Book One: Onnu and Pannu

Dragon Unbound

You could only keep a dragon in a Hold for so long, before they took to the skies. Onnu had gone on short hunts near Egg Hold, but had not gone Above since Pannu grounded her in Egg Hold.
   Amber's eggs had hatched, but she couldn't risk going to see the hatchlings without risking her own. She could, however, fly Above and refill her gas bladder (or whatever they decided to call it). The difference was, she could fly straight up for that, and dart down when she saw a Charon. Amber's Hold was further than she could quickly fly at first sighting of a Charon (later shortened to Sighting; used similar to dusk, on Earth-that-was).
   Pannu stayed behind with the eggs. He couldn't cover their eggs and the twelve little eggs, which was why she had to wait until they'd hatched, and could reach a sleeping niche on their own.
   She was so out of shape, she had to lunge for a spire to launch her into the air; but once airborne, she felt the weights upon her lift and fall away.
   Dragons were meant to fly, she thought as she arrowed toward the space Above. Strangely, she felt she breathed the most easily Above. She knew, logically, that it was the physical distance from her responsibilities that made her feel free; eased the tightness in her chest that she didn't notice day to day. However, as a person who'd been ordained, she mostly attributed it to the closeness with her God. She had nothing to prove to Him, as far as minutiae were concerned.
   Sure, just the overall health of His people. No pressure, she thought wryly. It really didn't make sense. She should've been more tense approaching what felt like His territory, but no; she felt more light and free than she did within the shackles of the land.
   She floated Above for a while, emptying her mind of the daily grind. It was a sort of meditation that rejuvenated her soul. Going without it for so long had frayed the edges of her being, quite without her noticing, until the ragged edges were smoothed away.
   She hadn't consciously thought to ask Him anything. Not this time. She'd perhaps selfishly taken this time for her own mental health. And yet...
   Without words, she felt knowledge settle into her mind. She reflexively fought the outside influence, but He would not be refused. Like water, the information seeped into her brain. One did not marinate in His... well, she didn't know what Above was, but it seemed to amplify her connection to Him. One did not simply venture into that connection and not expect to absorb some of His Word.
   If anyone heard my thoughts right now, they would think me arrogant, or insane, and I don't know which is less true.
   Even through her own musings, the knowledge was relentless. She needed to know, though she wasn't sure yet why. As with everything relating to Him, she didn't expect to find out any time soon. It was just a fact of this Verse that she was imbued with.
   She wondered, and then abruptly knew, that the other Triplets had also been gifted the information she now had.
   Even so, she could feel that He was still holding back.

   By the way, while I'm here, how do You differentiate between what souls You send through my womb, and what souls go through other kins' wombs?

   The question itself hurt her brain a bit, but it had been bothering her, and He seemed to be feeling particularly generous at the moment.

Those who have seen the Beast, or its minions.

Why? Do they need special... processing, or something?

Something like that.

Okay, You don't think I'm ready for details yet. That's fine.

   As a dragon, she assumed that she had plenty of time to learn whatever secrets He deemed relevant. The reaction that rippled through Above at that thought, however, did unsettle her.

   Why do I get the feeling You don't want me to know just how long dragons live, Old Man?

   Again, He said nothing, but she got the impression it was not all dragons He was hesitant to talk about.
   It was the Triplets.
   Dragonkind, she gathered from the ether, would live the longest of all of the kin, which everyone had naturally assumed. That was why they would likely adopt their egg incubation time as the measure of a year.
   As for her and the other two... He didn't think she'd like the answer. It wasn't anything concrete that she knew for sure, and it would be arrogant to assume that she could read His... not His mind, but the impressions and feelings that were her interactions with Him. She knew, of course, that her mind wouldn't be able to comprehend His visage, so it made sense that abstracts would be the extent of her contact with the Big Guy.
   She almost felt that He told her that the other two Triplets were male to stave off her half-formed questions about their lifespans. He must surely know that she would never ask outright, but He would be equally cognizant that that fact alone would have her in a tizzy for weeks.
   Shards, shrapnel, frack...
   That meant that she alone was responsible for ferrying in lost souls, if she was the only female Triplet.

   And how, Old Man, do you expect me to keep them from running amok with that information?! You know damned well they're gonna try to deify me--or us, if I were dumb enough to tell them about the boys! I swear, it's almost like you're handing off the entire human race to the three most loyal subjects you had, so you can run off and play with other toys, in another part of existence!

   She... didn't like the silence that dropped into the Verse. It was so quiet, in fact, that she wasn't sure He hadn't popped into another dimension to avoid her overhearing His thoughts.
   Which is utterly ridiculous, of course. Nobody, not even a dragon, could hear the thoughts of God! I mean yeah, thoughts are kind of how we communicate, since His voice would shatter my body into oblivion, but that's just what He wants me to hear. I don't hear every little thing that runs through His... does He have a head? He doesn't really need a body, per se. A being so immeasurable must surely have thoughts that are far too complex for us to comprehend. No way anyone would "overhear" His thoughts!
   The idea was so preposterous, she fell out of the thin air Above, gasping and giggling.