Mommy Dragon Dearest!

Chapter One

The large purple dragon paused at the edge of the meadow, eyeing his foe. Lian-Chu used the pause to get a firmer grip on his sword and waited for the coming charge.

"Hit 'em with your left this time!" Gwizdo hollered from behind a large tree. "Do somethin' he doesn't expect!"

Lian-Chu shifted his sword to his left hand as Gwizdo instructed, just as the roaring beast charged. Giving a strong yell himself, the dragon hunter surged forward, only to trip on a stone the last minute and fall flat. The dragon thundered over and past him.

"Well," Gwizdo observed. "He didn't expect that, did he?"

"Nuh uh!" Hector shook his head vigorously in agreement.

"C'mon! Get up! Stop lyin' down on the job!" Gwizdo yelled out. "It's comin' back!"

Lian-Chu didn't respond, even when the dragon turned about and came plodding back. Catching sight of the prone still figure it paused, cocked his head in a confused manner, then bent down to sniff at this fallen foe.

"Ah….Lian-Chu? You..ok?" Gwizdo asked worriedly, his voice dropping in tone with each word. Hector's ears went flat and he nervously chewed at his front claws.

When the huge dragon nose was just inches away Lian-Chu suddenly sprang back to life and buried his sword in the middle of the dragon's forehead. The dragon's eyes crossed, it uttered a slight gurgle, then toppled over. The body jerked in a death spasm for a moment, then it went still and stiff. Even the tail was as straight as a ramrod.

"And anudder one bites the dust!" His companion crowed in triumph as he came out of his hiding spot. "Great ploy there, big guy! Ya even had ME fooled!"

"Heh heh Lian-Chu play dead! Now draggie dead! Whoopie!" Hector did his celebrating by climbing on top of the huge corpse and jumping on its belly.

"I took a chance. Dragons usually prefer live prey," Lian-Chu explained as he retrieved his sword. "I knew he would come closer."

"Yeah yeah but his teeth were closer too. Don't forget that! Let's not be takin' too many chances dere. Ok, that's that. Now let's go enjoy my favorite part, collectin' our pay!" Gwizdo dusted his hands as if he had done the actual deed and strutted off. Hector bounced from the dragon's upturned belly to its nose and then to the ground and followed.

As usual the payment didn't go quite as planned. The villagers had but a few copper coins and offered to barter the rest. So when the St George lifted off it was filled with sacks of potatoes, apples, three piglets, a calf and two chickens. Gwizdo was in a somewhat disgruntled mood.

"I tell ya, Lian-Chu. These days we'd better start askin' to see the pay in advance! I did NOT design and build the St George to be a flippin' Ark!"

"I am sure Jennyline will appreciate them though." Lian-Chu had the calf cradled in his arms as he scratched its head. The animal was in bliss. "When this little heifer grows up she'll be a fine milker, I am sure of it."

"Wonderful. So soon we'll find ourselves churning butter out in the yard next year." Gwizdo groused. "I'm lookin' forward to that. In the meantime, how are we gonna pay our bills? I would like to make enough to at least afford a new pair of pants. Look at this!" He tugged at his pantleg. " Even the patches' patches has patches!"

"I could knit you a new pair of…" Lian-Chu started to offer but Gwizdo waved him off.

"I'm not the tights-type kind of guy. Thanks but I prefer a bit of room to move around in." he sighed.

Hector looked down at his own blue fur and thought how lucky he was to never have to even consider clothes. "Gizdo should have fur. Most simple, easy. No wear clothes!"

"It's not like I have a choice in the matter but if I did and it turned out like yours I'd shave it all off in an instant!"

Hector's eyes narrowed. "What wrong wit' blue fur? Is nice and warm! Covers all! Pretty too!"

"Oh nothing', it's just that I think having one moth-eaten furball in the team is quite enough."

"Moths no eat me! Me eat moths!"

"Mebbe if you combed it once in a….Hey!" Gwizdo jerked back the control stick to send the St George into a sideways dive, narrowly missing a large bulbous form zooming up past him. "Geez! What WAS that!"

Lian-Chu raised a hand to shield his eyes as he gazed after the missile. "I believe it was a dragon."

"Well of –course- it was a dragon! What else would be flyin' up around here besides us? Blasted things think they own the skies."

"Dwaggies do!" Hector put in. "Flies more, better than birdies!"

"Yeah well…" Gwizdo was about to retort when they all heard a loud snap coming from above them. They froze then looked slowly upwards. The force of the unexpected climb had stressed one of the propellers and it had sheered off. Only half of it remained, which did not give enough power with such a load. The St George began to go down. Thankfully it went slowly, enough so Gwizdo could guide it in to the nearest island and the end result was only a slight bone-jarring thump. After the landing they remained seated, trying to regain their composure. It had been a near thing.

And it only made Gwizdo's mood even more sour. "Great! Just flippin' great! Now we have to take the time to find some wood strong enough to carve into a replacement blade. In the meantime all the good dragon jobs will be taken by somebody else! Why does this always happen to us? Why can't some other slob get the same bad luck as we do?" he ended his tirade by giving the downed airship a swift kick, which did nothing more than to bruise his foot. "Ow! Blast it!"

Lian-Chu was more optimistic. "We made it down safely and there are the woods. It shouldn't be too hard to find a piece to use." So saying he drew out his blade and walked over to the trees edge.

"Yeah yeah. Well, you go do that. In the meantime I'm fixin' something to eat." Gwizdo started to root through the bags and discovered the piglets munching on the contents of the apple sack. "Hey! Get outta dere! That's not for you! Get back in your crate."

Hector chuckled at Gwizdo's shuffling of their bounty and decided to explore the small island. It was clear nothing beyond the trees and few birds lived on it; no large animal could manage to eke out a living on the area so it should be safe. He snuffled through the underbrush and discovered a few berry bushes, the bounty of which he quickly devoured. Rocks and logs didn't furnish anything else edible and he was about to turn back when he poked his head through a bush and found himself staring into the discarded nest of a dragon. He was about to pull back in alarm when he saw the cracked eggshells about. "Oooh babies come. Babies go! All crack crack!" He picked up one of the shells and nibbled on it. While it did provide a satisfying crunch the pieces were just too sharp to swallow. He tossed it away and was about to leave when he caught sight on one egg still intact. "Ooooo eggers for snacks!" he gloated. He picked up the canatlope-sized prize and made his way back to the others.

Lian-Chu was seated on a large rock steadily cutting a new propeller from the log he had chosen. Gwizdo, having eaten his snack, was lying back in the shade of the St George, his hands pillowing his head and his helmet over his eyes as he snoozed. Hector shuffled up proudly with his prize.

"Hey! Looky looky! Me find egger! Cook scrambled snack!"

"Hmm?" The large man looked up. "Hector, that doesn't look like a bird's egg."

"Eh, no." the blue dragon admitted. "No birdy, draggie. Draggie nest back there, but mommy, babies all gone. Leave this one. Rotten mebbe?"

"Let me see that." Lian-Chu picked up the orb and studied the surface, then gently shook it. "It seems a bit heavy for a rotten egg and it doesn't stink. It sometimes happens that an egg will be late in hatching. The mother can't risk her other young in waiting. Poor little thing."

"Huh? Hm, what?" Gwizdo partially sat up and pulled back his helmet to look over at them sleepily. "Now what? Haven't you got that thing carved out yet?"

"Hector found a dragon's egg." Lian-Chu held it up to show him. Gwizdo was not impressed.

"Well whoopee for Hector. Mebbe if he sits on it he can hatch it. Now how about we get back to the carving?" He slumped back and replaced his helmet.

Lian-Chu shrugged, handed the egg back to Hector and resumed cutting the wood with his sword. Hector studied his prize again. "Hmmm, mebbe taste?" He licked it, then tried chewing on the surface. Being smooth and round his teeth couldn't grip anywhere. "Hmph. Hard eggers!" He threw it to the ground and looked at it. There was no change in the shell. He picked it up and threw it down again. Still no result. "Grrrr!" The blue dragon picked up a small rock and hammered on the surface. The only thing that happened was the clacking noise annoying Gwizdo.

"Hector. Whatever you're doing, stop it!"

"Twyin' cwack egg!" Hector explained.

"Yeah, well try cracking it a little quieter."

Hector glared at the egg resting innocently in the grass, then started to jump up and down on it. "Grr! Cwack, eggers! Cwack!"

Gwizdo didn't bother to expend the energy to sit up but he did lift the edge of his helmet up to peer out from under in annoyance. "Hector! Knock it off!"

"Eggers no cwack!" Hector complained, holding it out in front of him.

Gwizdo shut his eyes and heaved a deep suffering sigh. "Look, if I crack it for you, will you then be quiet?"

Hector nodded his head so hard his ears bobbed about. "Yes! Yes! Me be quiet!"

The small pilot made a big deal of getting up from his comfortable resting spot and walked over. "Give it here."

Hector eagerly held it out. Gwizdo took it and looked at it closely. "You wanna eat this thing? Well, there's no accounting for taste, I suppose." He rapped the surface with the knuckles of one hand and listened at the resulting sound. "Well, it's not hollow anyway. But if this turns out to be a stinker I'll throw both it and you over the side of this island, got it?" he warned.

Hector wasn't the least bit worried. "Cwack eggers!" he urged.

Gwizdo looked about for a bigger rock than what Hector had used but before he could locate one he gave a sudden start and stared at the egg in his hand. "What th…it moved!"

Lian-Chu looked up with interest. "Is it hatching?"

"I don't know if it's hatching, growing or doing the Mamba but it moved!" Gwizdo peered at it suspiciously. He shook it, daring it to repeat itself. It did. "Yes, there's sumthin' alive in dere!" The pilot held it out with both hands back to Hector. "here, you take it, you found the darn thing!"

The blue dragon backed away. "Me no want baby draggie! Me just want eggers!"

"You started all this. Take it back!"

"Nu nuu! Trow it over side! No baby draggie!"

"You take this or I'll shove it down your measly little throat!" Gwizdo threatened. He stepped forward to carry out the actions when the egg gave a sudden 'crack' and split apart. Gwizdo yelped as the contents spilled out onto the ground in front of him. "Yeeks! It's slimey! Yuck!"

Hector's eyes grew big. "Oooooh, looky looky! Baby draggie!" he pointed down.