by Jada Fisher
All too soon, it happened, several more pieces fell to the ground and his perfect little claws crested the edge of the egg, then his perfect little feet. Then he was tumbling forward and crashed right into her lap.
“Little guy!” she cried, both tumbling back from his momentum. The back of her head smacked against the floor and she didn’t even care, her arms wrapped around him as he happily bathed her face in lick after lick after lick.
It was euphoria. Happiness, sweetness, and light. She was glowing from her inside out, and she was smiling so hard, she thought her teeth might crack.
“Little guy! Little guy! Little guy!”
She was just repeating things as she rocked back and forth, but she didn’t even care. She might never be angry again.
“Would you two stop rolling around? Let me get a good look at him!”
Crispin scuttled over to them, but he had the good sense not to try to touch her baby boy. It was too soon; they were still deep in the imprinting on each other.
“Holy… Wow. He really is a handsome little guy. Are they normally supposed to be that big right out of the egg?”
Ukrah stopped rocking back and forth and loosened her grip enough to look down at him beyond his beautiful eyes, and she realized that Crispin was right.
Normally, a fresh hatchling was cat-sized, with the metallic dragons likely to be even as small as a chicken. But her little guy wasn’t so little. He looked like a middle-sized dog, his two front paws on her chest and his lower body taking up most of her lap, his tail wrapping around her hip.
And he was just a beautiful shade of ruby, with his tiny little horns, spines, and scales turning into a smoky-lavender color at the ends. It was similar to his egg, but shinier and more elegant in transition.
“You really are a handsome guy, aren’t you, my little one? Goodness, I have been waiting so long to see you! Do you know that? Could you tell how excited I was to meet you?” More things dripped from her mouth, but she didn’t have it in her to be embarrassed. She was too happy.
Was it stupid to be so in love already? Because she was sure that she was. She wanted to wrap herself up in everything that was her boy and never let go.
“Can I… Can I hold him yet?”
Ukrah looked uncertainly to the boy. Her best friend. The young man who had literally given her water and patted her back when she’d been scared sick from a nightmare.
“Yeah, you can,” she said finally. “If he’ll go to you.” She sat up fully and let go of her new best friend. “Do you want to meet Crispin?”
The dragon’s little, adorable, perfect head swiveled completely around—which was startling in and of itself—to look at Crispin. He let out a curious, musical sort of thrum before slowly turning and making the tentative climb from her lap to his.
“Oh… Oh… Oh, I have been waiting so long to meet you. Do you recognize me? I’m basically your mama. I know I’m not as important as your rider, but a mama’s pretty cool, right?”
Her little guy pushed his face right up to Crispin’s, the two of them looking intensely at each other, and the blond began to hum that lullaby he’d used on Ukrah several times. That lasted for a few more moments before the dragon let out a happy little sound and licked his face.
“Well, look at that,” Ukrah said with a laugh. “Turns out you really might be his mama.”
“And I’ll be the best one you’ve ever seen.” He laughed as the little guy rubbed his face all over the young man’s hair. “Do you think he knows how lucky he is? He’s got you for a rider, a literal god-woman as his rider’s sponsor, and me for a mama.”
“That’s a pretty full family for a bunch of orphans.”
“That’s the beautiful thing about family, don’t you know? If you don’t have one, you can always build your own.”
As if her heart hadn’t taken enough that day, Ukrah looked at him through her lashes. “Are we family, Crispin?”
“Of course,” he answered, handing her back her little guy, who was already starting to kick around like he wanted to play. “Family’s people you’d died for, right? You know, when you get sick to your stomach at the thought of ever living without them.”
Her throat squeezed, and her voice was barely a whisper. “You feel that way about me.”
He looked at her and gave her a smile that almost rivaled the wonder of her little guy, full of light and an emotion that she was entirely unfamiliar with. “Of course. And maybe if I’m a real good mama and translator, someday you can feel that way about me too.”
8
Long Lost Friends
Normally, Ukrah would have had to wait until the next break to go visit Eist in her home, the woman no longer able to come to the academy and still keep her pregnancy under wraps, but she knew that the god-woman would kill her if she kept the latest addition to their family away from her for three whole days.
So she sought out Ale’a at the crack of dawn—after staying up all night just being with her little guy—and the dragon rider went to the headmaster to get Ukrah the day off. But not before cooing and cuddling with her little guy. He really was a charmer.
“Huh, you and Eist really are alike,” the dragon rider had said.
“What do you mean?”
“No one knew what her dragon was when he came out, and I have to say that I have no idea what this guy is either.”
That conversation had lingered in her mind the entire way to Eist’s manor, and it was only affirmed as the god-woman marveled at what he could be. Athar mused as well, telling them that Dille would love to see it.
The whole day had been a whirlwind from that point, with Ukrah having to fight for the chance to hold her own dragon. Of course, everyone asked for little guy’s name, but she wasn’t sure yet. She felt like it would come to her, but even as the hours passed, it was still blank.
Naturally, there was plenty of kerfuffle at school. Melithindre made some snide comments about more special treatment, but most people just wanted to fawn over little guy.
And he loved it. It seemed her baby dragon was quite the attention hog, hamming it up in front of students and nuzzling anyone who had a treat. It was hard not to be jealous of him loving up on everyone, but she had to remind herself that there was a line between being fiercely protective and overbearing.
It was a whirlwind of activity, and very abruptly, Ukrah was no longer the pariah of the academy. The strange brown girl from the wild lands who needed a translator and hauled a large egg around turned into the charge of the W’allenhauses with a new mystery dragon.
However, it was a bit much, and sometimes, she hid herself in her room so she wouldn’t be swarmed. And thankfully, when she was in the halls, she always had Crispin, who worked hard to run diversions for her whenever he saw her being a bit overwhelmed.
It took about a week for it to die down, and Ukrah was relieved when it did. She liked the improved attitude, but she could do without all the eyes, the questions, and the healers demanding to examine her little guy every way possible from tip to tail.
“You know, he’s going to be thirteen days old tomorrow,” Crispin said as they sat at a cafeteria table. They hadn’t been able to eat in the room considering all the hubbub around the hatching of the little guy, and it was their first time back. “We really should name him.”
“We?” Ukrah repeated, giving him a look. “I think you mean I need to come up with a name. And I don’t know. It just hasn’t hit me yet.”
“Well, that’s alright. I haven’t had any issues coming up with plenty of nicknames for our little bean.”
“Our?”
“Would you stop doing that? I think we’re to the point where we can agree this is a joint venture. You’re the rider—”
“And you’re the mama,” she said with a chuckle. “Not the father, specifically the mama.”
“Being a father implies that I’m the one who has to go out and risk his life for the lord and lady, and if either of us are doing that, it’s you.”
“Fair enough.”
Their little guy let out a sharp sound, the one she’d learned meant that she hadn’t paid attention to him for a solid five minutes. She loved him, and she felt like she could look at him forever, but he certainly was a needy little guy. Sometimes it made her feel all warm and bubbly inside, and sometimes it made her wonder if he was looking for something. After all, the guy hadn’t hatched for so long. It wouldn’t surprise her if he had some special requirements.
They sank into a fairly innocuous conversation, both inhaling the delicious spread at a probably unhealthy speed. She was enjoying a particularly good pheasant leg when the doors at the opposite end of the cafeteria slammed open with considerable force. Ukrah’s eyes snapped to the movement, as did several others, because it certainly was something to see Elspeth striding down the main aisle with an intimidating sort of energy to her.
Perhaps half of that was because she was still covered with road grit, dried blood on her forehead, and a serious chink in the straps on one of her pauldrons.
Ukrah stared openly. She’d never seen the Head of the Dragon Council in full armor, and it was clear to see how the woman could strike fear into the hearts of her enemies. The desert girl couldn’t help but wonder what Elspeth and her dragon would look like in their entire set of war armor. That would have to be something.
Someone else ran in after Elspeth, looking even worse for wear. “Elspeth! What’s going on? We still need to debrief the council.”
It was clear that they were trying to be discreet, but there was no avoiding at least the people around them overhearing. Elspeth didn’t pay them any mind, however, still determinedly heading somewhere very purposefully.
…actually, she seemed to be coming toward Ukrah’s table. She and Crispin almost always sat by the main food table, as it was one of the seats closest to a door that would lead to one of the stairwells closer to their suite, so maybe the woman was just really hungry? Ukrah got that way from time to time.
“Uh, is it just me or is Elspeth walking toward us?”
Ukrah opened her mouth to tell him that definitely wasn’t possible, but before she got even a word out, Elspeth’s eyes landed on her and it was like the woman froze her in place with just a look.
“You…” she breathed, voice shaking. “Did your dragon hatch?”
That seemed like an awfully strange thing for the woman to have rushed in for. Sure, Ukrah had been thrilled when her little guy finally decided to make his debut, but he was her dragon.
Once more, she didn’t even get a chance to speak, because the little guy let out a shocked little chuff and rushed out from under the table to basically hurl himself at the woman.
Ukrah felt horror swamp her, eyes wide in shock, but the woman threw her eyes open and caught the good-sized hatchling, falling to her knees as she did. The desert girl jumped to her feet, rushing forward, only to find that instead of angry or upset, Elspeth was laughing.
Or was she crying?
Ukrah couldn’t tell. She didn’t get a chance to figure it out, however, because a massive bellow sounded from outside, low and haunting, but powerful enough to shake the very floor of the academy.
Ukrah stared in abject shock as the full situation set in on her. The Head of the Dragon Council was kneeling on the floor, hugging the little guy with both arms and making a happy, tortured set of sounds while what had to be her white dragon outside cried out in a way that made goosebumps raise all along her arms.
“Elspeth!” the other rider said, looking just about as confused as Ukrah felt. “What’s going on? Are you hurt? Why are you crying over this dragon?”
“Don’t you recognize him?” she said, not even looking up. She didn’t seem to know or care that she was causing quite the scene. All of the students were staring at them. Ukrah wondered if that was how she’d looked when she had first met her hatchling. “I felt it back when we were in Baeldred, but I didn’t think that it could be possible. So many years. So, so many years.”
“I don’t understand what you mean, sir,” the rider repeated.
“I can’t believe it. I can’t,” she said, finally looking up with red eyes and a flushed face. “I thought we were going to be alone forever. That we were doomed to be unbalanced forever. But we’re not. He’s here. He’s right here!”
“Who’s here?” The rider sounded frustrated and bewildered, and Ukrah couldn’t help but agree with them.
“Can’t you tell?” Her breath hitched. “He’s a black dragon.”
WHAT?
9
Reunion
Ukrah watched as Eist paced the entryway of her house, rubbing her stomach idly. The woman’s form certainly had grown, and if it were any different situation, Ukrah might have asked if she could listen for the baby. After all, the child of a god-woman and a mountain of a man had to be something else, something once in a century. A millennium even.
“Is she absolutely certain?” Athar asked for what had to be the tenth time. “He’s not even black. What if she’s wrong?”
“Elspeth was married to the last black dragon rider, and it’s said that their dragons were bonded too. They were together for two hundred years before he betrayed them to the Blight. If there is a single soul who would know a black dragon, it’s her. He will turn black, have no doubt.”
“But why now? Why all of uh-uh-uh— Why so suddenly?”
“What does a black dragon even do?” Cassinda asked curiously from where she was rubbing the little guy’s belly on the floor. He had developed quite the appetite for belly-rubs and would roll over practically any time Ukrah laid eyes on him.
“So much,” Eist answered. “It’s often called the King of the Dragons. It doesn’t technically have a secondary ability of its own, like other dragons, but he has immunity to fire and any of the other secondary abilities his subjects have. Green dragon gas doesn’t knock him out. He can move through a red dragon’s shield. A blue dragon’s storms won’t touch him. The acids of the metallic dragons would only polish his scales. He’s basically invincible to anything but physical damage.
“And he’s meant to rule with the white dragon side by side, not as a tyrant but as a protector of all the other dragons. They choose him and the white dragon to lead. They trust him so much that he can siphon the energy and magic from one dragon to give to another. He can’t keep it for himself, of course, it has to be passed on, but there are so many legends of him saving lives and winning narrow victories by strategically shifting energy amongst his brothers and sisters.”
Ukrah had known some of that, but it still made her blood rush in her ears to hear the god-woman say it so matter-of-factly. Like it wasn’t believable.
Then again, not much about her situation was believable.
It felt strange that she was even at Eist’s manor. For a moment, she had been afraid that she wasn’t going to make it out of the academy.
The aftermath of that scene in the cafeteria had been something else. The moment those fated words had escaped from Elspeth’s lips, Ukrah could practically feel the murmuring start. Shock. Disbelief. Scorn. She could feel it prickling up her spine and crawling along her skin in toothy little waves.
It took several minutes for the other rider to urge Elspeth to her feet, and even then, she wouldn’t let go of the little guy. She’d started to walk outside, the dragon in her arms, but that was a line Ukrah wasn’t willing to indulge.
“Lady Elspeth!” she had cried. The woman had gone stock still at the shout, but the hatchling hadn’t. He let out his choking trill that Ukrah had learned meant excitement, then had wiggled out of the woman’s hold and run back to his rider.
Ukrah didn’t think she would ever forget the hazy, dreamlike look in the woman’s eyes, or how it shattered when he leapt out of her arms and tottered toward the desert girl. It was like heartbreak, but crueler. One that she looked guilty for even experiencing.
After that, she hadn’t said much. Just told Ukrah that she’d like to meet
the little guy again, in a more private environment. Then she’d turned on her heel and marched right out, leaving Ukrah to deal with all the stares of the other students.
She had just gotten herself out of pariah status, but now she slid right back into it.
Of course, even with all that, she was still surprised the next morning when Athar rapped on her door, telling her she needed to come home. If it were any other situation, her heart might have skipped at that simple word, but she was far too surprised and anxious for that.
Apparently, the leader of the council wanted to meet with her at Eist’s manor and had gotten Ukrah excused from her classes again. The young woman had no idea what the woman wanted or what she would do. Her reaction in the eatery had been so strange, so visceral and intense.
Would she demand he be given to her? Say he rightfully belonged to her somehow? Ukrah would allow many things, but that was nowhere on the list. She felt a connection to her little one in the deepest parts of her soul. It was like he’d always been there, and she had only recently noticed him.
She’d die before she let someone take him away.
“Relax,” Eist urged. “I know Elspeth. She’s the oldest one of us still alive, and if it weren’t for her, I would have been executed long ago. She’ll be sensible.”
“Whatever you s-s-say,” Athar groused. Ukrah noticed that his stutter increased when he was worried or anxious. “Just of all the p-p-p-people to get all the dragons, it had to be the girl you’re d-d-d-drawn to who gets a black dragon hatchling.”
I don’t know what all the fuss is about, Tayir said from where he was sitting on her little guy’s tail. I like this boy. He’s a bit overeager, but earnest.
Crispin choked on the water he was drinking, and Ukrah was tempted to express shock that the bird had anything nice to say at all, but they both kept it in. They were in yet another moment where it wouldn’t be beneficial for the others to suddenly find out they had a talking something for a companion that nobody else could hear.