ALL NOVEL Chapter 56: Through the Grapevine
«A…human?» Nanzo asked, bewildered.
«Yes!» Kharno exclaimed between pants. The amber-yellow dragon had talked without pause for a rather impressive length of time. «Exciting, is it not?»
Nanzo rumbled, an unenthusiastic noise. «Somewhat. You used many words to say very little.»
«Well there is not much to say,» Kharno chuffed in offense. «No one knows anything else about the human – except Qnaoro,» she grumbled, a heavy note of jealousy in her voice.
«Yes…I never thought he would actually find anything,» Nanzo said, sitting back as he processed this deluge of information. “How many dragons do you think will be in the fourth province, come solstice?»
«At least five hundred,» Kharno said with absolute certainty. «Or you can call me a lizard.»
Nanzo cocked his head, his eyes slitted in amusement. «Really?»
«...maybe closer to four hundred,» she amended, eliciting an amused huff from the younger dragon.
«I see. Thank you for the information. I will tell Lakath, of course.»
«Yes, of course,» Kharno nodded. «Speaking of, anything…interesting happen yet?» she asked, her head tilted in a half-hinting way.
«My circumstances have not changed,» Nanzo said, ignoring the pointed look he received in return.
«Hmph...you are no fun,» Kharno huffed, turning away with a rather offended air. «I need to go now, do be sure to let me know if-»
«Yes, yes, I will,» Nanzo said, waving her off. He closed his eyes as she flapped away, not looking forward to the task that laid before him. Lakath did not live far from him, only a short trek away. She was more than close enough to have heard Kharno’s roar announcing his arrival, and he was unsurprised to find her waiting at her usual place.
Lakath tilted her head at Nanzo’s silence, sunlight reflecting off her vibrant orange scales. Just as always, her eyes were directed straight at him, milky and unseeing though they were. «Well? What are you dragging your tail for? What did Kharno have to say?»
Nanzo clenched his teeth, and relayed to her how Qnaoro had found a strange creature from another land – one capable of speech.
Lakath had, of course, pushed herself up at the first word, her frame trembling with excitement. «The fourth province, you say? Let us go at once!»
«You cannot just-» Nanzo cut himself off, and sighed. «You cannot just rush off to the fourth province – how are you even going to reach the top of the Plateau?»
«Fly, of course. What use is practice if I never get to use it?»
«It is dangerous!» Nanzo hissed, exasperated by her obstinate nature. «Kharno thinks there will be at least five hundred dragons there. What are you going to do if a fight breaks out? There will be too much noise for you to hear anything!»
Lakath froze, her expression hardening even as hurt flickered in her milky eyes.
«I-” Nanzo let out an explosive sigh, uncertain of how to proceed. «No one knows what will happen in this meeting. Can you imagine the chaos if a fight breaks out between five-hundred dragons?»
Lakath’s face remained a stone mask, but her head lowered almost imperceptibly a few heartbeats later. «Do you have a plan?»
«I have two, though I am sure you will like one more than the other,» Nanzo said, sitting himself down. «First plan: You stay here-»
«I am not doing that.»
«-while I go to the fourth province, then I come back and tell you what happened,» Nanzo said, ignoring her dismissal of the idea. «The second plan is that we go together, but not directly to the Plateau; instead we stay at a distance, such that we will not be caught in the core of the conflict.»
Lakath drew her head back, clearly disliking the idea. «What is the point of wandering around the Plateau if I never get to meet this human?»
«The point,» Nanzo said, «is that we can talk to the human once we know things have settled down.»
«Mmm…» Lakath squinted as she pondered this proposal. The movement of her eyelids were for the sake of communication rather than any personal need, and while it was helpful in that regard Nanzo couldn’t help but find it unnerving at times, even after all the decades that they had known each other. «What if Qnaoro disappears again?» She questioned.
«That is not possible,» Nanzo answered confidently. «He cannot leave unnoticed with so many others around.»
«...fine,» Lakath sighed, «we will go with your plan.»
Nanzo blinked, surprised at her acceptance. «...just like that?»
«What? I can be reasonable too.»
The yellow dragon wisely decided not to comment on that. Instead he asked, «...when do you want to leave?»
Lakath parted her jaws in a coy smile. «I do need you to guide me, so unless you are very tired then I ‘see’ no reason why we cannot leave now.»*
*Note that it is grammatically correct Draconic to hear/see/smell/sense something intangible. Lakath is going out of her way to make a pun here.
«...I am ready to leave at any time,» Nanzo said, stoutly ignoring Lakth’s attempt to get under his scales. That didn’t stop her from chuffing in amusement, however; somehow she always found his reaction amusing, no matter how hard he tried to hide it. «We have never practiced flying so far before, so please let me know if you need a break.»
Lakath paused – she had already turned to climb up the mountain. Turning back around, she stared straight into his eyes. «...I will. Thank you.»
The yellow dragon glanced to the side, shame burning in his core. «Think nothing of it.»
«Hide,» Ungal ordered, the command accompanied by a harsh gesture to the deepest depths of his cave. «Good. Now stay.» The red dragon knew his orders would be obeyed, and quickly turned to dive into the nearby river. There he did his best to scrub himself clean, and only barely made it to the peak of his mountain before his visitor arrived.
«Greetings, Ungal-ǂ, have you heard the news?» Eosmn asked, without waiting for Ungal to return his greeting.
«Greetings, Eosmn-ǂ,» Ungal nodded, taken aback by the green dragon’s odd enthusiasm. «What news?»
«Oh, so you have not!» Eosmn said, sitting down in relief. «I last talked to Esham, and she already heard about it, so I am glad I did not fly here for nothing.» From this ramble he jumped directly into conveying his short but ludicrous message.
«What? How did-» Ungal asked, but he was cut off by Eosmn.
«He found her on a small island, no one knows how, Qnaoro has learnt to speak her language, she stands on two legs and only has two arms, and only has fur on her head.» Eosmn paused, then added, «Oh, and no one knows where they are. I believe that is everything.»
Ungal only stared slack jawed.
«I have told this story five times already, everyone has the same questions,» Eosmn said by way of answer. «I assume you will be at the Plateau on the day of the solstice? Most others have said they will be going.»
«...yes, of course,» the red dragon said, nodding faintly. «Thank you for telling me this, I know not many live in this area.»
«It is no issue at all,» Eosmn said, though not without a very pointed pause. Ungal chuffed, and left to retrieve a rather nice piece of quartz that made Eosmn’s eyes light up.
«Appreciated,» Eosmn nodded, but he abruptly froze before sniffing the crystal. «...this smells like-»
«I found it in a raptor nest.» Ungal said, lying easily.
«Hmm. Never found something like this in their nests before. Maybe I should hunt them down more often.»
«Perhaps only some of them do it,» the red dragon suggested, privately thankful to his past self for coming up with that lie years ago.
Eosmn left soon afterwards, no doubt hoping to receive payment to others who had not yet heard the jaw-dropping news. Ungal absently made his way back home, relieved that Eosmn was not interested in a prolonged conversation.
«You can come out now,” Ungal said, and he sighed as three raptors darted out of his cave, trilling happily at him. «What am I going to do with you three?»
«Karoth!» Yantha exclaimed. «New land!»
Karoth lifted his head, blinking drowsily at his twin brother. «What are you talking about? Slow down, you are speaking even more nonsense than normal.»
«It is not nonsense!» Yantha protested, snapping out his wings so quickly that Karoth was surprised he didn’t knock himself over. «Qnaoro found a creature that can speak, and she says she is from another land!»
Karoth blinked. «What? Qnaoro the wanderer?»
«Yes, she calls herself a human-» Yantha said, then proceeded to regurgitate the information he had received from Mohnwa, who had just dropped by to leave a message.
«Interesting…» Karoth rumbled. «And no one knows where this ‘human’ came from.»
Yantha tossed his head. «No, but if we can learn that-»
«-Then we can find other lands ourselves,» Karoth finished. «But what will happen after that? If say, five-hundred dragons left, could the remaining five hundred all have an egg? What about those who leave?» He paused, stumbling across a point of concern. «You said this human was small?»
«Yes, very small and weak. I cannot see how they could be a threat.»
«Good,» Karoth nodded. «If they were, then we would be at a disadvantage. They can come to us, but we cannot go to them.»
«Unless they could help us travel across the ocean,» Yantha suggested, «but that seems unlikely.»
«Yes, I suppose it does.» Karoth frowned, and tapped a talon against the ground in thought. «What do you think we should do, brother?»
Yantha snorted dismissively. «I do not see how such weak creatures could be significant. It is likely that this human floated across the ocean by luck, in which case she is nothing more than a curiosity.»
«You are not wrong,» Karoth admitted, «but I have a feeling that we are missing something. Why has no one ever found one of her kind before? Surely at least one of them would have succeeded if that were the case.»
«Well, I think we should get going,» Yantha said, glancing up at the sky. «It is pointless to sit around thinking so much when we know so little.»
«On that, we are agreed,» Karoth said, his joints cracking and popping as he stretched. «What would you do, if it turns out they can help us cross the ocean?»
Yantha cocked his head, a thoughtful expression on his face. «I suppose I am curious to see what the far-land looks like, and it would be fun to hunt some new prey for a change, but it would be boring if there were no one to fight. What about you?»
«Well…» Karoth hummed, «I am not sure yet, I think I will wait until I see this human for myself first. It would be disappointing if they were killed before I had a chance to see them.»
«Mother, important news!» Icahna gasped, fumbling her landing in her haste.
Vosae snorted before roughly flicking her daughter between the eyes. «How many times have I told you to stop being so clumsy?» She hissed.
Icahna flinched at the blow before ducking her head apologetically. «I am sorry, but-»
«If you were sorry then you would have spent more time training instead of wandering about. Your graceless actions reflect poorly upon our clan.»
«But-»
«You are getting too old to be neglecting your responsibilities, I-»
«Qnaoro found a creature from another land!» Icahna blurted out, an action that she immediately regretted – at least until her mother’s eyes widened in surprise, something that she could not remember seeing.
«...Explain.»
Icahna quickly relayed what she had learned from Oughan.
«I see…» Vosae rumbled, a hard look in her eyes. «I have never heard of anything like this. I have heard no indication of any ties between Qnaoro and Xhorhw before, and I cannot sense what either of them have to gain by telling such a ridiculous lie.» She drummed her talons as she pondered outloud. «Tell me, who told Oughan this information?»
Icahna nodded, and dutifully recited the path that the news took to reach them.
«Yes, and what do you think about this piece of information?»
«It…sounds plausible?» Icahna said uncertainly. «The path that the information took is relatively direct, and has no clear pattern. It also implicates several powerful individuals, which a liar would prefer to avoid.»
«Good,» her mother nodded. «So you have been listening after all.»
Icahna’s chest swelled at the praise, but then she tilted her head to ask,«Who will be sent to investigate? Elder sister?»
«No, I will go myself,» Vosae said, surprising her daughter. «There is too much we do not know. She has a language, which means she speaks to others of her own kind, so why is she alone? Could she be an exile? If she is as small as you say she is, then it is not impossible for her to have crossed the ocean on a large piece of wood. Perhaps she is simply the first of her kind to succeed.» She shook her head. «Whatever the case, it is clearly difficult for them to cross the ocean, else we would have found more of them by now.»
«That…makes sense,» Icahna agreed, though she was aware it sounded more like a question than an answer.
«You said that most others believed the…human made something to float over the ocean with, and that she had a strange, unknown material over her hide, yes?»
«That is what Oughan said, why do you ask?»
«In that case, her species must be able to create things that we cannot recognize. What else can they create?» Vosae sighed. «Things would be relatively simple if this human were merely a lucky exile of some sort, but if not…»
Icahna tilted her head. «You think we will find more of them in the future?»
«Yes,» Vosae nodded. «It is for that reason that I must go myself.»
«Wait, I do not understand,” Icahna admitted. «Why not send elder sister?»
«The likelihood is small, but trade deals are the lifeblood of our clan; if another party arrives, they could disrupt everything.» Vosae paused for a moment. «You are almost an adult now, so I am going to tell you something new. You know all it takes to make alcohol is to let fruit sit in a container. Why do you think we are the only clan that makes it?»
Icahna blinked, taken aback by her mother’s change in behavior. «Is it…because we make better alcohol than anyone else?»
«Not wrong,» Vosae said, tilting her head in acknowledgement, «but on occasion a dragon figures out how to do it by accident, though they are no real threat to us without the ability to refine it, that process was-»
«-first invented by our ancestor Hsomoa one-thousand-five-hundred-and-twenty-six years ago,» Icahna finished. She might not listen as much as her mother would have liked, but if she heard that line any more she’d start hearing it in her dreams. «I already knew that,» she added plaintively.
«The second reason,» Vosae said, ignoring her complaint, «is that we eliminate our competitors before they become a threat. There are several ways to accomplish this: sometimes the implicit threat in asking them is enough to make them stop, but if that does not work then you could simply invite them into our clan. As a last resort, you may have to simply attack them until they promise to stop making alcohol.»
«...oh,» Icahna said. That explained certain behaviors she’d seen over the years.«Okay, but what does this have to do with the human?»
«I am saying it is possible that they could make alcohol like we can.»
«What?» Icahna exclaimed, eyes wide. «Mother, we know almost nothing about them, what led you to that conclusion?»
«It-» Vosae abruptly winced as a low hiss slid past her teeth.
«Are you hurting again? Should I gather more numbweed?» Icahna asked, curiosity temporarily suppressed by concern. Vosae rarely allowed herself to be affected by pain, though Icahna could tell her mother’s ailment was worsening over the years despite her best efforts to hide it.
«No, I do not need it,» Vosae growled, her eyelids sliding open as the pain subsided to a manageable level,«It is not that I believe this outcome to be likely – remember what I taught you. Always prepare for the worst, and it is always easier to prevent than it is to repair. I do not know what these beings are capable of, but I must be prudent.»
«I see…» Icahna said, slow and hesitant. «So we must treat them as a threat?»
«No, we must be prepared to treat them as a threat,» Vosae corrected, her expression hardening. «I hope they are not, but I will do what I must to ensure the survival of our clan.»
Helsha hummed as he hovered over the last row of sproutlings, his upper body supported by the palms of his wings such that his arms were free to prune the young trees. They would need the extra care, now that he was planning on leaving them unattended for some time.
A distant roar sounded in the distance, ruining his freshly-acquired good mood. Why did visitors have to keep bothering him?
It didn’t take long for the culprit to land nearby, the young dragon a terribly common shade of green – nothing at all like his own verdant hide.
«Greetings, Helsha-ǂ-»
«This had better be important,» Helsha snarled, cutting off the youngling’s introduction. The young fool’s reckless landing had caused his precious saplings to sway alarmingly.
«Qnaoro has found a creature from another land!»
Helsha blinked. «And this is important because…?»
The young dragon’s jaw dropped, apparently baffled that anyone would be unsurprised by this mundane piece of news. «If that is all you have to say, then get out of my territory before I-»
«The creature can talk, and Qnaoro has learned how to speak with her!»
«...why did you not start with that?!» Helsha nearly roared.
The young dragon ducked his head, then proceeded to apologize while simultaneously regurgitating all the information that he knew.
«...Is that all?» Helsha asked when he was done.
«Yes, everything, I swear!»
«How long ago did Xhorhw tell you this? Stand up and tell me your name, for Sun’s sake.»
«Last night, elder Helsha! My name is Ranoha!» The young dragon shot back.
Helsha eyelids widened almost imperceptibly. «You flew through the night?»
«Yes, elder!»
«...your assistance is appreciated, Ranoha,» Helsha begrudgingly admitted, and gave the young dragon a suitable reward for bringing the news so quickly – though not before extracting a promise to remain silent about said reward. He didn’t want a horde of fools trampling over his plants, after all.
Helsha watched as the Ranoha flew off with a pleasantly formed chunk of ore in hand, then directed his gaze down at the saplings he had been pruning. A few of the thinner branches had been damaged by his visitor’s reckless landing. He sighed.
«Qnaoro, what have you gotten yourself into?»