Dragon Bait

Rating pg13
disclaimer- The pretties belong to me.

note: i do not know how to fly a plane.

Chapter thirteen

With grace and skill, Kieran easily turned the rapid, deadly plummet into an amazing, controlled climb, sending him soaring skywards when only a second before it looked like he and Skif were going to crash into the hard, rocky earth below the cave. The stiffness of his wings that was always present when he woke up every morning loosened as he stretched them out, grabbing air beneath them as he propelled himself upward.

Kieran was filled with the over-flowing joy of being one with the sky, the victor over gravity’s powers, and the true master of the winds.

He enjoyed the new abilities that came from his growth phase; having impenetrable skin was great and incredibly useful. His improved senses: sight, smell and hearing, gave him an astonishing, expanded view of the world. He loved his tail, finding it a true delight and a guilty pleasure when he spent an entire day using it to whack down every tree in a small forest as he explored the lands of the humans. As for breathing fire, who wouldn’t love the ability to turn anything around you or anyone who happens to annoy you into a large smoldering pile of ashes? ‘It’s just amazing!’

However flight was far better than any of the other changes brought on by a dragon’s growth phase.

All dragonets are born with wings, considered to be their “First wings.” They are pale imitations of a full-grown dragon’s wings. First wings are too weak and feeble to hold the dragonets aloft for very long, let alone powered flight. They stop growing when the dragonet reaches what would be considered puberty by humans, become dragonlings, and look very small on their adult humanoid bodies and beging to develop a small portion of their magical abilities the they will have full access to after the growth phase. First wings become a point a very sore point for teenage dragonlings who often resort to hiding them by concealing them with an illusion of a prefect set of an “Adult wings”.
But when a dragonling enters into the growth phase, transforming into the dragon shape and is finally able to fly free all on the own, or the first time. The feeling is simply astonishing.

Memories of one’s first flight often become one of the most treasured, if not the most cherished, in the entire course of their lives, which for some might span several millennia.

After the growth phase is complete, they are finally able to transform freely between both forms. They soon discover their puny, little first wings have grown into a perfect set of Adult wings, as colourful and unique as their own scaly skin of their dragon forms.

Soaring through the air, Kieran felt the same joy as if this was his first flight all over again, simply because this time he was sharing the sky with his mate tucked safely in his arms. ‘Our first flight together, sharing the sky,” He thought with child-like glee. ‘But that first time doesn’t count. Skif was completely unconscious. So there’s no way he could remember it let alone enjoy it... He would probably enjoy it this time too if he would just stop screaming and open his eyes.’

Since he had jumped off Skif has been screaming his lungs out in unnecessary terror. He had wrapped his arms around Kieran’s left thumb, holding on for dear life. His eyes were shut tight against the wonderful views of the earth from above.

Finding a strong enough thermal, Kieran began to gently glide, allowing the thermal to carry him farther upward. When they reached the top of the thermal he would leave it and allow himself to simply glide across the sky as gravity pulled him slowly downward, ‘til he found another thermal to lift him up again. Kieran repeated the process several times; thermal riding was an easy way to cover great distances with little energy. And not having his own breakfast yet that morning, Kieran wanted to conserve as much energy as possible. The only time he would actually flap his wings was when the thermals would take him too far from the cave and the large valley that lay in front of it.

Eventually, Skif’s screaming stopped when a bug was blown into his open mouth, causing him to cough and spit it out in disgust. As gross as it was, Kieran was grateful that it occurred before his mate had screamed himself hoarse. Although he was no longer screaming, Skif refused to open his eyes.

‘I know he likes flying. He really enjoyed my little show yesterday. He would love it if he would just let go of his fear and open up.’ Kieran sighed as he tucked his head down to look at Skif wrapped so tightly around his thumb.

Below him the countryside passed by in bands of different shades of green and yellows, blending together as fields become pastures, then hills, and finally trees. The only thing that broke it up was a bright band of blue of the water from the river as it flowed through the land. An eagle dove past him to catch a fish close to the surface at an area of the river where the water paused and formed a little lake before continuing on. The sight of the eagle fishing inspired Kieran.

Leaving the thermals, Kieran lined himself up to follow the river upstream and slowly descended, allowing him to glide down over the river until he was just a few feet above the surface of the water. Forced to beat his wings to stay airborne, he lowered himself a foot or two further until one of Skif’s dangling feet grazed the wet surface.

The maneuver had the desired result as Skif’s eyes flew open as he cried when his foot touched the water, “Ahhh!”

Once his eyes were open the boy’s own natural curiosity took over as he first looked at the river beneath him and then the world around him. When he saw that they were flying only a few feet from the surface of the river, Kieran could feel some of the terror leave the boy. It took a little longer for Skif to get brave enough to attempt to drag his own legs in the water. As water went spurting everywhere from the wake of his foot, Skif‘s tension melted away a little more. Eventually he put his other foot into the water, then began alternating them, enjoying the different wake patterns he was creating.

Getting into the game, Kieran started to dip his own tail into the water, causing an ever bigger wake, eliciting a little giggle form the boy in his arms. It was clear the giggle was filled with stress, but it pleased him that Skif was loosening up enough to laugh a little.

Encouraged, Kieran started to sway a bit from side to side, causing the wakes made by their dragging limbs to become more dramatic. His swing increased until the tips of his wings dragged in the water too.

Even though his death grip never loosened an inch, Kieran could tell that Skif was truly starting to enjoy the whole flying thing. About the time that Kieran was ready to show Skif more of the advantages of flying he could see that they were coming closer to the source of the river; a massive waterfall. It was clear that Skif had not seen it yet. Rather than turning away Kieran pushed himself forward, speeding up. He decided to use the waterfall to help Skif adjust to the change of elevation he had planned.

It was the thundering sound of the water crashing that finally drew Skif’s attention from his feet to the waterfall in front of him. It was too late for fear to grab hold of his mate again before they hit the waterfall’s barrier of mist. Changing his trajectory upward, he glided mere inches from the falling water just as they had over the river before.

Skif was still wrapped up in his own joy as he kicked into the falling water like a child. Once they shot passed the top of the waterfall did Skif notice that they were leaving the earth below once again. Kieran could feel some of his anxiousness return as he watched the ground below.

Not wanting to frighten Skif again, Kieran tightened his hold on the precious boy in his hands. With a minor midair adjustment he was able to level himself out, allowing them to fly a few thousand feet above the valley below. While maintaining this height he was unable to take full advantage of the rising thermals, but he knew that Skif was not quite ready to go any higher.

Kieran set his course to once again follow the river, only this time he followed it as it flooded downstream. The river meandered through hills, valleys and forests, occasionally passing through villages and farming towns that where nestled close to the river. The longer Kieran flew in his gentle pass the more relaxed Skif became.

But Kieran was bored. ‘I want to show him what flying is really about. Not just that it can get you from here to there in half the time. I want him to see the how much fun flying can really be...maybe I should just start with a little trick and see how he handles it.’

Needing to start heading back anyway, Kieran decided to use a simple back flip and roll over to get him faced back towards the cave. His little aerial acrobatics seemed not to bother Skif as much now that he had gotten used to flying. Encouraged, Kieran tried something else. He twisted his body midair, sending them spinning around as they moved forward.

Through the mindlink Kieran could feel both the boy’s weariness and his excitement. ‘Finally! He is really getting into this.’ Kieran thought as he sped up a bit to gain the speed needed to do midair cutaways. He knew it would be more impressive if he had an opponent but Skif still seemed amazed by his midair course changes. By increasing difficulty, he made his way through all the aerial tricks he had mastered over the last few months. From midair rollovers to graceful dives, to overhead loops and downward loops, Kieran danced across the sky as they slowly approached the valley in front of the cave once again.

There was this one trick that he remembered seeing other dragons demonstrating in the past that he had always wanted to try. The trick involved a dragon flying in a massive loop while spinning, carrying a load in his arms. At the top of the loop the load is released when the dragon’s body is once again parallel to the ground. As the object falls the dragon continues his massive loop, now head downwards. Due to the dragon’s amazing flying speed he is able to complete his loop before the object and easily grabs up the object as he passes underneath it. Kieran knew the trick could be done with a person, having seen his father’s good friend Barra do this trick with his own carrier mate Iden all the time with no problem. ‘This will be so cool. I just know Skif will love it... Iden always seemed very happy to participate.’

Kieran knew he would need more speed as well as to be further up for this trick to work. So finding the strongest thermal in the area, he started to raise higher, gaining speed. This time when he reached the very top of the thermal, Kieran pulled out and began his rapid dive. When he reached the right height and speed he easily turned his dive into a spinning climb as he began the loop.

The sound of the wind whipping past as they climbed was deafening. The air became colder as they approached the peak of the loop. When he was just about in place for the release, Kieran shifted his grasp on Skif, allowing for an easy and clean release.

Through the mind link he could sense Skif’s hesitation, but Kieran own enjoyment of the experience was still overwhelming.

After one more overhand turns he was in place. Releasing Skif on cue, Kieran continued his spinning and proceeded to make the downward part of his loop.

The mindlink flared with terror and panic. Kieran knew that Skif would freak out at this stage. But with overwhelming confidence, he was still sure that the trick would work and Skif’s mind would be blown away.

Under gravity’s heavy pull, Skif plummeted from the sky. Kieran watched him fall as he spun around and around, continuing his own descent. He soon passed the falling Skif and began to aim himself for the interception. At the perfect moment Kieran slipped right under Skif as he fell, sending the terrified boy bowling right into the safety of his out stretched hands. ‘Got ya!’ He cried with euphoria.

But before he could secure his grasp around the little one, he slid right out of grasp and continued his descent once again.

In a panic, Kieran fought his own momentum to get himself turned around and dove after Skif. The wind was able to drown out the sounds of the boy’s screaming, but it was quite clear from his wide-open mouth that Skif was likely screaming his head off in horror.

Not wanting to risk a second near miss, Kieran pulled his own dive up alongside Skif’s fall, allowing him to easily reach out and pull the petrified boy tightly and securely to his chest.

Only a few hundred feet above the ground, Kieran pulled up from his dive. As he got back into a more stable flight, Kieran turned his attention to Skif. The carrier looked much paler then he normally was. His fingers were digging feebly into the armoured scales of his arm as he tried to re-establish his secure hold. Through his scaly flesh he could feel the boy’s heart trying to pound its way out of his chest.

‘Brilliant move there, Lord of the sky! You nearly killed your mate the first time out. Now I’ll never get him to go flying with me again. Hell, I very much doubt he’ll let me pick him up again... I should just land before he has a heart attack... At least he isn’t screaming.’

After his much deserved mental berating, Kieran headed toward the gully he had originally planned to take Skif to for the today. Luckily it was not that far. Within minutes Kieran was hovering over the entrance to gully, picking out a clear spot to land.

Taking more care than normal, Kieran landed without a thud. He was reluctant to release his grasp on Skif, unsure what the boy would do. But knowing that being on solid ground would relieve the boy immensely, Kieran placed the boy on his feet.