'Rebirthing'- Ch.15

Chapter 15

For the day Curlhorn and Burnwing were Delbin’s guides for this new world. After all, if he was to stay here for a long time then he would have to know his way around. The more the pair showed him the more Delbin became awestruck with the beauty he failed to notice before on his own. He came to learn that the mountains were known as the Dragon Jaw Mountains. Burnwing admitted he had no idea why they were really called that other than the obvious feature that the peaks were all sharp and steep, much like the fangs of a dragon. Some were even snow-capped. The mountains, Curlhorn explained, served as a natural border for them. No one (to anyone’s knowledge anyway) lived on the other side. Everyone lived within the natural boundaries of the mountains.

The large body of water to the west served as the other natural boundary. They called it the Great Lake. The pair took Delbin to see it up close, which was a good distance flight. Standing on the shore he saw that it was similar to the one back home. It was massive, with waves crashing rhythmically on the sand creating a nice relaxing tune. Further down the coastline the beginnings of cliff sides could be seen. But the trio did not venture there. Instead they went to the delta that was nearby in the other direction to show where all the rivers led to. They followed the delta in the opposite direction of the flowing water. Flying above Delbin could see just how massive this place was despite its natural boundaries. They really were far off, even farther than the eyes and brain perceived them to be. He stood corrected to think that they were closer to the plains than the mountains back home.

There were forests scattered about the area along the river delta and upstream, but they were not as massive as the forest to the east. It was similar to the one Delbin knew except this one seemed to hold more of a mysterious feel to it. Flying above Delbin could barely see an end to the tree line before it started to the foothills of the mountains. “Hey. That forest…”

“Oh that.” Burnwing replied. “Yeah. It’s a strange place. We go in there all the time but not all the way to the mountains behind it. Even the toughest of dragons gets a strange vibe from it if he goes in too deep. That’s why it was practically made law not to go beyond a certain point.”

“But why? What’s in there that’s so strange?”

“No one really knows. Well, kind of since we often hunt in there. Unintelligent animals such as boars and deer and the like live in there. Despite the view from up here, there are actually small breaks in the trees. I guess some of the animals there need an open space but are too scared to come out here since we hunt them. We obviously don’t eat other dragons and when we’re not in the mood for fish we go there. And when I say ‘we’ I mean ‘everyone who lives here.’”

Boar? Deer? Delbin had never heard of such things before. They could not be dinosaurs could they? “What are boar and deer?”

“You’re kidding my right? It’s too hard to explain what they look like so I’ll show you sometime. Anyway, all you really need to know about this place is that its dark, it’s creepy, and it’s just plain strange. I’ve heard old stories of dragons claiming to have heard a strange howling noise sometimes whenever it was dark out. I’ve never heard any howling so I pretty much just shrugged them off.

“So, now you’ve seen the east and west sides. We’ll show you the north and south. We’ll have to be careful though. They’re not the nicest of places most of the time.”

They first flew north a bit. It was here that Delbin finally saw dragons. And most of them were not solitary like he thought they would be. Many were in small herds or families. He was not sure how to react to the sight of hundreds, possibly thousands of dragons before him. It was overwhelming to the point that he was not surprised or shocked. He appeared as if he HAD grown up around dragons all his life. Delbin noticed the various appearance differences between each group. Dragons were just as varied and diverse as the dinosaurs it seemed. Some were his own height walking on all fours. Some were smaller on two legs with nearly useless wings. Some were enormous and towered over the others. There were some that had wings as their front limbs instead of having wings solely on the back. One of the weirder ones Delbin noticed were some that were not covered in scales, but rather feathers and fur. Delbin had no idea that such a thing was possible. Then again, Burnwing did not have scales. But he was not covered with feathers either. Scale decorations, arrangement and patterns were just as varied and colorful. It was impossible to count the variety. Delbin had no idea a single species could be so different. Or, was the term “dragon” referred to the entire population as a race, or a whole, and that these different variations were different species much like the term “dinosaur” referred to them as a race. He was unsure of the correct terminology but was not going to worry about nomenclature at the moment.

The trio landed by a small lake for a quick drink and continued the tour. They approached a forbidding mountain area that resembled more as an enormous cavern than mere foothills for the mountains further in. It was clearly some sort of winding mountain pass. To where he did not know. Curlhorn did the explaining this time. “We just call that place over there the Northern Border. No one lives there. It’s desolate and always dark. They’re technically part of the Dragon Jaw Mountain range but because of their appearance we usually think of them as separate.”

Delbin could see why. It really was dark. They were not too far away from it and already can see what kind of place it was. A cold wind came from it making the overall atmosphere of the area fairly chilly and it was sending chills down his spine. The terrain around it was rough and ragged. The foothills of this small isolated range seemed to give the warning “Enter if you dare” vibe very clearly. He wanted to leave as soon as he could. There was something about this place that was starting to bring up those old nightmares he used to have, though he did not know why. Also, he could not understand why the dragons here were living so close to such a foreboding place. Curlhorn said it himself: it was desolate and not a friendly place to be. So why was the majority of the dragons (or that was what Delbin assumed anyway judging by the numbers) living here. Surely this world was large enough to allow them to go south comfortably. There was no sign of cramping and unhealthy living here. Everyone went on minding their own business or socialized with others but Delbin was positive that moving and spreading out more could not hurt. He did not voice his thoughts though. He thought it best he held his tongue for now.

He turned around and started walking away and the other two followed him. They caught up easily enough and walked together. The two knew what sort of shock this must be for Delbin despite his calm composure. They remained silent and allowed Delbin to sightsee. And that was what Delbin did. He was trying to imagine how different his life would be if he was born and raised here.

Something suddenly bumped into Delbin’s foreleg, hard. Reflexively he lifted the leg and peered down to see a young dragon hatchling. The little two-legged green dragon sat on his rump, shaking his head furiously trying to regain his senses from the impact. His wings were too small for his body to allow flight as well as his arms. They would eventually catch up with the rest of his body but seeing a hatchling for the first time made Delbin smile. He had never seen one before and he found the moment precious and sacred to him. Though the hatchling clearly did not see it the same way it did not matter. With his senses regained the little hatchling squawked a hello and wagged his tail in playfulness. Delbin used his foreleg to assist the young one to his feet again. Just as he did, another hatchling collided with his brother. The two playmates rolled around in the grass, squawking and chirruping their excitement. Delbin could not help but laugh. Then he thought. That must be what it’s like to have a sibling. Being an only child he could only imagine the companionship and bond those two share. No matter what the future held for Delbin, he vowed to always remember this moment.

“Haha. Their parents must find them a handful.” Burnwing broke Delbin’s trance.

Something just occurred to Delbin. Of all the dragons here, none of them closely resembled Curlhorn. “Curlhorn. Do you have a herd or family here?”

“Hm? No not here. My clan is within the mountains. I’m a mountain dragon. That’s why my body is so stout and bulky. It helps up to cope with the extreme weather. That and we’re just a sturdy species.” Curlhorn stated with pride.

“Mountain dragons? Really? I had no idea.”

“Of course!” Burnwing butted in. “How else did you think he knew so much about the mountains? That’s why I let him do most of the mountain talking. His kind knows them so well they might as well worship them like a god.”

Curlhorn gave Burnwing an annoyed look and Burnwing just shrugged his wings with his usual smirk. Delbin could not help but laugh a little bit. The pair looked at him confused but Burnwing saved them from an awkward moment. “Neora!”

Delbin’s heart skipped a beat at the sound of her name. Their last meeting did not go over well and ended with her suddenly leaving for no apparent reason. He was not sure how he was going to make a remedying second impression to show her that he was no lost cause of a dragon. He turned his head behind him and saw her just as surprised. It was either because she was spotted or that Delbin was there. Whatever the reason Delbin did not think it to be good.

She was not alone. There were others standing in front of her, clearly in a conversation with her. Burnwing raised his eye ridges several times and smiled a toothy smirk. Neora rolled her eyes and muttered something to her companions and they left. She made her way to the trio, standing alongside Delbin, completely ignoring him. Delbin inwardly snorted. She was annoying to say the least. What did he do to piss her off like this? According to Burnwing she was like that with everyone but Delbin did not fully buy that story. There was something else going on and he was determined to find out.

“What are you guys doing here?” She asked in clear annoyance. Her tone made her true unvoiced question obvious. She wanted to know why Delbin was here with them.

Burnwing pretended he did not catch her meaning. “Just showing Chosen Boy around. He is living here after all. We can’t have him wandering around where he shouldn’t, now can we?”

Neora snorted with an “as if I care” look. Damn she really was a pain in the ass! Delbin almost growled his own annoyance. “Whatever. Do what you want. Not that I can stop you or anything. Count me out of your lil’ tour.” She turned to leave, possibly to meet up with those dragons.

“We’re heading south next. That’s the only place he hasn’t really seen yet.” Curlhorn stated matter-of-factly.

Neora stopped midstride and peered behind her with a strange glint in her eyes. “South you say?”

“Yeah.”

“Pfft. Might as well come along then. I need to get away from here anyway for a while.”

What the hell? Just a second ago she did not care! What made the south so special that she would change her mind like that? Delbin really did not understand her at all. He snapped out of his musings when he saw the three others spread their wings. Delbin did the same and the four took off, with Neora in the lead.