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Entry 9
It seems like fate’s been screwing around with me. The one night I was looking for materials I instead found dozens of geodes. A few things like the wood planks I scrounged up would be useful—that is, if I had any skill in building at all.
With a heavy sigh, I dropped off the currently useless materials at the mouth of my lair before flying toward the trading post with only the geodes on hand.
It was hours after midnight, and the area was almost completely empty aside from the weary shopkeepers. I tried to stay out of view, circling around the grounds as I scanned the area for what I was after.
The established traders had their own permanently parked carts, of course, but other dragons who come to trade often brought much smaller, frequently hauled ones. My hope was to find one that had been left behind.
I spotted one eventually. A small two-wheeled wagon, empty save for a length of rope, had been left in the grass a bit away from the post. It looked cheaply made but I certainly couldn’t afford to be choosy. I hurried towards it, trying my best to stay quiet and unnoticed.
I’d like to think I did a decent job, until I tried to pull the damn thing.
Its wheels let out a horribly loud squeak the moment it budged an inch.
“What are you doing with that?”
The voice didn’t sound particularly angry—more baffled at me making off with an empty cart. Logically I could have calmly explained what I was doing, said why I needed it and offered to pay. Hell, they may have even given it to me for free in the situation.
But I’m not the calm sort, and since I’ve been branded a criminal as well the last thing I could do was risk a conversation. Instead I pulled a few handfuls of geodes from my satchels, threw them to the ground in exchange, screamed ‘I’M SORRY, I NEED IT, I’M SORRY,’ and ran with the squealing wagon in tow.
At least nobody followed me. They probably thought I was a madman.
I flew with the wagon after a ways—it was light, at least—and landed at the mouth of the cave our bear had carved. I was afraid of waking anyone by flying inside, and so made my way up the stairs carrying the wagon in my aching arms.
The bear was still asleep and blocking entrance into the lair, its great puffs of breath echoing down the steps and scattering sand across them.
It slowly dawned on me that any noise the bear made even through lifting its head would be enough to wake the hatchlings. I decided against rousing it to let me in. I set the wagon down before curling up on the sand-covered step beside it.
Despite the bear’s breath and the downpour of sand it sent over me, exhaustion won out and I fell asleep within minutes.
It was bright by the time I awoke groggily to something rough and craggy nudging me. I opened my eyes to see the bear staring back. It stood up and backed away from the entrance to allow me inside.
“Morning, guys!” I called out, nodding to the bear in thanks as I headed in. The moment I took a step I was greeted by a shrill squeak and a small, light blue dragon crashing into me.
“DAA!” Lily cried as she reared up on her hind legs to wrap her arms around my neck in a rather suffocating hug.
“…’da’?” I muttered in confusion, hoping that she wasn’t trying to say what she seemed to be.
Arc crawled his way toward me next. The smile on his face showed he was glad to see me. The fact neither of them were in bed where I left them and both had grown since I’d last seen them told me something else: I needed to sort out proper beds for them both. They were far too big to share one anymore.
My own body—aching from my rest on the stone floor—reminded me I could use one of my own, too.
Before that, though, food.
I’d neglected hunting in lieu of scavenging and it showed: I was running low on nearly everything. I gave the hatchlings the last of the meat and almost all of the fish. They wolfed it down in the blink of an eye.
The last of the fish went to the bear, and I forced myself to eat raw bugs and leaves without gagging. I clearly had a busy day ahead of me and needed to keep up my energy.
I left a few moth legs up on the ledge where that godsdamned bird
should have been, and then turned to Arc.
“Hey, bud, I’ve got something for you! But I think I’ll need your help to make it work, okay?”
“Okay!” Arc responded with a delighted smile.
I dragged the squeaky little wagon in and saw his look of excitement change to one of confusion. The mirror cocked his head to the side.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“This is going to be your legs,” I replied, patting the creaking cart with a smile that I hoped looked more assured than I felt. “We just need to get it all set up for you.”
I brought the cart over to him and explained my idea.
“See, you can fit in here and it’ll be big enough for when you grow up, too! You’ll be able to pull yourself around without needing to drag your stomach on the ground; it’ll be easier and comfier for you to get around on your own! All we need to do now is get this part off…”
I tried to pry off the front board off of the wagon, bracing a leg against its side and pulling on its handle for leverage. Aside from the wood groaning a bit, my efforts had an embarrassing lack of effect aside from my own straining.
I paused to give my throbbing arms a rest before looking back at the quizzical little mirror.
“I-it’s alright, bud, I just need a little help,” I assured before turning to the bear. “Hey, uh… bear! Could I get some hel—”
A great crack from Arc’s direction snapped my focus back to him. I was pretty shocked to see what he’d done. The hatchling had pulled the board clean off and held it proudly in his teeth. His smile faltered into a meek, worried expression with his ears flattening against his skull.
“What is it…? Oh, I’m not mad at you, Arc! Just surprised—you’re so strong already. Stronger than me!” I laughed. Gods I felt weak.
Arc wiggled with excitement at the praise, dropping the plank from his mouth and drumming his front talons on the floor.
“Daaa,” Lily whined with a pout, her voice peaking in a grating manner.
“You’re tough too, Lil,” I sighed, looking over to her and patting her jealous little head. “Two tough little kidlets, that’s you guys.”
I moved back to the wagon and took off my scarf, tearing it in half and lining the inside of the cart to help prevent splinters being an issue. I made a mental note to find a way to sand it before pulling it as close to Arc as possible.
“So, I think you need to move it a bit to help it stop squeaking. Ready to break this thing in?” I asked.
“Yes!” Arc answered, nodding exuberantly.
I helped get him settled in and used the rope to secure him to it before stepping back.
“Just remember to stay away from the entrances, okay? Alright, bud, give it a go!”
Arc gingerly started to walk, getting used to the difference of the wagon. It didn’t take long for him to get emboldened however, and in moments he was shooting along the stone floors and laughing gleefully. The wagon still creaked and squealed in protest, echoing unpleasantly throughout the cave, but I was too delighted in seeing how happy he was to let it bother me.
After a while Arc ran out of steam and pulled himself back to me, panting but still thrilled.
“So… what do you think?” I asked, unable to keep the smile from my face.
“It’s great! Thanks dad!” Arc responded joyfully.
I winced. “Dad” was painful to hear in many ways—some I didn’t fully understand, but it just wouldn’t do.
“I’m… I’m glad, Arc. Really glad. But… my name is Wafer, okay? Can you say ‘Wafer’?”
“Waif?” Lily interrupted, trying with earnest effort.
“Uhm… close,” I sighed.
“Thanks, Wafer,” Arc corrected. I could hear the hurt in his voice—I felt pretty terrible, myself.
“Hey, uh, I have an idea. How about you try out your new wheels outside with Lily and the bear?” I asked, forcing a smile. “I’m going to set up some nice new beds for us while you guys play, okay?
“Okay!” Lily answered before darting past the bear and scampering down the stairs.
The bear let out a frustrated grunt, hurrying to its feet in pursuit of the hatchling.
Arc lagged behind and turned to give me a look I couldn’t quite place.
“I’m really proud of you, Arc,” I assured. “Go have some fun! You’ve been cooped up for so long. Just be safe.”
I’m not sure if my words helped him much, but they seemed enough for him to follow the others. I heard his wheels clunk over each step as he went down and made a mental note to see about a ramp… at some point. Somehow.
I retrieved the planks I’d gathered the night before and used them as dividers between the beds. Next I made trips outside to get grass and turf to line them with as well as check on my young clanmates.
The results of my work were primitive and completely laughable compared to the beds in Pepper’s clan, but still a hell of a lot better than nothing. I was far too exhausted to manage anything else.
I recalled with a groan that I needed to go out to find food for dinner and flopped in my new bed, hoping to at least rest for a while before heading out.
