Dimmadreki Chapter 18

A/N
Thank you again, readers, for another milestone. The posting of Chapter 17 resulted in this story's first 1000-hit day. I wish this could go on forever, but unfortunately, this story will soon reach its conclusion.

o

After half a day's flying, the great flock of dragons approached a small, rocky island in the middle of the northern sea. It was shaped like an irregular circle, with a shallow lagoon occupying most of the middle. From above, parts of the island seemed to be alive and moving on their own, until Dimmadreki realized that those parts were completely covered in dragons. This island must be the hatching ground for more than one nest.

"Follow me in," Myrkrid told him, "and stay close to me." She seemed to know what she was doing, and he had no clue, so he did as she said. They found an unoccupied patch of bare rocks about three dragon-lengths from the shore and landed together.

"Okay, we're here. What happens next?" he asked her.

"We wait until I'm ready," she replied as she folded her wings. "The shoreline is for the dragons who are about to lay. I've got another day or so before I'll be ready to lay our egg, so we'll stay here until it's time, and hope a space by the water opens up."

"That's because the eggs explode, right?"

"Yes – you've got it!" she smiled. "As soon as our little one hatches, we'll move to the highlands and make room for another mother who's ready to lay. That's when your work begins."

"And what is my work?"

"Feeding our baby," she answered, as though it was obvious. "I'll have to keep him out of trouble and make sure the big dragons don't step on him by accident. Your job is to find fish small enough for him to eat, and bring them back to him. We'll change places now and then, so I can get off this rock for a few minutes."

"And so I can bond with my son, right?" he asked.

"When you fly back from a fishing trip and see him waiting for you on the shore, and you realize that he associates you with food and life, that's all the bonding you'll ever need," she smiled. "Some fathers just cough up the fish and go, but I know you – you'll put more into the father/son relationship than that. That boy is going to have something that a lot of dragons don't have: a real father."

Dimmadreki was speechless. He'd grown up pretty much without a real father; his dad never had time for him and never understood him. Myrkrid certainly had a lot of confidence that he'd do a better job of fatherhood than his own father had done. At the very least, he vowed not to make the same mistakes his own dad had made. Inventing new ways to do things wrong had always been his specialty, anyway.

"One more question. How can you be so sure it's going to be a boy?"

"I don't know for sure," she replied, "but my last four eggs all hatched into girls, so I'm long overdue for a boy. Wouldn't you prefer a son?"

"I never really thought about it," he admitted. "A few months ago, fatherhood wasn't even an option for me, and since then, I've been kind of busy learning new things."

"It's more than an option for you now; it's impending reality." She lay down and stretched out on the rocks. "Of course, there's nothing either of us can do about it. Get some rest while you can. After tomorrow, you'll get no rest at all for weeks, maybe months, depending on how much of a handful our little one turns out to be." He took her advice, and they fell asleep together in the cold air and the warm sunlight.

Other dragons' eggs started hatching early the next day. A mother dragon would notice her eggs beginning to rock back and forth, and she would roll them downhill with her nose into the warm waters of the lagoon. Within a minute or so, there would be a series of bright flashes and muted blasts from underwater, a cloud of bubbles would rise, and one tiny dragon after another would break the surface and take their first breaths. Then they would swim for the shore, unerringly aiming for their mother. The father would flap down from the highlands to join her if he wasn't there already, and they would greet their new children at the waterline. Other dragons would also gather to check out the new arrivals and congratulate the parents. After a few minutes of this, the father would head out to sea in search of fish for his new family, while the mother would herd the hatchlings up to the highlands, making room by the water for another female who was ready to lay. It all took place as though choreographed. The dragons had been doing this for a long, long time.

Something else he noticed was that the dragons' natural belligerence was nowhere to be seen. A few of the males got into noisy shoving matches in the highlands, but along the shore, where the competition for limited space should have brought out the most aggressiveness, there were no fights whatsoever. The females were completely fixated on what they'd come here to do, and allowed nothing to distract them.

One of those male shoving-matches showed him another remarkable fact. A pair of Nadders, one blue and one olive-green, were about to attack each other when Dimmadreki flew by; he was hoping to get lucky and find a few fish big enough for Myrkrid and himself to eat. As soon as the Nadders saw him, they drew apart and the fight ended. He realized that Tannlaus had been doing such an effective job of breaking up fights that the fighters gave up at the sight of a Night Fury, even if it wasn't the same Night Fury. He mentioned this to Myrkrid when he returned (without any fish).

"Nests can be rough places to live," she commented. "The Monsters enforced peace through mind control, but none of us thought that kind of peace was worth the cost. Maybe the Night Furies can bring peace to the various nests and make all the other dragons behave. If that's the case, then that's another aspect of your legacy to the dragons, and that's almost as important as setting them free." She rubbed noses with him. "When I got involved with you, I had no idea you'd be so important!"

Around midday, a Zippleback mother walked away from the shore, carrying her three tiny children on her back as she made her way to a place high on the rocks. "I think we ought to take her spot by the water," Myrkrid suggested. "It won't be much longer." Dimmadreki saw a Nadder striding toward the empty space by the shore, so he bounded into the air and landed to claim the space about five seconds before the Nadder got there.

She hissed her displeasure at him. "Do you think you need a place more than I do?" she demanded. "I could lay at any moment!"

"My mate could lay at any moment, too," he retorted. This Nadder was a lot bigger than he was, not to mention a lot angrier, and he wasn't sure he understood all the nuances of dragon etiquette. All he knew for sure was that his mate was on the verge of laying her egg – their egg – and he wasn't taking any chances. After a tense few seconds, the Nadder saw another place open up on the other side of the lagoon, and glided across the water to claim that spot as her own. He lowered his guard as Myrkrid joined him a second later.

"You can relax a little," she smiled. "We'll be okay. I've done this before."

"I haven't," he answered.

"How do I keep forgetting that?" she exclaimed, hitting herself in the head with her wing. "You've turned into such a normal Night Fury, and most males your age have fathered at least half a dozen young ones by now... well, anyway, there's nothing to stress about. There's no pain involved; we just wait, then it happens, then we wait some more, and then it really happens."

"Okay, if you say so," he nodded, confused. "Did I do something seriously wrong a few seconds ago? How come all those dragons are staring at us?"

"It's probably because there haven't been any Night Furies on this island in years," she replied as she curled up and made herself comfortable. "A lot of these dragons have never even seen a Night Fury egg before. They're curious. Once I lay our egg, we're going to have all kinds of visitors."

"What about Tannlaus?" he asked. "Hasn't he come here before?"

"He was the only Night Fury in his nest until we came along," she said. "He couldn't leave his nest to look for a mate – the Monsters never let their servants go very far. While we're here, he's probably out searching for a single female... and, personally, I hope he finds one. He and I were incompatible in many ways, but he's a good dragon and I'd love to see him happy."

Suddenly, she winced and stood up. "We timed this perfectly – it's time! Please back off a few steps, Dimmadreki. It's nothing personal; it's just an instinct we females have. I'm going to be completely helpless for the next minute or two, and I don't want anybody close to me." He backed away, and looked all around to make sure no one else was trying to get too close. She stood where she was, slowly rocking back and forth, breathing a little bit faster than usual. After about three minutes, she took a deep breath, lowered herself to the ground, grimaced for about five seconds, and stood up again.

There it was.

It was about seven inches long, shaped like a chicken's egg but slightly thinner in the middle, and as black as a new-moon night. She turned around to look at it, with a very pleased expression. "For six years, I've waited..." She nudged it with her nose until it rolled into a small depression, so it couldn't roll away. Then she looked up at Dimmadreki. "What do you think?"

"Umm... wow." Until this morning, he'd never even seen a dragon's egg before... and this was his egg. Somewhere inside it was a tiny dragon that was half him and half her. He looked it over carefully, to conceal the fact that he was speechless. Finally he looked up and rubbed noses with her. "I think you do good work," he smiled.

"Thanks, but I did have a little help at the beginning," she grinned back. "We can relax now. Nothing is going to happen for about three days. Would you mind keeping an eye on things while I go for a quick flight? I'm tense all over; I need to stretch my wings." He nodded, and she bounded into the air and flapped nearly straight up. He turned back to the egg. It was beautiful. He felt like he could just stare at it for hours.

Then he realized he wasn't the only one staring at it. Five Gronckles were hovering overhead, two Nadders and a Thunderdrum were standing nearby, and they all were fixated on what Myrkrid had done. He curled up around the egg protectively.

"It's okay! We're just looking," one of the Gronckles exclaimed. "We never saw a Night Fury egg before."

"Did you say a Night Fury egg?" one head of a sleepy Zippleback exclaimed, which woke up the other head. Word spread rapidly; dragons began crowding in from all over the island, nearly trampling on other dragons who were waiting to lay. Freshly-laid eggs were at risk of getting stepped on, and the new mothers didn't think much of that. Dimmadreki realized he needed to do something before things turned really ugly.

He stood right over his egg and bellowed, "All of you! Listen up! If you want to see the Night Fury egg, you need to fly over it, from east to west! The ground belongs to the mothers and the eggs! All you sightseers, up in the air! Now!" To his immense relief, they did what he'd told them to do. Tannlaus had laid a foundation of obedience to Night Furies, and the dragons were now willing to obey any Night Fury, as long as the request made sense. He curled up around the egg again, making sure it was visible from above, and remained vigilant as hundreds and hundreds of dragons glided slowly overhead at very low altitude. Most of them circled around for a second look; some came back for thirds.

When Myrkrid returned after about an hour, it took her a few seconds to figure out what was going on. Then she landed next to him. "Did you initiate this, or did the other dragons start it on their own?"

"I kind of started it, but we need to thank Tannlaus," he replied. "He's got them thinking that the Night Furies are in charge. I doubt they'd have listened to me if he hadn't laid that foundation."

"Still, it was a good idea," she decided as she lay down next to him. "I was worried whether something like this might happen." She rubbed noses with him. "You're shaping up into a good father already."

"Thank you for getting everyone into the air like that," the gravid Gronckle next to them added. "I never saw a mob scene like that before."

Dimmadreki turned to Myrkrid. "I've got a feeling we're going to have an even bigger mob scene when our little one hatches." She nodded, and motioned with her head for him to unwrap himself from around the egg, so she could wrap herself around it.

"Mother's prerogative," she smiled as she lay down on the rocks. "It's not that I don't trust you. You're obviously getting a handle on this 'fatherhood' stuff. But it's been six years since I hatched a baby, and I'm feeling very protective toward this one."

"Okay," he shrugged. "If you're going to be staying here regardless, would you mind if I went flying for a few hours?"

"You can't wait to get away from me?" she teased him.

"No, I thought I'd go south until I found some decent-sized fish, and bring a couple of them back for you."

That surprised her. "Really? You don't just want to go flying for the sake of flying?"

"Well, I do," he admitted, "but I don't feel right about going off and leaving you for no reason. So I thought about it and came up with a good reason."

She sighed. "I really need to thank whoever turned you into a dragon. Sure, go flying. Will you be back before sunset?"

"Yes, as long as a sea monster doesn't eat me," he grinned. They rubbed noses again and he leaped into the air. She watched him until he was out of sight.

He returned just as the sun touched the western sea, when most of the egg-sightseers had returned to their resting places. He brought back a huge tuna, almost too big for him to carry; he needed all four legs to hold onto it. He had to drop it so he could land. She eyed the fish and licked her chops.

"Are we sharing this?" she asked.

"I caught some cod on the way out, and ate my meal already," he said with a shake of the head. "This is all for you." That was all he had to say. The other females around them looked on enviously as she hungrily tore out chunks of tuna and swallowed them. She couldn't possibly eat all of it, but she assured him it would still be reasonably fresh the next morning, so it wouldn't go to waste.

"The only problem is that you're going to have a lot of male dragons angry at you," she decided as she finished her not-so-dainty meal. "The females can see you spoiling me rotten, and they're going to demand the same treatment from their own mates, but most dragons can't fly fast and far like you can. You're raising the bar on how a dragon should treat his mate during egg season."

"Should I treat you badly tomorrow, to help keep the peace?" he asked.

"Don't you dare!" she exclaimed. "I've never been spoiled rotten before, and I think I like it."

"Good thing," he nodded. "I don't think I could treat you badly, even if you wanted me to." He lay down and wrapped himself around her, and they were soon fast asleep. Someone made off with their tuna while they slept; they never found out who. But Myrkrid had gotten a huge meal out of it when she was expecting nothing, so it wasn't a dire loss.

The next day went pretty much the same as the first one, except that when Myrkrid took off to stretch her wings, she returned two and a half hours later with a fat Atlantic salmon in each front paw. "Two can play at that game," she smiled as she dropped them to Dimmadreki. "Enjoy!"

"You two are making me sick," the Gronckle next to them muttered. An hour later, she began laying the first of eleven eggs, which improved her mood considerably.

The next day passed in much the same way, as did most of the following day. But in mid-afternoon, Myrkrid suddenly awoke from her nap. "It's moving!" she exclaimed.

Dimmadreki quickly got up, allowing her to move freely. She rested her chin lightly on the egg. "Yes, it's moving," she decided. "Here we go!" Her teeth snapped in; she picked up the egg in her mouth, carried it to the waterline, and dropped it in with a "plunk." Dimmadreki stood nervously beside her.

"Now we wait," she said softly. "It usually takes less than a minute, but it could take longer." They waited.

After about five minutes, she turned to him. "Something's wrong. It shouldn't take this long."

"Maybe one of us should dive in and check on it?" he wondered.

Her response was something he'd never seen in her before: fear. "In the water? I… I can't do that! You can try… please try… but I just can't." He recalled how close she'd come to dying the last time she'd been in the water. He couldn't swim any better than she could. But their egg was down there somewhere, possibly in distress…

"I'll try," he decided, took a deep breath, and plunged into the water with a huge splash.

Nearly a minute later, just as Myrkrid was getting really nervous, he burst to the surface, gasping for breath. He paddled to shore, pulled himself out, and lay flat on the rocks, exhausted. "The egg fell… into a hole," he panted. "Water was colder there. I moved it to… a warmer place."

"Is it going to be okay?" she asked anxiously.

"Don't know. Never did this before. We'll see." They resumed their vigil. They were rewarded seven minutes later by a flash of light from underwater and a sudden burst of bubbles. They held their breath…

…and there she was.

Myrkrid perched on the edge of the shore and leaned out to greet their little daughter. Dimmadreki was right next to his mate, still dripping from his own swim. The tiny dragon, less than a foot and a half long, made a beeline for her mother, swam right up to her, and rubbed noses with her even before she got out of the water. "Ma-ma!" she chirped.

"That's me," Myrkrid sighed. "Oh, you're beautiful! That's your papa." Dimmadreki bent down, and she rubbed noses with him as well. He didn't think he'd ever seen such a beautiful sight; he couldn't help smiling. He realized he was falling in love on the spot. Oh, well. She wasn't the first dragon who'd won his heart.

Then the Gronckle next to them called, "Hey, everyone! The Night Fury egg hatched!"

"Check her out from the air!" Dimmadreki shouted. "East to west, just like last time! By the way, it's a girl!" Myrkrid curled up protectively around her baby as the cloud of curious dragons began filing past. The little one was puzzled at being penned in by her mama, and tried several times to climb out; she didn't understand it was for her own protection. Dimmadreki stood next to them, growling if anyone tried to get too close, until his mate rapped him lightly on the side of the head with her tail.

"She's hungry," Myrkrid suggested. "Go do something about that, Daddy."

"I'm on my way," he said as he took wing. I'm a daddy. I have a daughter. This is unbelievable. Of course, me being a dragon is still pretty unbelievable, too. My daughter is a black, scaly lizard... and she might be the prettiest thing I've ever seen.

He could see a few other dragons searching the sea for signs of small fish; he angled for an area that wasn't already taken. It took him about fifteen minutes to find a school of herring, a few seconds to stun them with a firebolt, and a few more minutes to scoop up enough with his mouth to make a decent meal for a tiny but hungry dragon. An orange-and-brown Typhoomerang pounced on the fish he left behind. When he got back to the island, the cloud of flying spectators was so thick above his family that he had to land a few yards away and walk to them.

The moment their tiny child saw him, she turned toward him, sat down, and opened her mouth wide for the fish she expected him to give her. She totally trusts me, he thought. She's completely dependent on me and Myrkrid to keep her fed and alive. That's an awesome responsibility.

I will not let her down. I will be the father she needs and deserves. I swear it.