Dragyn Saga part 2
Hatching Day: Part two of the Dragyn Saga.
As the afternoon sun deepened and then faded into twilight, the two friends kept an anxious watch on Phiresong,
"Surely she should be awake by now" Winged-teddy said quietly to Batty, "it's been hours and she hasn't moved, I'm getting worried about our Little Mother, what do we do know about raising baby Dragyns, perhaps I should go and get Blacklock, he will know what to do"
Just as the worried little creature was about to take off, Batty noticed movement, "Look she's moving" he flew over to have a closer look, however it wasn't Phiresong, but the earth beneath her, her eggs were hatching, "that should wake her up" he said, but as they watched the struggling underneath the sprawled figure continued, but she remained asleep,
"Batty we be having trouble, the eggs can't hatch with her on them, I go to get Blacklock, he be knowing what to do.
At the moment, perhaps warned by some sixth sense Blacklock walked into the clearing, he instantly perceived the danger that the eggs were in, he looked at Batty and Winged-teddy,
"We must move her and dig the earth from around the eggs"
Winged-teddy looked helplessly at Batty, and then down at her furry paws, even though Phiresong was a small Dragyn, as Dragyns' go, she was still many many times the size of both her and Batty.
Blacklock looked around the clearing, as if seeking inspiration, he seemed to come to a decision, looking at Winged-teddy and Batty he said,
"I require a promise from you, a promise that you will never mention what you see here, now, my life is at stake if you do".
Winged-teddy nodded and so did Batty, she was afire with curiosity and wondered just what it was she was about to see.
A sudden silence descended on the clearing, Blacklock seemed to be concentrating, as he did his body was engulfed in a shimmering mist, inside that mist things were happening, Blacklock was growing in size, expanding into immensity, as the shimmering cleared Winged-teddy blinked and swallowed a startled meep, Batty nearly fell off the branch he was grasping, he knew what he was seeing, as keeper of the lore, he knew what he was seeing, but he didn't believe it.
There in the clearing, glowing with a golden sheen, visible even in the half light hulked a Dragon fully 100 feet long, a legendary Dragon, Dragons no longer existed, being spoken of only in legend and myth. The only reminder, their smaller descendants, the Dragyn.
Blacklock, if indeed it was Blacklock, dwarfed the small form of Phiresong, but with exquisite delicacy and care he gently grasped her still form in his massive jaws and slowly dragged her off the moving and shaking earth beneath her, then in an eye twisting movement he went back to his familiar form.
Winged-teddy and Batty hovered uncertainly, Blacklock gestured,
"Get that dirt of those eggs, if we don't hurry we will lose all of them, I shall attend to Phiresong, you look after the eggs".
After one startled instant both Batty and Winged-teddy started digging with their paws, neither of them were designed for digging, but the thought of the babies struggling for life in those eggs was enough for them, soon they had the eggs uncovered, a few small cracks had already appeared in the eggs
Blacklock examined Phiresong, she was not asleep, but unconscious, no amount of shaking would wake her up, he looked over to where Batty and winged-teddy were cleaning the last of the dirt from the eggs,
"This is serious, she is lost within her mind, it seems the stress of birthing and her flight from her family home has caused so great an anguish that her mind has retreated, I must find someway of reaching her, she has to be brought back, I trusted you once before, now I must ask you to reaffirm your oath not to make mention of what you see here."
Batty and Winged-teddy both nodded their agreement, and Batty wondered what he would see next, the same silence came over the clearing, but this time instead of the eye popping form of the 100ft Dragon, there appeared a strange upright figure, a tall, lean figure cloaked in black, if Batty had been startled before, it was nothing compared to the feelings of panic that coursed in his veins, he looked across at Winged-teddy and saw that she was in the grip of the same panic.
It took all of his strength not to bolt, it was only the thought of the babies that kept him there, aeons of story telling and legend bubbled in his mind, and nothing in them filled him with confidence, every story, every legend about Man spoke of nothing but his lust for destruction, and his hatred for all the other creatures of the world, and there was one, right there, with Phiresong, WITH PHIRESONG, and she was helpless.
Batty was never sure, afterwards where his courage had come from, but he flew at the Man, "get away from her, leave Phiresong alone"
The Man smiled, and held up his hand, and Batty crashed into a barrier of pure energy, he fell helpless to the ground, Winged-teddy cried out and rushed to Batty, her heart in her mouth, -if he was dead, what would she do-, but he was just stunned, he got groggily to his feet, and stumbled around, shaking his head.
"Who are you?" he asked croakily
"I" replied the Man, "am Blacklock" and suddenly Batty could see all three images superimposed over one another, Dragyn, Dragon and Man.
"What are you"
"I am me, what I am is not important at this moment, what is important is that Phiresong is in grave danger, and that means that her babies are also in danger, in no small way we are also in danger, not from me, I might hasten to add, but from my enemies, who have spies everywhere"
"I must see into Phiresongs' mind and find where she is hiding, and try to get her to come back, if I fail, she will die, and so will the babies, do not hinder me small ones, unless you want to become surrogate parents to three baby Dragyns."
Blacklock placed his hands on Phiresongs head and a kind of desperate silence deepened along with the twilight, with a sigh Blacklock released his grip, his face was drawn and he looked very old all of a sudden.
"It is no use, she is hiding too deep, I hear calling in her mind, she yearns for someone called Blackfire, perhaps he would have more success in getting her to return"
Winged-teddy looked at Batty, and then at Blacklock,
"Blackfire be father of the babes, was an outcast Dragyn, they met, mated, she fell with egg, her clan found out, insisted she abort the babes or leave clan, she chose to leave, was wandering when birth time came, she ended here."
Blacklock looked at Winged-teddy,
"Do either of you know where her clan lives, we must find this outcast Dragyn and remind him of his fatherly duties, I am not so far removed from this world that I would enjoy the needless death of a Dragyn or her babies"
Winged-teddy shook her head, "She never mentioned where she came from, just that it was in that direction" she pointed northwards, over the mountain range.
"I must see if I can find a more specific direction" Blacklock placed his hands on Phiresongs head and concentrated, the minutes ticked by, then "Finally!!. I know where her clan is, familiar territory, I must go"
There was that eye popping twist again, and once more the familiar figure of Blacklock the Dragyn stood before them,
"I will try to be as quick as I can, in the meantime keep an eye on those eggs, if they hatch before I get back, keep them warm, don't let them wander, do not feed them, their first feed must come from their mother, or else you will find that you have become Mother, or Father to a Dragyn, the first feed bonds for life"
Winged-teddy looked at Batty, while the notion of becoming a parent was not one that she was uncomfortable with, she had rather hoped it would be to a creature similar to her, not a baby Dragyn, the complications inherent in that mazed her mind, and the image of a creature many time the size of Batty calling him Father made her giggle like mad, Batty must have been thinking along the same lines as he burst out laughing as well.
When Blacklock had left, Winged-teddy and Batty settled down to the task of keeping an eye on the eggs, there were many many cracks in them and Winged-teddy hoped that Blacklock would get back very soon, and that he could find this Dragyn, or else it looked like she and Batty would be leaping into the unknown arena of parenthood, much much sooner than either of them had ever anticipated.
It was pure night now, and the forest was dark, the eggs gleamed slightly in the moonlight, the scales on Phiresongs' back also gleamed faintly, Batty looking at the moon judged that it was now 5 or 6 hours past moonrise, Blacklock had been gone long enough to fly over the Mountain range several times, this delay could only mean that he was having trouble finding the outcast Dragyn, this Blackfire.
Without meaning to both Batty and Winged-teddy fell asleep, a sudden loud cracking noise woke them both up, the moon was low down on the horizon now, and a chill light filled the air, it was almost dawning, and there was still no sign of Blacklock, Winged-teddy quickly checked on Phiresong, but there was no change in her, however frantic signals from Batty brought Winged-teddy over to the eggs, the source of the the cracking noise, long shards of egg shell were spread over the area, but where were the baby Dragyns.
Winged-teddy could feel panic rising in her throat, where were the baby Dragyns, she looked around the clearing, a shout of relief from Batty as he discovered the Dragyns in the undergrowth, it was just as well that baby Dragyns were small at birth, otherwise the pair of them would have had no hope in herding them back to the nesting site, now Winged-teddy could see why Blacklock had said "don't let them wander off"
It took all of their ingenuity to keep the three small Dragyns in the one spot near their Mother, however after a short time the skin of the babies started to turn grey and dull, they were suffering from lack of food, they grew lethargic and Winged-teddy started to fear for their health, the prospect of incipient motherhood became more likely.
Just as she judged that the babies would die in the next hour if they were
not fed and wondering just what it was that Dragyns ate, beside rabbits, wondering also what just being a mother would entail, Batty landed beside her with good news, he had seen two flying forms in the sky, not far away,
furry paws crossed that it was Blacklock and Blackfire.
It was, and in short order the two had landed in the clearing, obviously Blacklock had had to do some fast talking, but Blackfire's doubts evaporated when he saw the supine figure of Phiresong, and the three gravely ill babies, Blacklock explained what he had to do, Blackfire placed his talons on Phiresong's head and started calling her name, softly at first and then louder, as if encouraging a recalcitrant first flyer.
The fog in Phiresong's mind lifted a little as she heard, as if from a distance, the sound of someone calling her, not just anyone, she had heard the almost familiar voice of Blacklock calling to her, but it wasn't enough to break the shell around her mind, but this voice, this voice was well loved, and this voice was calling her back, telling her of her babies, her gravely ill babies, HER BABIES?? she must get to her babies, like a swimmer erupting from a deep dive, Phiresong surfaced in her mind, her eyes opened, and the first thing she saw was Blackfire, and then the small figures of her babies.
"My BABIES!!"
It took some maneuvering but in a short space of time Phiresong, along with Blackfire had pried open the mouths of the babies, and fed them some milky liquid that Phiresong had secreted from a gland on her neck, the effect was almost instantaneous, the colour that had disappeared from their fragile skins came back, and within minutes they were looking so very much better.
Phiresong came over to Winged-teddy, "I can't thank you enough Fuzzball," Batty laughed and Winged-teddy glared at him, "Fuzzball?" she repeated, Phiresong laughed, "I'm sorry, that is how my children identify you to me, I think Fuzzball suits you, you should hear what the call Batty" and she leaned down and whispered something in Winged-teddy's ear, who burst out laughing, and then it was Batty's turn to glare.
Then she continued "Both of you saved my babies, and you saved my life, nothing I can ever do will be repayment enough", she turned to Blacklock,
"Thank you also, I know who you are, but you have my eternal gratitude, and my silence"
Blacklock bowed gravely,
"How is it that you see what others don't, Little Sister, but nonetheless, you are most welcome, no doubt I will see you out and around the Kine from time to time, be well, Little One."
Phiresong bowed her head in return, then she turned to Blackfire, "Will you be returning, now that your task is done?"
"I will stay, if you will have me, our children look to be a handful, and you are without the customary support of the Clan", Phiresong interrupted, "I have a new clan now" and she gestured at Winged-teddy and Batty, "will you perhaps stay for another reason?"
Phiresong looked directly at Blackfire, he nodded his head, "I stay because I want to, and where you are, I wish also to be"
And then quite suddenly it was all over, Phiresong and her babies were safe, the reunion between Phiresong and Blackfire was ecstatic, this went beyond mere mating lust, Blackfire and Phiresong were committed to each other, and their little family.
Winged-teddy smiled as she watched Blackfire tenderly care for the new hatchlings, his eyes on their every move, making sure they were safe, then she sighed, Phiresong looked at her "what's the matter Fuzzball?, you sound sad".
Winged-teddy looked at Phiresong, "family must be nice to have, someone who cares, someone to love". Phiresong smiled "It has its compensations, but we, myself, Blackfire, the babies, Batty and even Blacklock are your family now." Winged-teddy blinked back tears, "That's nice, more than nice, but not enough" she said.
Phiresong nodded, "I understand" then she looked straight at Winged-teddy "why don't you tell him". Winged-teddy looked flustered, "tell who, and tell what?"
"You cant fool me Fuzzball, so don't try pulling the scales over my eyes, I'm serious, you love him don't you?"
Winged-teddy blushed and then looked at the ground, "that obvious am I, think you he knows, I don't think i'd like that".
"For heavens sake, why NOT!" Phiresong exploded
Winged-teddy lifted her head, "what you see here, a one of a kind, unique creature, where would someone like me find a mate, I came here, then he came, and he's been my best friend for years, I love him, but I could never tell him, if he rejected me, I lose everything, so I settle for being a friend."
Phiresong nodded "and Batty is just about the best kind of friend anyone could have, poor Fuzzball."
Winged-teddy sighed and went back to her contemplation of Blackfire and the baby dragyns, then she laughed "can you imagine what the offspring of winged-teddy and a fruitbat would look like?"
Phiresong closed her eyes and thought, the she burst out laughing, "well Fuzzball, it'd make for an interesting new species".
(c) Teddy 2002