, her weight began to drag her down as she dropped out of the current she had been riding, but her other hand rose up and scrambled for stability.

  She felt some stone tearing away at her talons, felt the chips fly down to strike her in the face, and yet she still scrambled, fighting against gravity. With toes pointed and her legs swinging in a counterbalance, she managed to slowly pull her body upwards.

  Her arms were shaking by the time she had pulled herself up enough to rest her chin on the stone, her body dangling below, helplessly.

  But her anger didn’t dissipate. She opened her bout and let out another roar, never even noticing the many nicks and cuts tearing along her skin.

  She took a deep breath and tried to lift herself again, bending her arms at the elbows trying to get most of her torso onto the arch.

  She had always considered herself f a strong woman, but when tying to pull up her own dead weight, the progress she was making was discouraging.

  But she refused to give up, She heaved and pulled again, her legs kicking as if trying to give her a boost up.

  It was purely by accident that her foot struck stone, for the arch was thick, almost as thick as she was long, but her foot struck and again her instincts took over. Her still swinging foot slammed beside the one that had caressed the stone in passing, the talons in her toes digging into the stone and giving her the leverage she needed. Her body stopped swinging and she stopped slipping.

  Now, she had pinned herself to the stone arch. Not where she wanted to be, but it beat the alternative.

  “Still alive!”

  The words were hissed as a shadow blocked the sunlight, darkening the bit of positive energy that had b
egun to fill her.

  “You are so determined not to die. I am impressed.”

  She began to slip again, but managed to stop her descent by slamming her hand talons into the stone closer to her upper body, giving her head the room it needed to tilt up and see who believed they had the right to kill her, or try to kill her anyway.

  “They always said that females were disgustingly hard to kill….”

  It was a Dragon. That much was clear, but beyond that, it was standing somewhat in the sun, creating its own shadow that hid its face from her.

  “Why?” she managed, her own eyes sparkling as she tried to buy a little more time. There had to be a way out of this.

  “Why indeed,” it snorted, a puff of smoke rising up from where it…it hovered. It was not touching the stone arch at all. It was hovering in the air currents and it would not take a secondary humanoid shape.

  The only Dragonish she had spent a major portion of time around was her Quad. They still had a similar look to them that made it hard to distinguish characteristics. She had not been around them long enough to pick up on the subtle differences and distinguishing points among them. She knew that outside of her Quad one Dragonish shape looked much like another.

  “What makes you so…special?” he hissed. Star could not see features, but something inside her told her that the thing was glaring at her with a hatred so hot and hard she could almost feel it caress her skin. “What is it about you and your blood?”

  Then almost like magic, it was gone and another voice filled her head.

  “Star! I will be there in a moment!”

  Almost before it finished speaking, there was another shadow covering her, this one not filled with malevolence and hatred. This one emanated honest concern. And the arm that reached out for her…

  “Zen!” she gasped as a massive claw wrapped around her body and plucked her from the stone archway.

  “I was so worried,” her dragon lifted her up to the level of his eyes. A puff of warm air engulfed her as he breathed her in, checking, she assumed, for any injuries. Then a long forked tongue lapped along her body, from stomach to ear before the other hand cupped her tenderly.

  “Zenxian,” she grimaced, wiping the spittle residue from her face. “I am fine!”

  “You fell!”

  “I was pushed!”

  Then again he was sniffing at her, her curls ruffling as he ran his nose along her body. “I smell no other.”

  “But I was still pushed off the bridge.” And then that pressing matter of the toiletries room managed to reassert itself now that the danger had passed. “I was going to, um,” she blushed a little, “relieve myself when something shot at me. Zen, it was another dragon. He spoke to me.”

  “What?” Zen’s golden eyes burned red with anger as black smoke encircled his head. “Who dared?”

  “Well, he didn’t introduce himself,” she rolled her eyes. “And from the shadows, one of you looks like the next to me.”

  “He dared attack from the shadows?”

  “That is how most villains behave,” she reached up and grabbed his muzzle, lowering his head once more. “But before we get into what he said, can you please take me to the toilet? I really have to…to go.”

  “Are you sure you are okay? I will never forgive myself!”

  Star was beginning to grow annoyed.

  Her Quad had been encircling her since Zen brought her back from the hanging arch, as she now liked to call it.

  It was scary and dangerous, but something good came out of it. She now knew why she had talons.

  “Zol, you had to take care of your business. You were taking care of my business as well. No one knew that I would have to go and relieve my balder. Hell, that other dragon better be happy that I didn’t find a way up to spray him! You could have found him that way, yes?”

  Zen stared at her in shock, and Zol just blinked at her. It was Father who exploded in laughter, turning the other males disbelieving eyes away from her and to rest on him. “That would, indeed, be an ingenious way of marking him, Star,” he roared. “It would be easier than trying to follow currents that have already past.”

  “Well, there had to be a reason he didn’t land on the arch or just knock me off,” she nodded in satisfaction. At least Father recognized her intelligence.

  “You are correct.” Father nodded. “And you know this because…?”

  “I listened to the hunters. I was often the one sewing them up anyway. So I just paid attention to what they were saying. I mean, the other one could have pulled me from the arch and done whatever he wanted to me.”

  “And I am assuming you never saw what pushed you off the arch?”

  “No.”

  “But your head is always down,” Zol pointed out, moving closer and running his hands over her one more time. “You would never see something coming at you.”

  “Well, I thought I did look up and that’s when I felt the push.”

  “The wind,” Zen nodded. “Our aerie’s buildings are close together. The only way he could get to you would be to use the wind to push you off. That would leave no scent.”

  “Yes,” Father agreed. “One flap of a wing and you would be caught off guard and fall to your death.”

  “But I didn’t fall,” Star pointed out. “I am not really sure what happened.”

  “Our females do not change form or fly, Star, but they do have their own protections.”

  “So that…that was normal?”

  “Our children will have the ability to use the air currents to carry themselves, Star. They learn it first from their mothers. It tales some time before dragonish are able to shift forms.”

  “Wait.” Something suddenly occurred to Star. “Our children…the females don’t change?”

  “That is correct.” Zen grinned down at her, pulling her into his lap as he took a seat beside her on the mound of pillows where she rested.

  “So she will be born in human form.”

  “It is her only form, Star.”

  “And my son? You said that this human form is secondary? They change to dragon and then stay that way for a time after they reach a certain age?”

  “No,” Zol rolled his eyes. “This is a secondary form, Star. Secondary. Our males will be hatched Dragonish. They will take on their secondary form after spending a few turns of the moon in their primary form.”

  “So…so um…” She felt really stupid for asking this. “What do they eat?”

  “Dam’s milk, of course,” Zol smiled.

  Father smiled, too. “It has been a while since I have tasted the sweetness of dam’s milk.”

  “As have I,” Zen grinned down at her. “You are going to give us a taste, will you not?”

  “Um,” Star began to pale a bit. “When you are in Dragonish form, you have teeth.”

  “Fangs, Star,” Zol pointed out, though Father was once again trying to stifle his laughter; damn that red-eyed white haired male.

  “And those grow in after they have survived a few seasons?”

  “No,” Zen answered her. “We are born with our fangs.”

  “So…so how do you nurse Dragonish children?”

  “As lovely as these breasts are to look at,” Zen chuckled, “Pleasure or ecstasy is not their main function, Star. I thought you were around human damns?”

  “Human babies don’t have fangs, Zen,” Star shuddered. “And infants do bite. I recall a story about a mother who was nursing her four year old and he bit her nipple off!”

  “Off?” Zol gasped.

  “Clean off her body! And those were just milk teeth! I don’t want to lose my nipples, Zol! You nurse him!”

  Father lost it, laughing so hard, tears began to roll down his face as he bent over slapping the ground and nearly unseating himself.

  “That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard!” Zol snorted, moving back from Star. “My sons will not be so churlish as to bite their dame! Besides, in case you have forgotten, I am male. I can deliver an e
gg, but there is no way I can feed the child.”

  “But…but how do you know it won’t happen?” Star ignored the laugher and demanded some answers. “How do you know it is all just a rumor or a legend? My existence proves that there is truth in legends!” She nodded her head sharply as if she had proven her point.

  “But a missing nipple? I have never heard of such a thing.” Zol moved further away, moving to stand next to Father still bent over chuckling, his face hidden in a fall of white hair. “Our children will nurse side by side and according to tradition. Our males will take their human form after two moons and then I will take over chewing their meats for them. Your blunted teeth cannot chew the meat properly. They will come to you then only for nutrients and comfort. Our daughter will nurse as is proper for about five moons and then she will come to me for meat, as well. Your blunted teeth cannot chew the meat properly. Together we will feed our children and they will grow up to be beautiful and happy. But they will never ever turn to cannibalism for a meal, Star.” Zol was really insulted. “WE are not humans to resort to such.”

  “I didn’t say that humans did that either, Zol, “ Star defended. “I was commenting on a rumor. And I have never been around a nursing child with teeth!

  What else was I supposed to think? I was not born knowing these things! I was reared human!”

  “And we will endeavor to explain as we come across these misunderstandings and knowledge breaks, Star,” Zen reassured her, glaring at the other members of the Quad.

  “But it is amusing,” Father snickered before he stood up and tossed his hair behind his head.

  “I don’t think so,” Star grumbled. “I wish I had never asked.”

  “You have to ask,” Father assured her, smiling wildly. “If you don’t ask, misunderstandings would ensue. How do you think we would feel if you refuse to nurse our child because of this misunderstanding? Both our child and we would thing that you were rejecting him. And rejection from one so freshly hatched would cause death.”