Chapter 2) A Father of a Different Sort
#2 of Chronicles of Lamok
This is the second installment of a series about me, Lamok, a lone hermaphrodite opal dragon, how I came to be, and how I survive in a world that would have no objection to the extinction of all dragons everywhere.
Note: At the bottom is a glossary for various words present in this chapter.
Chronicles of Lamok
Chapter 2) A Father of a Different Sort
A repetitive striking sound woke me from my sleep - which couldn't have lasted for more than a few minutes. Lifting my head from its position near my right flank to see over mother's tail, I found the source of the sound to be a creature from my mother's memory. 'An anthro wolf it was called.' It stood on two legs instead of four, in had no scales and was covered from head to foot in fur similar to my own. Its head was shaped differently mine. Its ears were triangle shaped and situated near the top of the skull. Its muzzle was cone-shaped with a black padded nose at the tip. It wore strange-looking garments over most of its form. 'Robes.' Based on the strange creature's scent, I could determine it was male.
"Greetings, my lovely dragonelle," it said, "I see our younglings have hatched." Noticing the now nearly flesh and bone carcass, he added "and I see we have an unfortunate sacrifice as well."
"Yes, Luscious, our wyrmling have indeed hatched," said mother, "and it seems you've woke them." Indeed, all my clutch mates were now awake and gazing at the wolf curiously. Mother dropped her head down near us and said "This is your father, my younglings. His name is Luscious Morvan."
I was the first to approach the wolf, I did so slowly, cautiously. He stayed where he was, possibly fearing he might startle me. I stopped within a few feet of him and took in his scent. It was familiar. He spoke the truth it seemed. I came closer and stood up on my saa, my sii resting upon his left knee. I gave a small chirp. He reached with his left hand to pat my on the head. I let him. I gave a soft prrum.
My clutch mates joined me and our father soon after hoping to get the same treatment.
***
I lay curled up with my clutch mates, they slept soundly but I was unable to. Mother and father were talking about something. I could understand their words, but their conversation meant little to me.
"Its probably best if you hunt away from civilized areas, Lavisatie," said Luscious. "With our offspring to feed, more than one cow a month would be needed."
"Yes, that would be wise," mother agreed. "It is unfortunate, however, that with the approaching winter the food is becoming scarcer by the day." I caught a mind-picture from mother of her flying over a heavily wooded area, finding little more than small animals on which to feed and an occasional buck unfortunate enough to wander into her territory.
I don't think she'd meant to send the image our way because she turned to look at my clutch mates and I. Leaning her neck in close enough that I could feel the wind from her nostrils as she breathed, she said "Don't worry, little ones. We will find a way to prosper."
"What'll we do then?" father asked. I could smell his fear for the safely of mother and ourselves.
Mother turned her attention back to father and said "They can hunt the small animals that navigate these tunnels. They should be learning to hunt on their own by then anyway. Hopefully there will be enough for all of them." She was silent for a few seconds then said "Lamok must stay alive. It is with hir survival that our entire species may one day flourish again."
"How so?"
"Lamok is what you would call a hermaphrodite, drakonet in dragon tongue or "Divine Mother" by some. It is extremely rare in dragons. A drakonet is highly fertile and constantly in heat, laying large numbers of eggs over a very short length of time. Drakonets are said to have many gifts unique to themselves alone."
"Sounds like shi's going to have one interesting life ahead of hir," father said with a smile.
"Yes," she agreed, looking back at me a glint in her large eyes, "it does." I got another mind-picture from her. This one of dragons of all sorts, hundreds of them flying high above the earth, happy to see their numbers returning from the brink of extinction.
'I will make you happy mother. I promise. I will survive.'
***
My nose itched horribly. I felt the urge to rub my egg horn against the cave wall and gave in. The pink scales attached at its base tore away easily enough and the horn fell to the hard floor with a dull thud.
Mother had left to hunt. While she was away, father watched over us. I spent most of my time with him, working on my speech or eating slugs which were decidedly not my favorite choice of meals. But a necessary one.
A few days ago, mother had brought us a two doe. My clutch mates and I had eaten all of one and part of the other. Zeshen, the most dominant of my three brothers had tried to fight me over who ate first, but he was still healing his wounds from the fight he'd had with our deceased brother. I pinned him easily, having gained weight on him. It struck me as odd that my sisters and I were growing faster than our brothers. I found nothing in our mothers memory that would suggest a difference in growth rates between males and females. 'Could be from our father's side of the family I suppose.'
I laid down beside father at the edge of the stone platform, watching my brothers and sisters - save for Zeshen who always seemed to be off by himself most of the time - as they played with each other, sometimes tag, sometimes "rock ball" which consisted of them trying to prevent each other from getting the rock onto the stone platform.
I felt father's hand rub along my side, causing a soft prrum to escape my lips. I absently leaned into his touch.
"I hope Lavisatie comes back soon. The longer she's gone the more I worry about her." I could smell his worry. I could feel his worry. Worry for mother's safety. "There's so much that could happen..." his voice trailed off. I looked up at him to see his eyes distant, as if he were seeing something I could not. 'Why isn't he be able to use mind-pictures. Then I'd be able to see what he's seeing.' I laid my head down on his lap and I instantly got a mind-picture. I saw mother roaring and figures similar to my father all dressed in shinny metal armor throwing pointy-tipped shafts at her. The shafts pierced her side and she fell to the ground, dieing.
Raising my head, ending the images, I looked up at father, who was now looking down at me he said "Yes, it did happen," as if he knew my thoughts on his mind-picture. "I saved her life by asking the spirits to heal her. We've been together ever since."
I stood and reached up to lick him on the cheek saying "Thank you."
He was taken aback by my words, but smiled and asked "Thank you for what?"
"For saving mother."
***
Days passed. Once the remains of the two doe joined the pile at in one of the submerged tunnels, and not a bite of slug was left to be had, I felt bold enough to explore the cave.
The tunnels were much the same only longer and thinner, and meandered around in every direction. There were pillars of rock everywhere, some touching each other, and others not. There were streams of water scattered about the tunnels, some pooling together, others just running till they found spaces to fill.
I eventually found a fresh slug trail to follow.
I'll post the next chapter as soon as possible.
I'm always open to constructive criticism, suggestions, or requests for future chapters.
Glossary: (Drakine)
Dragonelle: The term used for female dragons.
Drake: The term used for male dragons.
Drakonet: Also referred to as a "Divine Mother". The term used for hermaphrodite dragons. Extremely rare and highly prized among any dragon breed. Supposedly possessing special powers no other dragon has been known to wield.
"Mind-Picture": a mental image of a dragon's memory. It is used as a form of communication between dragons (like humans use written words).
Prrum: The low thrumming sound a dragon makes when it is pleased or particularly content.
Saa: The rear legs of a dragon. The three rear true-toes are able to grip, but the fighting spur is little more than ornamental.
Sii: The front legs of a dragon. Five digit claws (similar to human hands) that are dexterous enough to grasp objects.