Chapter four
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It took surprisingly short time for Harry to find the nest of ikran, they were at the other side of the mountain he had seen the day before. He had had even found the climb up the roots and floating rocks (or boulders, more like) surprisingly unproblematic. He found that he actually enjoyed the climb and the physical labour, and that after the rest, he could use his body as though he had trained purposefully for months or possibly years. This thought was on his mind as he searched carefully through the floating island of rock. It was only when he neared a waterfall that he saw them. He was standing in a sort of cave and looking through the falling water saw dozens of the flying beasts. They had different colours of the one he had seen yesterday. He looked closer, and saw that they really were beautiful. Their colours were vibrant, in the shades of blue and green, with stripes of a darker colour spread across their entire body. He could see that they had two tentacle-like things on their head, though very thick and robust-looking, and he wondered vaguely what they were for.
As he continued to look over the crowd of ikran, he felt a little uneasy. There was a lot of them, and they looked very like they could eat him for dinner of they wished. And what was he supposed to do? Just walk up to an ikran, looking if it was the one he was supposed to connect with, and just pat it and sit on its back? Something told Harry that it would not be that simple. A slight, but sudden warmth passed over him, giving some impression. It was only a few minutes after the presence that he understood what was expected.
"I'm supposed to do what, now?" he exclaimed, a little lounder than he had intended. A few of the ikran looked over to the waterfall, but did nothing more. Biting his tongue, he cursed himself silently. However, he felt it was a little justified. Considering he had to go up to a fully grown flying predator larger than him, on the edge of a cliff, and fight him. 'Perfect' he thought. The only positive thing he could see at this moment, was that he now understood what the tentacle-tings were, and what they were for.
Taking a deep breath, he steadied himself, trying not to shake too bad, and edged out of the waterfall, and into the ikran's nest.
Later, Harry could not really remember how he had managed to survive the encounter with the enormous ikran. He knew that the other ikran drew away from him, and that only this ikran stayed in his place. He also knew that he had fought with the ikran, and somehow managed to win. The only thing he could clearly remember, was the first time he made the Connection.
Harry had never before felt anything like it. He felt like he suddenly had become a part of the beast, and that the beast was a part of him. He could feel the powerful muscles, his breath and even the heartbeats. And the moment the Connection was made, his ikran relaxed under him, allowing his wings to lower, and his breath and heartbeat return to normal. It was wonderful!
But the thing that happened after, was almost better. Something told him that he now could tell the ikran what to do. Deciding to test this, Harry told it, softly, to fly. To say that the first flight was a success, would not been entirely true. At first, they had plummeted, then flown into the mountain wall, under the falling water and swinging wildly. However, it did get better. He now let the ikran do all the technical aspects of the flying, just telling it where to go. And he utterly enjoyed himself. A broom was nothing compared to the feeling of flying with his ikran. Under the first flight, Harry decided that he would name the creature. Thinking of what to call him (something inside him told him it was male), he discarded a lot of names. Thinking of all the books and things he had learned after the war in his lonely days, he found a name that he thought suitable.
"I will name you Theron. For you are a hunter of the skies and deserving of a name that reflects this" he said, leaning forward and stroking the neck of his new companion. He was quite warm, which Harry found comfortable when flying high up in the sky. It was no directly cold, but it would have been a bit chilly without the extra warmth radiating from Theron. Theron shook his head slightly, and made some kind of guttural noise, which Harry translated to mean that he liked his new name. Some hours later, he and the ikran landed outside his cave, just as the sun was setting. Finding himself once again exhausted, Harry made his way to the cave, disconnecting the braid from Theron in the prosses. Just as he entered his cave and prepared to fall onto the new pile of leaves and grass he had collected the previous morning, he heard shuffling noises from the entrance. Looking around, ha saw Theron crawling inside. It was just room enough for him to crawl in, but better when he got in, he could then stand up straight. In the dim light, the green skin with the stripes looked grey, with almost black stripes along the body. The sight should have been terrifying, but Harry could only feel a kind of calm looking up in the face of his ikran. He sat down, and made himself comfortable, ready for the night. Just then Theron came crawling, laying down beside him, warming him with his body. Feeling safe, and relaxed, Harry drifted to a peaceful sleep, dreaming about flying and strange animals with six legs.
Well, that's it for this time. Please leave a review of what you liked/disliked.
Theron - The Hunter (Greek)