Generations: Broken Prophesy Story

Chapter 8

Doruba is good to his word, and makes introductions.  The strange sounding names leave Chaser somewhat befuddled, managing to really only remember Doruba and Usiku.  Radi’s father was large and somewhat more rotund than his son, obviously signs of good hunting.  Usiku, by contrast was a near match for his son, Umeme.  The group of seven hunters and Chaser, himself, sit in a large circle.

“And then, Umeme comes back, drenched head to tail with my sister snickering the whole way.”  The two fathers listen intently to Chaser’s stories.  Occasionally one of the others nudges another and chortles, ‘Like Sire, like spawn’,  or ‘Sounds like your cub alright!’

“So is Umeme showing interest in your sister?”  Usiku asks.

The question moves Chaser to mull over the thought, “I don’t think so…  He seems to like her well enough, but that first night after the storm he mentioned a female he was interested in that was back in his pack.”  Turning to Doruba, “Radi, on the other hand…  He and my other sister are mated.”

“Radi...  My Radi?!”

“Yep, and according to my sister they even sang together.”

That piece of news sends the group into a murmur of excitement.  “Then hope isn’t lost!” One dragon, Kivuli if Chaser remembers correctly, chimes in.

“Hope?”

“Hope that our old ways haven't been completely lost,” the older dragon explains.

Chaser looks around at the gathered dragons, “What I don’t understand is why Ahadi still rules your pack?   I mean, his actions are dooming one healthy pack to die as two sickly ones…  No offence meant!  Why haven’t you stormed over there and taken back your families?!”

“He is the Alpha…”  one of the quieter dragons chimes in.  “He has in turn beaten each of us.  It wouldn’t be honorable to challenge the Alpha with unfair numbers.”

“He is one dragon!  A real Alpha should be looking out for his pack, not exploiting it for his own gain.  As my Grandfather says, ‘A Chief protects his own.’   If his actions are harming his pack, his family, he needs to be stopped.”

The gathered dragons murmur amongst each other, until one word from Kivuli catches Chaser’s attention, ‘Soulfire!’

Glancing at his paws, he clearly sees the swirls of blue dimly glowing beneath his scales.  “Sorry…”  He mutters, the glow quickly fading away.  “I’m still learning how to use this.”

Chaser feels the tap of a wing against his, glancing at the older male, Doruba nods.  “Come with me…  It is getting late, and if you have females waiting for you, it would be best to show up with food.  That way they can’t be completely angry with you.”

The older male leads the way, with Usiku following close behind.  Chaser gets up and follows along.  As he passes each of the gathered dragons, he's greeted with a tap of a wing here, and friendly ‘Thank you’, and ‘Great stories’ there.  Once the last of the hunting pack offers his farewell, the trio take to the skies.

Usiku takes the lead, with Doruba on his right, Chaser takes his place to his left.  Doruba calls out, “Were you going to pounce on one of those gazelle earlier?  Before we interrupted?”

“That was the plan…”

“If you are fast, that could work.”  Usiku says.  “But it is best to take them from the air.  They are very swift on the ground, but the sound of our dive seems to startle them long enough to make a hit.”