Here Be Dragons: Book 1 of the Emergence Series

[Day 104]

Pryce stepped onto the beach early in the morning, and was surprised to see a red dragon talking to Celeste. The two of them turned to face him as they noticed his arrival, giving him the impression that they were waiting for him.

“Oh…er…good morning?” Pryce said uncertainly, and looked to Celeste for an explanation.

“His name is Ungal – he is one of Aurum’s allies,” she said. “He woke me up early and asked if humans had any animals that they were…the closest term is ‘friendly with’,” she said, grumbling sleepily.

“We have a few,” Pryce said, looking up at Ungal. “Some are used for protection, or to help hunt, but that was mostly in the past. Why do you ask?”

«I see…that makes sense, seeing as how small you are,» Ungal said, rumbling thoughtfully as he heard Celeste’s translation. «Yes, you might have powerful weapons, but Jooral-ǂ did say you have poor senses, and needed our help to survive on our land.»

“You sound like you have a solution to this,” Pryce said, eyebrow raised.

«Yes, at least of sorts,» Ungal said, scratching his neck in a somewhat nervous manner. «The way I see it, this land is dangerous, and we couldn’t protect a thousand humans even if we tried our best…which means you need more help.»

«Will you just get to the point?» Celeste asked, groaning in exasperation.

«The point is that I have raised some animals that will be of interest to you,» Ungal hissed quietly. «I’ve been doing it for a few generations now, and they’ve grown noticeably tamer over time. I think they would be quite useful if raised as hatchlings around humans.»

«But what are they?» Celeste growled, her wings shifting with agitation.

“Yes, I feel like that’s important information,” Pryce agreed.

«They’re…ah…» Ungal looked away, then lowered his head to quietly admit, «They’re raptors.»

«What.» Celeste said. «Are you saying that you’re raising raptors like hatchlings?!»

«Quiet!» Ungal hissed, glancing around to ensure that no one else had awoken. «I spared some eggs on a whim, and they turned out to be surprisingly useful, so I collected more eggs until I had a group of them. Some of the more rebellious ones left on their own, but the ones who stayed made more eggs. And it’s not as bad as it sounds; these raptors fight their normal siblings!»

«You…are you suggesting that you want to replace raptors with ‘good’ ones?» Celeste asked, drawing her head back incredulously. «That’s never going to work!»

«I don’t need to replace them entirely; I’m just saying that they can be useful, especially to humans,» Ungal said, gesturing to Pryce.

“It’s not a bad idea,” Pryce admitted, “though we’d have to see if it works, of course.”

«See? The human thinks it’s a good idea,» Ungal chuffed.

«Hmph,» Celeste grumbled. «What, so you’re going to give them a few raptor eggs in exchange for…what? Human tools?»

«I haven’t seen everything that they can do yet; how am I supposed to know what I want?» Ungal asked, tossing his head dismissively. «We can talk about payment later. I need to go home now, but I’ll come find you when you return to live with the Brewer clan, will that work?»

«He says that will be acceptable,» Celeste translated, earning a nod from Ungal.

«Very well. Till we meet again,» the red dragon said, and made a small gesture of farewell with his wing before flying off to the south.

“He is a weird one,” Celeste grumbled as she laid back down. “Wake me up if something interesting happens.”

«You have to tell him,» Helsha said, startling Qnaoro. «I can see why you would want to wait until things have settled down, but if you won’t tell him then I will.»

«I know, I know,» Qnaoro grumbled. «I was just waiting for the right moment,» he muttered as he walked up to Fathom, who was currently having his wounds examined by Pryce.

“It hurts a bit less than it did yesterday,” Fathom said, as Pryce took note of the progress of his injuries. “I will be mostly healed in a month. Might be able to fly soon after that.”

“Sailing back to the Mainland will take ten days,” Pryce said, frowning. “Which means by the time we get back home you still won’t be able to fly for another half a month. Assuming we leave in a few days,” he added.

“I know,” Fathom said, rumbling sullenly. “Urgh. We wouldn’t have to deal with this if those clanned idiots hadn’t hit me with that stupid stream of fire.” He paused, then turned to eye Qnaoro as the golden dragon approached. “Oh, it’s you. What do you want?”

«Oh…well…» Qnaoro stammered as he cursed his luck. «There’s something I wanted to tell you. You might have seen Wonta chasing me towards the end of the fight…»

«I saw some of that,» Fathom chuffed. «That was embarrassing. Did you even try to fight back?»

«Well…I did,» Qnaoro said, not at all meeting Fathom’s eyes. «I tried to spit fire at him, but he dodged, and…it turned out that you were behind him.»

Fathom’s eyes widened, then he shot up to his feet despite Pryce’s protests. «You.»

«It was an accident!» Qnaoro protested as he shrank back, though he ultimately stood his ground.

«Do you think I’m an idiot?» Fathom hissed. «Of all the dragons you ‘accidentally’ hit, it just so happens to be me – the only one of us you have reason to want dead.»

Pryce had been trying to pacify Fathom until now, but he froze as the dragon spat out his accusation.

«What are you talking about? I don’t want you dead!» Qnaoro shot back. «What reason could I possibly have to try and kill you?»

«What reason? Were you not the one who whined about being the first to go to the Mainland?» Fathom spat.

Qnaoro froze, belatedly realizing that such an interpretation seemed rather sensible from an outside perspective. «Oh,» he said, wilting. «I…hadn’t…thought of it that way,» he admitted gracelessly.

Several moments passed as the blue dragon silently glared at him. Qnaoro abruptly became aware of the silence that fell over the beach – a consequence of their argument. Even without looking he could sense tens of stares curiously watching their stand-off.

“What’s wrong? Hey! What’s going on?” Callan called out as she hurried over, the geologist having been some distance away when the argument started.

“Aurum just confessed to having been the one to hit Fathom with a stream of fire,” Pryce said with a tight-lipped expression.

“What? Why did you do that?”

“It was an accident!” Qnaoro repeated, a little exasperated, “I was fighting Wonta! Laishaka, you trust me, right?”

“If he says it’s an accident, then I believe him,” Callan said, turning to Pryce. “He doesn’t like fighting or conflict. Sure exploring is important to him, but he wouldn’t get someone killed over it.”

«He has my support as well,» Helsha said, though he couldn’t have understood much of their speech. «He…could afford to better himself in several regards, but he would not attempt something as underhanded as that; I'd bet my life on it.»

Fathom gave no indication that he heard these testimonies; he only continued to glare at Qnaoro.

«...fine,» Fathom snorted after a long, pregnant pause. «I’ll believe that it wasn’t intentional, but we’ll settle this properly later.» He turned around as he said his piece, and limped away to sit towards the ship, facing away from Qnaoro.

«I appreciate your support,» Qnaoro said, sighing in relief, «but did you have to word it like that?» he asked, side-eyeing Callan and Helsha. The former shrugged apologetically, while the latter merely snorted.

«Am I wrong?» the herbalist asked, head tilted in challenge.

Qnaoro looked away. «…No,» he admitted after a moment’s consideration. «You are right. I am complacent, but I’ll be going to the Mainland soon, so I don’t see how I’ll have the opportunity to start training, unless you’ll be coming along with us,» he asked hopefully.

«No,» Helsha said firmly, tossing his head. «I’m curious about human knowledge and tools, but I’d rather stay home. Besides,» he added, «someone needs to take care of my plants, and I’m the only one who I trust to do so.»

«I see,» Qnaoro said, disappointed. «How… are you going to take care of your plants?» he asked, eyeing the herbalist’s rather heavy injuries.

«I’ll figure something out,» he said, sitting back down with a pained grunt. «I can always pay some youngling to go and water them until I am recovered.»

“I suppose now it’s time to iron out the details,” Callan said, crossing her arms.

Qnaoro tilted his head, blinking curiously at the idiom, “Is ‘iron out’ an expression referring to refining things like how iron is refined?”

“That’s…a pretty good guess, actually, but no. There’s a tool called an iron that helps smooth out clothes.”

Qnaoro stared. “Is…making clothes smooth very important? Why does this tool have the same name as the metal?”

“Well…not very important,” Callan said, scratching her head. ”Huh. Never really thought about that, but it does make it sound more important than it is. Anyway, let’s go talk to Fortitude, since everyone seems to listen to her.”

“Not yet,” Pryce said, hand raised abortively. “There’s something we have to do first before we can make a proper decision.”

«Are you finally ready?» Leonahr asked as she gnawed upon a bone.

“Yes. We’ll be beginning soon,” Pryce said, answering with Celeste as an intermediary. “Are you ready to start?”

«Yes,» Leonahr said, standing up to toss the bone into the ocean. «How much do humans know about human bodies?» she asked, head tilted.

“Humans have studied our bodies for thousands of years, but we’ve only made real progress in the last few hundred,” Pryce answered, frowning. “How many bodies have you…examined?”

«Six,» Leonahr answered plainly. «How many have you examined?» she asked, peering closely at Pryce.

“Well…I’m not sure what you’d count as ‘examine’, but if you include people I’ve done surgery on then it’s…well, a lot more than six,” Pryce sighed. “Just so you know, most of what you think you know about your body is probably wrong,” he added.

Leonahr cocked her head. «Do I not have two wings, two arms, and two legs?»

“Well…yes, but I’m referring to the function of your internal organs. No one really understood the purpose of most organs until fairly recently.”

«Oh. Are you sure about that?» Leonahr asked skeptically. «We are very different from each other, so I do not see how you could know much about our bodies, even if you do know your own.»

“Haven’t you noticed that most animals have similar looking insides? They don’t just look the same, they do the same things as well, because all bodies need to do the same things.”

«Hmm. I hadn’t thought of it like that,» Leonahr said, bobbing her head interestedly. «I mostly study the structure of hide, muscles, and tendons to better my understanding of the physical body. Organs are very confusing, and most of them have no effect on one’s physical appearance, so I never bothered learning anything about them other than their shape and location.»

“She examines bodies to make better carvings, so she is less interested in studying internal organs,” Celeste said, adding onto her translation.

“That’s fine, I’ll take all the help I can get,” Pryce said. “One last question: have you ever examined any bodies with half-healed, broken wings?”

«Once. The injury was much worse than hers,» Leonahr said, gesturing to Fortitude. «The dragon had been starving before she died, because she could barely hunt,» she added, not appearing very troubled.

Pryce raised his eyebrow at the unexpected answer. “Were you the one who killed her?” he asked, eyes narrowed.

«Yes,» Leonahr said, with that same neutral tone. After a moment she seemed to realize that her answer was insufficient. «Her name was Sillia, and she sought me out to offer a trade; if I gave her an honorable death, then took care of her egg until it* grew to an adult, then I would be allowed to examine Sillia’s corpse.»

*Dragons have a specific pronoun for eggs – something between ‘it’ and ‘they’.

“I see,” Pryce said, simultaneously a little relieved and a little perturbed. “But why you? Why not anyone else?”

Leonahr shifted her wings in a subtle shrug. «She likely wanted the hatchling’s parent to be indebted to her, and of course I fulfilled my end of the promise. I had no desire to be a mother, but it was a very interesting experience. Silona matured well; it is a shame she did not decide to come to the Plateau this year.»

“I see,” Pryce said. “Please come with me; I’ll need your help examining Fortitude’s wing.”

“Like this?” Fortitude asked, lifting up her left wing. She sat as low to the ground as possible, allowing Pryce to inspect the hide that surrounded her malunion.

“Yes, thank you,” Pryce said, measuring the location of the scarred wound, which was about 30 centimeters above the shoulder of her wing. “Does it hurt?”

“Only if I move it in the wrong way,” Fortitude said, shrugging with her other wing. “I can try to fly, but my left wing is too weak to stay in the air, and it can’t move as much as my healthy one. The best I can do is glide a little.”

«Scarring isn’t heavy, but more than I’d have expected given how old it is,» Leonahr half-muttered to herself. «Either way, the bent bone is a much larger concern than any scarred flesh.»

«Truly, what an insightful analysis,» Fortitude said, quipping sarcastically before turning back to Pryce. “Will Pathogen’s body let you fix my wing sooner?”

“Sooner, yes, but not yet. I’m going to use Pathogen’s wing as practice by pretending that it’s yours – that will help me learn what to do, but we won’t be able to make tools suitable for performing surgery on dragons until we go back to the Mainland. It would be extremely reckless to try now, when we can improve our chances by doing it later.”

“...are you going to do that practice today?” Fortitude asked.

“Yes, I was just checking your injury so I know where to cut Pathogen’s wing.”

“We will watch,” Devotion said, somewhat abruptly. “There is no reason why we cannot do this, is there?”

“Of course you can, but there won’t be much space,” Pryce warned.

Devotion snorted dismissively, tossing her head. “That is not a concern.”

Pryce and Corbin ran through the checklist of the surgical equipment they’d gathered, the tools encircling Pathogen’s body in an almost ritualistic manner. Whoever had dragged the corpse into the cargo hold clearly hadn’t given it much consideration; the cadaver laid upon its side, its limbs splayed out at awkward angles.

The blood had long since drained from the dragon’s body along with his life, and the once rusted coloration of his hide had darkened into a shade resembling a dried wapel leaf.

The cargo hold was a few degrees cooler than the outside air, and no visible decomposition had occurred within the last two days, but that wouldn’t be the case for long.

«It’s good that you’re starting now,» Leonahr said. «The body already smells faintly of rot. A day or two longer and I wouldn’t want to touch it.»

“Understood,” Pryce said, turning to face the others.

“Do not worry. We will not interfere,” Devotion said, while Fortitude examined the surgical tools with great interest – and maybe a little apprehension, though that could’ve been Pryce’s imagination.

“Celeste, are you comfortable being here?” he asked, seeing the young dragon staring intently at Pathogen’s corpse.

“No, the cargo hold floor is hard and the air is a bit…dead?” Celeste said, stumbling uncertainly over the translation. The windows and doors had been closed and covered up, so as to prevent any prying eyes from observing the procedure, and lightbulbs had been set up to light up the hold.

The heat given off by the lightbulbs and four living dragons was unfortunately quite tangible, and it would only get worse over the course of the day.

“I meant to ask if dissecting this body will make you uncomfortable,” Pryce clarified, wiping his brow.

“No?” Celeste replied uncertainly. “Why would I be uncomfortable? I see dead things every day.”

“But this is a dragon. Isn’t that different?”

“A little,” Celeste said, flattening her spines, “but he killed my mother. Why would I be uncomfortable seeing him cut open?”

“I…suppose that makes sense,” Pryce said, a little surprised at her vehemence, though he supposed it wasn’t unwarranted. He glanced back at the cadaver – the corpse appeared oddly deflated, which he assumed was due to the evacuation of the internal air sacs. The most notable thing about the corpse was of course the fatal exit wound upon the neck, where the bullet had torn through vital arteries.

The dim lighting further reduced the coloration of the dragon’s hide, and for a moment he saw Fathom lying in Pathogen’s place, lifeless and unmoving.

If that had happened, then…he would have had to…

Well, it had not.

Pathogen’s death was still senseless, but at that moment, in some way that he could not describe, Pryce’s heart felt the slightest bit lighter.

“Well, I think the preparations are complete. Doctor Corbin, are you ready to begin?”

Pryce and Corbin had both decided that they should start with the right wing, which was the obvious choice for experimentation, seeing as they’d be using the left for the ‘real’ practice run.

Leonahr’s knowledge in musculature had indeed proved quite thorough, though the usefulness of her aid was greatly diminished by Celeste’s translation, despite her best efforts. Ultimately, the decision to use the right wing for practice turned out to have been a sound choice, as the surgery had gone so poorly that it hardly deserved such a term, and it did not inspire much confidence in their audience.

They took a break before starting on the remaining wing, and used the time to teach Leonahr a bit of English so that she could direct them with her words as well as her talons. This resulted in a far more successful second attempt, though there was still much room for improvement.

“That one went much better,” Fortitude noted as Pryce started on the sewing process. “Do you think that would have worked for me?”

“I don’t know,” Pryce sighed tiredly. “There is a small chance it could work, but I’m still not going to do surgery on you yet. It’s too risky, and I could easily make it worse. Once we have the tools, then I’ll consider it.”

“Seconded,” Corbin added. “That means I agree,” he added, having gotten used to clarifying less literal terms.

“Rrrgh,” Fortitude abruptly growled, surprising Pryce. “Apologies. I know you said it might take ten years, and it should be easy to only wait a few more, but I am feeling…”

“If you’re trying to say «impatient», then it’s ‘impatient’,” Celeste offered.

“Impatient, yes,” Fortitude huffed, nodding her thanks. “I have not had a reason to feel like this in a long time.”

“I agree with Pryce,” Devotion said, surprising the humans. «I will not risk making your wing worse, and this process is not safe enough.»

«So fixing my wing in the near future is out of consideration,» Fortitude sighed. “Which means that…hrmph, I’m tired. Let us talk about this tomorrow morning.”

“Agreed,” Pryce said, rubbing his eyes. “We have much to talk about tomorrow.”

[Day 105]

“Good morning,” Pryce said as Fathom sluggishly blinked awake.

“Good morning,” Fathom rumbled. “How did the surgery go?”

“It went well, but I’m not confident in fixing Fortitude’s wing yet,” Pryce sighed. “It’s not as easy as fixing yours. There’s so much muscle near the injury that I have to work around. I do have ideas about what kind of tools we’d need,” he added, “though I might have to check with veterinarians – I imagine they have tools to work on large animals. Might need to make modifications for use on dragons, but it’s certainly better than using construction tools.”

“Makes sense,” Fathom yawned. “Was there something you wanted to talk about?”

“It’s time to decide who to bring to the Mainland. I just wanted to talk to you before everyone else,” Pryce said, nodding his head towards Celeste and the others who were in the process of gathering their allies. Callan, Siebert, and a few other crewmen emerged from the cargo hold as he spoke, ready to attend the meeting.

“I see,” Fathom murmured. “I’m going, and so is that yellow idiot…how many of us can you bring to the Mainland?”

“If you can eat a lot here and sleep for most of the journey, then the limit on the number of dragons we can bring with us is rather high,” Siebert said. “What we should be worried about is how many individuals we should bring. Too many would likely make things…difficult.”

“That is very true,” Fathom rumbled, gingerly tilting his head in thought. “We might have to think about who will be best to work with, and who will cause the least issues on your Mainland.”

“Right…let’s see how many want to go to the Mainland in the first place,” Pryce said, sitting down as their allies began to gather. “Fortitude, are you coming with us?”

“Would things be easier if I went to the Mainland?” Fortitude asked. “You would not need to bring your surgery tools here.”

“No,” Devotion said sharply. “We are not going to the Mainland.”

«I know it’s dangerous,» Fortitude said, swapping to her native tongue for ease of communication, «but you know it’s important to establish ties with the humans – we can’t do that on the opposite side of the world.»

«We can go later, but not now,» Devotion said patiently. «Not until we know it’s safe.»

«I would think that it’s safer to go now instead of later,» Fortitude stressed, «we don’t know what’s going to happen, but we should be doing everything that we can to secure our future.»

«That…is sensible,» Devotion admitted in uncharacteristically quiet tones. «But I still don’t think we should go. All it takes is one human with a rifle to kill one of us, and if that happens, I…I can’t protect you.»

The two of them paused as she finished, with Fortitude’s spines flattened in consideration.

«Alright, then we won’t go,» she shrugged, nudging her partner affectionately. «How about the next ship, after the others have deemed it safe? Would that be alright?»

«That would be acceptable,» Devotion said, nodding in relief.

«So you two aren’t going then,» Aurum rumbled. «It would have been nice to have a few elders with us, but it can’t be helped.»

«I’d thought you two would be coming along,» Fathom said, flattening his spines as he glanced at Aurum and Celeste. «So that leaves the three of us who are definitely going-»

«About that…» Celeste said, her eyes darting between Devotion and the ship. «I…don’t think I’m going.»

«What?!» Fathom asked, then winced as he pulled on his injured neck. «Why not?!»

«Devotion is wounded, I need to stay and help them,» Celeste said, though she was clearly torn on the decision. «I can’t just leave when they need my – » She reeled back as Devotion abruptly rose and smacked her on the head with the palm of her wing. «OW! What was that for??»

«You think we need your help?» Devotion hissed, glaring down at the younger dragon who kept her head lowered meekly. «We have relied upon each other for over four centuries, and we certainly aren’t going to die without the help of a fledgling adult like yourself.»

Celeste’s eyes widened. «Then that means…?»

«What she is trying to say is that you owe us nothing, so do whatever you want,» Fortitude chuffed, bumping her partner on the shoulder with a wing. «You’ve long since been an adult, after all, and capable beyond your years. Just learn lots of things for me, alright? I will expect you to help me catch up on-»

Celeste suddenly stepped forward, and wrapped both of the elders in a hug, surprising the both of them.

«Thank you for everything.»

«Yes, yes, that’s enough of that,» Devotion snorted, though she did not move to step away. «We still need to decide who else is going to go.»

«I can fit the role of elder, assuming no one older than I is going,» Kharno said cheerily. Pryce thought it seemed a little forced, somehow, though he didn’t bother to comment on it.

«I am not going,» Xylem shrugged. «I have my plants to take care of.»

«I am curious about your Mainland, but I don’t think I would be a very good candidate,» Echo said. «It’s not like I can appreciate the supposedly beautiful things that your kind can create,» she added a little plaintively.

«I will go if you require my help,» Nanzo said neutrally. «Though I imagine others will be more inclined to go than I am.»

«I imagine everything on your island is taken?» Yantha asked, rumbling prospectively.

“That’s about right,” Callan said, which Celeste translated.

«We want our own land,» Yantha clarified. «So long as you uphold your end of the bargain, I don’t see much reason to go to this Mainland of yours – unless you wish to trade more of your creations for our help,» he added hintingly.

“Let’s see how many want to go first,” Pryce replied, turning to those who had not yet answered. “Anyone else?”

«Me! I want to go!» Iakahn said, her head held up high.

«Aren’t you a bit young?» Fathom asked, head tilted rather skeptically. He glanced down at the odd seashell-necklace she wore. It was a strange thing to wear, though the shells were surprisingly large and well-polished, which made them admittedly quite pretty by his pre-Pryce standards. «What…did you do, again?»

«I’m the one who gathered all of Qnaoro’s allies!» Iakahn hissed indignantly. «Which means I’m the reason why we arrived as quickly as we did!»

«She’s right,» Wakori rumbled. «She didn’t do much in the actual battle-» Iakahn snorted disdainfully at this addition, «-but she does have remarkable foresight for one her age.»

«See?» Iakahn huffed. «And besides, she’s going,» gesturing towards Celeste, «so why can’t I?»

«I’ll vouch for her,» Aurum said, before anyone else could interrupt. «She’s clever, and she deserves the opportunity to come with us.»

“Alright, that’s five,” Callan said, scribbling down the names of those who wanted to go, and showing Siebert – who was understandably rather lost at this point. “Anyone else want to go?”

A few overlapping negatives confirmed that none of the other allies wished to leave their homeland for one reason or another – Leonahr was curious, but deigned to stay for the same reasons as Devotion.

Pryce strongly suspected that the others felt similarly, though they did not say it. There was a moment at the end of the battle where the allies less familiar with the humans had seemed quite wary of this bizarre and terrifying weapon, and he hadn’t blamed them for it at all.

«What’s going on?» Vosae asked as she padded over, with Hakra and Icahna trailing beside her. «I assume you’re discussing something important.»

«Only who to bring along to the Mainland,» Fortitude shrugged before narrowing her eyes. «...you don’t want to go, do you?»

«Skies, of course not,» Vosae chuffed. «But seeing as we’re allies with the humans now, I would like you to take Hakra with you, to act as my stand-in.»

Hakra stepped forward at the mention of her name, nodding cordially at the allies.

Pryce understood the gist of her sentence, though he still waited for Celeste to translate the finer points for him. “Sensible. We’d need someone who knows your territory to make our preparations, so her aid will be appreciated.”

«Good,» Vosae nodded. «Another thing; if you are willing, then I would also like for you to take Icahna with you.»

“Your dragonet?” Pryce asked, surprised. “You’re okay with sending her away?”

«I know it is dangerous, but she has proven herself useful, and this is what she wants to do,» Vosae explained. «But more importantly, Hakra will watch over her.»

Their conversation had attracted the attention of several others, including Eoiras. «I’m not sure if that’s a good idea,» the ancient dragon said as he eyed Icahna skeptically.

«It…might be,» Fortitude said uncertainly. «Some of the humans seem understandably wary of our size. She is small enough to be more approachable.»

«I suppose that is true,» Eoiras hummed, tilting his head at the dragonet. «Why do you want to come with them, little one?»

«I…want to see what humans are like,» Icahna said, slowly but with certainty, «and I will never see their homes if I stay here.»

«Well, I suppose that’s as good a reason as any,» Eoiras sighed. «I just hope you know what you’re doing. Make the wrong decisions, and a lot of people will end up dead.»

«We’re well aware of that,» Fortitude said dryly. “Well? What do you think?” she asked, turning to the humans.

“It is a sensible idea,” Siebert said when he received a translation. “It couldn’t hurt to bring a child with us – I have read that ambassadors used to do that sort of thing to show that they mean no harm.

“Too bad we couldn’t have brought that hatchling back with us,” Gordon chuckled. “He would’ve done well to melt a few hearts.”

“No parents would allow that,” Celeste snorted, tossing her head. “Icahna is old enough to survive on her own. Kerak is not. And what does ‘done well to melt a few hearts’ mean?”

“I was just joking,” Gordon huffed, “and that’s just a way of saying many people would find him cute.”

“Oh.”

“The important thing is that we have seven dragons who are confirmed to come with us,” Callan said, scribbling down their names. “Which means we have some preparations to make regarding food.”

“I can hunt in the ocean if I need to,” Aurum said helpfully.

«You hunt in the ocean?!» Celeste demanded, her eyes widened in surprise.

«I spend a lot of time flying over the ocean. Being able to hunt in it increases my range, and reduces the amount of time I have to spend flying back and forth,» Aurum said plainly. «It is not so dangerous, if you know what you are doing,» he added, seeing as this had not lessened her shock, and Pryce noted that even Devotion and Fortitude seemed surprised by this.

«And here I thought you were a coward,» Devotion snorted. «If you can muster the courage to hunt in the ocean then why can’t you fight?»

«It’s simple,» Aurum snorted. «One is something I want to do, the other is not. I don’t see why people have such a hard time understanding this.»

“Well…let’s try to avoid diving into the ocean,” Callan said placatingly. “No reason to risk it when we can just store more food on the ship, and speaking of; I’ll need those of you who are healthy to go hunting – we’ll salt the meat and store it so you can eat it on the way home.”

“Hunting is much more difficult with so many others around,” Aurum sighed. “How many days until we leave?”

“The dissection will take at least a few days,” Pryce answered. “Probably closer to five.”

“That should be enough time,” Aurum nodded. “So we are leaving when we have enough food, and when Pryce is done with this ‘dissection’, right?”

“That’s right,” Callan nodded.

“And we have to talk to all the new people who come flying,” Fortitude sighed, referring to the dragons who had heard second-hand about the group of humans, their ship, and had come flying over with great interest. A few dragons were indignant over the abolition of the rule of one thousand, but Fortitude was persuasive, and there was little anyone could do to reverse the decision.

“Thank you for your help,” Pryce said, not for the first time. “We couldn’t have done this without you.”

“Yes, yes,” Fortitude said, waving him off. “If you want to thank me then get to work. I will handle the others who come asking questions.”

[JOURNAL ENTRY]

Day 104,

Today we decided to bring home the seven following dragons:

-Fathom

-Aurum

-Celeste

-Kharno

-Iakahn

-Hakra (Brewer clan representative)

-Icahna (Brewer clan representative)

Siebert and Callan are coordinating the dragons to stockpile food for the journey, while Fortitude and Devotion handle the newcomers. The rest of the crew have their hands full showing dragons human technology, though Kharno has made herself popular by offering rides whenever they have free time.

As for me, I’ve spent the rest of the day working through the dissection with Doctor Corbin – journal entries will be neglected until the completion of this task.

[Day 105]

«Nothing like this has ever happened before,» Hanron said as he peered through a glass mug, the crystalline material distorting his eye in an almost comical way.

«You think I don’t know that?» Fathom snorted, resisting the urge to toss his head – mostly because of his wounded neck.

«I know you know it, but I don’t think you quite understand it,» said his father as he set down the glass. «Nothing of this magnitude has happened. Ever. And you’re wrapped up in the middle of it all.» He paused and allowed his words to sink in as he fixed Fathom with a pointed expression. «Only the great dying might have more significance, and a whole new era hatched from that disaster.»

«I…hadn’t thought about the last part,» Fathom admitted, his head lowered in contemplation. «At least things won’t be as bad as the great dying.»

«Well, that just fills me with confidence,» Hanron drawled. «Well, either way, these moments we live in will be spoken in legend…that is, assuming any of us survive the next century or so.»

«Is there a point to this conversation?» Fathom asked tiredly.

Hanron shrugged. «I’m just making sure you know what’s at stake. These humans seem…dangerous, to say the least, so try not to give them a reason to declare us enemies, alright?»

«I know,» Fathom sighed. «But I don’t think anything terribly bad will happen. The humans I’ve met so far seem reasonable enough…though Pryce has expressed some worry about dealing with his own kind. I get the impression that he’s a bit odd for a human, even if he is respected.»

His father gave him a sidelong glance as he spoke, a cogent look in the older dragon’s eyes. «You really do trust him, don’t you?»

Fathom snorted. «I said he was my friend, didn’t I?»

«...so you did,» Hanron said neutrally. «Let’s hope that it counts for something among the other humans.»

[Day 106]

“Scott, what are you doing?” Gordon asked in bewilderment.

“Look, I want to go flying, and she said this was the price.”

Gordon stared as Kharno patted the top of his fellow crewman’s head, then prodded at his cheeks. “Are you sure those claws are safe? I've seen her crush bone to snack on the marrow.”

“It's fine, she can be gentle if she wants,” Scott said, his voice a little distorted by the prodding. “See? Not a scratch on me.”

«Human faces are so soft,» Kharno crooned. Neither of the humans could understand her words, but her tone required no translation.

“Well it's still not very dignified,” Gordon grumbled.

Scott scoffed. “Screw dignity, I’m going flying.”

“Whatever you say,” Gordon said, and rolled his eyes. “I’ll never understand why you’re so insistent on that.”

“It’s flying. On a dragon,” Scott said, as if that explained everything. “Don’t tell me you have an irrational fear of heights.”

“Nothing irrational about it,” Gordon huffed. “Men aren't meant to fly.”

“You've been on an airplane before.”

“Only because I needed to, and the damned thing sounded like it was about to fall apart the whole time,” Gordon grumbled with a shudder.

“Well…it's not like a dragon can fall apart,” Scott pointed out.

“Not the point, Scott,” Gordon sighed, rubbing his eyes. “Nevermind. Go and have your fun.”

Scott grinned. “Oh, I will.”

[Day 107]

«Do they know what causes a star to die?» Eoiras asked.

“Oh, you know about supernovae,” Scott said, eyebrow raised. “If I remember correctly the last one was about five hundred years ago, which means-” his eyes widened as he froze mid-sentence. “Wait, you’re old enough to have seen it!”

«Yes, I am,» Eoiras said, nodding wistfully. «There are stories of such things happening, of course, but they were nothing like what I saw: for a moon and a half, the night sky was so bright…and when the light faded, the star was gone.»

“I can see how that would be unsettling,” Scott said, rubbing his chin as he considered how to explain a supernova in a way that Celeste could translate. “The earth has gravity because it has mass, and the sun has much more mass than earth, which means it also has much more gravity. This very strong gravity presses down into the core of the star.” He raised his hands as he spoke, and mimed crushing a sphere. “But the burning is like an explosion, and it pushes outwards, which keeps the star from crushing itself.” He moved his hands further apart, then closer, then back and forth until his hands reached equilibrium from each other.

«Hmm…» Eoiras hummed. «I am not sure if I understand, but go on.»

“Eventually the star runs out of fuel, which means it can’t burn anymore, and that means there’s nothing stopping gravity from crushing the star.” Scott punctuated his explanation with a sharp clap, which itself seemed to puzzle the dragons.

“That explanation makes some sense, but how did you make that loud noise with your hands?” Celeste asked, head tilted in confusion.

“That’s…a clap,” Scott said, puzzled. “Can’t you do that?”

Celeste sat back on her haunches, then brought her hands together, though it only produced a dull sound.

“You have to…trap the air, I guess?” Scott said, scratching his head. “I hadn’t thought about why it works before, but I suppose your scales don’t form a good seal.”

Eoiras, having heard Celeste’s translation, also tried to mimic the clap, but was met with no more success than Celeste.

«Grrh, why is this so hard?» Celeste growled, wafting her hands in pain from the repeated impacts.

«Maybe we need a different method,» Eoiras rumbled as he examined his hands. «If air needs to be trapped, then…» he brought his wingtips around himself, then laid each membrane against his hands before attempting the clapping motion once again, this time producing an unsatisfying puffing noise.

«Not a bad idea,» Celeste said, then experimentally brought the palms of her wings together. This was likewise met with failure, until one attempt produced a somewhat sharper noise. «Ah! I think I got it!» she said, and tried again. A few repetitions later she was able to consistently produce a noise that could be considered a dull clap.

Eoiras and the others began to copy the gesture, and soon the beach was full of clumsily clapping dragons.

Scott could only scratch his head at the scene before him – several dragons surrounding him, expressions of intense concentration on each one's face, while they all clumsily applauded at nothing.

«That’s enough of that,» Eoiras chuffed, settling back down on four limbs. «I have another question; there are rare instances I’ve seen faint lights dancing in the sky, but there was one occasion where these lights were far brighter than normal – do you know what those are? Or what causes them?»

Scott scratched his head and sighed – perhaps he should’ve studied physics instead of engineering.

[Day 108]

“We leave tomorrow, right?” Fathom asked.

“Yes,” Pryce said, tiredly rubbing his eyes. “I talked to Siebert earlier, and we’re ready to leave tomorrow.”

“Does that mean you’re done with the dissection?”

“More or less,” Pryce sighed. “Bodies are very, very, complicated. The ship doesn’t have all the tools that I’d like, but I’ve done all that I can for now.”

“Makes sense,” Fathom nodded. “Did you learn anything useful?”

“Lots, but-” Pryce stifled a yawn. “Sorry, I’m exhausted – I’ll tell you about it tomorrow, alright?”

“Of course. You seemed to be working every time I looked for you,” Fathom said, nudging him away. “Go rest.”

“Alright, alright,” Pryce said, stumbling off to his room as the two of them exchanged farewells.

As Pryce walked away, Fathom belatedly remembered that he had planned to ask a question… But then he saw the weariness in the humans’ shuffling gait, and he decided that it could wait until tomorrow.

[JOURNAL ENTRY]

Overview of the dissection of the dragon designated as “Pathogen”:

Muscular system:

There is currently no time for a close inspection of the muscular system, though samples have been taken and preserved for future study.

Nervous system:

As expected, the cerebrum of a dragon possesses notable similarities to the human equivalent, especially in regards to the highly developed cerebral cortex, which by my estimate easily surpasses a human’s in regards to surface area – though it should be noted that a drastic increase in surface area should be expected to accommodate the greater volume of brain matter.

The structure of the draconic cerebrum bears greater similarity to that of a cetacean in that there are three distinct hemisphere trispheres. Any detailed tests will have to wait – in the meantime the brain has been preserved for future study.

Cardiovascular system:

This dissection has confirmed the existence of two secondary hearts, one located at the base of the neck and the other in the lower torso (Which I shall refer to as the superior secondary heart and inferior secondary heart, respectively). Both of these are much simpler in structure than the primary heart, with each ‘heart’ consisting of a single valve and chamber.

Interestingly, the primary heart also possesses a double aortic arch, similar to that seen in crocodilians – perhaps the bi-aortic common ancestor existed at a point in time even earlier than the common ancestor of tetrapods and hexapeds?

A notable feature is that the left aortic arch is the slightly dominant artery, and it appears to deliver blood from the lungs to the upper body, while the smaller right aortic arch pumps blood to the lower body. It seems a little redundant for there to be a secondary heart at the base of the neck when the primary heart is not so far away.

Perhaps this organ serves another purpose? Perhaps the valve prevents any acceleration from draining to other parts of the body, though this is only a guess.

Respiratory system:

As suspected, the draconic respiratory system is exceptionally advanced, with air sacs distributed throughout the body.

As with avian lungs, dragon lungs operate by forcing air to travel in one direction – a far more efficient setup than bidirectional lungs, though it is also the reason for avian susceptibility to toxic gasses.

The organs also take up a great amount of volume within the body, and air sacs were even found attached to bones of the fore and rear limbs. This explains their abnormally low density, as a significant portion of their volume is simply air.

Hydrogen(?) system:

The sac which contains hydrogen is located along the back of the thoracic cavity, similar in placement to the air bladder of a fish. Again, there is no time for an in-depth analysis, but the organ is significantly thicker than the lungs, and has a multilayered structure to it.

I suspect the ‘beating’ of this organ serves some function to recapture or prevent the hydrogen gas from diffusing through the body, but I currently have no way of verifying this hypothesis.

Skeletal system:

The bones of a dragon have an odd grey tint (like those of the gryphon) and are extremely lightweight yet durable, with a porous structure that allows for the storage of additional air. Air sacs were found attached to the bones themselves – hardly surprising, considering that avians share this adaptation.

Further analysis will come later.

Digestive system:

Long and short intestines are both shorter than one would expect from such a large species. This adaptation likely occurred to save weight, but I imagine it also makes them less efficient at digesting food.

Note: measure the quantity of food required for a dragon to sustain themselves. I suspect that each kilogram of a dragons’ body requires more calories to operate than ours.

Excretory system:

Like avians, dragons are uricotelic, meaning that nitrogenous waste is excreted in the form of uric acid rather than urea. Producing the former is more energy-intensive than the latter, but requires much less water, and thereby lowers the total mass of the body.

I have noticed that dragons do not seem to drink much water; they appear to gain most of it from their diet. I would assume that not having to drink much liquid made it unlikely for a dragon to store any amount of juice, which in turn made the accidental discovery of alcohol more difficult.