Little Egg

It was a crisp autumn morning when Mayar first set out at dawn. Careful to tiptoe past her sleeping family, she moved to extricate herself from the cave. Today was the day she would reach the peak of Mount Diamor. She had been pleading with her mom for months to let her try to summit the grey monster that shadowed them just west of the valley. Too small, her mother had told her; too young, her father echoed. Mayar, known to her family as May, knew these things to be true, but she also knew that she had the will to succeed, the gut determination to never give up. She would show them that she was brave and powerful and worthy of the humans’ awe but most importantly fear.

With great effort to keep her tail from swishing on the stone floor, Mayar reached the cave’s door without any real threat of waking her parents, and luckily for her, her sister Gazala slept like the dead. So, no danger there, she mused inwardly. Gentle puffs of smoke escaped Gaz’s nostrils floating like mini clouds along the dimly lit room, as she dreamed what May assumed to be a pleasant dream, full of happiness and tasty sheep. The deep low rolling rumble of her father’s snore, which was as familiar to her as breathing, mixed harmoniously with the softer purr emanating from her mother. The comfort of her family made her pause. They will be furious when they wake to find Mayar missing. However, this was not about them, she reminded herself. This was for her glory and in that success, they would be proud.

There was no room for doubt as Mayar shuffled her legs to push along the inner side of the wooden door that blocked the entrance of their home. It grated on the stones as it slowly opened omitting the first beams of sunlight onto her family’s prone forms. Once outside, Mayar breathed a sigh of relief as she jostled the door back into place. I made it, she thought. Now, I begin.

The sky shone a clear blue as the sun finally made its way above the tree line and the chill in the air marked the beginning of autumn. Dew carpeted the newly fallen leaves and made the ferns glow in the morning mist. Keeping to the worn trail, May made good time towards the looming giant that was Mount Diamor. The closer it became the more imposing it started to feel, an invisible weight settling on her shoulders and low in her gut.

May almost wished her older sister had joined her. Gazala, the perfect dragon, the apple of her parent’s eye, could do no wrong. She would have refused had Mayar asked. In fact, Gazala often chided her for her lack of forethought. Gaz would often say, you just jump into things, May. You should think first, May. You upset mother, May. Be more like me, May. Well, maybe not the last one, but it was the unspoken truth made obvious by the tilt of Gaz’s head and the puffs of annoyance coming out of her perfect nostrils. May longed to be more like her older sister. Gazala’s iridescent green scales were the envy of the colony, while May’s brownish-grey scales lacked beauty or grace. One day, when her wings would finally bear her growing body’s weight, May would take to the skies with Gaz, weaving in and out of the clouds, casting her mighty shadow onto the fields of humans. She felt sure that the envy of her sister would go away as she let out the greatest roar to ever come from a dragon, sending flocks of birds scattering and ground animals cowering in her mighty presence.

Just then a noise startled May out of her daydreaming. She would have missed it altogether had she not been straining to hear any sound that could have been the bellow of a very angry parent. She had journeyed far in the last few hours and was many miles away from the cave by now. She was at the edge of her dragon hearing.

“And what is this?”, Mayar breathed, dipping her head down towards the bundle of cloth crouching amongst the ferns. Carefully, she pulled back the woolen hood to reveal a plump pink female, age unknown. Human lives cycled by so fast thought May, born to this world, and gone again before a new dragon egg would even think to hatch, yet she concluded this creature must have seen at least a handful of seasons. The girl was dressed in a brown shift, a warm-looking woolen multi-colored sweater that dragged amongst the leaves and dark grey mukluks. Her bright green eyes stared curiously at May as her fingers clutched a handful of wildflowers.

Whom might you belong to, May wondered, scanning the gaps between the elms. A tiny squeak arose from the child’s lips, and it reminded May of when she would get hiccups from drinking the lake too fast. Whomever this little one belonged to must be hiding amongst the trees, afraid of the big bad dragon, and yet, May could not help but feel but a little disappointed at its willingness to sacrifice its offspring.

Turning away from the human child, at last, May continued across the forest floor toward Mount Diamor. The sun was almost halfway towards its peak and If she wanted to be home for supper then she’d better keep moving. Mayar had taken only a few steps when a warmth on her tail made her turn her head back to see the little child scurrying along to keep up.

“Now where do you think you are going?”, May breathed towards the girl, adding a little bit of a growl towards the end as a warning.

“I’m following you”, she spoke back to the dragon matter-of-factly, surprising May at the lack of fear in her voice.

“Oh, no you don’t”, May replied. “I am going where little girls are afraid to go.”

“I am not afraid of anything.”

“Not even of a dragon that could roast your bones and eat you in one bite?”, Mayar growled back.

“Nope.” The girl replied simply. “You are very pretty.”

At that, Mayar did not know how to respond. It was the first time that someone called her pretty. Always, next to her sister she sort of blended into the background, her scales acting like camouflage against the beauty that was Gaz. May had always thought she’d rather be scary than pretty but the honesty in this little girl’s voice brought uncertainty. May lowered her head towards the girl until they were at eye level. She moved closer and closer until their noses almost brushed against each other. The girl did not falter or step back. The light in her face beamed with warmth.

“I am going to the top of that mountain,” Mayar said, staring down at the child. And then against all sound reason, she quickly added, “You may come, little egg.”

“Can I ride on your back?”, the little girl ventured.

“Absolutely not”, Mayar barked back. And leaving no room for argument, May turned back toward the mountain, and once again started leading the way forward.

“I’m Calliope”, called the girl from behind to which she got no response from the dragon. “I live over that stream, about an hour’s walk north of the wood along Ice Bay”, pointing left. “You are the first dragon I have seen in real life. Are they all your size?”

“I am young still”, May told her. “I will get bigger yet.”

"Woah, really? That’s fantastic”.

As they grew closer to Mount Diamor the air grew cooler as the mountain cast its long shadow on the two travelers. They walked for a while in mutual silence, Calliope softly humming a tune that was both sweet and haunting. Soon, the path began to slope steadily upwards signifying the beginning of their accent. Calliope clutched her sweater closed as she hurried after her new friend. After a few miles, the girl’s humming grew faint and then altogether stopped. Mayar looked back to see the child had fallen behind by almost a mile. Stopping, she watched as Calliope slipped on loose stones as she hastened her steps to reach May. Puffing little clouds of smoke, very much like a dragon, May thought, Calliope edged around the large boulder that blocked the path.

“Humans are so slow”, Mayar grumbled, tilting her head at Calliope in indignation. However, after that, May purposely slowed her steps to allow the human child time to catch her breath.

“Walking’s hard work”, mused the girl.

“You are still not riding on my back, little egg”, May countered.

“Hmph”, Calliope responded, and finally falling back in line with May, she started pestering her with the questions that were filling her mind now that they were too far into the journey for the dragon to change her mind about the company. “Can you fly?”, she asked.

Not wanting to admit that she couldn’t, May took the opportunity to release the fire forever burning in her chest towards a passing hare that had the ever-unfortunate occasion of being on the same side of the mountain as a dragon. As May swallowed the charred snack, Calliope gasped.

“That was the single most incredible thing I have ever seen”, she declared. Can you shoot fire out of your ears too?”

Mayar chuckled. “No, but once when I was very little, a little flame did escape out the other end.”, she admitted.

Calliope fell down laughing. No one will believe her when she got home but this was simply the best day of her ten-year-old life. “I can burp the alphabet”, she told May when she finally stopped laughing.

“An accomplishment to be sure”, Mayar agreed.

They continued on toward the peak until halfway up they came across a thin but steady waterfall appearing out the side of the rock. Calliope sighed with relief at the sight of the crystal blue water for she was starting to feel rather parched indeed. She took a seat on the side of the gravel path upon a smooth-looking boulder about her size and quickly pulled off her boots. She would have to be fast, she thought to herself, lest the dragon departs her company. The surface under the water was smooth and solid reminding her of the rocks along the bottom of Ice Bay. She cupped the frigid liquid in her hands and drank deeply.

“Are you going to have some, dragon?", Calliope asked realizing at once that she had never asked her companion’s name.

“Mayar,” the dragon said as if reading her mind. “But you can call me May. And no, little egg, I do not need much water. Messes with my fire”, she winked.

Not knowing if that was true or not, Calliope quickly finished drinking and returned to put on her mukluks. Her damp feet struggled to get into her boots. She grabbed onto the fur that edged the top and leaned her body back trying to pull with all of her strength when a terrible feeling washed over her like ice. Her stomach caught in her throat as she realized she had lost her balance and was currently falling backward off the edge of Mount Diamor. Time slowed, yet sound refused to leave her lips as her eyes followed the jagged stones she was now hurdling past. Mayar had not seen her fall. One minute Calliope was there sitting on the rock struggling to cover her sopping feet, making May glad she didn’t wear shoes, then the next second the boulder was empty.

Calliope’s fall ended about seven feet down, slamming her body into the cold stone ledge. Scrambling, she moved to get as close to the mountain as possible while trying to draw in the oxygen that escaped on the way down.

After what felt like a lifetime, Calliope was able to shout up to Mayar, “May, May! Mayday! May!”.

The dragon swung her head over the ledge and sure enough, she saw the little human hugging the mountainside.

“What are you doing down there, little egg?”, Mayar asked.

“What do you mean, May?”, she shouted back, “I fell! Can you help me back up?”.

“What’s a May Day?” the dragon called down.

Calliope groaned. “It’s a human word meaning Help”, she yelled.

“Well, why didn’t you just say help?” May retorted.

“Oh, I don’t know, I was in a bit of a panic! Please just fly down a pick me up, will you?”

“I… cannot,” Mayar admitted.

Silence stretched between the two of them. A cloud passed over the sun sucking the warmth from its breeze. Two birds could be heard chirping merrily from a nest above Mayar’s head. It was almost mid-day and May was severely behind schedule. She imagined her parents having already woken up to see her cold empty floor space and suddenly May felt the urge to rush back down into the safety of her sister’s shadow.

Mayar shook off that thought. “Hold on”, she called down. “You aren’t that far. I am going to swing my tail around and you grab onto it as if your life depended on it”. Which, it kind of did, she added to herself.

“Ok”, May heard Calliope sniffle.

“Coming down now, watch out!”.

Mayar’s tail turned out to be the perfect length. Its chocolatey brown hue mixed with the strength of the slate tone sparkled in the light. Calliope quickly climbed onto the bottom of her tail wrapping her stubby legs around, crossing them at her ankles. She hung onto the dragon with all her might. Slowly, May lifted the child to safety wincing slightly as one of Calliope’s tiny fingernails dug right in between two still-tender scales.

May had gotten into a scuffle with Gaz a few weeks previously which had resulted in four torn-off scales and a tongue lashing from her mother. On that particular morning, Gaz had woken up to May’s humming as she watched her sister carefully hang her newly picked flowers upside down to dry out along the back corner of their cave. May knew she was not allowed out until Gazala could accompany her, Gaz had thought bitterly, and here she was flaunting her treachery with dreadfully smelling weeds and that smug little tune. Angrily, Gazala had roared at Mayar and flung herself onto her sister. They tussled, flipping each other over, snapping their jaws, and clawing at any open hide that was within reach. Their mother, who had to wrench them apart, then proceeded into a very long, very one-sided lecture about May’s inability to care about others.

“Thank you,” Calliope said to May, drawing the dragon back out of her memory. Back on solid ground, she dried her tears with the sleeve of her sweater. “I thought I was a goner for sure.”

“You are most welcome, little egg. I did not wish to continue this journey alone”, she acknowledged. “Now, please, walk ahead of me and stay close. I do not wish a repeat.”

The two companions set off again at once in comfortable silence. Their route took them on a circular lap around Mount Diamor. Slender in form, its peak looked sharp enough to prick the sun. Its dark stone created a shadowy figure shrouded in a halo of light. They paused for Calliope to catch her breath once more, then made their way, at long last, to its summit.

“We made it, Mayar. A part of me did not think we would.", Calliope exclaimed as she held the beauty of the land in her sight.

From this height, the valley could have fit in Calliope’s hand. The stream looked to be as thin as a bit of string winding its way into the rolling hills and woods beyond. Through the northern forest, Ice Bay was filled with tiny dots. The village’s fishing boats were bringing in the last of the fish before winter.

Mayar looked around and sighed with relief and at that moment she saw it all. She saw the grandeur of the earth. She saw the beauty in the simplicity of nature. She saw that everything had its place. The clouds provided for the trees, which provided for the crops, which provided for life. Deep inside Mayar’s heart, she felt a change. The winds had shifted and so could she.

“Yes. we did.” She at last spoke. “And now it is time to go. Hop on, little egg, I will take you home.”