Dimmadreki's Quest Chapter 36

Epilogue

Dimmadreki took stock of his situation. He and his family and best friend were sitting on the stony rim of the Dragon Island volcano, enjoying the view. His parents were safe and welcome (more or less) in the dragons' nest that they were pleased to call "home." His son had left the family group to take up residence in a Viking village with his human friend Fishlegs, who had just become the Alpha of that village. His mate and both his daughters were still with him, and were quite happy that way, although Næturvon was showing signs of attraction toward his best friend Tannlaus. That friend had lost all the dragons in his nest, but he had dreams of replacing them, and his most heartfelt dream of finding a mate would soon come true. His own lifelong quest to rid the world of enslaving Monster dragons was complete, except for a pair who would need to be checked every few years. There were strings of dragons' nests all over Europe, Asia, and Africa that would welcome him if he ever chose to visit them again.

"I don't know if all this is normal for a Night Fury or not," he mused.

"For us Night Furies, there is no 'normal'," Myrkrid reassured him. "We take what life throws at us, and we make life into what we want it to be. My life today isn't a bit like it was five, ten, or fifteen years ago, but I have no complaints."

"I'm glad to hear that," he replied, brushing a wingtip along her flank. "Now that our son is living with the humans, do you think you'll ever get past your hatred of them?"

She thought for a moment. "I think I'm past the hatred part already. That started to fade when I took an ex-human as my partner. I still don't trust them, and I probably never will, until the day when the horns on their helmets are the pointiest things that they carry. But I've met three good humans so far – Fishlegs and both of your parents – and that's three more than I ever thought I'd meet in my life. I'm sure there are more. I'm not eager to go out looking for them, but it won't astonish me if we find them anyway."

"Speaking of going out looking," Tannlaus cut in, "do either of you have any ideas for how I could repopulate my nest?"

"You could take a mate and make eggs," Myrkrid said. "Hint hint."

"Or you could fly out to some of the nests we visited during our quest," Dimmadreki suggested. "Ask if any of the dragons there want to live in a nest that isn't crowded, and where the nearest humans aren't hostile. I'm sure you'll get a few takers; most dragons like to live in a crowd, but not all of them. You may not have a big nest like before, but after a few years and a few egg-laying seasons, you'll have enough dragons to keep you busy again."

"Taking the long-term view, are you?" his friend nodded. "I suppose it's a good plan if I'm not in a hurry, and I'm not. Is there any chance you'd fly out there to those nests with me?"

"Probably not, not at this time," Dimmadreki decided. "We've got a young dragon who needs to grow up in a stable place, so she won't wind up doing something crazy, like moving in with the humans." Næturvon snorted at that. He went on, "We've got a son who did that very thing, and we need to keep an eye on his situation until we're sure he's going to be okay there. My parents are living in this area, and I still want to spend time with them and get to know them better, especially my mother. And finally, I think I'm tired of flying around and being homeless. I want to find a nest, pick a sleeping space that I can come back to every morning, settle down, and raise a family." Myrkrid slid closer to him when she heard that.

"That's a noble goal, but which nest will you choose?" Tannlaus asked. "You must have visited at least twenty of them, and they'll all take you in if you ask them to. Who's the lucky Alpha who gets you?"

"Why, you are, of course," Dimmadreki exclaimed. "You said you want to find some dragons for your nest, right? We officially volunteer to be your first residents." He bowed, almost mockingly, but not quite. "We like being close to my parents, we like being near our son's new home, we like being close to our daughter's future home, we like a place where the humans will leave our young ones alone, and we like you, bud."

"It's like they say," Myrkrid added. "Location, location, location. We already talked it over and agreed that we won't find a better place than right here."

"And, if you do go flying to other nests," he went on, "we can keep the place under control for you until you get back. And when we take a long flight to visit Mrembo wa Mashariki once a year, we'll have a safe place to leave our youngest hatchling. It sounds like a win-win for everybody."

"There's just one problem," Tannlaus said. "If you accept me as your Alpha, then you'll have to bow to me. But, after all the things you've done for dragons all over the world, I should be bowing to you and calling you 'Great One'."

"Oh, please, don't!" Dimmadreki replied, sincerely embarrassed. "That's not a problem to me, my friend. To me, bowing isn't humiliation or submission; it's just acknowledging your position. I can't imagine me ever getting in a fight with another dragon, so you'll never have to choose sides for me or against me when you break up fights. I don't even want to rule over a nest – it's hard enough keeping my own family in line! I just want to lead a quiet life, go flying with my mate, keep my children out of trouble, and watch the Night Fury race grow."

"Go flying with your mate?" Tannlaus repeated, with a trace of a grin. "Where's the challenge in that? How about flying with somebody who can fly circles around you before he leaves you in the dust?"

"Oh, is that what you think?" Dimmadreki retorted with a huge smile. "Okay, show me what you've got, hot shot!" They leaped into the air, climbed fast, and began trying to get on each other's tail. For both of them, it wasn't really about winning or losing. It was just about flying.

Myrkrid watched their game of aerial tag and smiled. My partner, the ex-human, she thought. My partner, the hero, the dragon-deliverer. My partner, whom I don't always agree with, and sometimes I think he's lost his mind, but I have to admit, he's almost always awesome.

My partner, the dragon.

THE END