#dracana

Ka'Lii, daughter of Yür'Ok, princess in the making.

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Please read Part 1 and Part 2 before reading on! Thanks for checking in everyone! See you next week with new stories on Short Story Salad!

            I had never been with a man. So to see my stomach swell with life inside as it has... has been... difficult. I would awake in the morning to see myself in the looking glass and I smile and then that smile faded. I knew of woman who did not ask to have a child, but for me...

            It made me feel a sort of comradely with Pragmatism. She, herself, became a Dracana when she was twelve years of age. To know at that age, like I did then, that she would never be a mother to anything other than that creature within me... it is a heavy burden.

            I would wonder this during our morning lessons. I looked upon the bellies of the other women and I envied Perspicacity and Eloquence. Their wombs have carried a babe, a human babe. After the birth of their dragon children, they would have the embrace of their human children to return to. The rest of us? Only Pragmatism could claim to have children. And her first had since long past.

            Pragmatism was not asked to come to morning lessons, when the Nidus caretakers taught us about what we could expect during these next few months and for the rest of our lives. The children the Dracana bring into this world are special, each has a destiny to fulfill and we will forever more be a part of that destiny. Dracana are the only ones who understand the language of the race of their children and will often accompany them as translators through their lives, whether that destiny is for good or for ill.

            While the size and shape of each dragon child may vary, there are only two kinds of destinies for them; Creation and Destruction and the two will forever fight until the other is destroyed. Even though those born under the star of Destruction will eventually be hunted down by Creation, as Creation will be hunted by Destruction, the caretakers vow that they will do everything within their power to safeguard us and our dragon children. All life is sacred.

            I felt a hand settle upon my shoulder and I looked up. Nan was there, smiling reassuringly. She excused me from my lessons that day and asked me to follow her. We were headed for the library.

            I almost laughed. "I thought you were excusing me from lessons, not taking me to a different class."

            "Every day is a new class for us to take part in, Agency," chimed Nan, "It is up to us to be vigilant in our studies."

            I knew Ingenuity and Incredulity would spend their free afternoons in the libraries, but I did not. I could not read. The caretakers were seeking to remedy this, and many of my free hours were dedicated to reading and writing. It was exciting, but also trying. My head never hurt as much as when I sat down and tried to sound writing out.

            Ardnus was waiting for Nan and me in the library. He was a short, bald man with very large spectacles. Nan said he spent so much of his time with his nose in books and scrolls that his eyes found it hard to see anything else but words.

            Ardnus bowed his head, many of the caretakers would bow to the Dracana upon greeting them. The ritual was still beyond me to comprehend. I eventually came to terms with it when I realized that they would not bow if this child was not inside me, so they must not be bowing to me, but it. In nothing this, I knew that Pragmatism must be wrong; I am not special, it is what I carried that was.

            Nan and Ardnus brought me to a deep corner of the library, Nan later told me that if Ardnus had not been there with us that she wouldn't have been able to find out way out.

            "Lady Agency," said Ardnus, "Nannelle has told me that you have been experiencing some... peculiar symptoms."

            My eyes darted to Nan and she nodded for me to continue.

            "I- I've had some pain at night."

            "What kind of pain?" Ardnus placed his hand on my swollen stomach.

            "Like, burning flames. And then like walking through a blizzard, barefoot."  

            Ardnus' eyes narrowed. "When was the last time you experienced this?"

            "A fortnight ago."

            "Ah."

            Ardnus said 'Ah' many more times in the hours I spent in the library, but nothing led to an answer. There was nothing written of pain so intense, so early in the cycle. Ardnus' best guess was that I had a frail constitution, and that I should be resting more so than the other Dracana in the coming months.

            "Do you think that's all this is, Nan?" I asked as we leave the library.

            She sighed. "I am not sure. Forgive me, for not telling you of Ardnus earlier. I feared that telling any other caretaker would only make your condition be known to everyone. It would spread like wildfire from mouth to ears."

            I swallowed my fear. "And Ardnus is different?"

            Nan smiled. "He is trustworthy. I promise you. And I promise you that I will leave you in the dark to suffer the burden of this blessing alone, child."

            We turned the corner toward the courtyard. "Thank you, N-"

            Air left my lips, but my words were stolen by what lay before me at the other end of the courtyard. Before it folded its wings, the entire sky was blocked from view and I thought it to be night. The whole of its being was shrouded in a scaly cloak of shinning obsidian and when it move, stars shimmered in its wake. It rested outside the courtyard, with its giant head bowed down to nestle its enormous snout in the arms of the elderly Pragmatism. Its clear blue eyes spotted me from across the way.

            "Kingsley..." breathed Nan. She brought her arms to her chest and bowed deeply to the dragon.

            When I moved to do the same, Nan threw her hand out to catch me. "No, Agency," she said, "You bow to no one."

            There was a knot in the pit of my stomach. I did not understand. Nan straightened me up and gestured to Pragmatism and her child. My heart forgot to beat. Kingsley, the Defender of the Golden Shore, Healer of the Tried, the dragon of Creation that watched over us all for the past thirty years,  had closed its eyes and was bowing his head toward me.