In The Lair of the Draca (Book 2)

In The Lair of the Draca (Book 2) Chapter 20: To Find a Star-Child

Dusha had perched in the high boughs of Haven's Wood for the better portion of three days, and her two stomachs roiled furiously from the lack of food and sustenance. Fruit birds were so tiny that they were little more than bite-sized snacks, mostly feathers and honey-combed bone that would have to be devoured by the dozens in order to provide anywhere near enough nourishment and energy. There were no fruit birds around to prey upon, besides: ever since Dusha's arrival into the forest, most of the animals-- even the lowly, black-ringed wood rats that shambled about from one burrow to the next-- had scampered away in their haste to avoid the monstrous Draca. In a sense, Dusha was grateful. Most civilized Draca, like Dusha and her remaining sisters, had wonderful appreciation for all things beauteous and charming. Fruit birds were some of the most colorful and bright-hued animals of Haven's Wood; she would have hated to crunch one beneath her heavy jaws.

Stilll, a dragon needed to eat like any other animal, and if she did not eat soon, Dusha feared she would be forced to resort to raiding one of the near-by villages. DayBreak and Hidden Well had large pens filled with sheep and cattle; two or three of those would have sufficed. But in the absence of four-legged cattle, a Person would have to be chosen instead-- and Dusha feared she would not be able to help herself.

As the Twin Moons and their surrounding stars winked in the blue-black sky above, Dusha waited for absolute silence before she spread her ample wings and glided down gently from the uppermost branches to the forest floor, where she took delicate steps toward the creek and waded in up to her brawny knees. She ducked her powerful head and plunged it beneath the calm surface of the water with nary a ripple; frightened, silver streaks that were creek-fish dodged and twisted away from Dusha's waiting jaws.

When she was unable to snare a fish, Dusha resorted to swallowing heavy grey stones, which were about the size of a Person's head. Eating stones was considered a last resort for starving Draca. They served only to make the stomachs feel fuller, and the minerals they bestowed were helpful for the health of the bone marrow-- but ultimately, they could not mask the pangs of hunger. And yet, she would not leave her post-- nay, she could not. Disobeying her Mother's orders would have been out of the question; for as much contempt as Dragura had for her own offspring (and as much as Dusha and her sisters would have loved to crush the woman between formidable rows of razor-sharp teeth), the blood of their Evening folk Mother still coursed through their veins. They were one with Dragura, and she was one with them. It was simply the way things were, the way things always had been.

Wait for the star child. Mother wants the star child!

Dusha lifted her head from the water and shook herself, sending fine sprays of cool, misty pearls flying in all directions. What would she do if she actually saw the girl? Would she have the strength to capture the child and bring her back to Dragura's fortress, where she would certainly meet her end?

No. Dusha remembered the nights she'd spent cuddling little Qukat in her Mother's bedchambers, protectively nosing the child away from the open window, and patiently allowing the tiny girl to jam both fists into her huge nostrils. She remembered guarding Qukat's cold little body in the Ice-Cap mountains-- before those other 'people' had discovered her hiding spot-- she remembered pacing the floor of the cave with great anxiety, listening to the poor child's plaintive wailing as the soft-shelled, blue-veined ova slid out from Qukat's insides and splashed onto the cave floor.

When Qukat died, Dusha had shed real tears. Qukat had been as a daughter to Dusha.

Once the ova hatched, which had taken little more than an hour, a slimy, wet-winged, sealed-eyed miniature version of the unholy offspring-- the infantile Draca-- had thrust its head into the air, opened wide its diminutive jaws, and wailed in hunger, turning almost at once to Qukat's lifeless body as a form of nourishment.