I knew today was the day I found the children of Klaxu. I took to the sky and could see the god’s birthplace. I looked for any signs of life in the ring of land around it and saw the barest whisps of smoke trailing off into the skies above where I flew. The air was cooler and crisper than I had ever felt it and I swooped down lower and lower until I could see the dots of civilized people moving around. But as I approached a large scaled creature burst from one of the caves nearby and soared across the skies like a thrown spear. It was about half my size and I pulled backwards. Hope soared in my chest as I knew this could be one of the new dragons.
I didn’t expect it to attack me though. With a roar and a quick flap of its wings it slammed into my open chest and the wind knocked out of me my wings faltering just enough for me to lose the momentum for me to hover in the air. I tumbled through the air and snagged out with a claw and gripped a tail in my plummet. I heard my attacker gasp as I ripped them from the air.
I had enough room for me to get back to flying before slamming into the ground. I pulled back and let go of the tail. I reached out with my mind for that instinctual understanding that I have experienced with my two siblings I’ve met so far. I felt that connection like a rope of hair between us. Strong and personal. As it snapped I shouted a mental demand.
“Why have you attacked me?!”
The dragon recovered and glared at me through amber eyes. A patch of mossy growth hung from its chin. Its powerful wings pumped as it approached. “I’ve been warned by the one in the mountain that I would be betrayed by any of those that would come for me. That I could not trust another of my kind aside from the one in the mountain.”
Crafter, she had been able to contact this young one and turn them against the others of our family. A sadness that she was still so bitter filled my heart as I lowered myself to the open ground and motioned for my attacker to follow. “Do you know of the legend of the birth of Klaxu?”
“No I do not, but be careful with your words for I am watching you for deceit and lies!” The voice came from the other dragon.
I went through the tale of the birth of Klaxu and the origins of the very people he was trying to protect from myself. Though I explained several times that I posed no threat to anyone that was not the enemy of the gods above. It took most of the day as he asked for reiterations of the ways I was speaking so that he could understand the story as best as anyone could.
“I can see why I should be wary of the One in the Mountain. Crafter you said her name was. I was not strong enough to release her as she had requested. The stone that had been placed in the way was far too large for me to succeed. I was trying to figure out how I could become stronger so that I could help free her from this prison that she has been stuck in. I’m glad I did not succeed. I doubt I would be able to stop her wrath.”
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“It is fine that you feel this way. For all the gods have told me is that you are very young compared to the three that have came before. You wouldn’t have known the history of us all. What are you called?”
“I have not been named at this time. Only that those that are from Klaxu offer me the bladders filled with honey and fermented milks harvested from the beasts of the lands. Every gift seems to make me stronger.”
“I have not heard of this fermentation. But it sounds that it is the heart of your collection or hoard. You should keep it safe as best you can so that you will go in strength. The birth of Klaxu was a calamitous event and we will need your strength should another come as the gods have warned us.” I moved and rested upon my haunches and looked down upon this other sibling. So young yet knew things that I could not yet understand. “May I walk amongst the people of Klaxu?”
“I will not stop you,” Stated my new brother.
As I transformed back into the smaller form that I took on when I walked amongst my own people and the other dragon froze and stared at me with awe and shock. My body tightening and in my worry I made sure to make my muscles in my new form as powerful and tight as I could so that I could respond with whip quick
“How did you do that?!” Came the shocked voice of the other dragon in my mind.
“You must not know how to use your magic yet. Sit with me and I shall teach you.” I sat and crossed my legs and settled for the long talk I would have so that he could change into a new form.
It took most of the day to find that my new brother had no aptitude for magic and couldn’t change his shape into that to walk amongst the people of Klaxu but could change his own shape to grow his wings larger, his tail stubbier, even the gender of his body. They had never heard of using the Breath that was the most powerful weapon against those that would attack us. A growing sense of curiosity on what he would do to an enemy filled my mind and I almost had him try it out on the plants around us.
“I think we must have to give up on this. I didn’t know that any of us couldn’t use that particular ability but I guess we all have strengths and weaknesses. At least you can change your true self into new versions of it. But lead me to the people of Klaxu and we will see what they have in mind.”
My new brother led the way and I had to jog to keep up as the long strides of a dragon in their full form ate up the distance that my small chosen form had to struggle to meet the pace. However my form did not feel the drag of exertion that I had seen in the people that competed in the games of the tribe I had came from.
The people of Klaxu were short and stout as the most burly of men. Each sported thick patches of facial hair that was wild and barely managed through finger combing. Some of them attempted to tame the coarse hair with braiding that I had seen used to craft the ropes and lines that had become so popular in binding things together over the last couple of decades. They moved with reverence around my new brother and all of them were drinking from bladders and stomachs harvested and curated from animals that they must have hunted and killed. A pungent potent smell was on the breath of each of the members of this society.
Large hairy beasts with hanging teats grazed and were tied to large posts driven deep into the ground. Many of the people of Klaxu through ropes around it and tied it down as they moved and squeezed a thick yellow white liquid from it. The beasts thrashed and fought against it all before the people retreated and pulled the ropes free. The beast charged and met the ends of its ties before being pulled short.
The group whooped and hollered and rushed back to a cave dug out into a hill. The beings here were much more primal than the men I had come from and I knew that I could offer so much to these people to advance them through the hurdles that my own people had struggled with and I smiled to myself.
I woke up in Featherdown my heart pounding and I struggled to remember why that dream would haunt me so. I hoped I wouldn’t dream of that more. But if it came I hoped I would be braced for it.