Sashen

They tried to be competitive, but it never worked. Any challenge or race always ended in a huge splash battle and gales of laughter. No one won, no one lost. But everyone won.

It was while drying off after a huge water fight one afternoon that Coburn noticed it. The breeze created a harmonic hum that vibrated off the ridges of his dripping wings. His sister, distracted, was teaching hatchlings to blow bubbles in the shallows. He decided to experiment, to see if he could wrest control of the note from the wind.

"Come, Sashen!" he called as he leapt into the air. Thinking there was a race in the offing, his sister immediately followed him, driving straight upwards like arrows toward the sun. Coburn could feel the air evaporating the moisture on this wings, though he could still hear the harmonics buzzing in his head. He stopped before he was completely dry, spread his wings and began a wide, curling descent. Perplexed but curious, Sashen mimicked him perfectly. They were twins, before and after all.

"Do you hear it, sister?" he whispered when their heads passed in their circular flight.

"I do! Can we...?" Sashen broke off and dropped below her brother, altering her spiral in the opposite direction; the hum of her wings dropped by a third.

They continued their slow spiral reveling in the music of their wings. The sounds faded as they dried completely, so they immediately dove into the waters below and shot back up to continue their experiment. With minute alterations to their wing angles, they were able to create chords and little melodies. They were delighted by their discovery.

On the shore, the rest of their clan were enjoying a slow afternoon, baking in the sun, cooling in the shade, and keeping a lazy eye on the hatchlings in the shallows. An occasional head was raised to note the supposed "game" of the Twins on the far side of the cove, divebombing into the waves, then rocketing up high and gliding slowly in circles. No one ever followed their complicated antics very closely; it always ended up with everyone in the vicinity getting doused.

But slowly, mysteriously, the harmonics reached the ears of the dragons below. At first they looked around puzzled, but then they located the unlikely source and listened, amazed at the beautiful humming on the air.

Unaware of their audience, the Twins continued their dance as the sun sank toward the horizon, tireless in the joy of their discovery. Their periodic dives sounded like a cymbal crash across the cove, punctuating the lyrical songs of their wide glittering wings, like a glass armonica.

Quell and Limu paused their gathering in the tidepools to listen, too.

"Did you know they could do that?" Limu asked his partner.

" The Windsinger has blessed Saturn's children," was the only response before Quell's head was submerged again in a warm, clear pool, seeking sustenance for the clan.

Limu sighed. "Why are you always so cryptic?" he asked no one in particular.