Adner

Valley First Sun-Cycle

I woke to the sound of an angry dragon, and I recognized his voice.

“My clan is starving. The Fire Dragons have younglings that need food now. We cannot wait while Adner sleeps in,” Winark roared.

“I am up.” I looked for a place in the crowded valley the dragons occupied.

The narrow valley’s accommodations could not be endured for long. I realized part of Winark’s anger came from the crowding.

“We need to hunt, Adner.”

“Can you give me the time I need? Let me speak to the colony’s leader to find out where they hunt, so we do not cull their hunting grounds. Discovering where the large game is benefits your clan. Also, food will need to be brought back for the Water Dragons.” I pointed at the shallow lake, which was surrounded by marshy land. “I doubt anything in there will satisfy the Water Dragons.”

The Water Dragons sat in shallow water that barely covered their white bellies.

“No, I am sure there is not.” Winark glanced at the great dragons lying there, not complaining, his temper cooled. “That sky-ling might do as a snack though, if it gets close enough.”

We watched the lanky sky-ling, who appeared not to know what a Water Dragon was. The sky-ling ducked his white head into the water and came up with a fish in his narrow beak. The sky-ling continued to wander too close, and the Water Mother snatched him before the sky-ling recognized his mistake. The rest of them learned from their companions, though. They took flight, and the sky-lings never reappeared.

A sound rose behind us and we glanced toward the colony resting on the knoll. The entire colony stood at the edge. There, they sang and danced for the miracle that flew into their valley the previous dark-cycle.

The colony leader and I played another game of guessing the drawing, and I found the information the clans needed.

“We can hunt to the south and west. He says that the west is where the large prey is. There are things he calls a bellowing deer and a bear. The bear looks like what your clan used to hunt, Winark. He says something else is over there. The colony calls it the Keeper.”

“The Keeper of what?”

“The best that I can tell of life, nature, everything.” I watched as puzzlement came to his brow.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Winark asked.

“I do not know, but I do not think we should dismiss it.”

“Alright, we will watch for it,” Winark said.

Winark and many of his clan took to their wings and flew west. The Fire Dragons sought the south, for they could not contend with the Winged Dragons in hunting. Winged and Water Dragons are both ferocious carnivores. The Fire Dragons are omnivores and the only land dragons without wings, with the Lightning and Aethereal Dragons gone. They foraged for edible plant life and small game.

They moved to the outer edges of the marshlands, seeking plants familiar to them. The Fire Dragons lived along the ocean and consumed flora that grew in salt-enriched soil. They discovered the saturated ground was unable to hold their weight, and it did not release them with ease. The youngest among them gathered the vegetation, and the adults fished at the farthest end of the lake where the ground was firmer.

“Seemia, you take the other Spirit Dragons and find food. They must be as hungry as the others.”

“What about you?” she asked.

“I will get something later,” I told her, not looking up.

My kin departed into the closest mountains to the west and discovered ground-lings to feast on. They returned full, and Seemia made sure I had food as well. We started on the long road of communicating with our hosts. As a limited number of my kin and I spoke to the colony leader, we noticed colonists carrying wood and stones to a spot below and to the left of the valley.

They made large circles with the stones we were familiar with. We know it as silk stone. They brought another rock we did not recognize. An odor emitted from the black rock. The colonists set the rock in the center of the silk stones. They laid dry grass on top and from there they started building seasoned white oak trunks and branches around it. Moments later, the sound of several large crackling fires filled the area. The silk stones would absorb the heat and radiate it outward.

The Fire Dragons gathered near them and settled in as a family unit to eat what they collected. They were the only clan with younglings alive. They had nubs for horns but charged at the fires as if they were full-grown.

A rancid aroma drifted through the air filling it, one I had only sniffed once previously. It had been from the remains of the Fire Dragons’ volcanic homes.

I sniffed the air and looked at the colony leader.

“baʔispi-ti.” He pointed to the north.

My clan brought sand with us. We gathered it at the mouth of the Cave of the Newlings to bring it to our new home, in remembrance of the ones who could not come. The sand was created from eggshells being ground down over countless years. It ended up serving a different purpose. We laid it before the Chief, and I began showing him what brought us to his valley and who was coming.