Author's Note – I recommend that you read one of my other posts - To Fly The Winds Of Life – Chapter 5 'Elation' - for a scene from Grimmel's perspective and some insight into his mind, if you dare.
"The fatal day, th' appointed hour, is come." - Virgil - Aeneid
To Fly On Our Own
Haven looked exactly as they expected it would when they arrived shortly after dawn. There were dragons flying freely, and there was a general cacophony of noises overhead. But there was a noticeable tenor of something else within all the voices. Something that had definitely not been there before. Fear and concern.
Shadowwing weakly sighed, being quite worn out by the intense battle and long flying. His own pains and fresh injury did not help either, despite them not hurting as much as they had been. Facing the knowledge of the dead and injured and all the ruins in Haven though-
I cannot deal with any of that now. All of the fallen. I will worry about that later.
The three Furies flew in, and Was-Grounded gave a triumphant roar which was echoed by many voices.
The three of them landed outside their homes, only one of which was still standing. The main door to his brother's house had already opened and a flood of young Furies darted outside, much to all the adults' relief. Dawn-Singer, Aurora, Rain-Eater, and Mist-Wings dashed out and ran toward their father. Green-Wings followed last with Moon-Dancer at her side, at least until the little one saw his own father and mother and dashed for them.
Shadowwing and Luna eagerly embraced their son, purred to him, and nuzzled him in relief. Moon-Dancer's own trauma was still so recent that he was more somber than usual and he stayed very close to Luna's side, even whining softly at her safe return.
The small space between the two homes was filled with purring Furies for several long and wholesome minutes.
"Shadowwing, what happened to you?" Green-Wings quietly exclaimed as she looked at his new burns and chest wound.
"My brother can tell you all. Will you have Dawn-Singer tell Kin-liver that we are here and well?"
"I will," she answered.
"And I must sleep now. May I sleep in your cave-den? Mine... is..." he weakly asked.
"Yes," Green-Wings hummed and dashed away to relay the request.
"Come, little one," Luna called to Moon-Dancer.
Shadowwing, Luna, and Moon-Dancer made their way inside the remaining Fury house. Shadowwing merely lay down next to the fireplace after setting it alight. He only did so after giving a hiss of pain.
"Do you need anything, my mate?" she whispered.
"Some fish would be good," he sighed.
She waited not a moment before setting forth again and bounding out the house.
He was safe now. He would live. That was all she could think about as she strode through the mixed-nest toward the fish place.
The Monster-kin and two-leg Alpha died. He, she, and Was-Grounded all lived. Nothing else should matter to her.
But as she bounded through the nest, she realized something strange. Something that she had not truly seen or noticed before. There were others, kin and two-legs, who had not lived. Pairs of two-legs or nests of two-legs were gathered together and quietly mourning. Some of them were even mourning the loss of a kin that they were close to. Other pairs were tending to kin who had some hurts from the other fighting. One kin was licking a female bond two-leg who was clearly mourning the loss of one from their nest.
I have never seen that before. They fought as one flight and lick the others' hurts...
She arrived at the fish place, grabbed a mouthful of fish, and turned back for Shadowwing. The burned dens and ash around them were the main reminders of what had happened in the night.
And the worst of these was the one she could not help but stare at even as she stood ready to enter Was-Grounded's and Green-Wings's cave-den. Her own den from which she had been taken, Moon-Dancer's life threatened, and a possibility completely broken.
We are not safe here now. The bad flights can come back here to fight more. This cannot be our world now.
Sigh.
We can talk after he rests.
He watched her go and turned back to his son, who was surprisingly sitting quite still.
"Sire-father?" Moon-Dancer whispered.
"Yes, my son?"
Moon-Dancer was staring at his side. His son tried to speak but struggled to say anything for a moment.
"Did you fight sky-light?"
"In a way, my little one."
"And you won?"
"Yes, I did," Shadowwing purred.
Moon-Dancer's eyes were wide with awe as he gave a little gasp.
"They look like they hurt."
"Only a little. That happens with hurt-marks, my son."
He sighed.
"Will you sleep on the bed until your dam-mother is here again?"
"Yes," Moon-Dancer hummed, "I have been playing much with Mist-Wings and Rain-Eater."
"Son, are you much liver-chilled by the bad burning of our cave-den?"
It was not something that he wanted to remind his son of, but he wanted to give reassurance if necessary.
"Some, but I am safe now with you and dam-mother here. Green-Wings is a very warm second dam-mother also," Moon-Dancer softly answered before hesitating and trembling.
"Is dam-mother safe now? Will more bad-kin hurt her?"
Shadowwing softly nuzzled his son's nose.
"No, the bad-kin are gone. Sleep now, my son."
Moon-Dancer hopped up onto the rock bed and pulled a small wing over himself.
Shadowwing remained in the fire's warmth as he started to let his weary thoughts wander.
He closed his eyes and thought about the hidden world. It was probably the only place in the world where any other dragons now lived in safety or could live in safety. It would be easy to go on that flight as well since he knew where to go. All the Night Furies together with the remaining Haven dragons. One last flight in the free and open skies, and the world would see no more of dragons. The skies would be truly empty again.
I could not have imagined it in the past, but now... there might never be peace up here. We will always be in danger if we stay.
A sigh of total, desolate despair.
He... was... right.
So terrible.
So wrong.
It should not be.
There was no other way.
How would the rest of Haven react? What would they say about this choice? This breaking and shattering of what was and what was becoming? Would they see it as betrayal?
But it was his decision along with his brother. They would both consult their mates, of course, but the weight of the decision fell on the leaders, on the Alphas.
The Alphas protect them all and must think about the others first in all serious matters.
The door opened as Luna bounded back inside with several fish for him. He did not even bother with his usual teasing complaining and took the slimy fish straight from her mouth.
"Luna..."
"Is there anything else I can do?" she whispered.
"Hold me..."
He waited as she stepped over to him, lay down at his side, embraced him, and wrapped her tail around his. Several quiet moments passed as they tenderly held each other and nuzzled in complete relief. The warmth of her belly against his reminded him of something wonderful but terrifying to learn in the middle of battle.
"Why did you not tell me?" he whispered.
"About what?"
"Our new egg... I can already see the little one's life-fire."
"I did not think I needed to say anything," she softly answered.
"But you were both in danger."
"And would it have been better if I was not there? Could you two have killed the Monster without me? Would you have... lived?"
He only answered by clutching her a bit tighter and whimpering softly. Neither said anything until she broke the silence.
"Shadowwing?"
"Yes, my love?"
"There is a cold in your liver now," she whispered.
He sighed softly.
"You see well. Our life will change soon."
"What? How will it change?" she softly rumbled.
"I will tell you after we sleep. I want Was-Grounded and Green-Wings to hear it also. There is something that we must all talk about together."
It washed over them both in the silence that followed. How close they had both come to losing the other. The fear, the terror, the emptiness, and the complete relief that followed. They both trembled as they held each other.
The door opened again sometime later. Was-Grounded, Green-Wings, and all their children walked inside and strode directly up to them as they lay together. Green-Wings bent down before him and stared into his eyes with a hurt, pained, and relieved expression. He knew that she had been told the truth behind what had happened.
His brother stepped up beside him and lay down at his back, gently snuggling up alongside him.
"Shared warmth," Was-Grounded whispered.
They all gathered around them both, Green-Wings taking Luna's other side and his brother at his back. Their children piled in around them all, and all were covered by Was-Grounded's and Green-Wings's wings.
Shadowwing felt the warm purring from all those who were dearest to him and who were there to comfort him. And he keened softly with open vulnerability, feeling, and something between a broken heart and complete relief.
They had all survived.
The mouth to the cave-den opened, and Kin-liver slowly walked inside. Luna watched her slowly approach, as did most the other Furies except for Shadowwing and Was-Grounded. The two Alphas were most exhausted after the fighting and were deeply asleep.
"Luna?" Kin-liver asked.
What are you doing?
She warbled softly and shuffled from between Shadowwing and Green-Wings. Almost at the same time, she realized that Kin-liver had something in her paws. A small holding-thing filled with a mix of plants.
Her eyes fixed on the strange thing, and she gave a questioning purr.
"Helps hurts not hurt. I help your head hurts, Luna?" Kin-liver asked.
The holding-thing filled with a mix of plants did smell very strongly of healing hurt-gone plants. So she bent her head down before Kin-liver and gave a purr of approval. Kin-liver put the strange mix on a digit and carefully put the plant-mix all along the small bites and hurt lines.
Her own warm purr slowly built again as the comforting warmth spread. Whatever that mix was that Kin-liver made, it was almost as good as mouth-water at helping hurts not hurt. It probably was not needed to help the hurts, but Kin-liver wanted to help her.
"More hurts?" Kin-liver softly asked after she was finished.
She glanced over at Was-Grounded and pointedly nodded at him. Rain-Eater cautiously stood up from near his sire-father's flanks and looked down on the hurt on Was-Grounded's back.
That was enough flight-guiding for Kin-liver, who treated that hurt. Was-Grounded remained asleep all throughout, that was how gentle Kin-liver's paws were.
She must have much practice doing this for kin from her cycles in the ice nest.
"No more hurts?"
Actually, there is one more, Kin-liver. You will not like it though.
She gave a quick flick of her head and gestured Kin-liver over to stand before her. She glanced down at her mate's chest, visible because he lay partly on his side to not aggravate the hurt.
Kin-liver gasped softly and froze as she stared.
The hurt was raw, missing some scales, somewhat charred, red with dried and burned life-water, and would definitely leave a lasting hurt mark for all of Shadowwing's cycles.
Kin-liver and Luna stared at each other. Luna could see it in Kin-liver's eyes. Pain for another. Fear for another. Relief for another. For her own changed little one.
It was not even surprising to her now that Kin-liver started dropping eye-water. She gave Kin-liver a soft and warming purr along with a nod to the hurt. Kin-liver carefully took more of the helping stuff and gently put it on the hurt. Shadowwing did not even shift in his sleep.
Luna draped a wing back over her mate and looked back at Kin-liver.
"He good now. I help other hurt kin now," Kin-liver whispered.
Kin-liver briefly greeted all the other Night Furies who were awake, whispered some kind words to them, and left the den to attend to other hurt kin.
Silence followed except for the purring.
Even as she lay her head back down on her life-mate's neck, Luna could not help but think about the other two-legs and kin of the range. How many had fought as pairs to protect the range? How many had fallen together? How many were even now licking the other's hurts in their own ways?
The strange dragon appeared over the ocean late in the morning. The scout noticed the dragon land by the cliffs and a strange man hop off its back.
Chief Thorvald and Valka were summoned along with a dozen guards and dragons. Both Haven leaders started in surprise when they saw the man leaning against the Deathgripper's side.
"Well, well, how did you live?" Thorvald asked as he hoisted his axe.
Viggo Grimborn solemnly grinned at them.
"Strategy. I was not on my flagship when you attacked. Neither I nor my brother were."
"You knew that we were going to attack? How?" Valka exclaimed with a suspicious glint in her eyes.
"After Grimmel's strike, which I argued against as a bad idea, yes. I thought you would do something to strike back, and I took a precaution. Tell me, was that Shadowwing's idea to hit the flagships only?" Viggo asked.
"Yes, no reason to waste life and attack the whole fleet. Why are you here?" Valka answered.
Viggo gave a satisfied nod and looked past them all into what was left of the village behind them.
"Grimmel is dead. I already gave his men and his fleet a place in the new armada, under my control of course."
"So why did you come here? You did not have to," Valka asked.
Viggo only smiled.
"I saw something that I would not have thought possible. I saw a dragon speak to me, show strategy, and try to avoid unnecessary death and waste. I spent my whole life hunting dragons, killing them, and I've... come to respect one as an equal. Shadowwing taught me that."
"Ok, but why are you here?" Valka asked.
Viggo for the first time frowned.
"I am not an honorable man. I have never seen a use for it. But I know when to respect an enemy. I thought I would come here and let you know that the fleet is not stopping after what you did. There are too many people out there who want revenge."
"You come here to threaten us!" Thorvald shouted.
"To warn you. If I go back to my commanders and tell them that we need to take one more day to prepare after that strike of yours... and if we get here to your home and find it abandoned, well, that would be unfortunate for us, wouldn't it?"
Thorvald blinked and warily glared back at him. Viggo continued after giving an exasperated sigh.
"Truthfully, I do not care about you all. Taking some of your dragons could be useful, yes, but I would rather have the largest navy in the world. Those at least are not fading as dragons are."
"You were never serious about taking our dragons?" Valka interjected.
Viggo grinned and shrugged.
"The combined fleet is basically the entire navy in this part of the world. I know that it would be very wasteful of men and ships to attack you since you still have a lot of dragons. But I cannot tell the men that we are turning around. Doing that would end with me dead and dumped in the sea. I can go on these scouting missions using my new pet here and push for a little more preparation before we strike. Do you understand me?"
They all stared each other down until Thorvald sighed.
"I understand you. What will you do now?"
Viggo walked back to his Deathgripper and vaulted into the saddle.
"I will go back to the fleet. We will sail to enemy lands after a bit more preparing, and we will drive off the dragon riders from their cursed home! Maybe the other tribes will be happy to hear that. They cannot really expect much more against an enemy that can just fly away," he winked.
"You do see the irony of that, considering what you are sitting on," Valka laughed.
Viggo patted the Deathgripper's neck and was rewarded with a deep purr.
"Oh, Ripper here is harmless. To me at least. I actually think we are a good match for each other. I made sure to ask Grimmel for the... cleverest of the clutch. The one who will start fights between the others so he can grab more fish. A tamed, trained dragon is nothing to worry about. It is the wild, free ones that are dangerous because you never know what they will do. Give Shadowwing my regards. I truly hope that I never see any of you again."
Viggo gave a signal to Ripper, and the Deathgripper leapt for the sky and turned for the ocean.
Thorvald and Valka stood together and watched as the dragon gradually vanished over the sea.
"Now what? It sounds like they are still coming here," Valka sighed.
"Yeah, I don't know what to do now. Definitely keep some scouts in the air in case he was lying," Thorvald replied.
He gave a wry chuckle and continued.
"We might as well start packing now though since we can't stay here. We definitely have practice at that. Where to go though?"
"We can talk to the Furies about it later when they wake up. Let them rest for now. They need it after what happened," Valka softly answered.
Shadowwing wearily and painfully arose early in the afternoon. He had slept in Luna's arms and under his brother's wing all through the morning. She was already awake and attentively watching him while humming comfort. Actually, she might have not gone to sleep at all.
"Does it hurt?" she whispered.
"Some. I am more weak than hurting now. I will wake my brother and Green-Wings. We must talk."
He slowly got to his feet, pulled himself out from under the comforting wing, and woke his brother with a soft nuzzle to the shoulder. Was-Grounded arose from his place at his side and faced him without saying anything for a while.
"How is the hurting?" Was-Grounded eventually whispered with a glance at the burns and the treated chest-wound.
Shadowwing sighed softly.
"I feel little hurting now. I need to talk with you, Luna, and Green-Wings," Shadowwing whispered back.
"Let us talk now."
"Not here where your little ones hear us. We should step aside."
He looked at all the sleeping siblings piled more or less together. All were shaken after the events of the night, the fires spreading through Haven, lookout duty, and seeing the returning flights with the missing who did not return and the wounded among those who returned. They needed their rest in the trust that only family could provide.
"Why only us?" Was-Grounded asked.
"Trust me."
Was-Grounded eventually hummed in agreement and woke his mate. Was-Grounded and Green-Wings stepped aside to join him and Luna a short distance away in a semi-circle around the fireplace.
"We are here. What did you want to tell us?" Was-Grounded softly asked.
Shadowwing first looked at each of them in turn and he began in a quiet voice.
"You know that there is a hidden world under the ground and under the waters. Many kin live down in this world. I was in it several season-cycles ago. That was where Luna and I became life-mates. The kin live freely in a world with rock-caves, light, fish, prey, different trees and plants, and their own kinds. Two-legs do not know about this world."
He slowly turned to Luna and lost himself in her wide blue eyes.
"That is where all the other kin are now. All the kin not in this range and that do not look to us as Alphas are now hidden from two-legs."
"How do you know that?" Was-Grounded asked in surprise.
"I... met a kin when I was... dead. A kin that I met before and who would know where the other kin are. Also, what that kin told me flies with what the bad Alpha two-legs and thrall-makers said, that there are no kin in any range except this one," Shadowwing answered.
"But if there are no other kin above..." Luna warily began.
"Yes, the bad thrall-makers and bad flights of two-legs will always come here because they can. We will always be prey to them in almost any range we could fly to..." Shadowwing whimpered.
"Why are you telling us this?" Was-Grounded whispered.
Shadowwing slowly looked up and stared into his brother's green eyes. He struggled to speak before he finally forced the pained words out.
"We must leave the open skies and go into hiding with the other kin. We must fly to where there are no two-legs. Kin only..."
A moment passed in silence as they all understood.
"But you have always wanted the nests to be one. Two-legs and kin together in life," Was-Grounded whispered.
Shadowwing stared at the floor without answering, clearly lost in his pained thoughts.
"I wanted two-legs and kin to trust and live in peace. But there might always be another Monster-Alpha two-leg who wants us dead. The bad nests that sent the Monster-Alpha after us might send another flight. There is no range above that would always be safe."
He briefly paused.
"Taking the two-legs into the hidden world would be very dangerous for them. Other kin might want to hurt them and not trust them in their home-ranges. It is a very different world and is not what two-legs know. Even if it was safe for them, it would only take one of them to leave and tell other two-legs how to get in the hidden world."
He weakly sighed.
"We... should fly on our own... to be safe and free," Shadowwing painfully whispered.
Silence followed.
"You are all kin to me as my own nest-kin. What do you think?" he asked.
"That hidden world is where I am from. It is close to my liver and memories and is good for us and all kin. We cannot stay in the ranges above," Luna answered first.
"I am warmed by your words of it, a place with no two-legs that could ever become rotted. No more fighting two-leg flights that have thrall-kin... that would be good," Green-Wings mused.
"I would have had us fly there in the past if I had known about it," Was-Grounded added.
Silent glances followed between them.
"We all agree. We should fly all the kin into the hidden world," Luna finally declared.
Shadowwing closed his eyes at the conclusion. At the stroke of fate. At the shattering of his dream. At his failure to change the world.
"When should we fly?" Was-Grounded asked his brother.
"We should... use this sun-cycle to walk in our nest and see all the kin. We fly at the end of this sun-cycle if they can fly. Flying in the dark is safer because no two-legs will know where we are flying. The flight is not to the range that you know, Luna. We will fly to another range in the hidden world. That cave-mouth is big enough for all kin to fly in," Shadowwing whispered.
"Should we tell our young? They might not want to break the nest in two," Green-Wings wondered.
The four of them spared a glance at the sleeping children in a pile together. It was clear that this choice would hurt at least the two oldest of the children.
"No, they will not. They hold some two-legs close to their livers, but they also know that they will not find mates if they stay here and we leave. They saw what happened in the fighting, and they know that other two-leg nests would hunt them. We will let them know when we are ready to fly. If their liver-bond two-legs truly want good for them, the two-legs will let them go and be free," Shadowwing answered.
Was-Grounded got up and walked over to him. He sat down, tried to speak, and failed for a long time.
"You would let go that vision-hope that has been so close to your liver?" he eventually hummed.
"If I must for us to live, yes. That is what Alphas and flight-leaders must do. They must think about the good of the nest they lead and protect. The kin will all follow us to a better world for them. And this is... good for both the kin and the two-legs of this range. Without any kin to hunt... there will be no good reason for other two-leg nests to hunt these two-legs after they find a new range and become only one more nest among many..."
"You would have us leave all of them? Even your dam Kin-liver?" Was-Grounded whispered.
"Yes," Shadowwing sighed, "even her. To take one two-leg with us would mean that we should take all with us... It would not be safe for them to fly with us..."
"But what will happen to them here? I would not want much bad to happen to this two-leg nest," Luna asked.
"Their livers will be broken by losing their bond-kin. Much of their life-ways need their kin with them now. But," Shadowwing weakly answered, "two-legs have rock-head... problems. They can find a way to keep flying... to keep walking... in life when we are gone. They have many water-walkers..."
"I did not think that you could let go. What happened to your rock-head problems?" Was-Grounded softly asked.
Shadowwing briefly moaned and leaned against Luna's side.
"I lost them when I almost lost you, Luna, and Moon-Dancer. Nothing can change what is important more than to almost lose... everything I love."
Shadowwing, Gobber, Valka, and Chief Thorvald stood together in the Great Hall in the midafternoon. They had summoned the Fury to share important news with him.
"We wanted to tell you that Viggo was here earlier. He flew in with his Deathgripper," Valka announced for everyone's benefit.
So he lived... good for him.
Why was he here?
"He wanted to warn us... yeah, amazing... that the fleet was not stopping. He said he would give us one day to disappear. Oh, he also wanted us to give you his... regards. You changed his mind on something," Thorvald explained.
Shadowwing looked up from having hung his head.
Their coming here does put a timer on everything. The lands to the east are rather open for everyone here, or they could take the ships and try to disappear off the map on the sea. I guess that they would only be hunted out of revenge by the rest of Grimmel's fleet and the dragon hunters if they stay here.
What did he say?
"That he came to respect you as an equal. He knew that it was your idea to hit the flagships only."
Sigh.
I really wish I could have gotten to know him some other way. He sounds like someone I could have possibly respected as well if he meant what he said.
How bad is it here?
How many died?
Chief Thorvald squared his shoulders with an odd, rueful grin.
"Not too bad actually. We lost five of our dragons and maybe fifteen of the wild ones from what we could tell, but we also rescued several new ones that were trapped. Six of our riders and fighters fell."
Shadowwing considered the final tally. It was not as terrible as he had feared, and yet it was still a painful victory. He was certain that he would have known, at least by name, each of the six humans who were now gone. Dead because of the mission that was his idea.
I feared it would be worse
How many dragons cannot fly?
"Uh, none of them. The ones that were hit in the fighting... all fell. The poisoned arrows were... very effective when they hit. The rest of the injuries are all minor," Valka winced.
So that is it. We fly tonight after telling them they must leave... actually.
Could you all take the saddles and armor off
Give all the dragons some rest
"Yeah, that sounds good. They deserve a break. Thank the gods that we had armor for them. It would have been far worse without that protection," Thorvald answered.
Good to hear
"What about you? How did all this happen to you?" Valka asked with a nod to his burns.
She was not the only one who had been eyeing his new injuries.
Lightning strike
"Lightning? I remember seeing that strike, but how? There was no storm."
He slowly shook his head without saying anything. His shrug would hopefully suffice for them.
I am not telling them about that beast or what happened. Better that no one ever knew it existed.
"And that on your chest? Does it hurt still?" she kindly asked and moved toward him.
He again shook his head and stepped back from her without letting her touch him.
I will be fine
I need some time to myself
Valka nodded in apparent understanding, though she also seemed a bit hurt by his reluctance.
Shadowwing left the Hall and slowly walked through the village. Many buildings and perches were now flamed and charred from the raid in the night. So much had been built up in almost three years. Every glance toward the remaining stables, perches, and fish stations was painful. The fields were filled with crops nearing the harvest. The distant mountains and the caves held so many good and bad memories. The ever-present cloud of dragons above the village was filled with their various, different cries.
Several dragon and dragon-rider pairs were working at various tasks together. He briefly paused to watch Dawn-Singer and Aurora quietly writing to the small group of friends they were closest to.
That hurt so much to see what was becoming here. Something that was so familiar in a way. Something that might have been between another Night Fury and human who had once lived as friends.
Something apparently not meant to be. A truly forbidden friendship.
The pain flared in his back and sides, almost like tiny daggers were being plunged deep. Even the new wound on his chest noticeably throbbed. A faint snarl escaped him as he slowly hobbled back to what was serving as his home for a few more hours. He slowly walked inside. All the other Furies save his two were out getting fish or spending time with their friends.
"Sire-father, are you better now?" Moon-Dancer bounded over to him with concern shining in his wide eyes.
Shadowwing bent down and gently nuzzled his son's little head.
"I will be, first of my liver, my son. Are you ready to stretch your wings for a long flight?"
Moon-Dancer warmly trilled and bounded on his feet while ruffling his wings.
"I always want to fly!"
Shadowwing laughed softly, no longer feeling much of the pain that had recently struck him.
Oh son, you are so cheerful so soon after what happened to you.
"I know you do, my son. And very soon you will be able to show me how strong your flying is."
He walked over to the rockbed, sat down, and stared into Luna's eyes.
"What do you say, my love?" she whispered.
"There are no grounded kin. We will fly at sunfall."
"I did not know if you could do this. To truly fly from all you knew once," she gently nipped at an ear of his.
Shadowwing sighed softly and cast his eyes down.
"I was not speaking false when I said that I would choose you," he weakly whispered.
He felt a nose gently nuzzling his own and heard her loving croon.
"It will still hurt my liver much, but as long as I have you, Moon-Dancer, my brother, and all his nest-kin, I will say that my life-flight is a warm one."
"What about the two-leg nest? What will it do?" she asked.
"They will need to leave this range to be safe. All the bad nests know that they are here. This nest might take their water-walkers and start living... always-grounded life again in other waters and ranges. Or they might walk to the rising sun and go to a new range. We will tell them before we fly this night so that they know why we must do this. The two-legs will be gone from this range before the next sun-cycle," he weakly mused.
"I saw them together with their bond-kin and trusting them when fighting the bad flight. This nest's two-legs were nuzzling their bond-kin when they got back to this nest. And they will want their bond-kin to be free and fly on their own without them? Truly?" she wondered.
"They will when they know why we must be free to fly on our own."
"Free?"
"Yes," he whispered.
She looked like she wanted to say something but remained silent. She merely hummed softly and started licking some of his more prominent burns. He sighed softly and let her tend to him as the faint pinpricks of pain seemed to fade.
But he knew that the scars weaving down his neck and side would never fully fade. Neither would the new wound in his chest. And he doubted that the scars from the hurts still to be received would ever fully heal.
Evening drew near as the sun fell lower in the western sky and filled the sky with an orange glow.
Shadowwing and Was-Grounded stood side by side up on the rocky cliff, silently staring out over the waters toward the far north. Toward a place that one of them had been in and the other had only heard related to him.
Was-Grounded stepped closer to his brother's side and extended a wing over his back along with giving him a mournful hum. They both looked back out over the ocean before either of them spoke again.
"How long of a flight will it be?" Was-Grounded asked.
Shadowwing hummed in a moment of thought.
"I think three suns would be enough for all the kin here. Maybe slower with the young kin."
Was-Grounded chuckled softly at something.
"We left our hatching island, found new roosts, flew from those roosts to find new nests, I flew from here to fly to the ice nest, we flew from there to come back here, and we are going to fly to another range soon. Did two kin ever have more twisted life-stories than us?" Was-Grounded pondered.
"No, but you knew that you were going to have a twisted life when you held a small two-leg close to your liver many cycles ago," Shadowwing answered.
"I know."
"Whatever else happens, we will not be alone on these strange new winds that we will fly. What did you say about us? We fly the winds of life within call of the other?" Shadowwing whispered.
"Yes, egg-mate brothers," Was-Grounded hummed.
"Hmm, I have been thinking about that," Shadowwing briefly chuckled.
"What! Why should this sun-cycle be different?" Was-Grounded teased.
"Egg-mates is not us now. That name talks about us and our old egg. That was much in the past, and we are not hatchlings now," Shadowwing answered.
"What are we?"
"Only brothers, nothing more is needed."
Was-Grounded did not seem very impressed and mumbled for a moment while staring to the horizon before his ears shot up with an idea.
"Brothers of night?"
Shadowwing chuckled softly at the addition.
"Yes, that has some lift. Whatever else happens, I am very warmed that we will be there in the hidden world together."
"What were you thinking would happen? That I would let you go fly off somewhere and let yourself get grounded in a new range? Even Green-Wings holds you close to her liver, you know," Was-Grounded huffed indignantly.
"Liver-truth, I am not trying to impress her away from you," Shadowwing protested.
"You do have more sky-light hurt marks than me now."
Shadowwing gave him a wry grin and his ears slightly lifted with an idea.
"And if we are brothers of night... our little ones are children of dawn."
"Of dawn?" Was-Grounded warbled.
"Light Fury and Night Fury together as the light and dark touch at dawn," Shadowwing explained to his brother's satisfaction.
They both turned their attention back to the skies.
"Brother, did I ever tell you that I thank you for making me a Night Fury with you?" Shadowwing weakly asked.
Was-Grounded blinked and gave a curious rumble at that.
"No, you did not. Why? You know that I did not try to change you."
"True, but you did. That let me hear your words and learn and talk with your words. You gave me a life that I would not have had. I would not have Luna, Moon-Dancer, or her new egg now if you had not changed me. And if we were life-bonded with me as a two-leg now... this would be the end. I would never see you again... after this flight," Shadowwing's voice almost broke as he whispered.
Was-Grounded spun on him and stared in shock at such a suggestion.
"Yes, you would. You would fly with me."
"What if I could not? What if I had two-leg little ones? What if I was the Alpha of the two-leg nest and could not fly with you to the hidden world? What if the kin in the hidden world would not let you bring me?"
Was-Grounded groaned heavily at that.
"I would fly to you when I could, and I would let you fly with me as we did once. I would bring my little ones so you could see them."
Shadowwing slowly shook his head.
"No. I and all grounded two-legs of this nest would need to go to other ranges far away from here or the other bad nests would find us and fight us here. You would not be able to find me because this nest would disappear into hiding in other ranges far from here."
Was-Grounded hung his head and stared at the ground.
"You could come to me on a water-walker, and I would fly to you," Was-Grounded weakly added.
"How would you know when to fly up and see me? We would not be able to talk, you and me. No, being friends and brothers... needs flying together in the winds of life and being within call of the other. Being together cannot be from far away," Shadowwing painfully whispered.
Neither of them said anything more on the terrible idea. They remained at each other's side until the sun, filling the entire sky with its orange glow, finally neared the distant western horizon.
"The skies will be empty of kin after we have all flown this flight. It will be the last flight," Shadowwing grimaced.
"But it must be this way," Was-Grounded added.
"Yes, and something that makes good two-leg livers warm with wonder and what-if thinking will stop being in the world with them when we are gone. We will only fly in their past-stories," Shadowwing sighed.
A shared, sad croon followed.
"That does feel like it will make the world colder to them," Was-Grounded admitted.
"Maybe they will say good things about us, but I do not think they will. They have their stories of us as Monsters," Shadowwing wondered.
"Do you think the ranges and skies up here will ever be safe for kin? What could make all two-legs take the rot from their livers?" Was-Grounded asked.
Shadowwing looked up at the clouds.
"I do not know if anything could. I... much wanted to make the world... a better one for kin and two-legs... together. As... you and me... were once. My hopes... flew so high... and... coming down... is the hardest... thing," Shadowwing weakly answered and hung his head, his voice breaking several times.
Was-Grounded turned to him, and they rested foreheads together with a soft and reassuring purr. Was-Grounded held his brother's chin with a paw. A silence followed as his brother quietly mourned.
"Are you ready to fly on our own?" Was-Grounded softly breathed after the long silence.
"I will not be false... it will hurt very... much... but I have you... Luna... Green-Wings... and all our little ones... now and to be. That is... that must be enough," Shadowwing whined and trembled.
The gentle evening breeze flowed in from the ocean, bringing with it a distant call on the wind.
"We should fly now," Was-Grounded whispered.
Shadowwing took a deep breath and steadied himself, eventually looking up and meeting his brother's green eyes.
"Yes, you are right. It is time."