I woke up late the next morning, finding that Adelind wasn't beside me. My ears perked up as the sound of laughter and yelling hit them. I cracked open one eye to discover my mate laying in the grass outside our den watching the kids play. I smiled at the scene outside before rising and stretching out my long body, lowering my front end to the ground like a cat.
How would I describe my appearance?
I was a eight foot tall and thirty six foot long Arctic Desert Mountain dragon (three breeds, creepy I know). I had shaded tan scales covering most of my body with light grey ones covering my inch thick chest plates, neck and underneath my tail. My wings were about 240 feet long wing fully extended and about four when I folded them in. My two horns were about four feet long and curved back on my head at about a fifty degree angle. I also had several spines on each cheek and ones around my eyes. More spines rested at the tip of my snout and chin, looking like they were there to break rocks. The color of these, like the rest of me were several shades of brown. As for my build, I'm extremely heavy chested with a thick neck and legs. It's all solid muscle as well, like I was made from liquid steel. Some of my friends, namely Fireclaw and Sozenn, look at me and claim to be able to smell the power coming off of me. Overall, I'm a bit big for my breed, but other than that
I'm a normal Mountain Alpha.
As I walked out of my den, I overheard a conversation between my kids and mate that caused me to smile.
"Mommy",Helix begged,"please can we wake daddy?"
"No honey",Adelind said softly,"let your father sleep."
"But Mom!",Dusk squealed,"he promised he'd take us hunting!"
"I did say that didn't I?",I asked as I exited the den, remembering the promise I'd made to them several days earlier and how exited they had been for it.
"Morning my love",Adelind said rising and nuzzling me,"did you sleep well?"
I smiled at her,"of course I did, you were right next to me."
Adelind blushed. Even after twenty three years of being with me I could still get her.
"Dad!",Ace squealed,"you promised you would take us hunting!"
"Yes I did",I said laughing,"claws?"
"Check",Ace replied.
"Teeth?"
Dusk grinned, showing his fangs.
"Check",Ace said again.
I smiled. "Empty stomachs?"
They smiled widely.
"Check!",they exclaimed.
I laughed again and looked to Adelind,"well were off my love, expect us back around sunset."
Adelind pulled me into a kiss.
"Kids stay safe and listen to your father."
"Yeah Mom",Ace said.
"And you?",she said looking me in the eye,"behave yourself and try to be a good example."
I smiled and kissed Adelind again before leading the kids into the forest. The sun was high in the sky, telling me it was around noon. There were small wispy clouds in the sky. There were chirps and calls of birds high in the trees and everything was peaceful. Ace, Helix and Dusk were darting in and out of the bushes, flipping over rocks and searching every nook and cranny. They loved it when I would take them on walks through the Forest, they'd catch all manner of birds, snakes, squirrels and even insets to show me. None of them could fly yet, because I hadn't taught them how. The could hover five or six feet off the ground, but that was about it. Normally you taught your cubs to fly once your oldest was five. I wanted them to be ahead of the other kids, so today I had said I was taking them hunting while my true intentions were to teach them how to fly, use their fire and of course hunt. We had been walking for about a half hour when we stopped at the lake. I plunged my snout into the water and slurped it up as Ace asked from behind me.
"Dad?, where are all the animals."
I pulled my snout from the lake and answered.
"It must be human hunting season",I said with disgust,"they hunt the preserve clean every year and leave us to starve."
I couldn't stand the humans that hunted on the preserve. They'd shot and killed cubs before thinking they were deer and Sozenn had been shot in the head once. Some even hunt us directly for our horns, scales and even teeth.
"Tell you guys what",I said scooping them up with one sweep of my wings,"while we wait for the animals to come out and play with us, hows about I teach you to fly and use your fire?"
Their eyes went wide.
"Re...really?",Helix stuttered.
I smiled,"yep, who wants to go first."
"Me, me, me!",Ace shouted.
It figured, he always had to be first for everything.
I smiled,"alright. I took him in my paws and carried him up about five hundred feet.
"You ready?",I asked looking down at him.
His eyes had gone wide.
"You didn't say anything about dropping me!",he squealed.
I laughed,"this is how my Dad taught me."
"Your not even gonna show me the steps first!?!",He squealed again.
"Nah, I'll just catch you if you can't get it in time",I said as a smile crossed my muzzle,"have fun!"
I let him go and dove after him. Ace was twisting and spinning in the air. I grabbed him by his shoulders and straightened him out and looked into his eyes.
"Dad I'm scared!",Ace shouted.
"Just watch me son",I said,"just watch."
I slowly opened my wings,"just do exactly as I did."
I let him go again and watched as his wings snapped open.
"I did it!",he screamed with joy,"I can fly!"
I smiled at myself and went back down. I found Dusk and Helix sitting back on their haunches with terrified smiles. They were both eager to go.
"Whose next?",I asked.
Dusk opened his mouth to shout that he was, but Helix was slightly faster.
"Me Daddy!",she shouted.
I smiled and carried her up. At five hundred feet, I let her go. After having watched Ace, it was easy for Helix to get the hang of flying. Her wings were open almost instantly, but she couldn't get the hang of flapping them and was more gliding than she was flying. With them out of the way, I went back down for Dusk. He was laying on his stomach starring up at the sky and shot to his feet when I landed.
"Ready son?",I asked.
"Yes!",Dusk shouted throwing himself at me.
I laughed and held him tightly to me as I carried him up. At five hundred feet I let him go. Being the smart one, Dusk opened his wings almost instantly and had the hang of flapping them even faster. I hovered as I watched them fly around.
"So how do you all like flying?",I called after them.
"It's awesome!",Ace shouted,"I can't wait to show my friends!"
"I conclude",Dusk said beginning with his usual smarty dragon routine,"a dangerously high level of awesome!"
"I love it!",Helix shouted.
"Okay kids!",I shouted,"land in that clearing!"
I softly touched down in the clearing, but the kids had no such ease. They landed with thuds and their rear legs in the air. I bit down on my tongue to hold back a laugh that so desperately wanted to escape. They righted themselves and then gathered around me.
"Alright guys",I said,"fire usage one o one, how strong you are has absolutely nothing to do with it."
I took in a deep breath and left off a six inch wide plasma bolt that packed the same amount of punch as a six foot wide fireball. My cubs watched with wide eyes as looked back down at them.
"It's all about your breath",I said smiling,"once you master it, it becomes a second nature."
"I'm first!",Dusk shouted.
I pointed my tail at a large stump that was the perfect size for a target.
"Light it up Dusk",I said.
Dusk took in a deep breath and spit out a three foot wide fireball that set the tree on fire.
"Nicly done", I told him, "Ace, Your up."
Ace was staring at something, not hearing me, or just not caring.
"Ace", I said again, "get up here, it's your turn."
He still didn't move. Wondering what he was looking at, I walked over to him.
"Dad", he asked, "what the heck is that?"
He pointed. I looked in the direction he was. Stuck in the ground a few yards away, was the back end of a human weapon, looking a little like an AK-47. Sozenn had shown me one he found close to his den a few months ago, but it wasn't the first time I'd seen it.
"Dangerous", I said, "it's a human weapon, please don't touch it. Now come on, it's your turn."
Ace stepped up to the line. He puffed out his chest and opened his maw wide, but came up with a little more than smoke. I knew instantly what was wrong.
"No son",I said,"your putting too much energy into your muscle, concentrate and think only inhale, exhale."
Ace nodded to me and took a deep breath before spiting a foot wide plasma bolt that decimated half of the oak stump
I smiled, "nice one, Helix your up."
Helix got it right on her first try, taking away the rest of the stump with a tightly packed plasma bolt.
"Good job sweetie", I said nuzzling her, " better than I can do."
Her cheeks redened a little,"really?"
I smiled,"don't think it'll last." I'm proud of you guys. With the exception of Ace's rocky start, you all did great. Now I assume you all want the hunting trip I've promised you?"
They smiled.
"Well alright",I said spreading my wings,"last one past the tree line does extra chores for a week."
I rocketed up with a stroke of my wings, leaving my cubs far behind me. By the time they had figured out how to take off, I had been hovering past the tree line for close to five minutes. As they flew up, I could hear them arguing over who was last and thus had extra work.
"No one has to do extra anything, now let's go."
With that, we began scouring our usual hunting grounds. It was a nice change of pace. I usually hunted with Sozenn and Fireclaw, and hunting with my cubs something I'd never before had a chance to do. It wasn't but ten minutes before I spotted the biggest Bison I'd ever seen.
"If you have scales get over here!",I shouted.
They quickly flew over to me and I pointed to the huge beast with my tail.
"That's a big one",Dusk said.
"He's dinner too",Ace said.
"Alright",I said,"hunting 101, clean, quick and quiet kills, the quicker and quieter you are with little things the less likely you are to chase away big stuff like that Bison, observe."
I flipped myself around and tucking both my wings in as tightly as I could, I dive bombed the Bison like a Falcon. I kept my fore paws tucked in and threw all of my weight into my rear legs in pinning the bison to the ground. I quickly slit it's throat as the kids landed.
"That",I said with a little bit of pride,"is how it's done."
"Dad that was cool!",Ace said. I smiled.
"Now for the nasty part, skinning."
Helix looked like she might pass out. I quickly cut the Bison open and removed all of it's internals and burring them. Helix looked like she was sick.
"Daddy",she said sounding queasy,"I think I may throw up."
I nuzzled her gently,"It's okay sweetie",I said,"as a general rule, it's the male that hunts, so you don't have to learn if you don't want to, but I wish that you would."
She didn't answer. I smiled at my daughter and pulled her close to me,"let's get home."
I set Helix on my back, grabbed the Caribou in my mouth and started for home. In case you were wondering, I didn't want them hunting on there own just yet. There were too many animal's on the preserve, like Bobcats and Grizzly bears that could kill a dragon cub like he or she was nothing. If that happened, if they got hurt because I made a bad decision, I wouldn't be able to live and Adelind would either go insane or kill herself, maybe both. When we got home, Adelind was laying in the grass, talking with Sozenn and Fireclaw.
Fireclaw was one of my best friends, right next to Sozenn. He was a Volcano Dragon who stood at seven feet tall and twenty four feet long. He was a bright red like Helix with black underbelly scales and black stripes allover his body. He had big black spikes all the way down his neck back and tail as well as having spines on his tail that looked like a thorn bush. His eyes were a bright blue like Adelind's he was really sweet. He often looked after the kids when Adelind and I wanted time to ourselves, which wasn't often.
"Good lord Tyro",Sozenn said looking at my Bison,"where did you find that?"
"No kidding",Fireclaw replied,"looks a litte big even for you."
I set it down as Helix slid off my back, wobbling a little on her legs.
"I'm an Mountain Alpha male and I have three cubs",I said smiling,"two of which are male, it will be eaten."
"Still looks huge",Sozenn said,"way bigger than anything we get fed back at base."
I tilted my head,"base?"
Sozenn laughed,"nothing, it was an inside joke."
I smiled,"why does everything have to be dirty with you?"
Sozenn smirked,"because I'm male."
Fireclaw thumped Sozenn on his snout.
"What?",Sozenn asked laughing.
"I'm male and Tyro is a male and were not anywhere near as dirty mouthed as you are",Fireclaw replied,"I don't think I've ever heard Tyro say anything dirty."
I smiled.
"Shut your muzzle Fireclaw",Sozenn said.
I smiled again,"you guys are welcome to stay for dinner if you want."
"Thank's brother",Fireclaw said.
I picked up the caribou and walked into the den with my friends following me. Adelind and the kids were in the back of the den. The cubs were allover Adelind.
"Slow down",Adelind said trying to calm them down,"everyone take turns."
"Dad taught us how to hunt, fly and use our fire!",Ace squealed.
Adelind smiled,"so did you have a good time?"
"We did Mom",Dusk said pawing playfully at Adelind's snout.
That night dinner was louder than it had ever been. My cubs were allover the den and yammering so loudly that I'm sure every dragon on the preserve heard us that night. Sozenn and Fireclaw had left some time ago and seemed to have taken my kid's energy with them. Soon after my friends left, the kids began to get yawny and droopy eyed so Adelind and I put them in bed.
"Tell us a story Dad!",Ace commanded.
"Hmm",I answered sitting back on my haunches,"what should I tell?"
"Bigfoot!",Ace commanded again.
"No!",Helix stated,"it was scary."
"Actually",I stated standing,"I'm not telling anything, cause if I do you'll all be too tired for tomorrow. Do you know what tomorrow is?"
They went wide eyed.
"Christmas?",Dusk asked timidly.
"Yep",I answered kissing them goodnight,"so get to sleep or you might not get any presents."
With that the kids buried themselves under their furry blankets. Adelind and I lay with each other and I placed a wing over her.
"I thought they'd never get to sleep",I said huffing.
Adelind wedged her head under my muzzle.
"They can be so loud",she said quietly. I licked her across her snout.
"They sure can...I love you."
Adelind snuggled close to to me and returned my lick,"I love you too."
I slowly drifted off, exited of what tomorrow held for all of us. But that night....I had a dream.