Book One: Onnu and Pannu

Stars and Dragons

Onnu shook her head. "You make it sound like I would fly away and never return. I would not. I have merely entertained the idea of mapping the stars, and returning.
   "The other barrier to that is, we cannot tell the planets apart."
   The dragonkith dropped the subject. They couldn't ask her to fly them around the Verse, knowing they might never return home.
   "Perhaps if we meet an unattached dragon," she hinted.
   "But if they're unattached, that means they lost their kin," Dragonfriend growled.
   "We don't know that! We don't know that every group of kin had a dragon, or vice versa!" Pannu was still sore about the losses he'd "allowed" to happen on his watch. No one begrudged him, not in any of the three groups of kin, but we are all our worst critics.
   "We don't even know how many dragonholds there are, nor how they're distributed," Onnu reminded them. "Nor do we know how many planets have dragons. Perhaps one that began on another planet will migrate this way, and you can catch a ride with them."
   "And maybe never return," Dragonfriend reminded them. It was unnecessary, but he thought it an important point to remember.
   "But you could maybe map our world," Solar nudged. "If anyone could fly around the world, it would be you. With one of us on your back to write it all down, we could do it in a day."
   "Charon," the rest said in unison.
   "So you fly behind him. Keep in his wake."
   "And pray he doesn't turn around!" Dragonfriend wasn't willing to risk his friend, no matter who asked it.
   Onnu privately thought she could do it, but she knew she didn't want to do it. She was afraid they would ask Leo, who was boastful of his skills, so she reminded them that in order to do what he suggested, it would have to be done in one shot. By a dragon, whose eyes could see the furthest, else you'd only graph a ring around the planet.
   "Or we could do it in spurts? Fly as far as you can, duck into a Hold, go on the next day?"
   She was already shaking her head. "We do not know how far the Holds stretch. You'd have to stop within sight of one and turn around. Remember, the pilgrims had to travel for a month to reach the first dragonhold, and they nearly didn't make it.
   "Their flighted were the first to fall to Charon, as well. Never forget, or you'll make the same mistakes."
   "Yeah, and also just about everyone who understood Draconic, did you notice? Wonder what happened there?" Dragonfriend rubbed his chin.
   "I was aware, yes. I can only surmise that there was some disagreement? Perhaps they went a different way. The only way to know is to ask, and I haven't the heart to do so."
   Tandy was walking toward Onnu to make a report, and heard the tail end of the conversation. "I can tell you what happened, if you really want to know."
   Onnu waved for her to continue, without consulting anyone. She thought it unnecessary, as they'd already expressed a wish to know.
   Tandy settled down at their feet, shuffling through the papygrass in her hands. She'd been very busy, and thrilled to be so.
   "Ah yes, here it is." They hadn't named the native species that she was a member of, but they possessed the claws to take their own notes. She preferred it that way. No one else was exact enough for her.
   "That was actually one of the things I was coming to talk about. It seems their group fell apart from within, which I think you've been trying to avoid?" Tandy looked up at Onnu for confirmation. "Well, the kin who understood their dragon disagreed with him more and more, the longer they were on the road. They found some caves far to what we're calling the south, about two weeks before we found the survivors. I have an approximate map, which we can add to any maps we have, and guesstimate what's in between, based on their accounts."
   "I had thought to ask any pilgrims we find about the lands they traveled through," Onnu nodded.
   "Yes, well, Solar stayed with the main body of the group, as we see."
   "I hadn't really noticed the exodus, I'm afraid. The caves we passed were across from a terribly fascinating lake, and erm... It was a couple of days before I noted that half of our number were gone." He shuffled his claws in the grass stubble.
   "Well, I have other accounts from survivors, so it's quite alright." Tandy awkwardly patted him on the back. "You'll have to tell us later what you observed about that lake."
   He perked up. "Oh, most definitely!"
   "As I was saying, the majority of the kin who understood Draconic made off on their own. Some of the kin who didn't understand their dragon also left, because they felt left out."
   "Left out? I told them what he said!" Solar yelped.
   Tandy looked uncomfortable. "There were, erm... some who... weren't entirely convinced that you translated accurately. It seems distrust was something that plagued your group, so I'm not sure they'd have believed anyone."
   "Yeah, unless they're a dragon, or Mira! I tried to tell them they could eat the grass! 'Look how healthy I am,' I said. 'I'm eating it, so it can't be bad for you.' But nooooo!"
   The others looked to each other, but no one had the heart to tell him how he sounded. The accounts Tandy had written down made much more sense, now. Her eyebrows lifted, she blew out a breath, and she shuffled a few pages toward the back.
   "So they weren't eating enough, they didn't believe Solar, but some of them listened to the elves and centaurs in the group long enough to keep going. Some didn't think they could get back to the caves, by the time they gave up hope, so they just... kept going. I guess where you found them, they still couldn't see the spires?"
   Onnu nodded. "Two dragonholds beyond the grove, yes."
   "But he said he saw them!" Solar interrupted. "Didn't they believe him?"
   Tandy coughed. "It seems, ah... those were his last words, before Charon descended."