Wild Wings

Untitled Part 3

Chapter Two

The Direfrost

It's hard to climb rocks and hold two eggs as big as your head at the same time. But I did it anyway. It had taken nearly three days watching the roc's nest and memorising the patterns of when it left and came back to find the perfect time to sneak in and snatch two of the five eggs, and I'd gotten quite scratched up while escaping, but the eggs would make mama happy, and making a brooding dragon happy is all that matters when you live in a clan of them.

When I finally reached the top of the steep path leading up to the mouth of mama's cave, I called softly, "Mama, are you awake?"

The reply came in a moment, "K'rey! You're back! Where have you been these past..."

"Three days," I supplied, mama's doesn't really sense time passing, especially when she stays in her cave day and night watching over her hatchlings, "I went too the roc's nest," I said, coming into the cave, "And look what I found!" I held out the two eggs, both grey and bigger than my head.

I heard the dry scraping of scales on rock as mama shifted to get a better look, "Lovely!" She rumbled, then she twisted her neck around behind her, saying, "Come, my little ones, come see what your wonderful sister has brought you."

Six little hatchlings tottered around mama's huge form, grumbling at being woken up, struggling for balance on their twig-like legs. But when they saw me and the eggs I carried, all trace of sleepiness departed from them.

"K'rey! K'rey!" Chortled one of my younger siblings, tripping over himself and getting his deep green coat covered in dust in an attempt to leap toward me. He landed at my feet and looked pleadingly up at me, "Food?"

Laughing, I set the eggs on the floor and crouched down. "Yes, I have food, little one, roc eggs, fresh from the nest! A treat for your first meal." I reached out and rubbed his crest, feeling the scales hardening already. None of my little siblings had names yet, they only got them when they ate their first real food. Papa was going to give them their names today, so I'd come back just in time. It was also around this time of year when they started to learn to fly. Grandpapa, the oldest dragon in our clan, says that I might never fly with my own wings, but that I am always soaring inside. Mama tells me this means that I may be a human, but I have a dragon heart.

I set the roc eggs on a high shelf of rock where the hatchlings couldn't reach them and said to mama, "Mama, you need to get some sun, I can watch the hatchlings while you go out."

Mama looked at me gratefully, "I think I'll take you up on that. Thank you, K'rey." She then pushed herself to her feet and lumbered out of the cave. When she got to the entrance, she spread her great wings and leapt into the sky.

I was immediately tackled by the hatchlings. "Gah!" I cried, but when my pleas for mercy fell on deaf ears, I fought back. "Look out, little dragons! The tickle monster is coming!"

Twenty minutes of brawling later, I gave up. I lay on the cool stone floor, gasping for breath, while the hatchlings danced around me, celebrating their victory. Whumph, Whumph, sounded outside the cave, then the click, click, of claws on stone, an amused voice said, "Have the hatchlings made their first kill already?"

"I'm not dead yet, Papa!" I called, "Please save me from these rapscallions, they've near killed me!"

My blue little sister pounced on me shouting, "She's not dead yet!"

All five other hatchlings landed on me, "Oof!" I said, "Argh! I've been slain!" I closed my eyes and stuck out my tongue.

Prodding paws and curious claws poked me, "I think we killed her," Whispered one of the hatchlings.

They all crawled off of me, and I leaped to my feet, "Haha!" I said, "You evil beasts will never kill me!" All the hatchlings laughed and looked relieved.

Papa turned to me, "Where's your mother?" he asked, "It's almost time."

"Mama went for a flight," I said, "She should be back in a few minutes. But Papa, look what I got!" I pointed to the eggs on the shelf of rock.

"Wonderful," Said Papa, "Roc eggs will make a lovely first meal for the hatchlings."

Whumph, Whumph, thump, mama landed in the entrance of the cave, "Is it time for my babies naming?"

One of the hatchlings spoke up, "I want a strong name." He squeaked, "'Cause I'm gonna be the bravest, strongest dragon of them all." He puffed up his chest and blew as hard as he could, a trickle of smoke emerged from his mouth, "See?" He said, "I can blow fire already!"

Mama and papa laughed, "And a strong name you shall get, my hatchling," said papa, "Now, come along, everyone's waiting."

The hatchlings followed papa out of the cave and up the rocky slope outside. I grabbed the eggs and followed mama's receding tail as she clambered after her hatchlings and mate.

Above and behind mama's rocky cave was a small plain of flat, rocky land that was the commonplace of our clan. Gathered around the commonplace in a semicircle were the other fourteen dragons of our clan.

Mama went to join the other dragons in the semicircle where I joined her after depositing the eggs on the raised platform of rock in the center of the commonplace.

Our clan wasn't big on ceremonies, so papa just called up the hatchlings, broke the eggs, let the hatchlings drink from the broken eggs, (much laughter came from the older dragons at the delighted slurping of the young ones,) and pronounced them dragonets. Then he gave them their names.

Dragons took great pride in their names, they were an integral part of a dragon's being. Each dragon name had its own meaning, a meaning that only those who had lived with dragons could fully understand. My own name, K'rey, means 'Dragonheart'.

Papa called to the little green dragon who loves food. "W'tar" Said papa, "BraveLove." W'tar, smiling proudly, marched back to his siblings. Papa called my owl-eyed sister, whose deep blue-purple coat blended in with the night. "S'ran, WatchfulNight." My little red brother, the one who wanted a brave name, "T'frey, WarriorHeart." My sky-blue sister, "C'var, SongWind." The little grey one, who always followed T'frey's every move, but was just as fierce, "T'cor, WarriorShadow" And lastly, my yellow, serpentine little sister, who didn't talk much, but always seemed to know about things before they happened, "F'san, FutureFall."

W'tar, S'ran, T'frey, C'var, T'cor, and F'san paraded in front of the older dragons, each choosing the one who they thought could best teach them the way of dragons in future years. At last, they had all chosen except F'san. F'san was taking her time, when she looked over the dragons still left for choosing, she clearly didn't find what she was looking for.

Then she seemed to perk up, she turned around and beelined strait for me.