FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

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Chapter Sixty Nine

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Revaramek stared at the sky. The gray ceiling was unusually thin today, swirling above their humble home. He could almost see the sun, and its hazy light brought a pleasant warmth to his scales and wings. The dragon was tempted to wake his mate to tell her how bright the sun was today, but Nyramyn needed her sleep. She'd been curled around their beautiful egg all afternoon, and a short nap turned into a long doze.

His thoughts wandered to Mirelle. He wasn't sure why. Though Revaramek still missed his friends from the marsh, he rarely thought about them anymore. In his first year in the poison swamp, their tearful goodbyes were still claws in his heart. Over time, his life built with Nyramyn helped him close those wounds. By now, he imagined Mirelle must be ruling that village with an iron first.

Or an iron boot.

The thought made Revaramek smirk. Over the time he'd known Nyramyn, the sharpness of memory's pain faded to a dull throb in the back of his mind. Wherever his old friends were, he hoped they were happy. The dragon sighed, watching the clouds twist above the trees. Revaramek wished he could have introduced Nyra to Mirelle. They'd get along splendidly. Revaramek splayed his ears. Gods, then he'd have two females talking circles around him.

At least perhaps Nyramyn would give Mirelle reason to spare him from her boot. He lifted his voice a little, trying to talk like his beloved. "You need not kick him, when a few well-placed words will do even more damage to his ego."

Then again, that probably wouldn't cut it for Mirelle. He raised his voice higher. "Oh no, that scaly pervert is gonna get it, right in the balls!"

Revaramek laughed, shaking his head. It seemed strange to think that the woman he'd known for...what was it, weeks? Less? Somehow she'd left him with memories as deeply ingrained as the friends he'd known for most of his life. Mirelle just had that way about her, he supposed. Still, he hoped his other friends were happy, too. Without Asterbury to deal with, maybe they could even make peace with the rest of the marsh's inhabitants.

"Asterbury." When he murmured the name aloud, it left a bitter taste on his tongue.

The dragon had no idea what happened to that little monster, or to Aylaryl. Since their battle, Revaramek had seen them only in his dreams. He wondered if it was too much to ask for Asterbury to have accidentally drowned in the swamp, and Aylaryl to have found herself another dragon to be happy with.

He cocked his head, staring at a bright spot in the leaden sky, where the sun was almost visible. Sometimes he dreamt of Vakaal, too. Often when the rain was clean and fresh, his slumbering mind was filled with images of singing, dancing urd'thin pups building castles in wet sand. If only that meant Asterbury had found peace in this place, too.

Then again, was it so hard a concept to believe in? The urd'thin might not be able to leave this place, but that didn't mean he couldn't make a life for himself here. Hell, Aylaryl was with him. They were here together, where Asterbury could build anything he wanted. He could claim himself a massive swath of swampland, build a castle there, and cleanse enough water to make them their own beautiful lake. He could turn this horrible hellscape into paradise, and...

He could...

He could cleanse the water.

Revaramek hissed through his teeth. Asterbury could fix this whole swamp, couldn't he? Or was it too late for that? Was the change now so massive, so complete, that trying to undo it would only make things worse? Maybe he could just fix it, a little at a time, one little section of swamp turned to clean marsh, then another, and another. Enough room for his coming hatchling to roam and swim and play and grow. A long, full life for his child, if only...

The dragon's ears drooped. What was he going to do, go look for Asterbury? He'd probably die out there in the swamp long before he ever found the little rodent. Hell, they were probably living in whatever was left of Asterbury's desert. Revaramek could never find enough clean water to journey that far. And even if he did...then what? Crawl on his belly and beg Asterbury to make a safe home for his child?

If that was what it took, Revaramek would do it in a heartbeat.

But he knew better. He could just about hear the urd'thin's voice in his head.

Come to buddy up to your old pal Asterbury, have you? Oh? You want me to clean up the swamp you stranded me in? Well, let me see if I've got an answer for you here in my pocket...oh, here's one, it's a big fat GET MOUNTED!

And then a procession of the rudest gestures he could imagine, right before Asterbury blasted him halfway across the world.

Still...He doubted Asterbury let him live out of mercy. Maybe Vakaal really had gotten through to him, somewhere in his head. Maybe Vakaal could convince him to clean up some of the swamp. Revaramek scrunched his muzzle and shook his head. Now he was just daydreaming. No, they were stuck here, and his hatchling would be stuck here. All they could do now was survive for as long as they could, and teach their son to find his joy.

Revaramek was certain their child was male, now. Something about the size of the egg and the color of its shell just told him they had a son soon to be hatched. It was instinct as much as anything, but Revaramek was sure of it.

They wouldn't let him swim, though. Not till he was grown and his body could tolerate the water for longer periods. When he was old enough, the choice would be his. He could do things as his parents did, or he could stay out of the water and the clouds, and make do with what food he could scavenge elsewhere. And Revaramek would use his spark every night, to try and keep his son safe.

Nyramyn knew he was using it on her now, and on their egg. She woke one night and heard him muttering to himself while he had his paw on her back. Revaramek had explained things to her, best he could. She gave him a baffled look, told him he was crazy, and then snuggled up and went back to sleep. The next night, she told him he may as well keep doing it, because it certainly wasn't hurting anything.

The green dragon shifted himself, dragging claws through moss. His thoughts drifted, and soon settled on Vakaal. If only that sweet pup could take over Asterbury's head. He could clean up enough of the swamp for the lingering dragons to have a future. Vakaal could even live nearby with Aylaryl. Revaramek sneered, flexing unsheathed claws into the dirt. Who was he kidding? There's no way he'd let Asterbury live anywhere near them. No matter how much of Vakaal was left in him, sooner or later the crazy always took over.

If Asterbury came back and drained the swamp of its poison, it wouldn't be long before he was demanding something in return. Revaramek shuddered, imagining it

Why, you've got just enough spark in you to rebuild that gate. Oh, you don't want to help? That's okay...I'll just tear your spark out and use it myself. I'm afraid that it's going to be agonizingly painful, so you may wish to brace yourself. Oh, also it's going to kill you.

Revaramek shook his head, snarling. He hated it when his thoughts lingered on that maniac. He would be happy enough to never see that little rodent again, unless it was Mirelle kicking Asterbury in the balls. That he'd be happy to see.

"Now there's a good use for your boots, Mirelle." Revaramek traced a circle in the muddy earth with a black claw tip. "I'll hold his arms, you kick him in the balls till he's ready to apologize for everything he put us through. Then kick him again, just for good measure."

"Who are you talking to, and why are you kicking them in the balls?"

Revaramek jolted when Nyramyn's voice startled him from his daydreams. He twisted his head around to glare at her a moment. "I'm talking to myself."

"Yes, I noticed that part." She rubbed sleep from her bleary copper-bronze eyes with a paw.

"And I'm not kicking anyone." A smile spread over his muzzle, and he lifted his wing for her join him. "Mirelle is."

Nyramyn slipped up under his wing. She settled on her haunches alongside him, nuzzling at his scales. "You're talking to yourself about your slave driver assaulting people? You're weird."

Revaramek folded his wing across her, laughing. "You knew that when you agreed to be my mate." He turned his head to lick her neck.

"I was hoping you'd grow out of it." She gave a rumbling purr, arching into his tongue. "So who is your former mistress kicking this time?"

"She was not my mistress and I was not her slave." Revaramek nipped Nyra's scales, then rested his head against hers. "She was my friend."

"That isn't how things sound to me." Nyramyn giggled, turning her head to nose at him. "All I ever hear about is how she bossed you around and yelled at you and stomped on you and-"

"To be fair..." Revaramek nipped her again to cut her off. "She was only stomping on me to save my life."

"Well in that case, it seems I owe this slave mistress a debt of gratitude." Nyramyn draped her muzzle across the back of Revaramek's neck. "It's probably for the best I never met her. I don't think I could afford to buy you off her."

"I was not her slave!" Revaramek laughed, his wings shaking. He curled his tail around Nyramyn's haunches. "I was the village's slave. No wait, that's-"

"Oh, I definitely couldn't have afforded to buy you from a whole village." Nyramyn waved her paw. "I'd have had to burn the whole place down to heroically liberate you."

Revaramek shook his head, smiling. "That'd have gone over splendidly."

"Of course..." Nyramyn tapped a claw to her muzzle. "If you were just some poor, pitiful-"

"Now wait a minute!"

"Disgraceful, pathetic, simpering little slave dragon, I doubt you'd have been impressive enough for me to mate with you."

"I was none of those things!"

"No, I'm sure you weren't very impressive back then, you're right."

Revaramek smirked at him, nuzzling one of her frills. "Maybe I could have gotten a pity mating, then."

"A pity mating?" She cocked her head at him, then gave a soft, musical laugh. "That's all you're getting these days!"

"Mmm, then you must pity me an awful lot." Revaramek licked her frill, purring to her.

Nyramyn shivered, tilting her head. "I do. Because you're terrible at mating."

Revaramek licked her again, trilling his tongue from her frill to her ear. "Am I? Then perhaps I should practice."

"Rrrrhhhmm..." Nyramyn whimpered, then pulled her head back and gave him a playful swat. "You should. But it will have to wait. It's your turn to go and keep him warm."

"So it is." Revaramek laughed and pushed himself to his paws, retracting his wing. "But I shall demand a lesson later."

"Yes, you could use a few lessons."

Revaramek only smiled at her, brushing his tail across her scales as he turned away. "Liar."

"It will have to be a quick lesson, though-"

"Don't say, luckily my 'lessons' are always quick."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Nyramyn stretched her forelegs out, splaying her paws and yawning. When she lifted her head, she glanced back at him. "Though now that you mention it, you-"

"Can't hear you, being a diligent father!"

The dragon hurried up the small, muddy hill, fleeing from his mate's sharpened tongue. The cavern they lived in was sheltered beneath large, flat slabs of stone, all stacked against one another. Revaramek imagined it had one been an impressive, rocky cap to a rugged hill or mountain, but now most of the stone was submerged beneath water, and obscured beneath piles of muddy silt washed up by the swamp's currents and strange bubbling.

He had vague memories of sheltering in such a place with his mother when he was nothing more than a hatchling. Some days he wished he could remember those early years more clearly. The memories might better help him teach his own hatchling how to survive this place. Luckily, Nyramyn could teach him all he'd ever need to know.

Revaramek slipped through the entrance of their cave, tightening his wings against his body. Though there was enough room for all of them inside, he'd grown used to making himself as small as possible to give Nyramyn and their egg more space. After years spent in the dim light beneath the swamp's thick and ever-present clouds, his eyes needed little time to adjust. Even the pale, faded sun above the clouds made the dragon's eyes ache, now. If he ever found himself in the marsh again, the sunlight would probably blind him.

Sometimes Revaramek wondered about the sun. At first, he'd just thought the sun on this world was naturally dimmer than that in the marsh. Nyramyn thought otherwise. She'd told him that her parents and their parents used to tell stories of a brighter sun. And if this was truly the world in which Asterbury's desert once existed, the book certainly made it sound as if there was a scorching orb of fire hovering above the sand. Reveramek wondered if the urd'thin's powers were great enough to dim even the sun itself, or if they'd simply affected the way the sunlight reached the world. Asterbury once said he tore the sky asunder. Could the sky heal itself, the way flesh did? If the sky put itself back together, was it layered with invisible scars? Or was it like a broken bone that knit back together even stronger than before, more deeply diffusing the sunlight?

Or maybe this world was just fading away, long after its story ended.

Snarling in frustration, Revaramek put a paw to his head. The tangled knot of possibilities made his brain ache. He rubbed between the stubs of his broken horns. They were mature when they were ruined, and never grew back. One ended up a jagged stump where Aylaryl broke it against cobblestone. The other had a smooth end where Asterbury cut it free with his power.

The memory made the dragon cringe. So much about that day still seemed mysterious. Even after he somehow saved himself from the swamp, he was sure Asterbury was going to blast him out of existence. Then as the lightning poured through him, his last memories were of his body knitting itself back together, all at once. Never had Asterbury's healing manifested itself that way. Had he suffered a last-minute change of heart? Had Vakaal awoken in his head, and woven his healing into the lightning? Was Asterbury just toying with him again?

Revaramek snapped his jaws, trying to push the thoughts aside. He had far better things to think about. Like his egg. His beautiful, beautiful egg.

Their unhatched child sat in the very middle of their chamber, swaddled in strips of the blanket he found in the ruin. Rather than cut out the rotten and bug-eaten parts and leave it full of holes, they cut the whole thing into long strips of fur. After Nyra laid the egg, a process she repeatedly cursed him for putting her through, they nestled it into a bed made from the swaths of fur. They kept it there in the months that followed, and took turns curling around it to keep it nice and warm.

The egg itself was oblong, with a soft, creamy-gray shell. Darker splotches mottled it, and copper spots and flecks marked it in a few places. The gray color indicated it was probably male, and the copper blotches were a sign their child might share Revaramek's markings. It was roughly half the size of Revaramek's head, as dragon hatchlings started quite small and then grew steadily for much of their lives. Revaramek found it a wonder that such a small thing could contain an entire life just waiting to be born.

"Hello, little one." Revaramek settled down onto his belly alongside the egg, and then gently curled himself around it. "How're you doing today?" He reached out, stroking the smooth shell with a paw. "Your mother didn't keep you awake with her snoring, did she?"

Laughing, Revaramek curled his tail around himself. At first Nyramyn told him she found it odd that he talked to the egg as if it could hear him. Then he asked what if it could hear them. They both talked to it ever since. It just seemed like the right thing to do. To comfort and reassure the unborn hatchling that his parents were here, keeping him safe, ready to welcome him into the world.

"What's that?" Revaramek cocked his head, pressing an ear to the egg. "You want to hear a story?"

Revaramek had taken to telling the egg stories. Sometimes Nyramyn sat with him for them, listening in rapt attention. Other times she went hunting, or fell asleep if the tales were spun late in the evenings. By now Nyra knew almost all his stories, so he took to making up his own. Sometimes he came up with them on the spot. Other times he started with a story she already knew, and then twisted it halfway through so she wouldn't guess the ending. Lately, with the egg as a captive audience, he told stories about himself.

"This is a story about a great, resplendent green dragon." He waved his paw over the egg, as if the unborn hatchling could see him gesturing. "Your father! A great, glorious creature who once saved an entire world from a cackling madman."

"You're going to give him an ego problem."

"Well I did." Revaramek snorted and glanced at Nyra, standing in the entryway. "It's not ego if its true."

"It is if you brag about it."

"I'm not bragging." Revaramek flexed his wings. "I'm simply spinning our son a tale of my many heroics."

"He's going to hatch thinking he's the child of the greatest, most heroic creature the world has ever known."

Revaramek cocked his head. "I fail to see the problem."

"The problem is, when he hatches and sees instead that you're a clumsy, lovable oaf, he's going to be quite confused." Nyramyn smiled at him, her tail swishing.

"I am not..." Revaramek trailed off when he realized he didn't really have a valid argument against any of those things but lovable, and he didn't want to argue that. "An...oaf." He arched his neck. "I shall simply explain to him that I've retired from the world-saving business, and in my retirement, I've taken up telling stories instead of saving them."

Nyramyn cocked her head, giving him an odd look, her frills half raised. "I shall never be able to tell just where you draw the line between reality and exaggeration."

"Which is just how I like it!" Revaramek beamed, his frills extended, gold-edged webbing on display. "Oh, also, I've decided instead of Father, I'm going to have him call me Benevolent Overlord."

"You shall do no such thing!" Nyramyn hissed and lashed her tail, tail-spines sticking out. "Is that as clear to you as it is to me?"

Revaramek only smiled. "You could have him call you his Benevolent Empress."

"I am not my child's Empress, and you are not his overlord."

"I never get to be Benevolent Overlord anymore." Revaramek folded one foreleg over the other.

"You never were in the first place." Nyramyn dragged her claws across the stone floor.

"Was too." Revaramek tossed his head. "For at least a day."

"Then I hope you enjoyed it, because it's the last time anyone's calling you that."

Revaramek flexed his wings, smirking at her. "Oh? What about the next time we mate? Maybe you could call me-"

"Keep it up, and the only thing I'll be 'calling you' next time is Get Off Of Me I'm Trying To Sleep."

"Ooooh." Revaramek gave her a throaty purr, ending it with a trill. "You really know how to make a dragon thicken."

Nyramyn burst out laughing, shaking her head. "You're adorable when you're trying to annoy me. I'm going to go hunting while you keep him warm."

"Very well, Love." Revaramek lowered his head to the egg, whispering to it. "I'm going to name you Benevolent Overlord, and then I'll live vicariously through your exploits."

"You are not naming our son Benevolent Overlord." Nyramyn stomped a forepaw, hissing. "Or for that matter, Resplendent, or...Anything the Anything. He's not getting a title. Just a name. Which...we still have to decide upon."

"Aren't you supposed to be bringing back my dinner?"

"Keep it up!" Nyramyn flared her emerald wings, blocking off the entryway. "I'll bring you back a few pawfuls of mud."

Revaramek just waved his paw at her. "Oh go on then, leave us to our bonding. If he hears the way you speak to me, he's going to start thinking I'm not so resplendent after all."

"Your father is a clumsy oaf!" Nyramyn called out, laughing.

"You're going to ruin my reputation if you-Aaaah!" Revaramek gave a startled yelp when the egg twitched. He jerked his head up, staring down at it.

"What is it?" Nyramyn dashed into the cave. "What happened?"

"It moved!"

"Is he hatching? Is the shell cracking? Is he okay?"

"I...I don't...it just moved. Just..." He lowered his head, sniffing at it. "Just a little twitch, but...is...is it supposed to do that?"

Nyramyn flexed her wings in uncertainty. She stretched her own neck to sniff the egg too. "Hello, little one? Are you ready to come out?"

Revaramek glanced up at her. "I don't think he can answer you. Or understand you."

"Doesn't stop you from telling him stories!" Nyramyn turned her head to press her ear against the egg. "I don't hear him moving. Maybe he was just getting comfortable." A smile spread over her muzzle. "His heartbeat sounds louder now."

When Nyra moved her head, Revaramek pressed his own ear up against the egg. A faint but steady, rhythmic thump pulsed beyond the shell. "Oooh, it does. He must be almost ready. Maybe he's getting anxious."

"Once they're fully developed inside..." Nyramyn stroked the eggshell with a paw. "How long do they...you know, stay in there?"

"I've no idea."

"Is there a time that they need to hatch before?" Nyramyn whimpered, trying to listen to the other side of the egg. "I mean, he's...breathing in there, right? In the fluid? And the yolk sustains him but...Well, how long can he breathe that fluid before there's nothing left to breathe?"

"Nyra, I've no idea."

"Can they stay in there too long?" She whined, scratching at the floor with her claws.

Revaramek lifted his head from the egg to nuzzle his mate. He uncurled, and draped a wing over her. He rubbed his muzzle against her neck. "Nyra, take a breath." He set his forepaw over hers, his heart thumping away. "I'm nervous too, but...he'll be fine. Nature will do what it always does. When he's ready to come and greet the world, he'll do just that. I think he's just...getting antsy."

"I know, I know." Nyramyn sighed, and lifted her head, licking his muzzle. Her tongue was warm and soft against his fine scales. "Thank you. I'm...going to go hunt. If it moves again, if anything at all starts to happen-"

"I'll roar for you, and you'll fly right back at as swiftly as those incredible wings can carry you." Revaramek nudged her with his muzzle. She took a step away, but remained uncertain. "Would you rather I hunt, and you stay with the egg?"

"No, no, it's your turn to be with him. I just..." She shifted her weight back and forth, whining. Her tail flicked at a rapid, agitated pace.

"You stay." Revaramek slipped towards the entrance before she could stop him. He flashed her a smile. If he sent her out now, she'd spend the whole time worrying. "I'll hunt."

Nyramyn didn't argue any further. She gave him a thankful bow of her head, and then curled around their egg, cooing to it. "Come back soon."

"I will. Just don't expect swamp crab. I'm going to bring back whatever I can hunt the quickest."

Nyramyn waved her paw at him without looking up from the egg. "Hurry!"

Revaramek leapt into the sky as soon as he was outside the cave. He beat his wings with sure, powerful strokes, and turned to the east once he'd risen above the towering trees. Lately, there were immense flocks of screechbirds roosting nearby. He imagined it was some sort of migration, though in the swamp the seasons seemed so ill-defined he wasn't sure how the birds could tell summer from winter, or spring from autumn.

Having such large flocks nearby meant both dragons could hunt and return home quickly. Today, several larger, fatter creatures with blue and black plumage were mixed into the swirling flocks of red birds. Each was roughly the size of a large eagle, but had four legs, almost like a tiny, plump gryphon. The first time he'd eaten one it made him squeamish, but unlike gryphons they were only animals. They followed the screechbird flocks around, feasting on those who fell behind.

With a few swoops and dives, Revaramek caught a few of the strange creatures. Nyramyn called them leg-birds, but Revaramek couldn't bring himself to use the phrase. After he'd slain and four of them, he winged his way back to their cave. He'd marked all the local landmarks in his mind to ensure he'd never again get lost on the way home from hunting.

Once, on an early hunting trip, he'd gotten hopelessly turned around. In the end, he had to roar until Nyramyn heard him and roared back. Her voice led him home. Now he refused to fly further than he knew the landmarks unless she was at his side.

At least the stone slabs that made up their home made for a good visual landmark. Though there were plenty of other stones in the area, their home had distinctive, jagged look, stone slabs piled against one another. It reminded him of the cave he'd taken Mirelle to, after they'd saved each other's lives. Strange. He suddenly remembered telling Mirelle that cave reminded him of some old memory, too.

Sooner or later, everything ends up here.

Revaramek shook his head. Was it Asterbury who said that? Or was it Jekk, the night they discussed his plans? It didn't matter. It did make him wonder, though. Before this part of the world was drowned in poison, did it look like the marsh? Was the marsh some part of this place, pulled into the nexus to save it from oblivion? Revaramek scrunched his muzzle. The thought made his head ache. He'd long since given up trying to untangle those knots, simply because they no longer mattered to his life. That didn't stop his mind from picking at them now and then, when the thoughts and memories rolled through his consciousness.

The dragon swept in over the swamp, black water rippling beneath his wings. He extended his hind paws and touched down on the muddy ground. Their paws had worn a slick trail across the hill, walking from their cavern down to the water and back. He set two of the big, bird-like creatures down, then made his way to their home. With prey in his jaws and tucked in a foreleg, he was careful not to slip in the mud. As he set the creatures down, he glanced towards the back.

Nyramyn was fast asleep around their egg. The sight made him smile. Revaramek was glad he'd done the hunting for them. Bringing the egg to term inside her had taken a lot of her energy. He'd kept her well fed and when possible, well rested, but it was taking her a long time to build up her strength again. Only recently could she hunt and play and dance in the rain again, but he asked her to keep her swimming sessions short. Revaramek didn't want to take away her joy, but bathing in the poison couldn't be helpful for regaining her vitality.

After setting down two of the blue and black feathered prey beasts, Revaramek fetched the other two. He brought them all over to their bedding, then settled down on his haunches across from Nyra. He did not wake her. Instead, he plucked each of the bird-like creatures, collecting all the feathers. Revaramek set the feathers aside in case she wished to use them to further line their egg's little nest. Once they were all cleaned, he ate one of the four-legged birds himself. He'd planned to eat two and give two to Nyra, but since she was sleeping he decided he'd let her have three of them. Though his belly still rumbled, Revaramek knew she needed the food more than he did. If she asked, he'd tell her he ate three as well.

Gentle, Revaramek set his paw on the back of Nyramyn's neck. He stroked her scales with the softest touch he could, not wanting to wake her. Though it was still early, and she'd likely wake for a while again before darkness truly fell, it was never too early to try and keep her strong. He called to his spark, imagined himself grasping at his own heart with a paw.

Nyramyn was not poisoned.

Nyramyn was strong.

Nyramyn was healthy.

Revaramek stroked her neck a few more times before he eased himself to the ground. He stretched out and made himself comfortable, lay his head down, and happy just to be with her, curled with her around the life they'd made together.

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