THE FLAME
Mara gathered up Eagle-beak with the tip of her long sinuous tail, and after a brief flight made her way into the tunnel on the other side of the mountain. She spat out a wad of mouldy tasting moss, and arranged it around the bird.
'Why you doin' this?' asked Eagle-beak.
Why am I doing it, she wondered. Maybe it's just nice to have someone to talk to? Mara shrugged. 'Why wouldn't I?' she replied, but the bird's eyes had shut again and she doubted he heard her answer.
'Mara? Mara! Is that you, dear?' Her mother's voice echoed from deeper within the mountain.
Mara frowned. Lately, she had been finding it harder to talk to her parents. It felt as if they were drifting away to place where she could not follow. It would be nice to have somebody else to talk to, even if the magpie did seem a little full of himself.
After pausing to make sure the bird was properly covered, she headed toward the central cave. When she finally emerged, her mother snapped:
'Oh, there you are. I've been calling for ages. What have you been doing, girl? Look! You've got something green hanging out of your mouth!'
Mara drew her claws across her lips, dislodging a piece of moss.
'What in the flame is it?' asked her mother.
'Nothing.'
'Hmm.'
'What's wrong, Mother?'
'Well'' Mara's mother stared at her daughter's mouth with a puzzled expression. 'Well, your father came by today. He wanted to talk to you about something or other, but he didn't say what exactly.'
'Oh.'
'You know that he loves you, don't you? It's only he looked' guilty. I've seen that look before. Have you two had a fight? Is that why you haven't been over to his cave for so long?'
'Not really.'
Her mother gave her a searching look.
'I'll visit him tomorrow, I promise,' Mara said quickly. 'Maybe I'll go for a little longer than usual, for a week or so.'
Her mother's eyes slowly widened again. She yawned, exposing teeth the size of a man's leg and a flicker of flame deep in her throat. 'Yes. That would be good. Hmm, I'm feeling sleepy now. I dream so deep these days. I dream of the beginning, of being born from the flame and one day'' She yawned again. 'Well, never mind about that, you've still got egg-shell on your shoulders.'
Yes, I'm too young for anything, thought Mara bitterly. Still, a week might be all the time she needed to find the Old One'
Her mother's great head settled onto a mound of golden coins. As Mara turned to leave, she added, 'Oh, can you hunt me down something for dinner, dear? I'm feeling a little peckish.'
'Yes, Mum,' replied Mara. She turned tail and stomped off toward the other side of the mountain, muttering under her breath about the laziness of parents.
When she returned to where she had left Eagle-beak, he was awake again and looking at her with equal amounts of fear and relief.
'Where am I?' he croaked, peering around at the bare rocky sides of the tunnel.
'It's alright, you're safe here. See the light coming from that way? That's where I found you this morning, remember?'
Eagle-beak stood on unsteady legs and shook the moss from his feathers. 'But where the sky? Why can't I see the sky?'
He scuttled towards where light spilled from around a bend in the tunnel, and then charged out onto the rock ledge at such a rate, that before she could warn him, he teetered on the edge, looking down in horror at the ground below. He toppled forward with a drawn out cry of, 'Haaalp!'
She ran to the edge and leapt from the cliff face. Eagle-beak desperately flapped one wing in an attempt to fly, causing him to cartwheel and tumble as he dropped towards the forest below. Mara pumped her golden wings hard until she shot past the wailing bird. The ground rushed towards her. The trees seemed to reach up, wanting to drag her down'
Now!
She turned her wings, levelled out and began to rise upward in a loop. He was behind her' between her and the cliff face' coming fast. She grabbed at him with her front claws'
He's safe!
Mara screamed. I'm going to hit the cliff face!
The wind shrieked in her ears.
Turning' Hard unforgiving rock' Twisting' Rolling' Arching' and then she flew straight down again, so close to the cliff she could see every rock and tuft of hardy grass. She came out of the loop, skimming over the treetops with Eagle-beak clutched gently but firmly in her claws.
Mara settled onto the ground in a swirl of dust and leaves. A strange new sensation spread throughout her. She felt like a flower opening from the bud, or a new life emerging from an egg. She roared at the sky, the trees and everything in the world with a voice full of flame. Fire burst from her mouth in waves of scarlet and gold. I'm breathing out fire! It was hot, pure and powerful.
Eagle-beak looked up at her and said, 'Watch where you point that stuff, dragon, you gonna singe my feathers!'
She giggled, but deep inside she could still feel the flame burning, hot and eager. She looked around and everything seemed different. The grass beneath her feet burned with life; everything shimmered with a bright inner fire. There was the shock of bright new growth, the glow of established trees, and the yellow shadow light of dying vines and leaves, all tangled together in a light that swept across the land as far as she could see.
Eagle-beak peered about the clearing. 'What you staring at?'
'Everything's so beautiful,' she said. 'You're beautiful too!'
The bird plumped out his ruffled feathers and smoothed them down again with his shiny black beak. He cleared his throat. 'I ain't heard of no dragon like you. You're different. You're' nice!'
'Thank you,' replied Mara. She could hardly believe what had happened. She was not supposed to breathe fire for a couple of years yet, and that meant' School!
'Have you heard of other dragons?' she asked, suddenly aware of what the magpie had said. She trembled with excitement. All this seemed too much to take in.
'Well' you know, word get 'round about dragons. But there's not many. There's you lot and another one I heard of, but that's all,' he replied.
Mara's breath caught in her throat. 'You know where another dragon lives?' The old One? Could I really find him without my parents' help?
'Don't you?'
She shook her head. 'No.'
From afar, a deep thunder-like rumble echoed down the mountains from where her father lived. Mara looked up, frowning. The blue summer sky stared back innocently; clear of clouds.
'What was that?' she asked.
'I dunno,' replied Eagle-beak. He lifted his damaged wing and studied it, obviously not caring.
The ground shifted beneath their feet, and boulders and rocks tumbled from the cliff-face above. A wave of heat and wind swept over them, and a booming sound erupted from higher up the mountainside, so loud that Mara had to slap her hands to her ears. Flung sideways, the magpie rolled across the ground, squawking.
A plume of dust and earth jetted out from the ledge from which Eagle-beak had fallen, fanning out as it fell toward the forest below.
Spreading her wings, Mara launched herself into the air. After a few strained beats she felt an under-draft, and moments later she landed on the rubble-filled ledge. Creasing her eyes against the dust-laden air, she stepped forward and peered at where the tunnel entrance should have been.
It took a few seconds for her mind to accept what she was seeing, and then she lifted her head and bugled a cry of grief and despair. Mother!
