Dragyn Saga part 1
Rebirth: Part one of the Dragyn Saga.
Phiresong slowed down, and then landed ponderously in a small clearing on the edge of a forest, her first frenzied reaction to the sudden onset of pain had been to fly, fly hard and fast, to somewhere, anywhere that she perceived as safe, now that the first shock was over, she could take stock of her position, she was lost, that was a given, this part of the country was not familiar to her, neither was the sensation of burning tearing pain she was feeling.
The pain came in waves, rolling across her distended stomach, each wave more painful than the preceding, she stood there, her legs planted steadily on the ground, her head moving from side to side in reaction to the unrelenting pain, she bore the pain with stoic ability, there was no use in panicking now, or to shout for help, her family had made that quite clear, the very instant the Old Ones had discerned her condition and who was responsible, she was outcast. The stern implacable look on her birth-fathers face, the look of shame on her birth-mothers face, the lack of understanding on the faces of her birth-brood and clan, had indeed made that quite clear. She was on her own.
She held out little hope that the cause of all her problem, the one known as Blackfire, would come for her or care little about the fate of the Dragyn he had impregnated, nor the fate of his children, but still, inspite of this she could not bring herself to regret even a single moment.
He was magnificent, the largest of the outcast Dragyns', the leader, for want of a better word, fully 14 feet long, with scales as black as the finest opals, a fine long muzzle, with no hint of grey, his wings were strong, and ah, the way they loved, flying entwined, their necks sinuously clasped around each other, their wings beating in time to the rising passion, his tender ways.. No she could bring herself to regret anything, and she was sure that his children, created out of such passion would be fine outstanding Dragyns'.
That thought brought her back to earth with a thud, being alone for a first birthing was not good, things could go wrong, she remembered with such clarity the keening that arose when Brightwing, her dearest friend, died in the midst of birthing, not that the Old Ones would lament her passing to the four winds or assign her name to the rolls, they would prefer her to die unremarked.
She was not prepared to die, not over something as simple as birthing an egg, or in her case, eggs, the Old Ones informed her that she carried three eggs, very unusual in a society where one Dragyn was born at a time, she owed it to herself and Blackfire, to bring all three eggs into the world.
Callous though that world may seem at the moment, Phiresong studied the clearing where her flight and sudden need for a landing area had brought her, she wondered if her birth-mother spared a thought for her, surely she would know approximately when Phiresong was due to birth, the Old Ones were quite precise in their timing, they had to be, so they could judge the amount of bitter-herb to pass out, when they controlled the breeding process, deciding which Dragyn could carry her egg to full term, and which Dragyn had to abort the egg that they were carrying, it had to be a precise dosage, too little and the risk of a deformed baby Dragyn was possible, too much and a Dragyn could die.
They knew precisely how far along Phiresong was, and how much to give, she could still see the look on her birth-mothers face when she refused to eat the bitter-herb, knowing that she was closing off her only means of staying within the Clan, but also knowing that there was no way she could abort her eggs, hers and Blackfires.
So that was that, she left her Clan without a backward glance, knowing that the instant she took flight that her name would be removed from the spoken roll and she would be as one dead.
In between waves of pain, Phiresong took stock of her situation, the first thing she needed to do was clear an area for her eggs, with her tail she swept clean a circular area, large enough to sit in, she dug a pit with her paws, so she could sit her eggs upright, pausing in between waves of pain, she suddenly appreciated another reason why Dragyns' did not birth alone, merely getting a spot together was tiring enough, she really could do with another pair of paws right now.
As if in answer to her unspoken thoughts, out of the corner of her eye she spotted a figure, hovering on the edge of the clearing, swinging around with teeth bared she charged at the figure, it let out a squeal of fright and flew out of range.
"No fair, No fair, I wasn't doing any harm, just looking, you got no cause to be so snaky, not in my forest anyway"
The little figure was vibrating with suppressed anger and fear, but it spoke clearly enough.
"Who are you, why you here, what you want"
Now that Phiresong could see more clearly, she couldn't help but laugh, a laugh that took away her breath, but made her forget her pain for an instant, what she saw was a small furry figure, no more than two foot tall, with the most preposterous set of wings, wings that were working overtime just to keep the small figure in the air.
"that's it" it said "laugh at me, you don't know me and already you laugh at me, a fine figure of fun I am, laugh your fill"
Phiresong swallowed the rest of her laughter, and introduced herself
"My name is Phiresong, I'm a Dragyn"
"I can see that" the little figure replied "Why you here"
Phiresong retold her story, and at the end she was surprised to see tears gathered in the furry corners of its eyes
"That is sad, shouldn't become a Mummy so far away from family, me know how you feel, family no longer want me, a disgrace to them I be, neither one thing or the other" the little creature paused and then executed a clumsy bow, "welcome to Winged-teddy's forest, stay for as long as you like"
Phiresong dipped her head in recognition, then gasped as another wave of pain crossed her belly.
"I see it is almost time for you, little mother, but you must have help, me not big enough to help, stay here, I will be back, I know exactly who to ask. While you be waiting, someone will wait with you"
The furry figure lifted a paw to its' mouth and whistled a complicated burst of notes, soon a crashing and a muttering was heard coming through the forest.
"Coming, coming, don't get your fur in a fuss"
Into the clearing flew a creature that was demonstrably a fruitbat, but the biggest fruitbat Phiresong had ever seen. Winged-teddy introduced him,
"Phiresong, this be Batty, he's good friend of mine, he's a story teller, ask him to tell you a story, I wont be long" and with that the furry creature flew away.
Batty hung himself from a branch just over Phiresongs' head, he looked at her quizzically, " A Dragyn" he said "And a Dragyn so far from home, and about to give birth, seems I'm not the only one with a story to tell, but that can wait" He took a deep breath "My name is Batty, my function in this kine is to tell stories, keep stories and make stories, if you stay in this kine, I will keep your story, so that everyone will know who you are, but for now I will tell you a story"
"Attend to me, for I tell a story, I tell a story so it will never be forgotten"
As the Bat talked on and on, Phiresong drifted off into a semi awake state, his voice was very soothing, and the pain seemed to have stopped for the moment, and she was very tired, however a short time later, or so it seemed she was woken from her doze by Batty coming to the conclusion of his story.
"..And now it is the lot of the Rabbit to be eaten by the Dragyn, and peace and harmony no longer exist between animals" Battys voice trailed away as he was interrupted by the arrival of Winged-teddy and someone else.
"Except in this Kine of course"
Phiresong started at the sound of a strange voice, she swung her head to look, her wings folded protectively around her belly, it was not the one called Winged-teddy, but another.
"Batty, thank you for your story, wildly inaccurate though it was, I'm sure it kept our guest fully entertained"
Phiresone did not miss the sarcastic note in his voice, he had known she had been asleep, Phiresong inclined her head towards Batty,
"Thank you for the lovely story, you took my mind of things"
Then Phiresong took a closer look at the stranger, he was a Dragyn, was not a Dragyn, was something in between, Phiresong was not too sure, her eyes said Dragyn, her senses said enemy, she wanted to run.
"Be at peace Little Mother, I will not hurt you, as I said, in this Kine is the only place where peace and harmony exist between animals, you will not be harmed, is this not so"
Phiresong looked at Batty, and then at winged-teddy, they both nodded their heads, she relaxed, until another wave of pain grabbed her.
"It seems I am come just in time" he said "my name is Blacklock, I have some little skill as a healer, though what you need is an extra pair of hands"
With that he proceeded to scrape clean the area around where Phiresong was sitting, he dug the pit a little deeper for her eggs, and he dug a channel around her,
"For the fluid, so it drains away, keeps the eggs from staying soft"
He looked at Phiresong, "I can see that you are asking yourself how one such as I knows all this about laying and hatching, believe in me Little Mother, for I will not deal wrongly with you, all who come to this place need help of one kind or another, here there are only friends, Winged-teddy came to me for help for you, out of friendship for her I came"
"Why you are here is a story that can wait until your eggs have been safely delivered, it is time now Little Mother, listen to your body, surrender to the pain, talk to your children, it is time"
Phiresong surrended to the pain, let it wash over her, take her along, she listened to the pulsating rhythm of her eggs, moving within her body, she talked to her children, encouraging them, telling them of all the wonders in the world outside, of their Father and the kind people she had had the good fortune to meet, how much she wanted to see her children, she could hear the unformed thoughts of her children become clearer, as they too wanted to be outside, to escape, to be free, to see this thing she called sky, to experience flying.
She gave one almighty push and her three eggs vaulted into the world, as if they too could not wait, the fluid gushed out of her, draining safely into the channel that Blacklock had made, tired, but knowing that she was not yet finished, she lovingly piled the eggs into the pit and covered them with sand, and lay over the top, the eggs needed to harden for a few hours.
"patience my children" she whispered to their searching minds, "patience, a few more hours and you will know what you have to do, I will be here for you". With that she collapsed over the eggs and fell into a deep sleep.
Winged-teddy looking on anxiously, turned to Blacklock who stood watching the scene,
"Be she alright, the Little Mother?"
Blacklock turned his head and grinned, not a very reassuring sight winged-teddy thought.
"Be at peace, little one, she is fine, though you did right in bringing me, she needed a little guidance, now I will go, but let me know the instant the eggs start hatching"
Winged-teddy nodded,
"Batty and I will watch over her, wont we Batty?"
Batty nodded his head, and gripped the tree branch tighter with his claws, two pair of eyes turned to watch the Dragon walk back into the forest, then two anxious figures took up their silent vigil, as the afternoon sun lengthened over the small figure laying sprawled in a state of exhaustion over her eggs.
(c) Teddy 2001