Dimmadreki's Quest Chapter 07

"What do you mean, our daughter is gone?!" Myrkrid exploded before Dimmadreki could react.

"It's not my fault!" the Rumblehorn Alpha tried to explain. "She disappeared four nights ago. She went for a night flight, like she always does, and she never came back. We think she might have gone to the nest with the Bewilderbeast; she was asking for directions to it on the day she vanished."

"And you didn't send anyone after her?" Myrkrid demanded.

"We sent out the Raincutter who came from there," the Alpha said. "She's the only one who knows the way. But Næturvon had a big head start, and Raincutters aren't the fastest flyers in the nest. We told her to find your daughter and bring her back, but we knew she didn't have a chance of overtaking Næturvon. I figured she'd get there eventually and persuade your daughter to return, hopefully before you got here."

"We need to go after her," Myrkrid announced. "Now."

"We need to stay for a while first," Dimmadreki corrected her. "Mánarskuggi isn't used to this much flying; he needs to rest his wings."

"Then you stay here with him. I'll go after Næturvon, and you can follow me tomorrow."

"I could do that," Dimmadreki nodded, "but do you know where you're going?"

Myrkrid's face fell. She turned to the Rumblehorn. "Where is this Bewilderbeast's nest?"

The olive-colored dragon shrugged in embarrassment. "None of us has ever been there, except for the Raincutter we sent out. It's to the north-northeast, and it's a five-day journey for a Raincutter; that's all we know."

"Myrkrid, if we split up to cover a distance like that, we might never find each other again," Dimmadreki thought out loud. "We need to stay together."

Mánarskuggi spoke up. "Is this one of those mistakes that my sister makes all the time, that you don't want me to make?"

"Thank you for summing that up," Dimmadreki replied absently.

After a moment, Myrkrid had to nod. "When you're right, you're right. We need to rest for our son's sake, and we need to stay together for our family's sake. Let's grab a bite to eat, and find a ledge to rest on. But as soon as we're refreshed, we're on our way!"

"Deal," her mate agreed. They did some quick fishing and made sure that Mánarskuggi's belly was full. Then they lay down to sleep with the young dragon between them, covered by their wings, as much to keep him from getting away as to keep him comfortable. They slept restlessly, though; both adults were anxious to get on their way and find their wayward daughter. They didn't even wait for sunset, but took wing while it was still daylight. They had an extremely rough set of directions and an even rougher description of what the nest looked like from the outside. Most dragons would have said their chances of finding that nest were slim indeed. But they had no other option – they had to try to find it.

On the second day out, Myrkrid's keen eye spotted something dragon-sized on the ground far below them. Four men with spears were guarding it. "That's her!" she exclaimed. "The humans caught her!"

"It can't be her," Dimmadreki corrected her. "That one is far too big to be our daughter. The humans caught some other dragon."

Myrkrid hesitated, torn between her desire to find Næturvon and her desire to help a dragon who was obviously in need. "We should scare those men away, at the very least," she decided.

"A couple of quick firebolts at their feet ought to do the job," Dimmadreki agreed. They dove, fired, and watched in satisfaction as the guards ran for their lives.

They spiraled down and found the purple Raincutter they were supposed to be following. They landed next to her. "Help me, please! The humans got me!" she sobbed. That was obvious; she was trapped from head to tail in a net made of metal cables.

"Did you ever catch up with our daughter?" Myrkrid asked.

"No, I couldn't fly that fast," the Raincutter said sadly. "I tried. That's how I got in trouble – I got hungry from all that flying, I wasn't watching my surroundings, and the humans ambushed me when I stopped to eat some yummy grubs."

"No problem," Myrkrid replied. "We'll get you out of here, and then you can lead us to the Bewilderbeast." She focused her blowtorch-fire on one of the metal strands. It glowed red, softened, and eventually parted.

"That's going to take hours," the Raincutter observed. "What if the humans come back with reinforcements?"

"Then we'll show them it's a bad idea to mess with dragons," Myrkrid snarled, and began heating another section of metal mesh.

"Wait," Dimmadreki cut in. "We don't have to cut the whole net away. Just cut it where it's anchored to the ground, and then we can pull it off of her. That will be much faster."

"Good thinking," his mate smiled. "Your human brain can come in handy sometimes." The two adult Night Furies walked in a circle around the net, slicing through the mesh at six of the eight points where it had been spiked into the ground. Then they took the net in their teeth and pulled it back. The Raincutter was free in less than ten minutes.

"Thank you!" she exclaimed as she shook her head and neck. "All the stories about Night Furies being helpful are true!"

"We're glad to help," Dimmadreki replied, "but we need to get moving. We'll follow you to the Bewilderbeast nest so we can get our daughter back."

"Would it be okay if I nibbled on a few worms first?" the Raincutter asked hopefully. "They smell so tasty here!"

"We'd really, really prefer to get moving," Myrkrid answered, "and we need you to guide us. We need to find our daughter before she gets into some new kind of trouble that she can't get herself out of. Please!"

"Well... all right," the bigger dragon said regretfully. "I know how it feels to worry about hatchlings. I guess I can stop here on the way home." They bounded into the air and resumed their course. The Night Furies were frustrated; they could have flown much faster, but they had to hold themselves back so they didn't leave the Raincutter behind.

After a few minutes, Mánarskuggi flew right up next to Myrkrid. "Mother, that dragon wanted to eat worms. What do worms taste like?"

"I have no idea," she replied, "but I'm pretty sure that Night Furies can't eat them. Our bellies are made for fish and not much else. If you're getting ideas about eating some worms, I think you shouldn't."

"Oh," he said, and eased away again.

After a few more hours, he closed in on his father. "Are we there yet?"

"Not yet," Dimmadreki said patiently. "We probably have at least two more days of flying in front of us. Why do you ask?"

"My wings are getting tired," Mánarskuggi complained. "Can we stop and take a break?"

"We can't take any breaks, son – we're in too much of a hurry," Dimmadreki answered. "Tannin only knows what kind of trouble your sister might be getting into! We need to find her before she destroys the earth, or trades one of us to the Cossacks in exchange for something shiny. Can you keep going until sunrise?"

"I don't know," the young dragon said.

Dimmadreki sideslipped and dropped right beneath his son. "Then ride on my back for a while. You can rest your wings until you're ready to fly again."

"Okay, Dad!" Mánarskuggi folded his wings, dropped eight feet straight down, and landed with all four feet on his father's back. The impact nearly knocked Dimmadreki out of the sky.

"Oof! Go easy, son! That kind of hurt."

"Sorry, Dad." On they flew.

It was another three and a half days before they spotted a huge blue-white massif surrounded by ice-choked waters. "That's the place!" the Raincutter exclaimed. "It hasn't changed a bit since I left. Follow me – I know the way in." They switched from their line-abreast formation to a line-ahead, with the Raincutter in the lead. "Have you ever met a King Bewilderbeast before?"

"I've never met a King of anything before," Myrkrid said.

"My father met a Viking who said he was the King of the Chiefs," Dimmadreki added, "but no one else believed him. Mostly, the other chiefs laughed at him."

"Don't laugh at the Bewilderbeast," the Raincutter cautioned them. "He's easygoing, but he does have a temper. It's customary to bow before him the first time you meet him each day."

"Bowing before other dragons isn't a habit of mine," Myrkrid said decisively.

"Trust me – when you see him, you'll have no trouble bowing," replied the Raincutter. "There's the entrance to the nest. We'll pass through an initial chamber first; don't be disappointed at how small it is. The actual nest is much bigger!" They curved in through the entrance tunnel, overflew a dozen sleeping dragons in the entry chamber, wound their way through another tunnel, and burst out into a dragon's paradise.

The nest was made of ice and rock, it was completely enclosed, and it was so big that they couldn't make out details on the far walls. Dim light filtered through the frozen roof. There was greenery, flowing water, and waterfalls. Dragons of all kinds were flying around in flocks, chittering and calling to each other. Some of them were species that Dimmadreki had never seen before. And the one in the very center...

"Wow," all three Night Furies said at once.

They followed the Raincutter as she landed on a flat rock in front of the Bewilderbeast's resting place. His huge eyes slid open and he raised his head, startling a small flock of baby Scuttleclaws who were playing on his face. He looked down on them. The adult dragons bowed without hesitation; Mánarskuggi hid behind his mother and fearfully peeked around her flank.

"Great One, I've brought you some visitors," the Raincutter said.

"More Night Furies," the huge white dragon observed in a deep, resonant voice. "I welcome you. Do you intend to stay, or are you just here to stir up confusion, like the other one?"

Dimmadreki hesitantly stepped forward. "Great One, we're here to claim the other one. She's our daughter. We apologize for whatever confusion she's caused; her being here wasn't our idea."

The Bewilderbeast nodded and breathed out a puff of frozen air that frosted Dimmadreki's face white. "Young dragons. I know a few things about them. Yes, please, claim your young one, and please rein her in. Once you get her under control, you may stay for as long as you wish."

"Thank you," Myrkrid said with a bit of a quaver in her voice. "Do you know where our daughter is?"

"I suspect that she will not be hard to find," the Alpha rumbled. A moment later, he was proven right. They heard a familiar voice from overhead.

"Hi, Mom! Dad, look at me! I'm doing what you did! I'm taking a human for a ride!"