Nuada came his sword aflame
and turned the rain away.
The sky’s alight with fire bright
Honor this new day.
Mara awoke with a start. The dog and the dragon were no longer sleeping by her side. The little dragon was in the grass next to the blanket playing with his sibling. The dog was sitting close by curiously watching the hatchlings with a cocked head. Chiand was cooking something in the firepit, more fish by the smells. Liosliath and Flech were gone.
Chiand looked up from the pit, “You are finally awake! We didn’t want to disturb your sleep. Come, I’ve made more fish.”
Mara got up and made her way to the firepit.
“Sorry there is no tea. A good cup of strong tea in the morning always helps to get things going.”
Mara nodded.
“You should come with us to the village. These dragons can be raised together. Look how they play.”
Mara watched the two young ones fighting over a large stick. Neither of them could carry it more than a few steps. They aggressively pushed each other around to get advantage over the stick.
They used every part of their body in the rough play. Wings smacking, snouts biting, the long tail was used as a whip, and the large paws were fine for batting each other around. Mara realized these were fierce creatures by nature.
“My dragon is a female. Perhaps they are the last dragons on earth.”
“No, that can’t be,” Mara mused. “I only saw one dead one above the pasture, you said there were two.”
“Yes, Lios and Flech went up to look,” Chiand handed Mara a fish on a stick. Mara ate it greedily. Then she went to her pack and grabbed a few withered apples.
“Here, have an apple,” Mara offered.
“Thank you, Mara,” Chiand took the apple, “You are very generous with your food. Come to our village and we will share our food with you.”
Mara said, “I cannot, I must find An Beag, my sister.”
“We have sent others to look after the raiders. They will be back to the village when we return, maybe that knowledge will help you.”
“Yes, I suppose,” Mara deferred. She had no idea how she would save her sister from the cruel men, anyway. Maybe a little information would be useful.
“Besides,” Chiand went on, “You have the dragon to consider now. You cannot leave him. He will always want you.”
“How do you know this?” Mara asked.
“We have observed these dragons and their like for many years: the large mountain cats, wolves, the small fox, brown bears, hawks, owls and other meat-eating birds, and of course, other weaker creatures. We study them and protect them if we can. This is not of our creed to interfere, but these dragons would have died without our interference. They may be the last ones, we had to try and save them.
“Now, these dragons will cleave to men. That will not be good for them, for they are wild animals. But because we have interfered, we cannot allow them to fend for themselves; they will always cleave to men.”
Mara nodded, “But maybe they can be set back to the mountain when they are raised up. We found a baby bird once with a broken wing. My father nursed it back to health and then set it free.”
“Did it really go free or did it come back?” Chiand asked.
Mara shook her head, “You are right, it would sit at the windowsill begging for crumbs.” Mara saw the mistake, “By Lugh’s light, what have we done?”
YOU ARE READING
Druid's Reckoning (Book 1 - Fennel's Sorrow)
FantasyMara's life is thrown into turmoil after her clan’s village is destroyed by a band of malevolent warriors. Her mother and father are dead and her younger sister is taken by the ravagers. Mara is determined to find her sister and wreak justice on tho...
