The Dragon Bond: Heirs of Lyra

Chapter 49

"Careful not to spook it." Mirum warned. Ralf moved slowly, trying his best not to disturb the bright colored bird. Its beak was the length of its entire body, its eyes piercing with warning, staring directly at him.

It saw him, that much was certain. He felt absolutely ridiculous, staring into the eyes of this giant bird, practically the size of himself. Its nest was massive, big enough for ten full-grown men to sleep with room enough to squirm around.

Believe it or not, the task of finding the feather of a Naranja bird was proving to be a difficult task indeed. He had scoured the island for feathers, only to resort to climbing the tallest tree and begin searching the nests instead. Unfortunately there were no empty nests. Each nest either had a swarm of giant baby Naranjas waddling around, or a very angry-looking mother Naranja, preparing a new nest.

And yes, he had in fact already tried other nests to no avail. He had, however, been successfully pecked by at least a dozen baby Naranjas. The sad fact of the matter was Naranjas apparently didn't make a habit of shedding their feathers--making the task of collecting one nearly impossible.

Now as he stared quite literally into the face of danger, he had to ask himself how it had gotten to this. He continued creeping forward slowly, hoping his efforts would finally avail. The bird cocked its head to the side, as if questioning how Ralf could be so stupid as to approach it head on.

Ralf was mere inches from the bird now, one swift movement and he could pluck a feather right from its body. He made his move and quickly grabbed for a feather. In the same moment, the bird side stepped him and sent a sharp peck with its beak, causing his hand to bleed. He already had a dozen other similar injuries.

"Enough of this lollygagging." Mirum had seen enough to know her rider wasn't making any progress. She put matters into her own claws. In an instant she swooped down and took hold of the blasted bird, trying her best to only take a few feathers. Instead she accidentally ended its life.

She set the lifeless bird next to Ralf who was still in the nest. He glared at her, not impressed. "I had it."

"Clearly."

"Well at least I wouldn't have killed it. You know they are an endangered species?"

"A species we can afford to lose, in my opinion."

"That's horrible, Mirum." He bent down and plucked a few feathers from the large bird.

"I seem to recall you muttering a few choice words in their direction only minutes ago. Now the sudden change of heart?"

"Will you just get me down from here already? It smells and I don't want to find out if this is a revengeful species or not."

It took two days after getting the last piece needed for the Ultimate Question before they finally neared their destination. The Three Fates were located in the highest peak of Mount Caravar. Accessing such a place was made much easier with a dragon. Ralf had no idea how others managed the task. Shade must have endured a lot to reach it. He figured for an experienced climber it probably would have taken several days, if not an entire week dependent on weather conditions. Had he not had the advantage of his dragon, Ralf probably would have forgone the journey, regardless of his father's desperation.

There were plenty of rumors about the Three Fates. Some said one of the Fates was blind. Another said one was lame. He couldn't imagine how having such disabilities would make them want to live in such a difficult place to reach. He was sure it would make traveling quite hard. Then again, there was a suspicion that one of their powers gave them the ability to teleport wherever they wanted to go. That might explain their choice of homes. After all, having such power might make one yearn for isolation.