Chapter 2. The secret of his flight
On the look-out
Nighthawk could arrive any day now. So I prepared the children and told them "Someone is coming to visit me. If he comes you will retreat to the nest and stay hidden until I return. Much like when I go out to hunt." I could not bring myself to tell them that it was their father. If things didn't work out, I would come up with some story. They were excited, but as I kept my reactions hidden, they soon were engrossed in play again.
For days already, I had hunted early in the morning, so that the yearlings had their bellies full and were content for the rest of the day. Also, I often travelled to a higher vantage point to keep a look-out for Nighthawk, but I could only stay away from the children for so long. Standing in front of the nest I still could see patches of sky and I longingly looked up every now and then. Often I would concentrate and send out a silent message, hoping that somehow it would guide him: I'm here. This is how my hills look. Find me, love.
My nest is in a small cave at the foot of the hills. In front of it lies a vast expanse of taiga, which is forest, dotted with lakes, but much less dense than in warmer regions. And there's heather, lichen, shrubs and bushes. And flowers, though the multitude of flowers of spring had faded away already. I like it here, having the wide world at my feet and the vastness of the sky overhead, where at times beautiful lights simmer and dance against the backdrop of the stars. Then I fly up to hunt these lights, only to end up dancing along.
As I looked at the sky again something caught my eye: seemingly a small flock of birds. I only saw them for a moment before they disappeared behind the treetops. Large birds? Migratory birds in summer? Then, faintly, I heard cries, calls. My heart skipped a beat, could it be…? Before I knew I called back, as loud as I could. Then… a loud call in answer!
Immediately I turned around to the yearlings. "Quick, children, into hiding." They ran into the cave, but also peeped a lot of sudden questions. "Sh, shhhh, sweetlings" I whispered after they had hopped into the nest "I will tell you when I return. You are all so smart! I know you will stay in the nest." Luckily their hiding instinct was still very strong, so before long they were quiet and in the half-sleep of hiding. I breathed over them and left.
Once out in the open I first scanned the surroundings with every sense I had. I had been stupid to call out like that in front of the nest. Nothing out of the ordinary, though. Every predator around knew better than to enter my territory. The few that did are not alive anymore. Yet I took care to run a distance away from the nest with stealth, to not further give away its position. At a safe distance I called out again. Answering calls! Definitely the voice of Nighthawk! A rustle of wings, a black form swooping over me, a shout "Silverwings! Follow me, I'll land over there" and he disappeared, his silhouette broken by some treetops.
Why not land here? Strange.
I made a mental note of his direction then started to run, because suddenly I had the crazy notion of running into his life. No, back to a walking pace, as suddenly my heart hammered in my chest and I had to calm myself. Or even better, I would stalk him! Surprise him! Although first I had to establish he was not aggressive. You never know with a male out of mating season. So I slid through the trees silently and slipped from shadow to shadow.
There he stood. Near to a boulder, one of numerous large boulders strewn erratically across the land. This one, however, was exceptionally large. To my surprise he was frantically cleansing himself with a fire bath, keeping one eye at the sky, expecting me to come in flying. While breathing fire over himself and washing his hide in flames, he gave special attention to his neck, chest and tailfin. I hesitated to show myself, wanting to give him time for something he deemed necessary.
Why do you erase your smell, my love? So strange. Always there is strangeness with you.
But he clearly was not aggressive, instead rather nervous. Like I was.
The secret of his flight
Stealthily I retreated somewhat, only to step out of the trees noisily once he had finished the bath. His head turned my way.
"SILVERWINGS!" he shouted, wings opening wide immediately.
I rushed up to him, unable to contain myself any longer. Here he was, pressed against my body, stammering incoherent words "...my darling… you… my love…", inhaling my scent. Our foreheads met and by the pressure Nighthawk applied I felt his happiness. I responded in turn. We rubbed our necks past each other, letting our heads curl around. We sniffed, licked.
"Are you well, Silverwings?" he asked.
I was still taking in the feel of his body "You came, you came… all of you is here. All, except for your scent."
"I gave myself a quick fire bath so my smell would not be offensive…" his voice trailed off.
I pulled away. "The secret of your flight", I whispered.
There it was, instantly intruding upon our happy meeting. The thing that could destroy our love.
"Don't let it make me lose you. Don't let me lose you, Silverwings. Please accept me, once you have seen…"
"Show me now", I said, my voice suddenly shrill with dread.
Nervously he looked back at the large boulder. "I must go behind the boulder over there. When I return, I will have things on me, a flying harness which I need to fly. It takes a bit of time to put it on." Facing me again "Please, my love, remember it's me when I return. I'm wearing a harness, but it's me."
He shot me a nervous glance, gave a little stroke to my head and disappeared behind the boulder.
When he reappeared I shrieked and bolted away. At some distance I managed to check myself and forced my head to turn. I saw… what did I see? It was incomprehensible. There were things around his chest, things were sitting on top of his forepaws. More things everywhere.
"It's me, Silverwings, please. Will you not come to me? Look, my tail" and he curved it around his body.
The tailfin was complete! The other half was also there! But no… it was brown, not black. How…?
"Everything on me is needed to make the tailfin work. And it works, Silverwings, I have flown this way for fourteen winters now. Please come closer so you can see and smell."
At seeing me still half turned away, ready to jump he said "Silverwings, this is how I have been able to find you, to fly all the way from my faraway home."
His voice lessened my panic just so much that I could near him, starting to sniff the air already from a distance. There it was, the strange tang I had smelled at the start of our mating last year, the offensive smell that had almost put me off.
"Love, give me a nose, it's me." I did, and with a sigh relaxed somewhat. I eyed and sniffed the nearest things; found them repulsive.
"Will you not talk to me? Just say something?"
"You… you… just fly now."
"A shudder passed through him. He lowered his eyes and said, "There is one more thing I need. And this will be even more difficult for you than my flying harness. But… mind what I say: he is no danger to you. No danger."
"He… HE?"
"My brother. My brother flies with me."
What? Another dragon…
"My human brother."
"WHAT? A HUMAN? YOU BRING A HUMAN HERE?"
Aggression overrode the panic immediately. A human! So close to the nest! In an instant I was ready to kill. My eyes narrowed to slits, I roared, ready to leap for the boulder. But I found Nighthawk blocking the way, wings spread wide also.
"Check your fire! Please, calm down, calm down! I'm alive because of him. He saved me, made this harness and made me fly again. He saved me, hear me! Do not harm him. He is my brother. He is harmless, Silverwings, so small, you could push him over with a paw. Silverwings, look at me! If this is too much for you I will retreat and take him with me. But I cannot let you kill him. He has younglings, and provides for them, together with his mate. If he is killed, the younglings suffer. Younglings, Silverwings." His voice trembled.
Younglings. I retreated, snorting, snarling.
"Silverwings, if you kill him, I will never fly again."
At that I deflated.
"Then fly" I croaked.
He went to the boulder and gave a soft call. A human appeared. Even from where I stood I saw the human tremble. I could not check my snarls and hissed at him. He briefly faced me, gave me a deep bow. Then he mounted Nighthawk, MOUNTED him! It was utterly offensive. My heart turned cold. Nighthawk leapt into the sky and flew away. Two times he swooped over my head. Then he gained height and started to perform a couple of manoeuvres. Maybe I should be glad with what I saw, but I wasn't. Now he climbed straight up, like only we Night Furies can do. So he could do that too! The higher he climbed, the less visible that offensive human was. That human ON TOP OF HIM. Unbearable! Then he came soaring down with the specific piercing sound of our kind and landed near to the boulder. The human got off, made a bow to me again and disappeared behind it.
Nighthawk watched until the human was hidden and walked over to me. Even before he was near I snapped at him "Does this human dominate you? He sits on top of you in a dominant position! And you let him!"
"No, we are friends and equals. He saved my life, gave me his friendship and kept me alive for half of my life. He helps feed me. I can hunt for myself only part of what I need. I owe him my life, but he owes me too. I saved his life once as well. To me we are like brothers. So no, he does not dominate me, he has no hold over me."
Then he added "I will tell you everything about him, if you let me, Silverwings. From this moment on I will answer all your questions, and nothing of my life will be a secret to you anymore."
I felt frustrated and drained. Backing away I said "I find this human offensive. It is all way over my head. I don't know about this, I don't know!"
At that I left him standing there and ran off.