Hello, readers!

This is all I have written for Sparrow right now, so it might be a little bit before I post again . . . a couple of weeks, maybe. I'll have to post some other stuff in the meantime, sorry. Gonna try to work a little faster but sometimes I just can't. I have a lot going on and my daughter climbs everything now, including her crib, so I don't really have anywhere safe to put her right now to work. I'm working on some solutions, though. Her nap time is around 3 hours long now so I'll at least have that time to work on stuff.

Enough of my whining . . . this chapter is all thanks to the support of you guys and my patrons, Dark, Tonya, Narttu, and Kendra! When I get to a certain number of patrons, I'm gonna be doing a Q&A if that's something people would be interested in. Fizzle is an amazing beta as always, with all his bright ideas and stuff.

Enjoy!

~ Crayola

21 - Flight

"Ow . . ." Oddny pulled her hand back and stuck her thumb in her mouth.

Val sighed. "I thought you said you've sewn before?"

Oddny shot her a petulant look and checked the prick in her finger, but it wasn't bleeding badly—just a single small drop. "I have. I did all the sewing for my uncle when I lived with him," she huffed, sticking her finger back in her mouth for a few more seconds—until the initial pain subsided.

"Well, that's like the second time you've poked yourself. Pay more attention," Val chided.

Rolling her eyes, Oddny tried again to stitch up the pants she'd been working on for a while. She was far too distracted even for the rather uninvolved task of hemming and stitching. It had been almost a whole week since she had last been able to visit Hawkfrost, and she missed the little whelp quite a bit.

Finding the time and freedom to visit her dragons was a nightmare—almost as bad as trying to navigate the entire compound to figure out where Seaspray, Chip, and the others were all being kept. Oddny had asked Gaut to keep an eye out, but she wasn't sure how much faith she could put in him—he seemed incredulous at worst about her seeming obsession and indulgent at best in humoring her fancies.

Generally speaking, Oddny wanted to know where Chip was so she could avoid coming upon him unprepared. He had made it abundantly clear when he'd charged her that he may never forgive her transgression against him. It made her a little sad, but it had all been necessary in the end. Though it had only been one action, the consequences of that action had all come down on his head—being subdued, beaten, starved, tied up . . . all while she got everything she had wanted.

If she was Chip, she would have hated her, too.

She found herself running that scenario in her head over and over again, trying to find a better way to get the egg in with Seaspray. Anything that didn't include sneaking around at night and trying to steal keys from the trappers.

It's in the past, she kept trying to tell herself. There's no point in dwelling on it.

For now, she would work on avoiding him until she could figure out a way to make him forgive her. Find him, find Seaspray, and then she could figure out how to make her own little world right again.

The only Changewing in the entire compound was one thing, but one specific Nadder among many was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Oddny herself was too busy working with the other women, so she couldn't spend too much time looking. The one other person who had a general idea of what Seaspray looked like was making a half-hearted attempt to search, too. It was all so frustrating—feeling powerless.

However, Gaut showed up not soon after Oddn'y pricked herself for the third time.

"Calla," he called. Oddny had gotten so used to the name that she didn't even flinch when she heard it. She answered to it almost as readily as she would have if they were saying her real name.

Oddny looked up from her work, her eyes wide with hope. "Gaut, did you find her?"

"I think so. We better hurry if you want to see her before they leave, though," Gaut said, making a sharp gesture toward the sewing chamber's exit.

"They're leaving for a raid tonight. Drago always takes a huge chunk of his dragons . . . something about preferring overwhelming numbers and absolute hopelessness," he said with a shrug. "There's a good chance she'll go with all the newbies and they'll be gone for months."

Oddny's eyes widened and she dropped the pants she was busy hemming for someone and started to take off, but Gaut grabbed and stopped her.

"Hey, relax. Your Changewing won't be going. She can't even fly yet and still refuses to fall in line under the Bewilderbeast's influence," he explained, reading her mind.

"Oh," Oddny breathed, deflating somewhat.

The look on Gaut's face wasn't reassuring, and neither was his next statement. "Of course, that means that if Drago can't control her, he might just kill her. Right now, her potential is keeping her alive, but he's not known for his patience and a dragon that can't be controlled is useless to him."

Her face dropped and the color drained from her face. In the same beat, though, she became determined and said, "Then I'll try to convince her to pretend."

Gaut gave her a long look and slowly sighed. "Sure, why not. Let's just go before I forget where that other dragon you wanted to see was."

Brightening up somewhat, Oddny beamed and said, "Thank you, Gaut. I know I'm being a big pain but I really appreciate your help."

He turned his head away to try and hide the flustered brush creeping across his face. Coughing, he motioned her along and headed out. "Yeah, sure that's fine . . . just come on before it gets too late."

Nodding, Oddny set down her sewing project and turned to Val who had thus far been surreptitiously ignoring the two of them.

"Val, I'll be back. Cover for me?"

With a sniff, Val glanced over and said, "Yeah, yeah, go off and do your dragon things . . . I'll be here doing normal things. You at least going to come have dinner with us instead of the scaly beasts tonight?"

Oddny smiled ruefully. "Yes, I promise . . . I'm sorry, please don't be mad."

"I'm not mad," Val sighed, finally looking away from the shirt she was patching up. "I just think it's weird, that's all. It's kind of cute, though. Just get out of here!"

She didn't have to be told twice. Oddny followed after Gaut to find out where Seaspray was being kept. They were stopped on their way several times by various Vikings that demanded their attention or their help on a task. A few times the pair had to sneak through a group to avoid detection—and then they were upon the gathering of dragons all crammed beneath a rocky crag, huddling to avoid the storm picking up outside the compound.

"Man, you guys are slow!"

The sudden voice startled both of them, but it was merely Val coming up behind them. "I caught up with you guys so easily. What took you so long?"

"Val what are you doing here?" Oddny asked. If she was here, no one was covering for them!

With a dismissive wave, Val said, "Please, no one's going to notice we're gone. I wanted to see what was so great about this Deadly Nadder and Changewing you've been going on about. I've been feeling left out, you know. And after all I've done for you!"

Oddny grimaced and averted her gaze. "I . . . I didn't mean it. I just thought you didn't . . ."

Laughing, Val gave Oddny's shoulder a good-natured push and shook her head. "Oh, please, you're fine. I'm just pulling your leg. We're cool."

Unamused, Gaut gave the two girls an irritated look and motioned toward the dragons. "If you will, can we get this over with so I can maybe stop risking my neck for your flights of fancy? Hmm?"

"Sorry," Oddny murmured. "Lead the way."

Rolling his eyes, Gaut escorted them through the ranks of dragons. Just as Oddny began to wonder why Gaut was doing this for them if he detested it so, Val explained.

"He's a little surly, but really he's a pushover. Don't mind him," she said.

During the whole navigation process, Val stuck close to Oddny, clinging to her clothes like gnats to rotting food. Being so close underfoot almost tripped Oddny several times, but she didn't dare complain or push Val away. Not when she knew how hard it probably was to face her fears.

After shouldering through the hot bodies of the dragons and working up a sweat in the process, Gaut pointed ahead to the outer ring of the dragons—the ones too demure or weak to compete for the more sheltered area of the outcrop.

"Is that your Nadder?" he asked.

Oddny followed his gaze to the familiar form of a blue Deadly Nadder curled up with a group of other dragons that looked to be around the same age as her. Her eyes were closed as she tried to catch a quick nap as the day died down, and Oddny's heart soared.

"Yes, yes that's Seaspray!"

"Well, let's go see her," Val muttered, jumping out of her skin as the Raincutter next to them shifted suddenly.

Oddny took off toward her dragon friend, squeezing between scaled hides and dodging around curious snouts nosing at the three slaves. Gaut stayed put, but Val was still stuck to Oddny like tree sap.

All at once, the dragons shifted. They turned to face the front of the chamber, their heads up and eyes wide open. Oddny froze and Val nearly tumbled over her. The shift in the dragons' demeanors made the older slave crouch down, tearing a seam in Oddny's apron dress in the process as the fabric stretched.

"What are they doing?" Val asked in a small voice.

"I don't know," Oddny murmured, trying her best to pick Val back up. "It looks like . . ."

Gaut was suddenly next to them, grabbing both with a harried expression on his face as he barked, "We have to go. Now! They're here."

Oddny was more than happy to let Gaut have Val, but she shrugged out of his grasp and took a step away from him, glancing over her shoulder to find where Seaspray had gone. "What? No—I have to see—"

In one massive, synchronized movement, the dragons surged forward. Some took flight and others stuck to the ground, but the trio of slaves was jostled and pushed to the floor as the dragons clambered over themselves. The sight was familiar and jarring, almost as if . . .

Struggling into an upright position, Oddny looked around. There, at the entrance to the massive chamber, the Bewilderbeast was standing, already leaving with his hoard of dragons in tow, forcing them toward the boats where the Vikings waited.

"No, no," Oddny muttered, forcing herself to her feet as she spotted Seaspray in the crowd of scales, running toward the others with her wings beginning to spread.

"Seaspray, Seaspray! Wait!" she called, fighting the tide of dragons to run to her Nadder, her hand outstretched.

Someone grabbed her arm and Oddny turned her fearful gaze toward them, but it was merely Gaut. He had a trembling and whimpering Val tucked under his arm and he pulled Oddny toward him.

She shifted her attention back to Seaspray—now airborne and flying off.

"I—I missed her!" Oddny wailed.

"You'll get to see her again in a few months when they return from the raid. We have to go before the Vikings realize we're here! Come on, this way."

They almost had to shout over the clamor of excited dragons. Oddny stared at Gaut for a long while, ready to argue, but she looked at Val and her willpower dropped out from under her. She couldn't drag either of them into trouble for nothing. Gaut was right, she could catch up with Seaspray later.

"Okay," she relented, allowing Gaut to pull her away. He led both her and Val to a secluded side path; Oddny watched over her shoulder as the last of the dragons and the Bewilderbeast slipped out of sight.

"You don't have to come with me," Oddny whispered, peering at Val from the darkness.

Her friend was disgruntled. "Please, I'm not going to let you wander around by yourself this late at night. You haven't been here long enough to know the place well enough."

"I'd figure it out . . ."

"Yeah, and get yourself caught. Is Gaut coming?"

Oddny hesitated and Val took that as her answer. "You didn't even ask him, did you?" she sighed.

"No," admitted Oddny.

Val let out a breath and shook her head. "Well, it's too late to go back now. If I can get you to the dragons, can you find your Changewing?"

"Yes," Oddny said. She had never been surer of anything in her life. "There aren't enough dragons for her to be lost in the crowd. Gaut told me where they moved her, so I'm sure I can find her easy enough."

They had moved Hawkfrost out of the trap days ago so they could use it for the raids, but she hadn't been able to visit—she wanted to go right away, but waiting for things to calm down after Drago left had seemed like the better idea.

Unconvinced, Val retorted, "You mean you haven't seen where they moved her yourself?"

Again, Oddny hesitated.

"Calla, I swear to the gods you're going to be the death of me," Val muttered under her breath.

"You don't have to come," Oddny reiterated for about the eighteenth time since they'd started sneaking around. Why Val continued to follow Oddny around the dragons that terrified her was a mystery, even if she was touched by the gesture.

Her begrudging guide responded with a grunt.

Moments later, she relented and dropped the silent treatment. "There aren't many guards left because of the raid so it's going to be a little less likely we'll be caught, but if you do, it's better you're with me."

"Why?"

They stopped long enough to hide in the shadows of the glacier as a sleepy Viking staggered drunkenly toward the barracks, muttering to himself about not being chosen. He never even knew they were there, and then the girls were off again.

"Well, I can handle most of the guards. Not all of them are sweet on me like Dagfinn and Ulfrik, but I know my way around a man," Val said, leaving it at that. "If you're by yourself, I don't know how you'd fare. You're not completely unfortunate-looking, so you might . . . never mind. I'm just trying to help, that's all!"

Oddny wasn't sure if she was supposed to take that as a compliment or not.

"Well, thank you," Oddny said all the same, hoping she sounded as sincere as she felt. "I am sorry, though. You ever wish you had left me there with Drago?"

Val snorted. "Not at all."

Smiling, Oddny strafed along behind Val in silence. The compound was much emptier with the fleets gone, but there was still enough work that those left behind were not want for something to do—including patrols.

When they made it to where the remainder of dragons were being kept, Val felt safe enough to ask the question that was burning within her. "What's your plan, anyway? I doubt you know the first thing about flying and didn't Gaut tell you she was tied down?"

Nodding, Oddny replied, "Yeah, she is . . . I figured I'd just untie her or something. As for the flying, um, I'm not really sure. I used to toss the chickens up and watch them do that half-flying thing they do . . ."

"That's terrible!"

Oddny smiled sheepishly. "I know. Mom and Dad really laid into me when they caught me."

"That's definitely not flying, though," Val pointed out. She gestured with her hand for Oddny to take the lead now that they had found the dragons. Most of them were the ones that needed to haul things or were used for anything else the Vikings could force them to do, such as the Hotburples who were used to craft and heat water.

Looking around, Oddny set out at a steady pace through the crowd of dragons. A lot of them were sleeping peacefully, though some did rouse at the girls' intrusion, eyeing them with irritation at being awoken.

"I know it's not," Oddny replied at last, trying her best to ignore Val and her tugging—the girl had a hold of the back of her apron dress like her life depended on it.

"So how are you going to teach a baby dragon how to fly if all you know about is chickens?" Val pressed. A nearby dragon rolled over in its sleep and Val nearly jumped out of her skin, barely managing to suppress a surprised squeal. Oddny gave her a tired look, but she wasn't going to hold it against her.

"I don't know. I suppose it mostly has to be instinctual, right? Like, if we just get her to start flapping her wings, she'll figure it out?" Oddny mused.

One dragon woken by their soft voices started to grunt and groan in complaint, but Oddny hurried over—dragging Val along for the ride—and stroked the space between its eyes until they drooped shut and the dragon was asleep again.

"I can't believe you can touch them so easily," Val marveled, watching the dragon as they moved on. "They eat people, you know."

"These aren't eating anyone," Oddny said.

"I guess, but still . . ."

Oddny flashed her a smile. "Don't worry. I won't let the dragons get you."

Val scoffed. "Please, as if you could stop them."

They shared amused looked and then Oddny returned her full attention to finding Hawkfrost. There weren't many dragons left, but they were still packed tightly for warmth and it made navigating the clearing a little difficult. Eventually, though, Oddny heard the familiar whimpering of her Changewing whelp.

"I hear her," Oddny announced, doubling her efforts to squeeze through the dragons. Val squeaked, working hard to keep up with Oddny.

Hawkfrost, muzzled and bound, was tied down apart from the rest of the dragons. Oddny ran to her, breaking Val's hold on her shirt and leaving her fellow slave to stomp through the packed snow after her.

"There you are," Oddny sighed, dropping to her knees in front of Hawkfrost. The lightly-colored dragon almost blended in with the snow without the use of her ability, but the lavender highlights gave her away—otherwise, it was easy to think that someone had just left out a muzzle and leather straps.

The dragon lifted her head at the sound of Oddny's voice and was up on her paws, warbling and bouncing with excitement. Oddny was quick to grab her muzzle, though, and endured the aggressive nuzzling she received in greeting.

Steps away, her arms wrapped around herself, Val said, "Wow. She . . . genuinely looks happy to see you."

"I was there when she hatched," Oddny pointed out, trying to examine the bindings around her. They were secured with a padlock, requiring a key to open. Oddny's shoulders slumped in defeat and she sighed. "Looks like we came out here for nothing."

Val inched closer and closer, shuffling sideways through the snow until she could peer over Oddny's shoulders. She quailed when Hawkfrost looked at her, but she took a deep breath and steeled herself against her fear to take a look. She hummed in thought but said nothing.

"What is it?" Oddny asked, watching Val's every move and keeping a hand on Hawkfrost to keep the eager whelp from leaping on her.

"You really think this dragon is worth it?" Val asked, pulling on her fingers in a nervous twitch.

Oddny nodded. "Yes. Here . . . just touch her."

Taking a step back, Val shook her head. "Oh no, no I . . . I couldn't possibly do that."

"It's easy," Oddny said, stroking Hawkfrost's head. "She's got a muzzle on so she can't bite you, just make a bunch of noise, is all. I'll keep her still."

Hawkfrost wiggled and chirped, her yellow eyes locked on the curious new person staring at her.

When Val refused, Oddny offered her hand and said, "Here. Just close your eyes. I'll do all the work. You just have to stand there and trust me."

Val swallowed the lump in her throat and took in Oddny's offer, studying the expression on her face. She'd known this girl for just short of a month, but she had a lot of fire within her despite her situation. Val found it hard to find a reason not to trust Oddny, not when she'd proven she at least knew how to work over a dragon. Oddny trusted her with the Vikings, so she felt it was only fair to trust Oddny with the dragons.

"Okay," Val exhaled, closing her eyes and holding her hand out.

Oddny beamed and slowly took Val's hand and led her forward a couple of steps. When her fellow slave was positioned where she wanted, Oddny turned to Hawkfrost and motioned for her to move forward. The tethers restricted her range of movements, but the whelp bounded as far as they would allow, making Oddny pull Val closer.

"Sh-h, sit still, girl," Oddny said to Hawkfrost, bobbing her hand to punctuate the command.

After a second of defiance on Hawkfrost's part, the young one stopped moving and blinked up at Oddny, waiting. Slowly, Oddny guided Val's hand until she was touching Hawkfrost's snout. She gasped lightly upon feeling her scales, but Oddny kept her still until Val summoned enough courage to open her eyes.

She let out the breath she'd been holding and she held the dragon's gaze for a moment before fear gave way to giddy excitement and she looked at Oddny with a beam.

"I'm doing it!" she whispered a little loudly. She hunched down in embarrassment and said it quieter. "I'm doing it."

"See? Not so bad."

Val nodded. "I suppose so. I've never seen a baby dragon before . . . she's kind of cute."

"I think so, too."

Hawkfrost began to grow impatient and started to wiggle again, so Val let her hand drop and the Changewing jumped on Oddny, demanding praise and affection in exchange for her good behavior—which Oddny was more than happy to heap upon her.

"Okay," Val said with a sense of finality.

"Okay what?" Oddny asked.

Skirting around the excitable baby dragon, Val crouched by Oddny and fussed in her hair before pulling out a pin. "I'll get your dragon untied."

Oddny pat down her hair, expecting the braids Val kept up to fall apart. They seemed fine, though, so she sat up and held Hawkfrost's head in her hands, keeping her distracted so she wouldn't bother Val. "What are you going to do?" she asked.

"I'm going to pick this lock. I'm not as good at it as some of the other girls, but they've told me how to do it before," Val said, hesitating just a bit before Oddny managed to keep Hawkfrost from moving.

Frowning, Oddny said, "You've never done it yourself, though?"

Val shrugged. "It'll be fine. As I said, they told me the idea behind it. Just give me a little bit," she said, taking the padlock in one hand and sticking Oddny's hairpin in the keyhole. She worked in silence while Oddny kept watch, and after what seemed like forever, the lock finally popped open. It took a lot of swearing and frustrated growling from Val, but Hawkfrost was freed from her bindings.

Sitting back, Val made room for Oddny to come over and pull everything off. Hawkfrost, once clear, gave herself a shake and bounded around in the snow, running this way and that in excitement, burning off her pent-up energy.

"Okay, now what?" Val asked, watching the whelp warily. She put her hands up every time Hawkfrost came by, warding the dragon off.

Oddny called Hawkfrost over and held her still as best she could. "Well, it hasn't been too long since Drago left. We should have plenty of time to teach her how to fly," she said, scratching underneath Hawkfrost's chin.

"How do you even know she's old enough to learn yet?" Val asked.

"I don't, I guess . . . but you can't start getting the basics down too soon, can you?" Oddny said, trying to convince herself as much as she was trying to convince Val.

"I guess . . . So, what? Does she listen to you?"

Dragon and girl looked at each for a few heartbeats, then Oddny stepped away from Hawkfrost and held her arms out from her body. "Sometimes she does. Okay, Hawkfrost. Do like me." Oddny hopped up and down, flapping her arms like wings.

Hawkfrost tilted her head and watched, then started jumping as well, gleefully squeaking as she started turning around and around while jumping, only to trip and fall, covering herself in snow.

"No, like . . . here," Oddny muttered as she approached Hawkfrost. The whelp held still, craning her neck to watch Oddny manipulate her wings, manually flapping them up and down. When she stopped, Hawkfrost stared at her limp wings, then started to flap them on her own. She gave Oddny an expression most pleased and sought her approval until Oddny gave in and started petting her.

Val wasn't as impressed.

"Great, she knows how to move her wings," she harrumphed. "You know, this would probably be easier if another dragon could teach her."

She knew she made a mistake the second Oddny's face lit up. Trying to backpedal, Val said, "Wait—no! How are you going to get a dragon to help? You can't possibly think that you could communicate such a complicated idea to them? The Hotburples were one thing . . . they already knew what you wanted!"

Oddny shrugged. "I could at least try. Maybe if we can just annoy one enough until it flies away, it would be a start. Just so Hawkfrost could see what to do. Otherwise, it might have to wait until Seaspray comes back."

"Who?"

"The Nadder I had Gaut look for? That's what I named her. She helped me a lot back when I was Koll and Eret's slave," Oddny explained as her face fell at the memory. "She protected me when I needed it, hid me when I tried to escape, kept me company when I was lonely. . ."

Val put her hand on Oddny's shoulder and gave her a sympathetic look. "Sounds like she's important. I had no idea dragons were capable of such empathy."

"Gaut will tell you I imagined all of it," she huffed.

"Yeah, you're probably right. But you know what you've seen, and I know how that dragon acts around you," Val said, indicating to Hawkfrost—she was busy pestering a Nadder she had found slumbering a few paces away.

Oddny smiled and added, "Seaspray also helped me raise Hawkfrost. She sat on her egg, called me when she hatched, gave up her meals and sanity to keep Hawkfrost fed and entertained. If any dragon would help teach Hawkfrost how to fly, it would be her. That's why she's bugging that Nadder."

The dragon in question was growing more and more irritated at the baby dragon waking it up. Eventually, it slapped Hawkfrost with its tail, spikes retracted, and Hawkfrost came running to Oddny, whimpering and whining.

Chuckling, Oddny leaned down and comforted the young Changewing. "Well . . . not everyone is going to be as patient with you as Seaspray," she said.

"So, what's the plan?" Val asked for the umpteenth time. "Are you going to try to convince these dragons to help?"

Sighing, Oddny stood up and put her hands on her hips. "I don't know . . . I think I'll just work with her a little bit and read the room, as it were. See how she interacts with the other dragons now that she's not tied up. I might have to figure out which ones are more tolerant with her, first."

"That makes sense," Val agreed.

"You can head back if you want. Get some more sleep," Oddny offered, still guilty over dragging her friend out. "I think I can find my way back to our quarters."

Val shook her head. "I'll stay, it's okay. The bigger dragons still freak me out, but this baby isn't so bad. Cute, even."

Smiling, Oddny nodded and stood by Val's side. Hawkfrost enjoyed her time freed—Oddny knew she was going to have an awful time trying to lock her back up, but it was something that would have to be done to avoid raising suspicions.