Chapter Eighteen
“What say you of the new one, Ki-rill?”
“I say she’s odd.”
“Ho-sath, your opinion wasn’t asked for. As for me, I will let Ano-k make judgment.”
“Oh, so you’re saying Dekalagh isn’t going to judge her? Have you seen her?”
“She’s pale, I’ll admit-”
“Pale? She’s as pale as the great mother!”
“-but no, Dekalagh will not judge her. What kind of warrior looses an arm?”
“The kind that take risks, Ki-rill.”
“Would you take her as a court if everyone else hadn’t been taken already?”
“Yes, Ho-sath, I would.”
“I don’t know… she moves like the Dao. Anyone like that…”
“…is going to get killed, Gy-ren. That’s what. The Dao won’t take a challenge for long, you know that. This new one will either fight and win, or fight and lose.”
“The Dao doesn’t have a follower, she won’t risk it.”
“She used to.”
“Wasn’t the Dao’s child pale too? Like Dekani?”
“Like who?”
“Dekani, Ho-sath, the new one. Hey, what if Dekani is the Dao’s child?”
“I doubt it. Really, M-gan! If you would stop and think, you would realize how… stupid that is.”
“Like jumping into a lake.”
“Right, like jumping into a lake. What newborn can survive alone?”
“I suppose…”
“Gy-ren’s right. Don’t you agree, Ho-sath?”
“I don’t really care. I’m going to lead a hunt. My court won’t just be my court for long.”
“Isn’t that what you said last time?”
“Yeah, it is! And she turned away, didn’t she Ho-sath! Ho-sath?”
“He’s gone.”
“Oh. Keh, did you hear the new plan?”
“What new plan.”
“I was hoping you knew!”
---
Dekani was in between sleep and wakefulness. She had spent most of her life like this; aware of what was going on around her, yet not thinking. Not troubling herself to think.
Whatever controlled chaos happened, she met it with a blank face. And it was starting to rain. The water coursed down her face, it was uncomfortable and made the skins that were wrapped around her heavy, and yet nothing. No reaction.
Not until Nakomii dropped down beside her, and unfurled one wing over her head.
To keep her dry.
Dekani turned, and smiled as she had seen others of her people, other draconians as they called themselves, smile. Her teeth showed, yet she didn’t feel like biting Nakomii. Nym had bit him enough as it was.
“Thank you, Nakomii.”
Nakomii tilted his head to look at her, and sighed. “You’re showing too many teeth, Dekani. You look like you are about to go for my neck.”
Dekani stopped smiling, and sighed. It was slight, barely more then a breath, but Nakomii heard it. He didn’t bother to ask what bothered her, just moved closer. Dekani leaned against his shoulder, and started to trace patterns on his hide.
The feel of her nail against his flesh suddenly, quite suddenly, became all Nakomii thought about. He could barely feel it, the faint pressure less then even the water, and yet… and yet he didn’t feel the rain, just Dekani’s nail. His tail twitched, and he felt restless. He had to get up and move but his little one required him to stay.
So he stayed.
“Nakomii,” Dekani began, and then she stopped. She wasn’t sure she could continue, wasn’t even sure what she had wanted to talk about. There was something wrong, something… and then she had it. “They do not let me hunt. They do not let the females my age hunt. I don’t understand.” There was a faintly pleading note to her voice, the need to understand, because understanding was all she really had.
Dekani was not blind. She knew she was strange, different, not like the draconians at all. But they were her people, they had to know that! Surely they did. All she wanted was to belong to these strange people, just for one moment, so she could know what it felt like. But if that meant she had to stop hunting, she would leave. Let Uma plan for the future. Dekani didn’t have to. Dekani could just live day by day, as she had before.
But things had changed, and her throat was tight at the thought of leaving.
“They don’t let the females hunt because… well… the males bring in the food.” Nakomii shifted, feeling relieved when Dekani stopped tracing patterns on his scales.
“Why?”
“Oh… uh… I don’t know. You’ll have to ask someone else.” Nakomii breathed a sigh as his little one got up to do just that. He didn’t have to explain, thank the Father. Females should explain what the Mother had decided, just as males should do their best to explain what the Father had decided. That was that. And he was not about to try and explain the interaction between males and females.
Nope. Not him.
Catching sight of Nym stalking toward him, Nakomii got up and left.
---
Dekani didn’t even bother looking to see who was bringing the meat this time; it was always some young draconian who looked at the small group with worshiping eyes. At least she was never hungry, Dekani thought, since these talks were exhausting. Still, it was odd that whenever she wasn’t in a group, the two young males, M-gan and Gy-ren would drop by with a squirrel or rabbit that they had gone out to get. It was odd, but Dekani did her best not to notice, just as she ignored the looks Nakomii sent the two males.
Sometimes it was just better to be left in the dark, Dekani decided, swallowing a bite. Her ears twitched as she dragged her attention back to the talk, not that she wanted to or cared, but…
Why was she even here? She would far rather listen to Nym tell her stories, or walk with Nakomii in search of more rocks for Nym and the boy she called ‘Inure’, whatever that meant.
“What think you of this? We might actually be able to stay in one spot for more then a single night. When not here, of course.” Isss-olde looked at the three women and Dekani. Dekani didn’t say anything; she hadn’t been listening to Isss-olde, even though she was here to listen.
“I think it’s workable. We will just have to get that dragon to figure out how it can be done.” Uma tapped a finger to her lip, then looked at Dekani. “Dekani, ask the dragon female to come here. Isss-olde has a suggestion.”
Dekani nodded, even though she wanted to correct Uma. Nym had a name, so why didn’t Uma use it?
Dekani stood for a moment, then, meeting Uma’s eyes. She went because she chose to listen to Uma, not because she had to. She had lived alone for so long, and Nakomii had let her have her own way, she was not used to bowing her head and following orders. Nor would she make a habit of it, she decided. And if Uma argued… Dekani would be ready for anything.
Turning, Dekani stalked through the crowd. The draconians parted for her, getting out of her way with a haste they had not had before.
They were expecting her to lash out with claws and fangs.
And for some reason, Dekani didn’t care. Let them fear her.
Halfway to Nym, M-gan and Gy-ren showed up on either side of her. As usual, M-gan was by her arm, while Gy-ren was not.
“Trouble, Dekani?” M-gan seemed concerned, turning his head to look at her. His brows were gathered together, Dekani noticed. It did not make his face look unpleasant, just… different. She wasn’t sure she liked the different.
“Has the Dao been saying things you don’t like?” Gy-ren too, was looking at her, but his brows were not gathered. Dekani glanced at him, then looked back at M-gan.
“I am not used to letting another lead me. And Uma- the Dao, she does not call Nym by name. I… do not pay attention to me. I am just upset.” Dekani shook her head, and started walking again. The two males nodded, and drifted off.
Dekani hurried her pace. She could see Nym, all black and gold, and the Inure boy looking at something.
Yes, Nym had to come listen. Perhaps she would bring the Inure boy; he was interesting and the other draconians looked at him oddly.
---
Gy-ren sat beneath the tree, legs folded and eyes closed in thought. “She has yet to choose.”
M-gan flexed his fingers, looking out at the forest. His mouth was a thin, straight line. He truly didn’t want to fight his brother, but for the attention of a court he would. “Perhaps we should stop going with groups, and go alone. For bigger prey.”
Gy-ren snorted, and looked at M-gan. “Oh? How? It takes two hands amount of us to take down a deer. No, I’d rather just keep at it. You know she will choose me, that’s the only reason why you suggested that!”
M-gan did not reply, instead starting to walk. Finally, almost out of sight, he called back, “Do as you want, Gy-ren, but I will not go with a group again.”
Then he was gone, and Gy-ren was left to sit beneath the tree and think.
---
Dekani stopped, and watched the Inure boy and Nym work at a stick. She stood still and watched for a few minutes, before walking toward them again.
“Nym.”
Nym looked up, a snarl ready on her lips until she saw Dekani. “Yes, Dekani? What is it? We’re rather busy right now, planning how to keep the draconians away while attacking. We’ve already made some progress, but we won’t have more then… how did you say it?” Nym looked down at the Inure boy, who looked up and smiled.
“Three hand’s worth by end of next day, Nym.”
Nym nodded. “Yes, that.”
Dekani shook her head. “No, that is not why I’m here. Uma, the Dao, wants to talk to you. Will you bring the Inure boy?”
The Inure boy folded his arms. “My name is Ti-rill, not ‘Inure boy’.”
“Inure means I teach him and he listens. You are my Inure about stories, Dekani. He is my Inure about making things.”
Dekani nodded. That made sense. “All right. But Uma wants to talk to you.”
Nym shrugged, and got to her feet. Dekani watched, surprised at how Nym had to work at it. She bit her tongue, looked away, and sighed. She didn’t want to upset Nym, but she had to ask. “Nym, are you all right?”
“Of course I’m all right! What wouldn’t I be? After all, Nakomii doesn’t even come say hello any more…” Nym started walking, tail lashing the air behind her.
The draconians ran to get out of her way.
Ti-rill walked up to stand next to Dekani. “She’s carrying, you know. That makes her upset, she says, so ignore her yelling, she says.”
Dekani looked at Ti-rill. “Oh, I know,” she said. “I knew before she knew. But she’s going the wrong way. Uma is that way.” Dekani pointed to where Uma and the others were. Ti-rill blinked, and then did something with his face. She thought he looked upset.
“I’d better go tell her then. Wait here, alright?”
Dekani didn’t have a chance to respond as Ti-rill ran to Nym. Nym did not snap at Ti-rill, Dekani noticed. Instead, she just stopped, and turned around, and began walking again.
Dekani stayed where she was, watching the two become blurs, and then disappear. Nakomii had started hunting, disappearing for days, and she didn’t see him any more. Nym had found a new friend, a new Inure, in Ti-rill. And the only draconians who talked to her, like they wanted to, were M-gan and Gy-ren.
Was this what the group talks did, Dekani wondered. Did they take away all that she cared about?
---
Nym was silent, looking up at the sky. The draconians could see the bulge around her middle, and knew from her scent it was not from food. Still, they made no mention of it; their culture did not allow such talk among mixed genders. Finally, Nym looked down and nodded once. “I shall see what can be done about it… Ti-rill, have you ever seen a beaver?”
Ti-rill shook his head. He had yet to talk near Uma. Nym didn’t pressure him.
“Well, they build great houses out of sticks… that would be a bit much for our needs, but perhaps we could lean the sticks up together around part of a tree? Mud and dirt would work, don’t you think? Come, we must try this.”
Nym flicked a wing, before walking towards what she was already starting to think of as her work station. Ti-rill followed, silent.
Left behind were three females and one male. And one of the females, Uma, was starting to get irritated by Dekani and Nym. They were entirely too… something… for her tastes. They didn’t listen to her.
Narrowing her eyes, Uma decided to have a talk with Dekani about it. The girl would understand, of course.
She had to.
---
M-gan was both worried and excited. He sniffed the air; then, not certain he had caught all the scents, sniffed again. His fingers twitched, and he ran one hand through the hair-gather at the back of his neck. Yes, he was worried, but he would not be caught by a dragon. He couldn’t! A chosen of Dekalagh was his court, even if she did not appear to notice or care.
Finally, a faint scent of water and of prey reached him. The water almost sent him going the other direction, but the prey smelt not of rabbit but something like deer.
And, on the fifth night, he found it.
It was big. It stood twice as high as he did, with a coat as dark as the Dao’s hair. Large, branching antlers swept back from its forehead and over its thick neck. And unlike deer antlers, when they were not shed, the creature’s antlers were like a spread palm.
M-gan did not know what he saw, but he did know the hunt would be difficult. He was not aware how difficult, however, because he expected the deer-like creature to act like a deer and run away from danger.
M-gan started to walk towards it, keeping his body low to the ground. His frame was adapted to it; able to hold his head high without hurting his neck or shoulders.
Perhaps it was a rustle in the grass, or a sound of draconian nail against rock, but whatever it was, the creature heard. And it didn’t run away. It stood still, looking around, great antlers spread to the sky and making it seem bigger then it was. Then the head turned in M-gan’s direction, and a step was taken.
And then another step. Each time the creature moved its feet, there was a sucking sound. Mud, at the bottom of the pond, resisted the creature’s movements. But nothing was going to stop the deer-cousin, nothing short of a dragon at least.
The dragons called it a rik, and it was their favorite food. Large, plentiful, they bred like rabbits. Two feet taller then the latter day moose, the rik were at least, if not more, aggressive. If the dragons did not hunt the rik in pairs or as a threesome, then the dragon would be the loser. Still, if the dragons did not hunt the rik, the large creatures would destroy the mountain.
Draconians did not hunt rik, not if they wanted to escape with their lives. But no draconian had seen a rik in a century. They kept away from large, standing water. They could not swim, and the taste of stream water or lake water was better, in their minds.
M-gan was watching a rik now. He was watching it move closer, its sheer weight driving it down into the soft earth even away from the pond.
The rik pawed at the ground, seemingly interested at the uncovered earth. Its ears lay back, its eyes focused on where M-gan was.
It breathed. M-gan breathed.
They both waited, M-gan for the rik to turn around, and the rik for… something. Something that M-gan did not know.
And then the rik moved.
Fast.
Its hooves tore the earth, divots being flung into the air. M-gan couldn’t help but screech as the great head came down, the antlers, in a strange twist of luck, scooping him up instead of puncturing his head and chest.
The rik threw M-gan over its shoulder, and turned to where the draconian fell. With a snort, it ran towards him again, this time lifting its great hooves.
