Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
The flight to the South Pole proved slightly tricky.
For one, the further south we went, the less nighttime darkness we could use to conceal our movement.
Not that it would have mattered much. Even my greater bulk couldn’t fully cover the three hatchlings flying above me.
Three, not four. While Abaddon and the females had the size and stamina to fly on their own, Tigger didn’t, and so, to my annoyance—and his delight—he got the privilege of riding atop my back along with a warning.
“You will comport yourself in a respectful manner,” I growled. It was one thing to carry around my mate, Davina, another to be a taxi for a hatchling who clung to my scales and whooped as we soared.
“Of course,” he promised. It didn’t last long.
Soon as we launched into the air, he squealed, “Whee! Faster.”
I wish. I couldn’t increase my speed lest I leave the others behind.
Just like I couldn’t fly straight to Antarctica.
The hatchlings needed to rest every few hours therefore we stopped in the Cook Islands, halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand.
The hatchlings fished for their dinner, plucking bright fish from the waters for gobbling.
Me, I snared a nine-foot yellow fin tuna that had my progeny eyeing me with admiration.
What can I say, I had a big appetite in this form.
As I had at every other stop, I pulled my satellite phone from my satchel and gave Davina a call.
“Hello,” she replied, breathily.
“I miss you,” I murmured, hearing her voice.
“Me too. I found a secret passage in the castle!” My mate, the history fanatic.
I’d been tempted to bring her with me, but at the same time, needed to not be distracted.
While I’d not been having the dream like the hatchlings, I’d sensed something trying to get in.
Nudging against my mental barriers, not shoving through, despite the fact I suspected they could.
“Have you spoken to Astaria?” I asked.
“Not recently. Anything wrong?”
“Nope. All good so far. I’ve got all the kids with me, and we’re having a grand adventure.” More than I should have probably said, but then again, at this point, Malone was the least of my worries.
“I miss you,” she murmured.
I didn’t fall into the trap of I miss you more. But it was close. “I’ll be back soon as I can.”
Me and the hatchlings set off from the Cook Islands to New Zealand next, landing on a southern point and making camp for the day.
While the young dragons slept, I transformed and changed into my clothing before heading off for a pint and some gossip.
With Christchurch being the main gateway for flights to Antarctica, they likely would have the current news about the place.
What I heard had me rushing back to camp.
“Wake up,” I bellowed soon as I returned.
“Wassup?” Tigger mumbled rousing from his cozy nest of leaves.
“Where’s Abaddon and Pollita?” I didn’t see them.
Persephone stretched. “Off to be alone.”
“Percy told them to go away because they were being noisy,” Tigger confided.
“Some of us need our beauty rest,” she huffed.
“Not you. You’re already beautiful,” the smitten Tigger declared, bringing a mauve blush to Percy’s snout.
It took effort to not yell. I kept my voice tight as I said, “We need to locate them.”
“You seem agitated. Has something happened?” Percy stood and shook, her scales rippling before settling into place.
“They’re evacuating McMurdo Station.”
“Isn’t that where the humans live in Antarctica?” Tigger stretched.
“Not anymore. Mount Erebus, as well as the three dormant volcanoes near it, have erupted.”
“Malone must have gotten to them,” Percy somberly declared.
“Meaning we’re too late!” Tigger squeaked, puffing orange smoke.
“Not necessarily. But we should depart immediately. We’re only a few hours away.”
Tigger bounced out of his leafy nest. “I’ll go find Abaddon and Polly.” He jumped into the air and flapped his orange wings.
I stripped and stowed my clothes in my satchel before morphing.
“Do you think any of us will inherit your ability to shift?” Percy asked almost shyly.
“I don’t know. It’s one of the mysteries of our kind that we end up with different gifts. Some only ever acquire a single power, while others have many.”
“But not all of yours came naturally.” A subtle poke that I didn’t take offense at.
“No.”
“Is it true that if you eat another dragon, you get their power?”
“Unfortunately.”
“Did cannibalization happen often back in your day?”
“Surprisingly, no. While we were very active in protecting and expanding our domains, we remained cognizant that wide-scale murder would result in our decimation and eventual extinction.”
“Hence why Tiamat tried to create a clutch she could consume.” Percy had a disapproving note. “A mother is supposed to nurture her young.”
“A concept common among the mammals of this world, but dragons are different.”
“Very different.” She paused before adding. “Do you think we originated on this planet?”
“A question I’ve often asked myself. I’m aware we don’t really compare to the other species and defy human science in many respects.”
“I found them!” Tigger chirped as he returned.
The missing duo landed a moment after. “Why the need to disturb us? We barely had time to rest.”
“Is that what you called what you were doing?” Tigger exclaimed. “Looked more like what Ilona and Apollo do when they kick me out of their bedroom.”
Abaddon hissed steam, but before he could blow flame, Polly put a paw on his arm. “It’s understandable he’d be jealous. Look at us. The prettiest and strongest forming a union.”
“Prettiest?” Tigger snorted.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Polly huffed.
“You’re not my type,” he said, his gaze flipping over to Percy, who fluttered her wings.
I rolled my eyes. “Children, can we not squabble?”
“Who are you calling a child?” Abaddon’s chest expanded.
“We don’t have time for this. The volcanoes in Antarctica have exploded. If we’re going to make a difference, we should leave now.”
“Malone,” several of them growled in unison.
“Most likely. Now, can we get into the air?”
“But it’s still daylight. We might be seen,” Percy reminded.
“Unavoidable. We can’t wait until nine o’clock tonight to leave. It might be too late.”
“Shotdragon,” Tigger yelled, flinging himself into the air to land between my shoulders. I held in a sigh.
“Ready?” I asked but didn’t wait for a reply. I bunched my hind legs and pushed upward. The mighty leap cleared the trees so that I could unfurl my wings. The other dragons followed, flapping hard to ascend.
I led the way, coasting the currents that changed in temperature as we neared the icy continent.
The sunshine disappeared as we entered a haze smelling of sulfur, and the air tasted of ash.
Angling upwards, we escaped most of the spreading volcanic pollution and, from our new vantage, could see the miasma spreading.
Over the thickest of it, we dove into the smog where visibility suffered, forcing us to rely on other senses.
Not smell. The burn of magma overpowered our olfactory receptors.
Nor could we rely on taste, for the ash coating our tongues and mouth revealed nothing.
We could hear nothing but the flap of our wings and whistle of wind.
That left only one other sense. The sixth one that few humans ever mastered.
They called is ESP, extrasensory perception. I called it trusting my gut.
And my gut indicated something both familiar and alien. Very discomfiting.
I wasn’t alone in perceiving it.
Why does it seem like we’re not alone, Father? Tigger mentally queried.
Before I could reply, a voice, not mine, not the hatchlings, not one I’d ever heard, not one that should have been able to penetrate my mind without invitation, spoke.
About time you arrived. Be good servants and fetch me the human female called Velma.
When I managed to send back a vehement, I don’t think so, the sudden squeeze on my mind had me screaming with a pain I’d never felt before.
It soon faded replaced with a soft command. Bring me Velma.
I angled my direction of flight.