Dragons of Skylark: The Four Heirs

No Dragon Teaches This

     "Longtayle."

     A paw jabbed into my shoulder.

     "Longtayle, wake up."

     A sharp inhale floods my lungs as I jolt awake. Ronan is standing above me. It's too cold for the sun to be up. What on earth does he think he's doing? I was sleeping. It's very important for my developing brain!

     His claws clamp around my muzzle, before I can snap at him, a dangerously warm puff of air escapes out my nostrils.

     "Shh, don't wake the others."

     "We do not need to be vigilant," I whisper, "Skylark watches us in the night."

     "You know who doesn't? Our parents. Come on, I need you to lead me to the lake."

     Somethings up, he knows the path to the lake, even in darkness. Ronan's already slithered out of the nesting cave before I can ask further. Then I'm faced with two options, satisfy my burning curiosity or go back to bed.

     I silence my grumbling as I tread lightly through the den after him.

     "What's going on?" I demand, catching up to him.

     "I want to show you something." He revealed, leaving me with a fraction more information then before. "Seth would have woken Mum and Dad, and May can't keep a secret."

     "A secret?"

     He doesn't answer.

     The dried grass of his woven basket rustles against his spines as we go. It's empty, as far as I can tell. Unless he's carrying feathers, cotton, or some other muffling substance. There's not much here as far as clues. Switching to things I don't know; there's a funny feeling in my lower jaw. It tastes of metal, which is funny because I haven't eaten metal recently.

     "Up here." Ronan's hind feet kick pebbles at my face as his disappears up a much smaller crevice. "Don't worry, it gets bigger."

     The feeling of the rock pressed up against all sides of my body is comforting. I can feel the heat leaving my body as the mountain soaks it up. We keep it alive. I fold my ever-growing wings so close to my body it's as if they melt into my skin. My scales flatten until I'm as smooth as a river stone, and I slide through.

     The walls around me disappear and I crawl onto the mossy floor, stretching to fill the space. The air isn't warm, but there's a comfortably level of humidity and no breeze. Ronan's sniffing and shuffling doesn't create an echo either. What a wonder rock grotto he's found!

     "Here, open your paws."

     He's holding something that clinks together as it shifts. It's cold to, when he places it in my palm. I press my pads into the surface and click excitedly as the shape forms in my brain. It's a face, a dragon's face. Their muzzle is shorter and stubbier than mine, with small, thick horns and well-rounded ears. Their eyes are big and I get a sense of curiosity and joy, not from whatever expression carved into it, but from the rock itself.

     "I... recognize this." Hearing myself say it made it even more unreal.

     "Guess who it is!" Ronan chirped.

     "It's... It's May!" I realized, with a start. "How...?"

     "I can make the stones speak!" Ronan's hopped around me. "I thought you would appreciate it most. I have more, I haven't made one for you or me yet, but I have everyone else. Would you like to see?"

     "Yes!"

     The next face he gave me had a more tapered snout. The jaw was smoother and the eyes like crescents, like the shape of the moon. This one spoke waves of caution, and a deep wisdom beyond his years.

     "Seth!" I gasped.

     Mum's face was closer to May's. Her jaw was squared and big ear and frills stretched out from her cape, but Seth got her focused, calculating eyes. Pop's face was slim, his horns were thick and heavy and his ears were long and thin, like mine. The scales along his jaw line were longer, softer, and friendly. I could feel the warmth in his smile.

    "This is incredible, who taught you this?" I asked.

     "I taught myself."

     I tilted my head to hear him better. "What?"

     Ronan paused, and a huff of air escaped him. His bigger, rounder pads slides over the top of my paw. They were hot and I wanted to yank away but for some reason, I didn't.

   "I discovered this by accident, but the rock listens to me when I want a shape. It feels like fire, and it takes a long time, but I did myself."

     "Your skin feels like fire." I finally pulled away. "Are you sure it's safe without a teacher?"

     Ronan huffed, about to give and indignant reply no doubt. Then a sweet smell drifted up to my nose and I whipped around, placing a paw on his snout.

     "We're not alone." I whispered.

     Ronan's scales rustled with the sudden terror even I could feel flash through him. It was coming from the crack we crawled through. He dropped to the ground and stalked over to it.

     "Wait! I'm sorry," the other dragon cried. "I just wanted to be part of the fun."

     My wings fell back down at my sides. "...Hailpip?"

     "It's me." She pushed through the crack and flopped onto the ground. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, I'm not usually up at this time either I was just thirsty, and watched you two disappear. I thought you might be up to something exciting."

     "This isn't a theater." Ronan grumbled.

     I tilted my head, "do you want to show her?"

     He paused, holding his reply still, clutched between his teeth. "Yes."

     He opened his paws and the small rock fell into Hailpip's waiting palm. She gasped, and I got the same feeling I got from Ronan's carving, the tangible sense of her amazement the ran off of her like water. I waded through it, a sat down next to her.

     "You're the same." I remarked. "You know, don't you?"

     Hailpip tensed, I could feel her eyes on me. I wondered where her eyes were so I could at least look back. At least to let her know her secret was safe with me.

     "Yeah, I don't know what it is."

     "Neither do I, but..." Ronan trailed off.

     "I don't know who to ask." Hailpip finished for him. "No dragon teaches this."

     "Maybe you're to be the first," I offered.

     "Maybe." Ronan stood, spines ruffled, and placed his carvings in his basket. "I'm going back to bed."

     I frowned, perhaps the lack of sleep finally got to him. Hailpip's frill audibly ruffled, but didn't speak until Rona had squeezed back through the crevice. I tilted my head at her. She huffed, embarrassed, and pulled on the moss clinging to the ground.

     "I like you, Longtayle, you're very keen. Meet me here in three days? There's a full moon."

     Something about the way she said it made my hollow bones feel even lighter. "Same time?"

     "Same time."

     I grinned. "Goodnight, Hailpip."

     She purred, "Goodnight to you as well."