61Author's Note – Welcome back for what I am sure will be another epic adventure. This is my fair warning to you that almost all of the named characters within will be unfamiliar to you if you do not know the Brothers Of Night (BON) universe. This story is intimately connected with all three volumes of BON, so start with that story if you do not already know it. There are many plot threads intentionally left dangling from BON, and this story will address those dangling threads.
Posting Schedule – I do not have a posting schedule because this story is not completed in advance. The entire story is fully outlined and will likely be much lengthier than BON. This will definitely be a multiple year project.
Beta Reader – VigoGrimborne will be the beta reader for this story. I highly recommend that you read his work.
Rating – The story will be listed as T. Any romance material will be T. Any moments that are necessarily more intense for any reasons will be forewarned with a chapter/scene-specific M.
Reviews, Feedback, and Favorites – Please provide your thoughts, comments, and suggestions as you go. It only takes a minute or so to share what you liked or to make a suggestion for how you think the story or my writing might be improved. I make every effort to timely reply to meaningful reviews.
Story Structure - This prologue is set back around the departure of the dragons and humans into the hidden world near the end of BON. This story will be structured with two main arcs which will alternate as the story progresses. That will make sense after this prologue. Also, the quote for this chapter is the quote for the entire story. There will not be quotes for every chapter as there were in BON. Without further ado...
Children Of Dawn
"When the light is running low... And the shadows start to grow... And the places that you know... Seem like fantasy... There's a light inside your soul... That's still shining in the cold... With the truth... The promise in our hearts... Don't forget... I'm with you in the dark." - Deltarune OST 'Don't forget.'
Prologue
It was a long flight.
A pure white dragon with soft spines flowing down his back and tail flew on through the unending passageways, between glowing crystals and tall flowering plants, between the ground-spires and hanging ceiling-spikes, through perfectly dark chambers and then through bright caverns that burned with warm light, and over long waterfalls and calm oceans.
He ignored all the prey and food down below. They did not matter. He ignored the many mental voices and cries of other dragons calling out to him. They were only distractions.
These old wings of his, so frail and weak now, barely kept him aloft through the long caverns. He had not flown such great lengths in many waking-cycles, and he would certainly have fallen from these hidden skies if it were not for his other strength.
The magic and power that burned in his soul, so long undimmed by the passing of many centuries, had withered. It did not answer him now as it did long ago when he had fought the great battles against creatures that he refused to give a name other than Hunter. Those creatures, one of the last relics of a terrible past world, had lived to hunt dark wings and light wings, though the latter only to a lesser extent.
Those battles had taken much from him, wielding the lightning as he had to slay the Hunters in the best way possible. The last one he had killed fell some fifteen above-years ago, and that battle had drained much of his strength. But he had been mistaken that the last one he killed was truly the last one flying freely in the entire world above. That true last one had just recently fallen to two dark wings and one light wing flying together.
He held in the snarl at the thought of those dragons: the dark wings and light wing. If only he had his own strength, but too much of his control over that magic had been used and lost in the recent, great, and necessary deed.
The many doors into this hidden world had to be closed. Deep, long caves crumbled from above and blocked the paths. Dragons throughout the world worked as he wished, collapsing caves and melting them shut with his shared strength and their own powers. He used much of his remaining strength to forever hide dragons away from the Monsters in the above. So he had tried, at least.
There might be some small cracks that would let dragons in and out, though those places were very hidden. All bound dragons now in hiding would carry with them a spark of fear at the thought of the above, and that spark would forever keep them out of the above, safe in the hidden ranges. He had given all of the bound dragons that spark for their own good that they may be safer.
All that his withered strength could do now was keep him in the sky.
He continued on a tireless flight to a place far from his throne, far from the glowing crystalline spire from which he had watched over dragons for many of their lifetimes.
From where he had drunk in the great power that burned in the rocks and the world itself and the oneness.
From where he had mediated small disputes, communed with those in whom burned the great spark, spoken with another who was painfully dear to him, and called with a whisper on the wind and a summons before the end to all the dragons that could hear him in the world beyond.
From where he had then reached out through the sky and the bones of the world with his fathomless power and worked to break the other paths into the hidden world after the other dragons had returned to hiding. His power had worked through other dragons: melted-rock-belly-belchers, rock-dirt-diggers, and others in distant ranges and caves to break and close the other entrances.
Only one intended path would remain open back where it had all started so long ago.
For fate cannot be denied. Judgment was finally passed. Destiny was known at last. Two winds were to fly their own way. A new world was to begin that day. A world of freedom for dragons, always to fly on their own and to never see the Monsters again!
But... something... unintended... happened...
A quiet, peaceful ending that he had long hoped for had been forsaken because of a new purpose. A small ember within was still glowing because of what he learned and because of a mistake, no, two mistakes he had made.
The true mate of his liver, the one whom he should have been with and enjoyed the warmth of life with, had seen the truth. She had known... she had seen... that giving other dragons certain magics and powers of their own would not end well. The consequence of the great linking was unexpected for certain, but she had not warned him of that!
How could either of them have known that to give one spark was to smother another or to prevent a spark from growing into a fire that it could have been?
It was surely a great sacrifice, but that had been necessary! It was for the greater good! How else could he have fought the great Hunters and wielded the lightning that struck them from the skies? Keeping the other dragons safe required that he draw on their strength and keep them... bound... for their own good. They were easier to guide and protect that way: dependent on him.
Those in whom burned the great spark though, the dark wings and light wings, were not bound in the link in the same way the others were. They could touch that oneness and share thought-wishes when they burn with command and power, but they could not control the link.
Not like he or the great-tusks could, though his was the greatest of all. None of the great-tusks could possibly control him because he was made to control all.
He was the true, hidden, highest Alpha of all.
Most of the dragons being bound to the great oneness, to the link, let them share thoughts and wants directly with others without using words. They never needed to learn spoken speech. They were never forced to grow and become more.
That and the magic powers the binding granted kept them safer. It was his duty to protect them and think about their needs.
The Alpha protects them all.
He passed over a large flock of the tiny-orange-wings that were so small, weak, and harmless. They preyed on the food that plants make and spread the seed of plants to new plants. These little dragons never knew fear from the Monsters of the above. None of the hidden dragons should.
At least, they should have been safe except that something had happened. That event would change the world forever in a way that should not have been!
A weak whine escaped from his jaws as he imagined a terrible future. His eyes were closed as he flew; he didn't need them or sight to see where he was flying.
It was a long, weary flight through chambers with glowing plants and rocks, flocks of tiny dragons, and roiling waters. Dragons were living freely, fighting with each other for status, mates, and food, flying where they wish, and slowly returning to that life that they should enjoy. That ultimate destiny that was theirs: wild freedom, never to again know being hunted by Monsters in the above.
Never to see the above Monsters again for there would be no need to ever fly in the beyond. There was nothing up there they could ever want to see or live with. They would forget the Monsters above after enough life-cycles pass.
Maybe dragons could come forth again when the cycle happens anew. When the Monsters cleanse the world of much of their own kind. Dragons could come forth and cleanse the world above of the remaining Monsters, yes, that would be good. Kill all of them and change the world forever. That would break the cycle and let life start over anew with only dragons.
There were such unsettled thoughts deep within that would never stop whispering the truth. So many memories were roiling below the calm surface of his Memory and relived so recently. So much death and pain.
He had the strength to block them out, mostly, after so many years of living with them within and feeling what they had felt.
But what he had learned filled his liver with a chill wind, void, and a fear for the future.
That true dark wing, the one who hid from the truth of what it was, wanted to foul this safe place, this hidden world, by bringing the Monsters here! It had already done so by now!
He had been watching from afar, listening and whispering in the wind when fate was changed. When the departure that should have been to freedom and safety, hidden from the above world and the Monsters for all time, was fouled.
When the light wing fell to temptation, was corrupted, and made the choice that should not have been!
The two winds should have flown their own way! Let the Monsters take the world above and burn it as they will! They cannot learn! They cannot change what they are!
Nothing can change its nature on its own.
Would that he still had his old strength in that moment to correct the wrong with fire, lightning, and death! To cleanse the hidden world of Monsters. They could not be trusted, now or ever!
He would not forgive the past! Nothing the Monsters could do would right the wrongs that had been done!
But he was so old. Too much of his power had been used and would not answer him now.
He failed in his mission and calling. He could not protect them all as the Alpha is supposed to do.
Even in that complete and total failure, there was still an ember within. A final hope for dragons if only he could do what must be done for the greater good of all. That glowing hope was all that filled him with determination now.
He continued down dark passes devoid of light. No other wings were at his side to give him any warmth in these hidden skies. He knew where the hanging-spires were in the total darkness, and he easily avoided them. He knew the caves filled with death-air, and he avoided them. The dragons that would hunt other dragons as food retreated from him and hid at his passing.
It was a long, solitary flight.
He could not save the world from Monsters now. He was not strong enough.
But there was one who could.
He glided down the final passageway. The ice along the side of the passageway bespoke the cold, frigid air in this place of hiding. How many waking-cycles had it been since he flew from his perch? He did not know because he did not sleep much on the long flight. Many waking-cycles, that much was certain.
The shame and guilt wracked him anew along with his frail wings and pained tail that threatened to fail him. The long-since done deed had been easy to do and very necessary. He took no pleasure from it because it was necessary. It never took his care and wanting away from she whom he should have been one with. From Her he had been one with once: long ago when they still had hope of making new life together.
That had not been in their life-winds to fly though. Neither he nor she could truly be blamed for that. Though, he knew for certain that the problem, what had fouled that flight and kept them from welcoming new life into the world, was not his.
Spikes of ice jutted from the ever-frozen lake below. There were a few other dragons hunting fish below the ice or waiting at the openings in the ice. None of those dragons mattered. He was not here for them, and he continued on higher over the ice until he came to the high wall covered in many ice flows and spikes.
Then he saw the sparkling cave cut into the wall of rock.
His breaths raced faster than they had in any of the great lightning battles of the past. How long had it been? What had happened since he was here last time?
He angled his flight for the cave, roughly landed on the mouth of ice, and slowly crept within the cave. His paws and joints ached terribly. The flight had been very long, what would have been many sleep-cycles without stopping. It was only his magic, his life-fire, and that ember of hope that were keeping him on his paws or alive now. He had not eaten in what would have been many sleep-cycles. His body was too far gone, too weak to endure.
He would not stretch his wings again, but that did not matter. He almost awaited the sleep of death now, except that there was only one thing left for him to do.
One final purpose. One act. One sacrifice.
He deeply exhaled.
His thoughts were closely guarded and shielded from all other life-fires, from all other souls, even as his thoughts turned to the dearest one who was gone now.
'Does she hate me? It would be fair of her. But she never knew, and she would have understood if she did know. There had to be another like us!'
He groaned and hung his head, but the ember sparked slightly brighter inside.
'It was for the greater good. As is this.'
Filled with determination, he lifted his head and slowly continued on into the familiar cave. His claws clicked with each step, and his tail dragged behind him as he shuffled inside on the cold stone. He slowly walked past the frigid rock walls and clear blocks of ice, and then he froze.
The cave's natural inhabitant was wide awake and staring back at him. Light grey and blue eyes were narrowed on him in surprise. The neck and back had a set of small, soft spikes along the fin-ridge all the way down the long tail. A smooth hide almost sparkled from the pervasive blue hue of surrounding ice while a pure white color on the chest and wings mixed with a sky-blue and purple shine on the head, back, tail, and wide tailfins.
His daughter stared back at him in open shock.
While his own kind lives very long lives, judging from his own lifetime, they are also very slow to grow in comparison to other dragons. He knew that all too well. She was almost fully-grown now, slightly larger than a pure female light wing.
How many year-cycles had it been now since she had been begotten? How long since he found the light wing willing to make the egg for him? In his age and as his power started fading, he knew that this had been necessary. One successful attempt with another to make a life that could continue on in his place once he was gone. One who would likely have the same fire and power in its soul as he did.
She had the power to change the world, protect the hidden world, and shape the future into what it should be. She had the power to be the highest-Alpha, just like himself.
What he had done in making her be was not a breaking of trust with the one who had his desire always.
Was it? They had never been able to make an egg together before she left him so long ago. That had forced him to look to another, to a light wing, since they had the brightest life-sparks along with the dark wings.
He whined softly and recalled that last, fateful, and painful meeting. Her thought-words almost echoed in the cave or in his Memory, he could not tell which anymore.
'You will fly them to death, Mimir! The powers should not be! Binding them all as you say is wrong! The humans fear us enough as we are!'
'Frigg, you do not know that! You do not remember all that has happened! I do! I see it all every time I sleep! I must do this for them!'
'And do you know what I have seen? Fire and death, dragons flying against dragons because of these... powers and this... oneness!'
'I know what I am doing. I do not like it, but this must be. How else can dragons protect themselves against what we both know the humans can do? What they already did! We must protect ourselves! Us or them.'
'Is that it, Mimir? You would limit the dragons and bind them? Force them to never speak or think as we do and as others can?'
'The dark wings and light wings, yes, they must be freer. I cannot bind them, but the others must be protected. That is my burden to bear.'
'Mimir, I do not believe you. What happened to the dragon I love?'
'The humans destroyed him. They made him grow up and see the world as it truly is, not how we wish it was.'
It hurt deeply to know that, in some way, she was right about that fear. So much of the death that had happened in some way was because of the powers.
But there was far more than that. There was one other constant about the violence.
It all came from trying to make peace when that peace was not meant to live. Humans always trap dragons and use them. Dragons, being the best predators of all, naturally hunt humans. Never to meet would be the best type of peace. Separate always would be best for both humans and dragons. The two types of life were not meant to be together. That was an obvious truth.
Now he had a chance to make everything right again, as it should have been.
His daughter's eyes pierced through his own when he looked up at her. Her thoughts on his arrival were uncertain. Her eyes remained empty and impassive, revealing nothing of what she was thinking.
Then her thought-voice crashed against him with a power no other dragon could speak with.
'You came back, sire-father.'
'Yes, Skadi, my daughter.'
Her eyes never left his. What was that feeling in her liver? Sadness? Spite? Empty hope? Ambivalence?
'You have flown your last flight?'
'Yes, little one. I have.'
'Why did you fly here then? It must have been a very long flight.'
'It was. I needed to fly here and... see you one more time before... I pass.'
She turned away from him, a very hurt look in her eyes from how they shone with no light. Was that hurt and chill because of his admission that his time was nearly over?
'You never wanted to truly be here before now.'
The truth in her thought-words was very painful to hear. It was true that he had not seen her with his eyes since she was very young, back when she still needed her dam-mother's protection. And after that, when she was able to defend herself and could truly understand what she was, he had been unable bear the thought of looking on her out of shame and a whispering voice of betrayal.
But they had spoken from afar with thought and dreams. Their life-fires, their very souls, touched and shared some experiences, though he had kept so much hidden from her. She was always too curious.
He had watched and felt warmth on her behalf as she learned her fire, her fade, strong flight, thought-voice which others could hear, and became a hunter. He had watched as her dam eventually departed from her, the duty of sitting the hatchling and raising her to fly on her own finished.
It was not what should have been. That much was clear in the pain and chill she felt at his final return. This range where she lived was safest for her to grow in, even though he regretted that this had to be.
But that pain and regret did not matter now. It could not matter now. All that mattered was the glowing potential and power that lived in her. It was waiting to be sparked to life.
'You know that I wanted to, but I had no choice...'
'Yes, you did. You were not forced to leave! You chose to go away. You could have brought me also...'
He could not find it within himself to be angry with her. She had every right to be, but she did not understand or appreciate the burden of leadership. This place in the hidden world was very safe for her whereas other places were not safe for any dragons other than himself. He also had battles to fight far away, and those duties required him to return to leadership.
Alphas must lose so that others can have.
He stepped closer to her and looked down into her eyes, already so old beyond her years and filled with potential which that no other dragon could possibly have.
'My daughter, I know that what I did hurt you, but I had to as the High-Alpha. I understand if you hate me.'
She whined and stared at her paws.
'I do not hate you, sire-father.'
That she did not hate him was good; however, nothing would change the past.
'Daughter, I know that this is much to ask, but you could help me...'
She looked back up at him and hummed faintly.
'What?'
He reached out with a paw and gently cradled her chin as he did once long ago before he turned aside and flew away to return to his Alpha duties and to watch over the hidden world.
It had been for the greater good, even if it hurt her young liver to do so. Duty required it, had it not? It required that they only know each other and be together from afar.
Guilt hurt deeply.
He could feel her soul-fire trying to touch his. To know the truth. To feel what he felt. She was always too curious.
The power swirling in his soul, in his life-fire, froze for an instant as he hesitated, staring into her grey and blue eyes. He took a breath and waited as life itself paused.
Did he truly know best this time? Could he decide this for another?
She almost felt as though she wanted to speak and say something that might change everything. The moment was filled with some hidden meaning that echoed on the faint wind outside the cave as possibility fractured and coalesced.
'Forgive me.'
He let down the barrier so carefully built up through the centuries and which he had felt fracture so recently with the rotted, twisted, and true dark wing.
All the pain, loss, hurts, and howls of all the dragons' deaths that he had felt over a thousand cycles of the years...
The voices, the cries, the breaking, and the shattering, all because of humans...
She felt them also.
She lived them without even knowing it in that eternal instant. Hidden under the surface of Memory, those pains passed to her also.
It was necessary for her to know what they all were against. She had to know the true nature of the enemy that may... that would try to foul this world and threaten all dragons.
Humans want to fill the world and control it. Subdue it. Shackle it. Ruin it. Break it.
They know of no other way!
Ones like the Valka, or like the Hiccup, the one who had long ago bonded life with a dark wing, were only exceptions to the rule, and they changed nothing about the world!
All the potential of his kind that he had controlled, limited in himself, and that had burned out in his soul... sparked to life in her, expanding her thoughts and sensations far beyond what had been. The light began to glow about her as that unseen fire burned and swept out its wings on the world all around.
The ember of power passed from him to her life-fire, to her soul, even as she was completely unaware of that spark.
Feeling the life-fires of all the dragons diving in the deeps under the ice and soaring in the hidden sky. Feeling the power that flowed, unclaimed, in the light-bearing crystals. Touching and floating through the air itself. Dreams felt. Hopes heard. Whispers settling.
Too much, too much.
Too much for her still-young mind, she slumped onto the ground and fell unaware of everything around her.
Too much for his weakened, frail body to endure beyond the loss of his last supporting power.
He collapsed and felt his awareness begin to fade as his heart and breath stilled. Darkness came to claim him at last.
His last thought-words gently stroked her resting mind as all dimmed around him.
'You will be highest Alpha as I was... protect us all and do what must be done...'
In those last moments, he could feel the tendrils and winds of her to-be-boundless power receding because she could not control it yet even if she had known of it. So much potential. All of the swirling power in her mind began to settle into the deep which she was not aware of.
It was sleeping now and growing stronger while waiting for that time when it would be needed. It would finally spark to life when she saw and felt the truth of the threat facing all dragons.
Power to see all that has been in a life and to remember. Power to shape dreams and touch souls. Power to take other powers as her own. Power to do things that he had feared to do. Power to touch the great link and speak to all dragons in existence who were bound to the oneness. Power to control them and lead them as was needed.
'You will know the Monsters and destroy them. That will be your purpose.'
The voices in his thoughts all agreed.
Know Monsters and destroy them.
Every voice looked to the future with a united cry of hope.
At the one idea that echoed from deep within the swirling maelstrom.
The echoes of the past joined together and cried out for justice.
They had been so very wronged.
He had been so very wronged.
They demanded Vengeance.
He demanded Vengeance.
They could not let go of the past.
He could not let go of the past.
Even as darkness claimed him and them.
There was no awareness of the end.
Only a lasting moment.
No peaceful rest of death.
Only cacophony.
Eternally.
Alone in the dark.
In the abyss.
And then...
He opened his weary eyes, blinked away the confusion, and beheld a strange island covered in sand. A warm wind swept in from the sea, and a twilight glow burned at every horizon as the stars and the aurora adorned the open sky. The place was like another island that was so very familiar to him.
He weakly rose to his paws and lifted his head, wondering at why the voices were now silent. It was as though they had fallen away entirely, leaving him free of something he had never known he had been listening to.
But then he froze, wings and tail forgotten when he saw Her standing on the sands before him.
What his type of dragon was once called, he did not know. There were only two, Him and Her, so there might not even have been a name for their kind. Her wings and hide were yellow against his pure white. Her head, neck, back, and long tail had the same soft spines as he did. But her eyes, they whirled and changed color with her mood and thought. Just as they had before they had been burned dead so very long ago in the cleansing.
It had been so many years since they had met in person, and now they only met again here, apparently in this after-death. Maybe they were truly together again, or maybe she was only a mind-phantom of his own creation.
He did not care anymore.
"Frigg?"
"Mimir, what did you do to her?"
"You knew about her?" he whispered.
She blinked.
"I always knew. You thought it was necessary. I never blamed you for that."
"Then you know what I did and why."
She stared evenly at him, her eyes never fading to empty black or wrathful red.
"You never learned to see in the dark. You could not let go of the past."
"We are what the past makes us. You know that. None of us are truly free."
Even as he said it though, he was not entirely certain of the words. They were what he had told himself so many times that they had become habit and unquestioned. The weight of the past was so very heavy back then. Were there any exceptions that proved that freedom did exist?
She turned aside from him and walked down the shore to the water's edge. Her long tail swayed in the sand behind her. She eventually stopped with her paws in the surf. He walked over to stand by her and joined her in staring out to the empty horizon.
A long silence followed as they stared, the only sound being the phantom wind and the lapping of the water.
"You wanted to know once what I saw that broke me?" she whispered.
Was it truly her? Was this real? A mind-phantom of his own making could not know this truth, could it? He certainly did not know what had so tortured his once-mate whom he had truly loved.
"I did. You said you would not tell me."
She exhaled and relaxed, as if releasing her burden.
"I worked so hard to shape the future into something better. To break the cycle and change the world. Nudging from afar those who can make a difference and telling them what they must hear. I hope that you are wrong."
"I do not understand," he grumbled.
"You never did," she chuckled.
"Show me."
She turned to face him, and he delved into her eyes as she let him see without anything hidden.
Two paths, an ending and a beginning, balanced on a claw's tip, the slightest nudge of which would upset the balance. Creation and destruction.
He had done far more than give a small nudge.
"I..." he paused.
"Are the humans only their past?" she asked.
Why was thought so much clearer without the weight of ages pressing upon him?
"No..."
"You saw what will happen if that... egg... in the hidden world is killed. Nothing will ever change if they give up or fade."
An ending. Fire and dragons falling from the sky. Blood. Cleansing light.
What had he done? Why was there no grief or shame? Maybe grief and shame only had meaning because they pushed the living to act. He could not act anymore.
"What must be is what I can know. Choice is unknown to us. Which will she choose?" Frigg whispered to the stars.
"She... will save us," he whispered.
"From what?"
"From Monsters."
"From Monsters? By becoming the greatest one of all?"
A long, accusatory silence followed.
"If she must," he relented.
The phantom wind blew in from the empty horizon as the past and the future watched, together from afar.
Skadi awoke on her belly in her great cave. She growled her frustration at her headache that had flared from... somewhere. A paw slowly went to her forehead and pressed softly at the pressure and faint hurting within. That did not help to relieve the pain though.
What happened?
Had not something important just happened? It certainly felt so. She had been peacefully resting after a hunt and catch of fish when she had felt something approaching. What had...
Then she slowly opened her eyes and beheld the sight before her. A very familiar shape, so like her own but slightly different, was in the frozen cave with her. The memories took flight.
'Sire-father!'
He did not move even after she bounded over in front of him and knelt down. She nuzzled his nose while imploring him with a gentle purr to wake up.
'Sire-father?'
He drew no breaths, nor did he respond at all. His eyes were open but empty, seeing nothing and without any spark in them. No life-fire was left in him.
He was dead.
Gone.
Her claws clicking on the cold rock under paw, she slowly retreated from the dead body and turned away from it. Her gaze went to the frozen wall of her cave.
The whine slowly crept out from deep within her liver. The goneness. The aloneness.
She fell on her belly, too weak now to even stand.
Such conflicted thoughts swirled within. He had left her here with her dam-mother and a clear command to stay and grow. This place and these cold ranges were all that she had known in her life. There were other kin, other light wings, that occasionally stopped by to share spoken words with her. The rest of the kin had far more direct ways of letting their wants and thoughts be known through talking with the whole body or through the direct sharing of thoughts, simpler though they were.
But all of them could not possibly fill the emptiness now.
So many hopes and dreams of hers had filled what this moment could have been. Maybe her sire-father would return to her and explain the truth of why he had not been there to play with her, teach her, and be a warm sire-father. Maybe her long since flown away dam-mother would fly to see her again after leaving her here in this place of safety.
Maybe her sire-father would come back so she could ask him to explain the strange, twisted dreams that she had lived throughout her life but had told no others about.
Those dreams were of fire and death in a far range, many kin falling from the sky, kin flying freely in the skies of a very strange world that was filled with so much danger, and strange creatures without wings, tails, or scales. But none of those dreams mattered anymore.
A slow, low howl of mourning echoed from the shallow ice cave as the wrongness and should-not-be became too great. The loss took over as she let out the pain and the liver-hurt. Her thoughts were flying uncontrollably.
Her dam-mother had done what she was expected to do by tending her egg, giving her food once she hatched, and teaching her words and life-rules. There were other stories dam-mother had told her about what life was like before.
Looking back over her own tail into the past, it seemed like all of those good things were done almost out of duty. But her sire-father had always looked amazed at his only little one, at her. He had used so many of her earliest waking-cycles holding her and sheltering her under a wing as a good sire-father would, playing tail-catching games, letting her chew on a spine or his tail, talking to her long even before she had understanding or her own words, and letting her perch on his back to fly with him.
Toward her dam-mother, now flying in some far-distant range, she felt a distant thanks and acknowledgment for making the egg and doing what was expected. Toward her sire-father though, she had felt so much warmth and wonder. How did he glow so brightly when looking at her? How was he so strong and wise? How did he remember so much? She was always so curious.
Then he flew away, only to speak to her in dreams and far-flown thought-whispers.
He had told her that they would be together from afar, so why did it feel so empty and chilled and not true?
Was it her fault somehow? Did she do something wrong as a hatchling to make him go away? Did she play too much with him? Ask too many questions?
She knew with her head-thinking that he had responsibilities to all kin. The needs of the many carry more weight than the few, or the one in her case.
But her liver-thinking felt the pain all the more dearly for knowing that he had chosen duty to them over duty to her, over one who came from his own seed.
He was always so wise and strong-thinking though. Maybe it was a life-lesson that she still needed to learn. There was a truth of some kind in his actions, that much was certain.
Maybe she had to learn to let go of those young hopes she had carried in her liver.
A very deep breath followed as she steadied herself and opened her eyes a very long time later.
Then she stared out the entrance to her cave. Being here felt so wrong and should-not-be.
With the cold having found a way into her life-fire, she slowly shuffled out of the familiar cave that could never hold any warmth now. She walked along the sparkling path with walls of ice, her tail dragging behind her.
She barely found the strength to look back at her sire-father's withered body only a short pounce away. The sight of that would always foul this cave now. It was cold enough in the air that meat would not go bad and rotted in the open air here.
His body would lay there for all time unless some other kin came along and were to claim this cave as its own. It would either feed on his remains or throw them out to rot on the ground or be eaten by another.
She continued on until she perched on the very edge of the ledge. Then she pulled her tail out of the passageway and glared at the icy top of the cave in the narrow passage. There was one final deed that she could do for him, so she took a very deep breath.
A narrow stream of white flame melted both ice and collapsed rock until the cave's narrow entrance fell in on itself. And still she flamed the ice to melt it into water that would then refreeze, forever sealing the cave off from the range.
Her sire-father could rest in peace forever.
Then it was done, that cave sealed off from the rest of the range, and she perched on the ledge, looking out over the range that she knew. White, blue, and twisted lights mixed within the ice. There were several deep-diving kin that cared not for the very cold waters as they dove for the very deep fish. Much-fur prey-animals were available to catch in other, warmer ranges.
It was all so familiar, but everything felt different now. Some deep, hidden fear was creeping up on her like a shadow following under her.
She blinked, chuffed to herself, and looked around at all she knew. The fleeting fear was gone. There was no danger of any kind. Everything was as she remembered it.
Except she knew that she was different. How different was uncertain, but speaking the last words to a sire-father or dam-mother who then died had to change something. It had to give a new perspective to look down on life from.
The winds of life had changed.
Slowly and cautiously, she lifted her head as the faint wind flowed over her and stroked her wings. There was a light inside her life-fire, inside her soul, and it was now shining brightly in the cold. While her sire-father was gone now, she would remember him always.
What the winds of life would have for her, be it a life of greatness as an Alpha for the kin, or the life of greatness as a dam-mother to a nest of her own hatchlings, or something else, she would learn in time. She was not yet fully grown, and she knew that. It would not be long though before she was ready for that next great flight, whatever it would be.
She jumped from the ledge, rolling out her wings and gliding down from the heights in which she had always roosted. It would not be a place for her to ever return after what happened this waking-cycle. There were other roosts in this cold-range that felt so warming in her liver, so she would find a new roost to claim as her own. She might even find a pack of light wings to accept her as one of their own. Being around kin like her would be good since she had no nestmates.
A final glance went over her tail and toward the sealed cave-den that no kin would never enter again.
Sire-father, I will make you proud of me.
A faint whisper echoed from within her liver that she would indeed. She would always carry his memory with her, and she would not forget him.
That memory would give strength to her wings and would help her life-fire grow as bright as the rocks that burned with light from within. She would find her strength and learn her place when her time finally came.
She might even change the world.
Forever.
Author's Note – Skadi's arc will continue roughly from this point in time, and we will learn more of her backstory through her chapters.
