Chapter 54

The cold wreckage of Istvan's old home was gone. In its place was a compass-shaped garden with four broad paths and four narrow ones, all of them leading to a pair of trees: one larger, one smaller. The trees were almost like willows, gracefully asymmetrical with long, sweet-smelling hanging flowers. The bigger tree had pale purple flowers; the smaller one had white. They were planted so that they looked like a mother and child, the smaller tree arching against the bigger one.

Set around the core of the garden in a semi-circle were five large wooden tablets where we could pin notes for the dead. They were already covered in scraps of parchment, pinned flowers, and badges of honor. Relatives of dead soldiers and airshipmen had brought them to the castle by invitation, and people had been trickling in and out all day to pay their respects to both the victims of the Demon War and to the brief civil war triggered by Janos. At the base of both trees was a small shrine to the Nine, bearing the symbols of all the draconic pantheon. Istvan's keepsake, the locket containing the tiny portraits of Yava and Meena, hung from a hook inside of the stone frame.

There were close to thirty people and fifteen dragons attending, the latter perching on the curtain wall surrounding this part of the castle. Istvan and Vash were at the front. Istvan was dressed in white, the Vlachian color of mourning. Vash had actually washed his clothes for once. Suri was by my side, dressed in her repaired armor, the point of her greatsword resting on the ground in front of her. The bulk of the people seated on the benches staggered down the paths were Free Army personnel: Taethawn and his bloodriders, Ur Gehlan and his captains, Admiral Lostra, Commander Vassoly. There were also a few familiar Starborn faces. Kylirra the Meewfolk Bard, Konan the Librarian, and the Meews Brothers were all there in solidarity. The four Dragon Knight officers stood stiffly to the sides. Soma was there - no longer a Count, but a Colonel. Rin and Gar had taken seats at the back. Behind all of us, Karalti sat on her haunches, her wings outstretched. They shielded us from the fierce south-eastern wind howling through Karhad Valley far below. Winter was on its way.

I stood stiffly and nervously in front of the twinned trees, facing the crowd. I was glad I didn't have pockets, because I probably would have stuffed my hands into them. Instead I gripped the Spear of Nine Spheres in one hand, and tried to relax as I thought of words to say. I'd never been one of the people to pull speeches out around the fire during impromptu battlefield memorials. I’d been more of the silent, brooding beer-drinking type.

"Thanks for coming, everyone." I started out, drawing a deep breath of cold, clean air to steady myself. "Today marks the official opening of Yava's Garden, which commemorates the loss of life by one family in the horror of the Demon War, but also the sacrifices made by the people of Myszno during times of invasion." I paused for a moment. "Like most Starborn, when I first came to Archemi, I had a lot of dreams and fantasies about what this place was going to give to me. What I didn't expect was to find and meet a place that I fell in love with... a place I want to give TO. But I found that place in Myszno. Everyone here - Vlachian, Tuun, Chuurvi, Yanik, Solonkratsu, foreigners from other lands who've settled here - have created this amazing, resilient land. We now know that Myszno itself was born out of the biggest tragedy this world ever experienced, the arrival of the Drachan on Archemi. But even after this place was literally torn out of the ground and raised into the sky as one great big tomb to Veles, we came back. We grew. We thrived."

I paused again, glancing at Istvan. He was stone-faced, eyes fixed on the shrine with his family's grave goods inside. Vash, standing beside me, squeezed his hand and winked at me. He thought I was doing alright.

"In any case... this garden is a symbol of this province as a whole," I said, resisting the urge to clear my throat. "We built Yava's Garden as a place to remember those we've lost. But it's also a place to remember just how strong we are, personally and as a state. You might notice there's no statues here. Nothing made of stone. That's because even after the Drachan, the Demon, Janos of Czongrad, Myszno is a living, breathing place. Stone can be broken, but life and spirit regenerates. Even if some dickhead comes to burn these trees down, we will regrow them, again and again. Because that's what this place is. It's who we are. Every person here is a survivor-" I nodded to Kylirra, Kon, and the Meewfolk triplets "-a soldier, a warrior, or all three. So... take whatever time you want or need to remember the past. But once you have mourned, turn your eyes to the future. As long as we keep growing, fighting, dreaming, Myszno will remain. Vlachia will remain. Archemi itself will remain. We can achieve anything we dream, because we're the kind of people able to turn dreams into reality through a combination of courage and hard fucking work. And that's a kind of power that our enemies, current and ancient, will never understand."

[You have completed quest: Yava’s Garden. You gain 4500 EXP. You are Level 43!]

I wasn't sure who started clapping first, but it started from the middle of the small crowd and spread. Istvan bowed his head as he joined in, a smile finally playing over his lips. At the back, Karalti let out a musical, bugling cry - a sound picked up by the other dragons on the wall above us. Soma was the first to stand, but then others followed. Taethawn came forward, put his hands palm to palm, and bowed over them. Admiral Lostra came to shake... and soon we were all mingling, the garden muttering with conversations. It felt weirdly natural to watch everyone come together, then disperse.

"Nice speech." Suri pulled up beside me, her sword now slung up over one shoulder. I leaned into her, and she rested her head against mine.

"Thanks. Pulled it out of my ass, but it seemed to hit the spot." My eyes were drawn up to Karalti, and I smiled when I found my dragon watching me. Karalti winked, then turned her face toward her brothers and sisters. Several of the male dragons bobbed their heads at her, puffing themselves up and flicking their wings along their flanks.

Istvan had gone to crouch in front of the shrine with Vash and Soma, of all people. I watched as Soma awkwardly reached out and gripped Istvan’s shoulder, bending in to say something to him that I couldn’t hear. Still, it made me smile.

“Yeah.” I let out a soft sigh. "Mind you, now that two of the Nine are out and Solnetsi is AWOL... I'm not sure what the future's going to look like. I mean, I have to sound hopeful about it, but still. Ororgael was kind of predictable, at least, but Lucien? We have no idea what he’ll do now. All we can do is try and get ready for what’s coming."

"We will be. The bloody lot of us pulled three back-to-back miracles this last fortnight." Suri turned her helmeted head toward me. She had her visor down. "How are you doing, lover? You’re looking a bit green-eyed to me.”

“Green-eyed?” I was looking up at the dragons posturing overhead. One of their riders met my eyes, and I scowled.

“Green-eyed as in jealous.”

“Oh.” I blinked a couple of times, grimacing as I tore my gaze away from them.”Yeah. A bit.”

Suri hesitated a moment. "So uh... when does Special-K go into heat next? Because that's… gonna be interesting."

"I can already feel it starting. Next week, maybe." I absently rubbed my thighs, searching for those pockets that still weren't there. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Right." Suri cleared her throat softly. "I'll be here for you, whatever happens. Alright?"

That eased a little of the jealous tension, but not a lot of it. Karalti was flirtatiously bobbing her head back to one of the blue males, who puffed his throat up like a pigeon as the others in the row hissed at him. I lay a hand around Suri's waist and squeezed it gently. "I guess I know now what Karalti was feeling when me and you started dating."

"Mmhmm." Suri rubbed in against me the way that the big blue male wanted to do to Karalti. "You know..."

"Hmm?"

Suri's expression turned a little sly. "Just a thought, but... can't Karalti's shape-changing spell be used on a human as well? Jacob knows that spell. So does Rutha, I think."

"Yeah, but..." I trailed off, and reached up to pull on one of my warrior braids. "Problem there is that if I do that, she won't lay any eggs. It, uh... doesn't work for breeding."

"So? We have nearly three hundred dragons we have to figure out how to feed, water and bunk. No sense for her even trying to have eggs just yet." Suri bumped me with her hip. "Think about it, alright? Besides, wouldn't mind seeing you with a cock as long as I'm tall."

I actually blushed. "I... uh... ummm..."

Suri laughed brightly, which turned a few heads. I slammed the front of my visor down. "God damn you."

"You love it." Suri turned and began to tug at my helmet. She had it about halfway off when a flash of movement caught my eye. It was one of the guardsmen, running full-tilt toward the garden. He was red-faced, eyes wide with alarm as he tried to wiggle through the crowd.

"Shit. Something's happened." I detached from Suri, who turned her head, following my gaze. We began walking at the same time.

"Sire!" The guard saluted once we were in earshot, a motion that caused Taethawn to stop flirting with Kylirra and make a space for him in front of the central part of the garden. "My Prince, we were sent for you, the Voivodzina and the Captain of the Strelitzia!"

"What? What's happened?" Suri frowned.

"The hookwing, my lady!" He gasped. "The stablemaster sent us! Her eggs are hatching!"

"What." Me, Suri and Taethawn all said, at once.

"Hector?! What's the matter?" Karalti's head reared up as Suri and I began to powerwalk out of the garden. Taethawn wasn't far behind us, his tail bottle-brushing as he excused himself from the pretty Starborn Meewfolk and strode off after us.

"Cutthroat's chicks are on the way," I said to her. "Can you come with? I'm pretty sure Suri is about to melt down and she really needs like... some female support."

"I thought we had a month or more! Hector! I'm not ready to be a mum!" Suri was already hyperventilating, fumbling her sword back into its sheath and nearly veering into Ur Gehlan. He caught her with an 'oop-hah!', then let her go to watch us bustle by in confusion.

"Gar!" I called to him as Suri broke into a run. "It's go time!"

"Huh?" Gar, who had been deep in conversation with Soma about something, turned to look back at me.

"Eggs hatching in your ship. Come on." I waved to him.

Gar's brows shot up to his hairline. Rin, who had been lingering nearby, squeaked and put her hands to her mouth.

"Omigosh! Baby hookwings! I'm coming!"Karalti hissed and pulled her neck back, flapping her foreclaws urgently. The dragons around her shrunk back in alarm, giving her room to polymorph down. She was still waving her hands as she ran over to join us.

The six of us - me, Suri, Karalti, Gar, Taethawn and Rin - hustled out of the pocket of the castle grounds where the Garden was located, and broke into a run as we headed up a slight hill to the courtyard. Ambrose stood outside the ship with the castle's stablemaster and a pair of hookwing grooms. The humans looked agitated. Ambrose looked like he was trying not to laugh.

“Hey, boss.” The Mercurion gave Gar a flippant salute.

"My Lord! My Lady! Cutthroat, she is... we went to feed her, and I heard the chicks chirping inside their shells. It is time." The Stablemaster bowed to us all deeply. "She... umm...well..."

"She won't let you near her. Alright, let me go first." Suri, red in the face, sucked a breath in through her teeth and clomped her way up into the rear of Gar's ship. She lifted her voice, high with artificial cheeriness. "Hi, Baby Bird! It's meeee! Suriii!"

"Fucking hell. My ship stinks like goddamned bird shit." Gar coughed as we followed after her. "How am I supposed to get this reek out of my fucking bedroom?"

"It's okay. You'll take a few poops in your bathroom, and it'll get back to smelling like stinky old human man in no time," Karalti chirped back.

"Fuck you. Starborn don't shit."

"Then get Ambrose to do it. The Nine knows he does everything else for you." Karalti rolled her eyes.

"Mercurions don't shit either, you big dumb lizard."

"Then have him hold your dick while you pee on things like a cat. I don't care!"

Taethawn hurrumph'd. "Excuse me, but that issss a hurtful ssstereotype."

Karalti barked an inhuman laugh. “Excuse ME, but I remember you guys all peeing on the war totem before we parachuted down into Solonovka."

“Well… yesss. I suppose that is fair.” Taethawn sighed. “Nothing gets passst this one, mrah?”

“Nope.” I chuckled as I sidled past him and put myself in the doorway to Gar's room, blocking it in case anyone got the idea to barge in behind Suri.

Suri advanced slowly toward the nest that Cutthroat had made of Gar's bed, her hands up, head bobbing in a friendly sort of way. The giant black hookwing was mantled over the rustling mess of mattress, bedding and clothing underneath her. Small muffled chirping sounds, like the noises that baby crocodiles made, pealed out from underneath her bulk. The dull yellow eyes flicked past Suri to the rest of us crowding in the doorway, and Cutthroat's throat swelled with a long, low hiss.

"It's okay baby bird," Suri crooned. "Come on, you need to move off them a bit."

Cutthroat's attention drew back to Suri. After a few breathless seconds, the hookwing finally ducked her head, crooning as her chosen rider carefully reached out to scratch around one earhole. And when Cutthroat finally moved, a small black-feathered head popped up from under her chest, chirping vigorously.

Big golden eyes. Fluffy black head. As the first chick pulled itself to the edge of the nest, I saw its little hookarms were only partly feathered, covered in spiky little pins. Its wedge-shaped head unerringly swerved towards Suri... and the baby crocodile chirping intensified as the cat-sized baby scrambled toward her. Suri's eyes widened, but as they met those of the chick, she melted right there in front of us, opening her arms. The little hookwing staggered toward her and tripped at the last second, letting out a little 'eep!' as it banged its chin on her breastplate.

"Holy Mother of God," Gar whispered. "That... is the cutest fucking thing I've ever seen."

No sooner had he said that than three more little heads emerged through the puffed feathers of Cutthroat's chest. These guys had clearly only just hatched. Their eyes were still sealed, headfeathers wet. Two of them were also solid black, like their mother. But the third, smaller chick was more of a dark brown. He had a vivid red stripe down the middle of his head, like a mohawk.

"Aiee… those red feathers. Payu WAS the father," Taethawn muttered. "I didn't even see him mate."

Rin giggled, and nudged the crestfallen Meewfolk. "Guess you're up for child support."

Taethawn groaned and rubbed his face.

One by one, the chicks wiggled their way out, flopping onto the edge of the nest. Cutthroat glared at us all before she tenderly dipped her muzzle down toward them, sniffing and nuzzling, then gently licking each one. Suri was blushing darkly from the sheer, overwhelming cuteness, clutching the oldest chick to her chest as it chirped smugly.

"Are you alright over there?" I grinned at her.

Suri blinked a couple of times, then looked back over at me.

"This... this is the best day of my fuckin' life," she said hoarsely.

There was a dull crack from under Cutthroat's body, and one by one, the five remaining chicks wiggled their way out into the world. Four of the nine were solid coal black, like Cutthroat. Only one of them had Payu's coloring - the hawk-like cream, black and brown barring, with the red crest and tail. The others leaned darker, like their mother. There was the red mohawk guy; two were black, but had their father's flashy red tail feathers. One was dark brown with black bars and a creamy-colored nose tip.

"They're so cute! Ahhh, Hector! I want them all!" Karalti made a soft squealing sound in her throat as she clutched at my arm, a call picked up by the blind babies as they flopped around. A strange, pleasurable sensation seized in my lower belly as my dragon's emotions suddenly flooded through the Bond. Oh no. Karalti was getting baby rabies.

"Well... uhh... umm... soon, I guess?" I stammered back at her. "I mean... you're not fully grown until Level 30, so..."

"Eeeee!" Karalti buried her face against my shoulder, and pressed her whole body against mine. As she did, I smelled it - the Queen pheromones. Even in human form, the perfume she emitted when she was going into heat was intoxicating. Right now, it was still pretty mild, but it was enough to make the crotch of my armor feel tight, and suddenly, I was feeling pretty damn weird, watching as Suri gathered the hookwing chicks onto her in a big, chirping pile. Except for one. One of the two red-tailed boys scooted forward instead of to the left, slipping off the edge of the nest. It landed on the floor with a squeak.

"Shit!" Before I could react, Gar slipped through under my arm and rushed over to the fallen chick. Cutthroat barked in alarm, her head pulling back on her neck as she watched Gar lift the chick back up to the nest. To my surprise, she didn't lunge forward and bite his head off his shoulders, or impale him on one of her scythe-like arms. Cutthroat made a soft huffing bark in her throat, a sound of alarm, but only weaved her head warningly as Gar gently tucked the chick back down under her chest.

"Eeep?" The little hookwing paddled away, only to turn back and peer blearily at Gar. Its eyes were a brilliant yellow-green, like Payu's. On seeing him, the chick began to chirp faster, throat pulsing like a baby alligator's. "Chrr! Chrr!"

"Uh oh. Someone just got themselves a hookwing." Suri chuckled. She had seven cheeping hookwings perching all over her now. The eldest one was clumsily grooming itself, wobbling as it tried - and mostly failed - to lick one back foot. Cutthroat groaned, and stopped staring at Gar to resume licking the younger chicks.

"What do you mean I... oh..." Gar paused as the baby hookwing hurled itself at him. He caught it, and looked down. "Wait. They imprint? Like birds?"

"Sure do," I chuckled.

"Where the hell am I going to put a hookwing?!" But Gar was already petting the chick now doing his best to burrow into the man's chest. The little dinosaur chirped victoriously as it managed to get under the edge of his coat, cuddling into him. "What am I... auuugh! No, you little shit! Un-imprint! UN-IMPRINT!"

"Nope. Too late. You have been claimed."Karalti squinted at him, like a pleased cat."But hey, look on the bright side. You'll get your ship back soon!"

"About fucking time." Gar sighed, and hugged the hookwing chick as he turned his eyes to the ceiling. Behind me, Rin began to giggle. Taethawn just shook his head.

"Well, at least she waited to pop her babies until after the invasion," I sighed.

"Mmhmm!" Karalti began to tug on my arm. "Alright: Come on, you! We need to go do something!"

"Wha-?" I thought back to her. "What do... I mean, what do we need to go and do?"

Karalti smirked at me. "Practice."

It took me a second. Then my eyes widened. "... Oh."

Practice: right. Okay. Yeah. Suri cackled as Karalti dragged me away by the arm, and I gave her a sad little wave. Maybe - just maybe - there was something to her Polymorphing idea after all.