"Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom." - Viktor E. Frankl – Prisoners of Our Thoughts
Paradigm Shifts
Valka woke up before dawn as was normal for her now. However, this time she did not arise on her own. Instead, she was woken up by a familiar heavy beating on the door.
Why would he be up this early?
She threw on a nightgown and opened the door to meet him.
Having lived among dragons for well over twenty years, she was an excellent judge of their feelings. It was even easier for the more expressive of dragons, the Night Fury being the foremost of them.
Shadowwing looked shaken, shocked, and scared.
"Son, what is wrong?"
He ran straight over to the table the moment she moved out of the way.
We were attacked
"Attacked!"
Four strange men attacked us
Valka stared, horrorstruck at the news. A terrible idea briefly tore at her heart.
"Is Luna okay?"
Yes, he quickly nodded.
She killed three of them
One ran away
Valka did not even flinch.
"The egg?" she warily asked.
Hatched a boy
He set down the pencil and stared at the paper.
She was speechless. From the most horrible news that she had received in years, to the shocking report that Luna had killed several of the attackers, to the most wonderful news in seconds. The egg had finally hatched a healthy baby! The moment that she had dreamed about for countless nights had finally happened. She was a grandmother, albeit under perhaps the most bizarre circumstances imaginable.
And he looked completely forlorn, absolutely inappropriate for a new father who just saw their newborn... newly hatched, baby into the world.
"Why are you sad?"
Several moments passed and his expression changed. Even she could see his evident shame and self-loathing.
I was stupid
The men tricked me with poisoned fish
I was not there to protect her
"Oh, son," she walked over next to his head and began rubbing his chin.
She almost died because of me
"Do not blame yourself."
He only grumbled at her words. It was obvious that he did blame himself for whatever mistake he had made.
"Do you remember when I told you how many dragons were caught by trappers in my years in the nest? Do you know how many dragons died in traps or when fighting back against the trappers?"
He slowly shook his head.
"Too many. I blamed myself at first for not being there to save all of them. But blaming myself did not help them. I had to do my best and learn from my mistakes. So you made a mistake and were tricked. I know that you will not let that happen again."
He sighed deeply and nodded once.
We should send out scouts
Find that one other attacker
Find out what they knew
And who sent them
She nodded in agreement.
"Let's go now."
And they left her house and went into the center of town where the alarm bell had been placed. She furiously rang the bell and sent up a massive clamor of noise.
"They will not be happy to wake up so early," she chuckled.
Sure enough, everyone started rising and filtering out into the village square in various stages of undress or unwaking. Some of them might even be sleepwalking.
"Whazzgoinon?" "This is too early." "My wife needs sleep." "Where's the ale?"
"Dragonheart, do you know how early it is?" Thorvald cried as he rubbed his eyes.
"The Night Furies were attacked!" Valka shouted.
Silence ensued.
"What!" "Lemme at em'." "Who dunnit!" "I'll attack every trapper I see, with my face!"
Luna killed three of the four
The leader vanished
We should find him
"And what do you plan to do with him?" Thorvald warily asked, all his sleepiness gone.
Teeth snapped into place alongside a deep growl.
Depends on whether he has anything useful to say
I am still thinking about how to kill him slowly
"We will see. Gotta find him first. Everyone! You heard it. There is someone out there to find and track."
Their ship is beached down the shore
Find him with the tracker dragons
And a dozen set off for the distant beach within moments along with another dozen heading out into the wild to begin randomly searching.
Valka came and stood by his head after the crowd had dispersed.
"So, can we go to your cave? I want to see him."
Not mine
The bodies are there
My brother's cave
"Oh, ok. We can have those bodies taken care of later. Do you mind?"
What about Cloudjumper?
"Let him sleep, you know that he is not a morning dragon."
He nodded and crouched down to help her up. She hopped onto his back and lay herself flat.
"Ready," she said.
He flared his wings and took off as gently as he could. He flew calmly toward the cave as the sun began to creep above the horizon. They landed smoothly outside the cave after a few minutes of flight. She gracefully dismounted and walked alongside him into the main cave chamber, her heart nervously thrumming in excitement.
She saw the pile of sleeping Furies exactly where she expected them to be. Luna and Was-Grounded lifted their heads as she walked toward them.
Shadowwing kept his voice to a whisper.
"I told her what happened. She wants to see Moon-Dancer."
Luna looked directly at Valka and gestured her closer. Both Shadowwing and Valka walked forward as Luna gently moved her tailfins.
Valka gave a very soft gasp and stared, completely transfixed at the sight. Shadowwing stared as well, unable to feast enough on the sight of his son. The way his son's tiny back rose and fell with every breath. The way his eyes twitched under his closed eyelids. And the tiny differences between him and the other pure Night Fury hatchlings that had been before.
All of it was perfect to him.
Valka slowly sat down right next to Luna's side. She so looked like she wanted to pick up little baby and cradle him in her arms. But she also knew that a sleeping baby was a very good baby.
She settled for gently rubbing Luna's cheek. Not wanting to disturb her hatchling, Luna settled for giving her a soft croon in return. Valka paused for a moment though as she saw the healing slice in Luna's neck. She gave a very soft hum of her own, almost in imitation of a comforting sound she frequently heard from these very dragons.
She stepped back and followed him outside the cave to where there was more dirt.
"He is beautiful. I'm so happy for you!"
No crying
"I'm not sure I can avoid that. Does he have a name yet?" she said while wiping her cheek with her sleeve.
Moon-Dancer
"Moon-Dancer, why I am not surprised that you did not want to follow tradition? Though, I guess it would not be your tradition. That is a very good name. Has he been awake yet?"
Yes, he pawed at my nose
Valka's eyes gleamed with mirth, and she chuckled heartily.
"I remember when you were almost that little. Gods above, you were cute. You actually tried to grab my nose too. Seems like all babies do that."
Or chew tails in my experience
She laughed outright.
"So, Skald and I were thinking about what to call your baby. It is not really a Night Fury or a Light Fury after all. He is something new."
Hmm, I guess that is technically true.
What were you thinking?
"Well, when do light and night touch during the day? When is it twilight?"
Dawn and dusk
"Exactly. Dusk is the ending of the day. Dawn is the beginning. We were thinking we would call him and any of his future siblings Dawn Furies."
He hummed warmly at the thought. There was something inherently hopeful about that name.
"We should go look at your home and see what happened there."
He nodded in resigned agreement and waited for her to mount him. They were swiftly flying to his home cave a few moments later. It was sure to be painful to see but it had to be done.
They dove and landed outside the entrance, and she hopped off his back to walk inside with him. Without saying a word, they walked in with the morning light somewhat illuminating the terrible scene inside. Together, they looked around at the near warzone and saw several nets, ropes, and knives discarded around the cave.
And bodies.
The three bodies were mostly located in the rear of the cave near where Luna had taken to sleeping with the egg. One body was burnt to a crisp, another's torso was completely shredded in a pool of blood and bones, and the third had its neck bent at an impossible angle.
Shadowwing barely kept himself from feeling nauseous as he beheld it all. He froze as he smelled something else. Something that had never been in the cave before. Something that he had tasted once before when he had given necessary treatment to a small but important pair of wounds.
Luna's blood.
It had dripped on the ground near the egg's sand-nest.
They almost killed her.
It seemed so much more real at the moment, how close to tragedy this had nearly been. He did not even realize that he was growling openly.
"What is it?"
He stopped and relaxed with a weak sigh. He stepped over to the dried blood and drew a talon along his neck.
"She is very lucky that cut is not deeper. It might have been much worse," Valka slowly answered.
He could do nothing but moan softly in response. They looked around in silence for a few more minutes before they turned as one and walked back outside.
All the blood and bodies in his cave made him tingle and feel like there were bugs crawling all over him and burrowing under his scales. He darted out of the cave and ran several lengths before he came to a stop and took several deep breaths. Valka ran up behind him a moment later and rested a hand on his neck while he kept his eyes shut.
"Are you ok? That was not nice to see."
He nodded sharply.
"When I get back to the village, I will send some people up here to get rid of those," she waved a hand toward the mouth of the cave.
He thought of the bodies in his cave. The same cave that had his scrolls, maps, and that he had called his own for a year and a half. The same cave in which he had started teaching Luna, Dawn-Singer, and Aurora their letters. The same cave where he and Luna had spent every night under each other's wings and where she lay and tended to Moon-Dancer's egg.
Surely the blood that had been spilled could be washed away in time.
But the trappers had come for them once and others might come again. How had they even known how to find this place? Maybe the leader would give some answers if caught.
Luna was right. This would not have happened if we were somewhere safer. I will not risk them out here like this.
Sigh.
She definitely won't like the idea of living in the village at first, but for Moon-Dancer's sake she just might agree.
He looked around at the ground for a clear patch of dirt.
No, it is not safe here
I want to live in the village now
"Are you sure about that? I know you have talked about this before, and she did not want to live with us."
I cannot let this happen again
It would be safer for us all
She will agree to keep him safe
Valka was quiet for a long time in thought.
"Well, it would not do for you all to live in a barn or even one of the pens built for the other dragons. You will need a proper house. How about this, you and Luna talk about it and let me know if you want anything special. I will talk to Thorvald, Gobber, and the rest of the village. They will gladly help to build it if it means they get to see their beloved Furies more, especially to help protect you after this attack."
She softly chuckled.
"Nords can be very quick in rebuilding; they had a lot of practice at that. I would guess that we could have a place up for you within the week. It also helps if their Elder recommends they do it for their beloved dragons."
He nodded in agreement. Something about living in a proper house felt necessary now, especially since he wanted Moon-Dancer to grow up around humans and to trust them. What better way than to have his home be among them? To grow up from early in his life always seeing them and knowing them. That might be the only way to truly bridge very different communities since children do not naturally try to carry the prejudices of their parents. Not to mention there was the added safety that being part of the community would bring.
He flew Valka back down to Haven and turned back for the other cave after letting her off.
Ok, how best to approach this? Safety, definitely safety. She will want to do anything to keep Moon-Dancer safe now, as will I.
Hmm, what about my brother and Green-Wings? Would they want to come down to Haven too? The same reason might work for them. And their children are already closer to the humans than either of their parents will probably ever be.
He grinned to himself as a devious plan formed in his mind. There was something he could do for his brother, Green-Wings, and the whole family as well.
There is no way that I am telling them. This will be a surprise.
He alighted outside the cave and entered. By now though there was a lot more activity inside the cave. Only Green-Wings remained in her place to attend to the still dozing Mist-Wings. Everyone else was awake and was very interested in the most recent acquisitions to the den.
Moon-Dancer was awake under Luna's protective tailfins and was looking out wide-eyed at the gathering. The hatchling shied away from all the inquisitive noses, at least until he came close himself.
"He is very small and he looks different from us," Dawn-Singer observed.
"He will grow big one sun," Aurora rumbled.
"Play with him!" Rain-Eater hummed.
Mist-Wings dozed on.
Shadowwing was barely listening to them at all though. All his attention was on the tiny set of green eyes gazing up at him from under her white tailfins. He bent down and gently nuzzled his son's tiny nose.
"Hello, my Moon-Dancer."
The hatchling mewled happily and licked his nose.
Whatever works for you, my dear son.
He looked up at Luna. He again noticed that wariness in her eyes, a look that had not been there before the attack.
"Luna, I need to talk to you."
"What about?"
"About where we live."
She tilted her head slightly in puzzlement.
"You spoke truth when you said that this would not have happened if we were somewhere safer. I think that we should have the two-legs make us a big tree-den down in the Haven-nest."
He paused to observe her reaction. The other children also started in surprise and began muttering among themselves.
"Why?" she asked.
"Think about it. They always have flights looking for bad two-legs and thrall-makers. They want to protect their kin. It is safer down there than it is up here. We could not have been attacked if we lived down in the nest. What if more bad two-legs find us here when we are sleeping? Or what if one of us is not there to help protect the other?"
He softly snarled at himself and his own words.
"It would be much safer for Moon-Dancer to have more eyes protecting him, as our two-legs down there always will. You know that they hold all our little ones close to their livers. What do you think?"
She said nothing for a while.
"It is a very twisting idea. I do not have many good memories from being in things made by two-legs. You know that," she eventually whispered.
"Yes, I do. But this will not be like those bad places were. This will have big walls to the den with more than enough room to stretch our wings. It will have dirt and sand to make picture-words in, a place for fires on cold nights, a good place with clean sand for eggs, and," he hummed, "it will also have a rock-bed that we can burn for warmth."
He saw the confusion mixed with thoughtfulness in her eyes.
"What do you think? For Moon-Dancer to be more safe, will you fly to this new den that will be?"
"There is something else we could do," she answered.
"What?" he tilted his head in confusion of his own.
"There is another place where we could always be safe. A place where there are no two-leg Monsters now or ever. A place that you know well now."
He blinked and gasped at the idea. Words failed him for several moments.
"Luna, we cannot do that. I am an Alpha to all the kin here. I cannot turn my tail on these kin or on all these good two-legs here. They have not wronged us."
She blinked and sighed. Her voice was very calm but also cold when she spoke.
"I do not know if I can trust two-legs as I did anymore. We did no wrong to those two-legs, and they attacked us... in our own den."
"But Luna, please, do not think there is rot in those who are not rotted. It was not our two-legs who did this... they did not hurt us," he whimpered, aghast at how calm, cold, and certain she seemed now.
Her terrifying words spoken on the long flight to Haven from the hidden world returned to him in that moment.
'If you must choose the two-leg world or me, what would you choose?'
So much hinged on this very moment.
Luna don't do this...
What would she do or say? If she demanded that he fly with her now, what would he do?
'I... gave you my liver and life-winds. I would choose you...'
"What will you do, my Luna?" he gasped.
She said nothing for several long, heartrending moments.
"The Haven-nest-den that would be... Will there be any carrying, working, or pushing to bonding?" she very warily asked.
"None," he promised.
"And it would be our den only, two-legs will not go into it?"
"That is truth. None would be allowed in the den unless we both want it," he growled.
She bent down and licked Moon-Dancer's head as she relaxed very slightly.
"For him to be safe from future hunters or thrall-makers, yes, I will nest in that new tree-den."
"And Kin-liver? What about her? She might want to make a side-den to ours," he slowly asked.
"She is a ground-kin to me. I would let her nest with us."
He stepped forward and gently licked her cheek. She blinked and tried to wipe away the little slobber. She almost looked like she wanted to chuckle but was unable for some reason. Instead, she sighed weakly and whispered into his ear.
"I will only say this one time. If any two-legs try to claw at my nest again, if they try to hurt me or Moon-Dancer, I will fly from this range and I will take Moon-Dancer with me. I will go to the range where we became one. You may fly to me if you want, if you spoke truth when you said that you would choose me and not the two-legs. Do you hear me?"
Anger, pity, and sorrow warred within him. Anger that she would even suggest taking his son from him. Pity that she had been hurt so deeply by this unprovoked attack. Sorrow that so much of the trust that she had built up toward humans had apparently been cracked. Though, he quite understood that sentiment himself as he also felt it now.
"Yes, I hear you."
"I hope so my... life-mate," she whispered.
That brief pause in her words was like a small dagger, a warning, that pierced his heart deeper than anything spoken in anger could have.
A long, silent pause followed.
Dawn-Singer came forward, clearly having been listening in to at least the audible parts of the talk.
"What will the big tree-den-cave look like?" Dawn-Singer softly asked.
"You will see. Maybe you will nest in one under a future sun. You did say that you liked the idea," Shadowwing answered.
"I would like that," Dawn-Singer hummed.
Shadowwing noticed that Was-Grounded and Green-Wings had also been attentively listening earlier and were whispering to each other even now.
I wonder what that is about.
"Luna, are you... warm still?" Green-Wings asked.
It was only them and both their hatchlings in the den now, their mates and the other little ones having flown from the den already to begin a new sun.
There was something very not-warm about Luna's appearance now. As if the drooping ears and slightly hung head were not enough of a sign. There was something else that was very subtle. A look of weakness or fear in how she carried herself.
For a kin who had just killed three thrall-making two-legs and saved her little ones life, it did not seem an appropriate response.
"Yes Green-Wings, I... why would I not... be?" Luna mumbled.
Green-Wings huffed softly at that and lay her head back down to nose at her own little Mist-Wings again.
But seeing the fellow kin whom she considered as one of her own nest-kin in some type of liver-pain was not warming.
"Luna, talk to me. You have a chill in your liver, but the thrall-maker two-legs are dead now. You killed them, and they cannot hurt you."
A long moment of silence passed before Luna looked over at her.
"It is... not them that is chilling me. It is what I know... now..." Luna whispered.
"What do you know?"
"I remembered the truth of what happened to me when I was a thrall. I always thought that I was strong, resisted, and did not let them join wrong-kin to me."
Green-Wing's ears went back as she understood the wrongness that Luna was feeling.
"But that was false of me. I remembered the truth. I did not want them and I did fight, but I am fouled. When Shadowwing learns..." she whimpered.
"What? Do you fear that he will think less of you or not want to be your life-mate?"
"He could..."
"Shadowwing will not leave you because of that. I think that you spoke false. You are not fouled now. I do not think that his want to be your life-mate is because of how strong or not strong you were when you were trapped."
"Maybe not..."
"Luna, I joined with another Night Fury before Was-Grounded found me. The other one gave me an egg and a hatchling, but I could not... provide for the little one alone. The other Night Fury had rotted thinking and did not stay with me as my mate."
"You told me this before," Luna answered.
"But I blamed my own flight long that it happened to me and my little one. I thought I was fouled and could not be a dam ever again. Now see my life-flight and how warmed I am."
Green-Wings purred softly and looked down to Luna's sleeping hatchling.
"And I saw how he was staring at Moon-Dancer, at his first little one. He will want more little ones with you. More than you can count on your paws. Both he and Was-Grounded are more other-thinking than most kin, as we both know. The sky-breath has favored our life-flights, I think."
Luna eventually seemed to calm somewhat, though there was still a nervous chill in her look and feel.
A small crowd of Nords huddled around the prisoner who had been brought in within the claws of a Nightmare after half a day of searching. The man was now tied up and had his hands bound as he awaited the arrival of the Chief.
"This is all just a misunderstanding, I swear!"
The doors to the Great Hall were flung open, and the Chief strode into the Hall. Thorvald wore his Chieftain's cape, fashioned from a bear's hide, and fingered an axe clasped to his side as he walked down the main path.
He walked straight up to the prisoner and frowned at him.
"Has he been searched?"
"Everywhere. He's got nothing in his tunic or his trousers," Gobber replied.
Snickering followed, much to the prisoner's chagrin.
"Good. So, stranger, who are you?"
"I am Eret, son of Eret," the man squirmed.
Thorvald made a point of resting a hand on his axe.
"I am Chief Thorvald Jorgenson. What are you doing here in our lands, Eret, son of Eret?"
"I was just minding my own business, hunting for wolf pelts, when these do-gooder dragon riders snatched me up."
Thorvald scratched his head and grumbled.
"Oh, did they? Our mistake. Release him."
Eret blinked in surprise and the other men grumbled but complied with the Chief's command. They untied Eret's bindings and pulled the ropes off him.
"Come with me, Eret son of Eret."
Eret rubbed his wrists and followed the big Chief to the main table at the head of the Hall. The table had some bread, cheese, and a mug of ale on it.
"You must be hungry. Eat."
Eret took one glance at the food and drink and dug in as though he had not eaten in many days, which he had not.
"You are very generous, Chief, I did not expect such understanding."
"Don't mention it. There is something that you can do for me in exchange though."
"What is it?"
Thorvald leaned forward on the table and whispered conspiratorially.
"Tell me what you were planning to with our Night Furies."
Eret blinked and lost his composure for one instant.
"What do you mean?" he recovered himself.
Thorvald only smiled back at him.
"I know what happened last night. I know that four men attacked one of our families of Furies."
"What? No, I swear I did not attack any of your dragons."
"Do you know how I know what happened?"
"I did not do it!"
"Night Furies can talk."
Eret blinked and laughed.
"Dragons are only beasts. Dangerous and glorious yes, but talking? Ha ha, I think you've had too much ale. Meaning no disrespect great Chief..."
"None taken. Night Furies can talk by writing. You see, they are as smart as you or me. Actually, probably smarter than me. Anyhow, they told us what happened."
"This is too crazy."
"You gave one of them a poisoned fish down on the beach."
Eret's eyes went wide.
"You and your three men attacked our Light Fury in her own cave to try to take her egg."
Eret recovered his breath several seconds later.
"How do you... know what happ...?"
"Because the Furies told us. Now you can believe me or not, I do not care. Here is what will happen now. You will tell us everything that you know. Who hired you? Who wants a Night Fury egg? How did you find this place? Stuff like that."
"And you will let me go?"
Thorvald only smiled.
"N, we cannot let you go now that you know so much about us. You tell us everything, and I will not have you thrown to the very Night Fury you poisoned. Remember that you or your dead men attacked his mate and almost killed her. Shadowwing, the Night Fury, knows that, and he knows what you look like."
Eret gulped while Thorvald brought a piece of paper and a strange pencil with a handle out from under the table.
"Now, I have not seen a Night Fury actually eat anyone before, but you know how they got their name, yes?" Thorvald chuckled.
"I..."
"And if you need further convincing, turn around. He is standing behind you," Thorvald grinned.
"I think I would have heard if a..."
Eret froze as he felt a large huff of breath on his head and heard a very deep, menacing growl start to build behind him.
"Ok! I will! Hmmrrhmrhm... my father's honor! I will tell you everything! Just don't..."
Eret remained absolutely motionless and only watched from the corner of his eyes as a massive Night Fury slowly walked around the Chieftain's table. The dragon's fierce, narrowed green eyes, such a contrast to the wide, rounded spheres they had been at their first meeting, never left his, and its sharp teeth were fully on display. There was a constant, faint growl rolling from it.
He saw it impossibly grab the pencil in a paw and start to write on the paper.
Tell me why I should not kill you
"It... cannot... be..." Eret stuttered.
You attacked my mate
Tried to steal my son
This was punctuated with a growl that even made Thorvald wince and cover his ears in faint discomfort.
"I... didn't mean... for that... I told my men no weapons... It was only a dragon."
That was apparently the wrong thing to say because the next thing that he knew was that the Night Fury had leapt at him and tackled him to the ground. Its claws dug very slightly through his thin tunic and threatened to pierce the skin as it pushed him against the floorboards.
"I will tell you everything I know, Chief! Just don't... let him..." he struggled to breathe.
The Night Fury only breathed heavily and continued to glare down at him. Thorvald stood up with a wide grin, stepped over to him, and put an arm on the Night Fury's shoulder. It apparently reluctantly stepped back from them and let him get up, though it made a point of showing off its teeth.
"Excellent choice, so you tell us everything you know about what is going on out there in the world, and we put you to work cleaning the stables, hauling fish, and doing all the other nasty things that no one else wants to do. And you live."
"Will you let me go?"
"Nope, your trapping days are over. You will start out as a worker for us as I said, and maybe you can get to take care of a dragon of your own someday when you have learned our ways."
Eret's eyes bugged.
"But I cannot-"
A snarl and renewed flash of teeth from the Night Fury shut him up. The faint blue glow in the dragon's maw was quite convincing as well.
"Oh, a piece of advice for you Eret since you are going to be living here. The Light Fury you attacked, Luna is her name, she was once caught by trappers and held by Drago Bludvist's people. So you see, she really, really hates trappers. And she definitely knows what you look like. I would stay far away from her if you don't want to die a messy death. Got it?"
Eret mumbled something indiscernible.
"Gobber, bring our new friend here some ale. He will need it," Thorvald announced.
The mug of ale was brought over moments later, and Eret took it with growing resignation. Thorvald only laughed while Shadowwing continued to glare dangerously and tap on the floor with his claws.
"You might want to get comfortable here. You have a lot of talking to do. And remember that dragons, especially Night Furies, know when you are lying, so you better tell the truth. Welcome to Haven!"
Eret spoke at length about how he found Haven from rumors spreading through the isles and the merchants.
"So, I figured if all the dragons have disappeared from the isles, well, they have to have gone somewhere. And I heard about this place up the coast that apparently has a lot of dragons. This little hidden world, if you will."
No one noticed Shadowwing's slight wince.
"But how did you know that there are any Furies here?" Thorvald asked.
"It's the only place with any dragons, and there have been some sightings of a Fury or two by the other tribes near here. Word gets out."
Shadowwing slightly sighed.
"But the part you all definitely want to know is what has happened with the hunters."
"Hunters? What?" Thorvald asked.
"So, there was a big battle a couple years ago. Drago the Fallen took-" Eret began.
"Drago Bludvist?" Thorvald interrupted.
"That's the one. The former... employer of many trappers. Anyway, his defeat left a bit of a power gap. After all, there are all these ships of his with able crews and no remaining purpose or leader. But the survivors of that battle, basically everyone but you all here, they hate dragons, and especially Night Furies."
"What?" Thorvald groaned.
"Yep," Eret nodded, "you see, Drago said that he wanted to control all dragons and to liberate the people of the world from the fear of dragons. Now, I think he probably wanted to use his dragon army to make himself powerful too, but that is beside the point. He said that he wanted humans and dragons to fight no more, and that is what many of the people heard. Lots of his soldiers were people who wanted to fight to secure peace and a future for their families."
Many wary, pained glances around the table followed this comment.
"And from what I heard, the Furies stopped him by killing his Alpha or driving it off or something. The last hope for peace died with Drago. That is how many of the tribes out there see it, and that is why they honor him as a fallen hero."
Shadowwing slowly shook his head in visible anger.
"He was a monster who brought war on peaceful people and killed many I knew. The four tribes that were there had that peace between dragons and humans before he attacked us," Thorvald objected.
Eret held out his hands in a placating look.
"I'm just telling you what the world out there thinks. Anyway, everything that was left of Drago's forces joined with a group of dragon hunters somewhere. I cannot imagine that business is good for those Grimborns now. There is nowhere for them to hunt anything, except for here of course."
A silence followed these words as they gradually sank in all around the table. Thorvald threw cautious looks at Gobber, Shadowwing, and the other advisers. Eret threw a glance at the Fury that was clearly deep in thought from its puzzled purring.
"And you all might want to know about someone else," he added.
"What?" Thorvald groaned.
"I heard a rumor about someone else who has a number of ships of their own."
"Who?"
"Grimmel the Grisly."
"Never heard of him," Thorvald announced after a pause and glance at other confused people around the table.
"You've never heard of Grimmel? Well, if the stories are true, he is the reason why Night Furies are so rare."
"What?"
What?
Eret blinked again at the stark reminder that the Night Fury standing near him was a full member of this odd council.
"He wants to hunt down every Night Fury and is somehow very good at it."
Everyone looked at Shadowwing to watch his reaction.
Why?
Eret shrugged.
"Who knows? He also takes on other dragon-related jobs as needed, but hunting Night Furies is his great mission. That's all I know. Think about that, two big armies out there with no purpose and becoming unneeded because dragons have basically vanished from the world except for here."
Silence reigned.
"That does sound rather ominous now that I say it. So Chief, what is my situation here?" Eret warily asked.
"As I said before, we cannot let you leave, but I thank you for telling us as much as you did. You showed good faith. Oskar, take our guest here to his new hut and show him his duties. Full rations and ale for him. Oh Eret, we have tracker dragons that can find you several days' march from here. Do not try to escape."
Eret gulped once.
"Wouldn't dream of it," he groaned.
Eret was led off and out of the Hall. At least he had survived and not become a dragon's snack, which was better than he had expected.
Silence reigned around the Chief's table as everyone shared wary glances.
A hunter of Night Furies
A bunch of dragon hunters
Angry tribes that want us dead
"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up," Thorvald groaned.
"At least we know all of this before anythin' actually happens though," Gobber noted.
"And the trappers already know where we are. I guess we couldn't be hidden here forever, the other dragons themselves were flying far and getting seen," Thorvald figured.
"We can start preparing now by building weapons and armor while we can," Gobber proposed.
They looked out over the Great Hall and at how peaceable and carefree everyone seemed to be.
"Sure, we can start some preparations now, but nothing is going to happen in the winter. It is too cold for an army to move, I think. We can really start preparing and getting battle-ready in the spring," Thorvald mused.
"Yes, my Chief." "Chief." "Chief."
The others left, leaving only Thorvald and Shadowwing. Despite the serious nature of the discussion that just happened, Shadowwing managed to chuckle.
Occupational hazard
Of being dragons and dragon riders
Thorvald laughed at that. Their shared laughter helped to lighten the mood.
"I guess so. Well done by the way. Pouncing on him was not part of the plan, but it was very convincing."
Only a dragon indeed...
"Good thing you didn't kill him though. He told us a lot. We don't actually know that anything bad will happen. This is all thinking about what might happen."
Shadowwing nodded and huffed.
You have to think like this as Chief
"Yep, gotta protect my own."
As do I for the dragons
Did Dragonheart talk to you yet?
Thorvald's grin returned in full.
"She did. What is the word?"
Shadowwing explained the situation to him, including a certain detail that he wanted kept a surprise as long as possible.
Construction started at dawn the next morning. Exactly as Valka had predicted, several dozen others had been ecstatic at the prospect of being able to build proper dragon accommodations for their beloved Furies.
Shadowwing threw his own back into the construction as much as possible, which made sense because he was going to be living there himself. Valka's initial estimate of a full week to completion was wholly wrong. Piles of beams arrived from the forest, Gobber worked at the forge all night to churn out nails and joints, and the porter assembled bricks and rocks. All construction was finished in only two days because half the village turned out in their eagerness to help.
It stood not far from the center of the village and only a short walk or glide to the Great Hall past a row of other homes. There was a large clearing behind the house, which made for a good place to land and take off without inconveniencing any others. The main door had a simple lever handle that could be opened from both sides but locked only from within.
The inside had a main great room with all the essentials.
A large stone bed had a little furnace space underneath where a fire could be stoked to keep the stones warm. The house's walls were made with logs treated to be somewhat resistant to fire, just in case of any accidents. There were a pair of boxes; one of which would be filled with sand and warmed with rocks from the furnace and the other which would be used for writing and teaching only. There was also a table and rack for scrolls and writing essentials for when there was a need for paper and pencil. All the stuff that needed salvaging had already been brought down from the soon to be abandoned cave.
Finally, there was an attached room as well that opened onto the outside and into the great room. That was going to be Valka's room once she moved in. It was a simple bedroom with no furnishings other than a bed and a chest for her gear.
Shadowwing took one final look around the house, hummed in satisfaction, and darted outside to throw himself into the remaining activity.
He finished inspecting the completed construction and gave it one final nod. He bounded outside and went next door. She was waiting for him there, their son snugly tucked away in her maw and eagerly blinking at him.
I will never get used to that. Anyhow, now the moment of truth.
"This is our new cave-den. Let me show you my mate."
He tugged on the handle and pushed open the door while a small crowd gathered around outside to watch the inspection. They knew to keep their distance though. He let her drop off Moon-Dancer on his back while she bounded inside and began to inspect the place with him slowly following her inside.
She started nosing at everything, batting at the walls and support beams, leaping up and dangling upside down from the largest crossbeam by using her tail, sitting on the sandbox, flaming the fireplace, dropping down onto the rock bed, and flaming said rock bed. She curled into a tight ball on the bed and crooned softly as she looked around. He bounded up to her, dropped Moon-Dancer on her back, and joined her on the rock bed.
And the audience gathered behind outside broke out in soft cheering that the construction passed the final test of approval.
"You are twisted two-legs I say!" Was-Grounded called out as he and Green-Wings strode forth through the crowd and entered the house as well to see the inside.
"What is so twisted about wanting my own little one and mate to be safer?"
"But to live in this tree-cave-thing? Are you a two-leg?"
Luna laughed softly at that. Shadowwing whispered something to her and got a soft purr in response. He hopped down from the stone bed and approached his brother while grinning smugly.
"Brother, I have been thinking."
"Do you ever not?"
"No. I know that you and Green-Wings are warmed by nesting in your cave, but I think you should live in the two-leg nest as I and Luna will now."
Was-Grounded grumbled openly.
"Please listen to my idea," Shadowwing mumbled.
Was-Grounded sat down on his rear.
"Two-legs will always have fear of what they do not know, of things they do not see every sun-cycle. Living down here with them will make me, Luna, and Moon-Dancer be more a part of their nest. Be more kin to them every sun. And this is much safer for us. There are more eyes and watching-flights that can see danger afar."
"That is all true," Was-Grounded grumbled.
"All the two-legs here want you to live with them. That is liver-truth. Come down from the mountain like we have."
"Grr, they probably want us to wear the two-leg carrying-things for them," Green-Wings interjected.
"Only if you wanted to share your back and wings with them. Dawn-Singer has some of the fledglings who he lets fly with him, and they do not use carrying-things or make him a life-thrall. They will not force your flight."
A gleam shown openly in Shadowwing's eyes.
I have you now. Try to fly your way out of this one.
"I told our two-legs that you would all fly down to live with them in this nest if they would build you a big tree-den. That is the tree-den closest to mine and Luna's. They wanted you to do that and would be liver-chilled if you do not nest here."
They all remembered the now suspiciously similar new construction next door.
"But we did not say that!" Was-Grounded growled.
Shadowwing hummed and smiled deviously.
"This is warming flight fouling. You can thank me now."
Was-Grounded grumbled and shot a harmless ball of fire at his shoulder.
"The new tree-den is like this tree-den with a place for fire, a place with warm sand for eggs, and a rock-bed to sleep on," Shadowwing continued after blinking away the smoke.
"Those are good..." Was-Grounded reluctantly admitted.
"And it is much closer to the fish than your cave-den is," Shadowwing rolled his eyes.
Was-Grounded perked up and hummed openly in thought at that detail.
"Closer to the food, that is good."
"Thinking with your belly?"
"It is an important thing to think about, the distance from food."
"Spoken like a true two-leg," Shadowwing teased.
Was-Grounded sighed heavily and looked over at Green-Wings as she too was looking around the interior of the house. Mist-Wings was again snug in her toothless maw.
"In truth, we were talking about it already. It was very chilling seeing the hurt in Luna's neck. We never before truly feared bad two-legs finding us here and hurting our little ones. Having more eyes protecting them would be good for us. Let us see the den," Was-Grounded answered.
Shadowwing took them both outside, Green-Wings carrying little Mist-Wings with them, went next door to the newly-built house, and nosed his way inside. The house was as described. He had personally overseen the details of the construction to be sure that it was good enough that he would be willing to have either himself or Luna live in it. The only difference was that it had a slightly larger stone bed since there were more bodies that would be generally piled together.
"What do you think? Do you like it?" Shadowwing asked.
Was-Grounded rolled his eyes and huffed. He glanced at Green-Wings and noted her purr of approval.
"I am going to live in a tree-den made by two-legs. If you had told me that season-cycles ago, I would have told you where to go shove your tail. We will nest here. It is closer to safety, food, and... my kin."
Shadowwing stepped over and nuzzled his brother's nose while giving him a warm hum.
I knew you would like it, you useless dragon...
He patiently waited and helped bring the other Fury family down into their new home. All the children were very happy to be down in the village and closer to the others they knew. Green-Wings and Was-Grounded were clearly pleased to be closer to food and among protection for their children. Everyone seemed better off.
With the family finally settling into their sleeping-pile, he returned to his own house just next door and crept inside his new home.
Luna was curled around the fireplace inside with a sleeping Moon-Dancer between her arms. She was staring at the fire, her ears swept back as she lay there.
It was as he approached her that he realized that she was keening very softly. It was so faint that he almost could not hear it, though he felt it clearly in his heart as he padded over to her.
"Luna?" he softly whispered.
She did not move or acknowledge him except for a twitch of her ears.
"My love?" he asked.
She weakly sighed and shivered at something.
"I must tell you... something that I remembered when the thrall-makers cut me. I did not want to say anything before..."
"What? You can tell me anything."
He lay down next to her and purred softly. She turned her head and looked down at the floor before him, unable to meet his eyes.
"I remembered why I got the hurt-marks, the small scratches on my side. Some of the other kin thrall-males that I fought... did that when they were... joined with me," she groaned.
"Luna..." he whined and shuffled closer to her.
She did not move when he put a wing over her back.
"I remember it now... I tried to hide those most bad memories... even so I could not see them. I was weak... I... understand if... knowing that I was fouled... you do not want..."
He did not let her continue with whatever she was going to say. He rested his nose against hers and wove their tails together, all while purring as softly as he could.
"Look at me."
She opened her eyes and warily stared into his wide green ones.
"I told you before that I do not care about the bad past. You are my life-mate, and I am yours. You are not weak or fouled. You are as beautiful and liver-warming now as you have always been."
"Truly?"
"We are one. Always," he whispered.
She lay her head on his neck and softly sighed.
"I should not have said such cold things to you earlier, my life-mate. I just do not feel safe in this world," she weakly whispered.
"And I will always protect you. I promise you that."
Nothing more was said or needed to be said between them, except that she gently clenched his tail.
He only fell asleep after long reflection on what had happened over the last few days. He was very aware that his promise to Luna was one that he had failed at once before.
The migration of all their Furies down from the mountains and into the village was certainly the most momentous event of the year and deserved to be celebrated as such. The fish were caught in droves, cattle were slaughtered, the ovens were busy with baking, and everyone was laughing and happy.
"Yer shorter and wider than I remember!" "How many mugs is the record?" "We got first in the wife-carrying race!" "Finally some peace and quiet!" "Finally got my axe refund!"
It was warm chaos.
"Food-eating-ceremonies, that is all that I must say," Was-Grounded hummed as he looked around the Great Hall with Green-Wings and Mist-Wings hidden under an outstretched wing near the fire.
"Best two-leg idea of all?" Shadowwing laughed softly as he similarly sheltered Luna and Moon-Dancer.
"After not-tailfins, yes."
They watched as the other children were over at the writing station and furiously scribbling away. It had warmed them both to slowly watch as Dawn-Singer and Aurora became closer to some of the human children through the years. Dawn-Singer found a couple whom he was comfortable enough taking on flights around the village now that he was large enough to safely do so. Rain-Eater was also starting to show interest in learning more about the humans given how fluent he was in writing. All the siblings who were old enough were similar in this way.
"Their flights were very different from our first flight together, brother," Shadowwing chuckled.
"I thought you were trying to ground us into the rock-spires..."
"I did not trust myself enough and thought I needed that tree-skin to guide my flight," he protested.
"And you learned after you lost that thing," Was-Grounded grinned.
"Yes, when I started trusting my liver and did not... foul our shared-flight. When I trusted us to fly on our own."
Luna nestled a bit closer to his side as she rested after her large meal. Moon-Dancer was snug between her arms as he too slept with a very stuffed and contented belly.
"Brother, I think this next season-cycle will be a warm one," Was-Grounded hummed.
Shadowwing glanced up the Hall to the Chief's table where he vividly remembered a troubling discussion a couple weeks ago. That normal optimism and hope that a new coming year should bring was not there this time.
"I hope it will," he whispered.
Valka eventually came up to him, a worried expression on her face.
"I have been thinking about something," she began.
He tilted his head in a question.
"Many other dragons will need to fly to hatch their eggs soon."
True, they will...
"Some of them will need to go back to where they know. But you and your brother cannot really leave your little ones here."
Also true... it would not be right to leave our newly hatched children for months.
She sighed softly with resignation.
"I and Cloudjumper will go with them to help keep our eyes out for them. I have done that before for some of the other dragons that went to the hatching grounds. We are used to leading dragons and all of them from the ice nest know us."
He still gave her a somewhat confused glance.
But you will be alone out there for a long time.
She clearly understood his concern.
"I will be fine. I'm more comfortable around dragons than humans anyway. You just keep the peace here."
He nodded at her to come over. He purred and nudged her cheek when she did. She settled down and peacefully stared at Moon-Dancer and Luna.
"Do you both like your house?"
Yes, he nodded.
"Good. I know that the others do. Dawn-Singer and Aurora were telling me that they like being down here in Haven now. Closer to their friends."
He gave a happy sigh at hearing that.
Something still felt off after she left to go talk with said Furies over at their table. The world truly felt different now, as though something had broken or changed forever. Or maybe he was only far more aware of the very real dangers that still existed in the world.