Over the next few weeks, I frequented the clearing, spending as much time as possible with my Dragon. Darkcrown started letting me ride her. She'd nudge me towards her back and allow me to steady myself by holding on to her frill tips. She wouldn't fly; I could feel a slight limp in her gait.
Once, Darkcrown was generous enough to let me stand to the side as she hunted one of the boar herds the village acknowledges occasionally. She stalked them, creeping against the wind, as I took notes in a large bush far away. The boars were completely oblivious to the Dragon's presence. When Darkcrown was close enough, hiding behind a few trees, I went still, believing that she was going to leap.
But instead she stood still as her prey came to her.
I watched with wide-eyed fascination as one boar shuffled her way, then another. And another. Then Darkcrown burst from the trees in a flurry of shining scales, glittering frills, and sparkling snow.
I lay on her smooth back as we simply dozed in the clearing, the bones of wild boars surrounding us. It was a very mild day: a gentle breeze, a cloudless sky, and a cool sun beaming down at us through the trees. We'd just come back from walking.
Recently I noticed something new about my Waterscale: her scent. No matter where we come from, Darkcrown always seemed to smell like…well, I don't know. It wasn't an unpleasant scent—far from that! It was…sweet. Spicy.
Like pine cones.
.:*+*:.
Darkcrown thought of Iona as a part of her flock. The human would visit her, walking away from her flock—or family, as the sharp-scented boy called it—and spend time with her. Darkcrown could feel her presence long before she could see her—sometimes she could smell her first, when the wind was right. The Mirrorscale always greeted her warmly, leaning down to let the little human caress her head.
As the Sun and Moon shifted in the sky, Darkcrown found herself yearning for Iona's presence, very much like she did the little boy of the western tribe. She would wait impatiently, fidgeting. Oftentimes Darkcrown would travel by foot, searching for whatever could hold her interest. Sometimes she hunted just to pass time.
Dragons who bonded with humans often spoke of this feeling—life mate. A Dragon who went too long without his or her life mate felt restless and incomplete; they would wander aimlessly through both the sky and the land, either waiting for their human to return or seeking them out.
When Iona visited Darkcrown on a fairly warm day, Darkcrown was thrilled. She flared her frills excitedly. The emptiness was gone, filled with a growing warmth that could melt snow and ice. Darkcrown lowered her head so that her eyes were level with Iona's.
They were a wonderful green color. They reminded the Mirrorscale of the Sunface, where the land would turn from white and blue to green with red, white, and pink speckles.
