Theo was walking along the creek, picking her way over the undergrowth of the forest. Some of the trees had circles of brilliant colors at their roots- their fallen leaves.
They look like me when I was molting, she thought, somewhat amused. She had gotten over her embarrassment a while ago, reminding herself that, after some time, she’d be the only one to remember her humiliation. She felt rewarded anyway, for her new slate grey scales were beautiful.
The early morning was foggy and she could see well for about ten feet around her. Everything beyond that was clouded by a misty white.
For all I know, a deer could be right on the other side of the creek, she thought, gazing around. Life is more exciting in the fog.
She noticed a flock of brightly colored birds following overhead. They flitted from branch to branch as she went, each about the size of a sparrow. All of them were the fiery colors of red, yellow, and orange, which blended in with the leaves. A number of them, she observed, had blazing blue throats. She stopped to watch as the blue throated ones began to swoop.
They dove down, closer and closer to Theo’s head as the other birds waited in the trees, shrilling enthusiastically as though cheering. Theo yawped as the pesky birds drove their beaks for her eyes.
She tried charging a ways ahead, and yet they followed, speeding like arrows. Theo tried to screech at them but it only made the audience above chatter even louder.
Flames lit the sky, engulfing the birds, and Theo snapped her head to the side to see that it was a dragon blasting fire from his mouth. He was a dark marine green, just about the same size as her. Theo stared in amazement as the waiting birds descended from the canopy, headlong into the flames. They whirled within, their feathers turning grey.
Soon after the flames appeared, they cleared. Theo watched the birds scatter in flight, their bodies ashen grey, all except for the blue throats of the few.
“You didn’t have to do that…” Theo said, amazed that the birds were still well alive.
“It’s what they wanted.” The dragon smirked. “They are phoenixes, after all.”
“Real phoenixes?” Theo was astonished. Like many other things, she had thought phoenixes only existed in fairy tales.
“Yeah,” he replied. “They’ll pester you until you breathe fire at them. Only then will they go away. How can you not know this already?” He faced her, amused.
Theo ducked her head. “I’m new?” she replied, not sure of what to say.
The dragon gave her a strange look. “You’re ‘new’? Why sound so uncertain? You’re either new or you’re not.”
Theo shook her head in embarrassment. “I’m new,” she repeated firmly.
Just then a squirrel-like monigon fell out of a tree onto the back of Theo’s odd company.
“Bothersome mock dragon!” he cursed as he violently shook the creature off, swiping at it as it ran, chittering, into the brush.
Bothersome…mock dragon? Theo slightly withdrew herself.
“Anyway,” he said, turning back to her as though nothing had happened, “so what do you mean by ‘new’?”
Theo gave him a bored expression, not wanting to explain herself again. “Do I know you?” she asked him instead.
He took on a smug look. “My name’s Lynx,” he told her. “Now I realize you must be that dragon Oriole wouldn’t stop jabbering on about. River, isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Theo said. “Nice to meet you.”
Lynx gave a sharp laugh. “Nice to meet me?” he repeated. “If you say so.”
Theo didn’t know how to respond, so she turned to continue following alongside the creek with the weird feeling that he was watching her. She halted, looking back at him. He was standing where she had left him, looking back at her with a strange smile on his face.
“Do you have some kind of problem?” she called disdainfully.
“You can bet I do!” he laughed sharply in response, then to her relief, went on his own way.
I never cease to be confused, thought Theo, walking onward and shaking her head. Elegantly, she padded over grass and soft dirt.
The water beside her was quick and agile, as she was. It leapt from rocks like a joyous, transparent animal and carried sticks downstream as a trail of ants might.
There were still a few fish that dashed below the surface, racing for the falls. Try not to get caught, she thought humorously, recalling the time she spent watching the dragons fish from the cliffs.
She noticed Jacinth across the creek, who crouched to drink.
“Hello, my friend,” Theo called and Jacinth lifted her head.
“Theo.” Jacinth smiled. “How are you feeling?”
“Quite well. And you?”
“Splendid.” Jacinth stood, stretching her limbs, looking pleased. “I’m thinking it’s about time I go for a little hunt. Care to join me?”
She hasn’t mentioned what happened last time I saw her, Theo thought gratefully. Perhaps she forgot already. Theo doubted it, but it didn’t seem to matter either way.
“I would be happy to,” she accepted Jacinth’s invitation. “Although…I’ve never hunted with anyone before. What is it like?”
Jacinth smirked, but not at all in an unkind way. “Oh, I’ll show you,” she assured her. “Now come over to this side of the creek. I know the best hunting grounds.”
Theo did not hesitate before bounding across the water to where Jacinth waited. She cleared the distance in two almost effortless leaps.
“What are we hunting for?” she asked, taking her place beside Jacinth as they began walking.
“Deer,” Jacinth answered. “I don’t suppose you’ve hunted deer before, have you?”
“Um…no,” Theo admitted. “I’ve only managed to catch squirrels, quail…Nothing as large as a deer.”
“Yes, well that makes sense, considering you’ve never had a mentor to teach you,” Jacinth replied. They cut across Camp and continued through an area in the woods where the trees were well spaced out.
As they came to a field, Jacinth gave Theo a look and they sunk low to the ground. Theo tried to imitate Jacinth, pulling her wings in tightly and making sure her tail didn’t drag on the ground.
Much of the fog had cleared and the two dragons waited at the edge of the meadow, peering out with expectancy.
Just then, Theo spotted a deer far off in the distance. Her body grew tense and she wondered if Jacinth had seen it. She was about to speak up, but her companion uttered the slightest hiss and she swallowed her words.
She tried not to jump as she saw why Jacinth had hissed at her. Theo had not seen it at first, for a bush obscured her view, but there was another deer, no farther than a few yards away. Peacefully it grazed, ignorant of the danger it approached as it stepped even closer to the hidden dragons. Long blades of grass brushed past its legs.
Theo was eager to run after it, but she waited for Jacinth to make her move. It was daunting to see the deer come so close. Theo could smell its scent wafting towards her.
Still, Jacinth waited. Theo anxiously remembered the time a rabbit came too close to her- how she had lost control of herself and pounced on it in a flash. She supposed Jacinth was looking for the perfect moment.
At last, the doe positioned itself just right and Jacinth surged for it. The deer panicked as it found itself tackled to the ground. It kicked outwards, screaming and trying to get away, but Jacinth’s claws were embedded in its flanks and she took its life with a bite of the neck.
Slowly, the doe’s head touched the ground as its neck relaxed and it grunted feebly before slipping away. In that moment, Theo felt badly for it, but recognized it was just another part of life. Jacinth got up, looking quite satisfied.
“See how I waited until it was close enough for me to jump out and catch it?” she asked.
Theo nodded. “You made it look so easy.”
“It’s just impulse.” Jacinth smiled, shaking her head. “Everyone has it. You just have to be patient, that’s all.”
“Do
you mentor pupils very often?” Theo inquired, assuming her answer would be yes.
“Um…actually, no.” Jacinth caught Theo by surprise. “No one has ever asked me to be their mentor before.”
“What?!” How could a pupil not want a dragon as able as Jacinth to be their mentor? Theo was astounded. “Well, has the idea ever appealed to you?”
Crouching over the deer, Jacinth paused to think. “I suppose it would be nice to pass down all that I know…Watch the little one grow up and accept the firesap…”
Theo wondered if she sensed a hint of sadness in Jacinth’s voice. Whatever it was, it was subtle.
The dark red dragon began tearing into the carcass. “Come and join me,” she said. “Sorry you didn’t get a chance to kill anything yourself, but this one was just begging me to take it down. It was definitely an easy catch.”
“That’s alright,” Theo responded and bent her head to tear off some meat. “Just by watching I learned some things.”
“Yeah, that usually works.” Jacinth craned her head back to let a mouthful slide down her throat.
Together, they stripped the carcass down to the bones and innards. Never before had anything settled in Theo’s stomach as satisfyingly as raw venison that day.
Chapter 7