The skydrake pair lived on the hilltop north of town. They had been there for as long as Jay could remember, and the town considered them good luck.
Some days the drakes flew so high that they were out of sight, but their songs came trickling down the wind like a whisper of blessed rain. During their songs, the villagers took offerings of food and flowers and left them on the drakes' hilltop.
The drakes ate everything, but they were fond of fresh bread. Seeing as their presence made the crops grow exceptionally well, the villagers didn't begrudge them a loaf or two.
Jay's father was the village miller, and his mother wove cloth in a small lean-to on the side of their house. Altogether they were well off, and Jay often had a loaf or two to take up the drakes' hill. As he placed it on the polished stone alongside other such offerings, he whispered a wish to the drakes: "I wish I had a little brother."
Sometimes when he climbed the hill, one of the drakes was there, lying stretched out in the warm sun. He respectfully left the food on the stone and backed away, and watched as the creature stretched out its long neck and licked up the food. Then it sang him a brief song of thanks.
The male drake was larger than the female. Both of them had long, snaky bodies covered in fine hair, short legs, and wide, feathery wings. The male was golden, while the smaller female was pure white. They had voices like harps and violins, and they communicated by singing.
Jay loved their songs. He liked visiting their hilltop and seeing them up close, and never felt afraid. The drakes loved their humans. In return, they drove away the wolves and wildcats from the surrounding countryside. There was even a story about how a black dragon had once come to raid the cattle at calving time, and the two skydrakes had attacked it and driven it off.
At midsummer that year, a ripple of news spread through town. The drakes had dug a deep, sandy nest on their hilltop, and the female was coiled in it, laying eggs. Jay's parents kept him away, pointing out how hens were irritable while on the nest, but others climbed the hill and reported that there were seven eggs, all half-buried in the warm sand. The female never went far from them.
Then disaster struck.
Jay was hoeing weeds in the vegetable patch when he heard shouts in the distance. He looked toward the drakes' hill, and saw a glint of sun on metal.
He set the hoe against the garden fence, jumped over it and set off at a quick walk toward the hill. He hoped that it wasn't soldiers again. One time the king had sent soldiers to rid the village of their drakes, but the village defended their drakes, pointing out that they were not typical dragons and had done no harm. The soldiers had left in disgrace.
A stand of trees grew along the southern slopes of the hill. Jay ducked into these and crept through them, bent double. As he neared the edge of the trees, he glimpsed the strangers, and dropped flat on his belly. They were not just any soldiers. They were orcs.
Jay had never seen orcs before, but he recognized them by their dark green skin, monkeyish faces, and protruding teeth. They wore heavy armor and rode on horse-sized wolves. All of them were pointing up the hill and talking in their guttural language. Then they dismounted and began creeping up the hillside.
Jay sat still, petrified. Were they going to attack the drakes? He had seen the male flying off that morning, and he knew the female was up there alone with the eggs. Should he get help? Should he warn the female? But how could he tell her when she didn't understand him?
He listened as the orcs passed out of sight, waiting for them to reach the top of the hill. Maybe the female would kill them all. But she was so gentle. And orcs! Orcs were savage fighters!
A shout echoed down from the top of the hill. The female shrieked. Jay peered up the hill. He could see her wings beating up a cloud of dust, hear the clang and thud of weapons on flesh. It made him sick. And what about the poor eggs?
The female keened. Jay had never heard her make that sound before, and it sent a wave of horror through him. She was dying!
He burst out of the trees and ran up the hill, falling to all fours in the steep parts. He had no idea what he meant to do, only that his drake was dying. Her keening went on and on, like a woman weeping. It drew him like a magnet.
He reached the hilltop with a terrible stitch in his chest. The white drake was between him and the orcs, her fur and feathers stained crimson. Dead orcs lay scattered around her, but she was fighting no longer. She wove to and fro with her wings open, crying as the orcs hacked at her body. Underneath her, her eggs were crushed and scattered in the sand. It stank of blood and egg yolk.
Jay looked down at the desecrated nest and saw one egg that had escaped the carnage. It was almost completely buried in sand. He dropped to his knees and furiously dug it out, tucked it under his shirt, and hurried back down the hill, hoping no one had seen him. He had to go slowly, because he was afraid he would trip and crush the egg. And his tears kept blinding him.
He reached the trees and hid in the thickest part. He wished they blocked out sound. The drake's song of mourning was weakening, and he didn't want to hear the end of it.
It came much too soon. Her voice stopped in mid-note, and Jay sobbed. He couldn't stop himself. His tears fell on the leathery shell of the egg and ran down it.
He sat there in the trees, rocking back and forth with the egg in his arms. He heard the orcs shout in triumph, heard their armor jingle as they mounted up and rode away. Part of him wondered why they didn't ride on and attack the town, but the rest of him didn't care. They had killed the female. The world had shattered.
After a while he noticed that it was getting dark. He had been sitting here for hours. He slowly climbed to his feet, only to find that his legs had gone to sleep. He stamped them on the leaves and checked the egg. It was still wrapped in his shirt, and felt warm to the touch.
Slowly he drifted back toward the hill. He had to go back and see. He knew that she was dead ... but he had to see her, to ask permission to take the egg. Even if she was dead, he had to ask.
He climbed the hill in a daze and emerged at the crest. The blood-smell was even more overwhelming now. She had fallen across the nest and her body had curled up on itself. It took him a moment to realize that her head was gone. They had cut off her head as a trophy.
He bent over and vomited into the sand. It was like entering his house and finding his own mother decapitated.
Wind buffeted him. He wiped his mouth and stood up. The golden male was flying around and around the hilltop in silence. Jay watched him through his tears. The male landed on the other side of the hilltop and sat on his haunches, towering high above Jay and swaying back and forth, nostrils flaring as he scented the death.
Then he dropped onto all fours and charged at Jay, teeth bared.
Jay was already so numb with grief and pain that he only gazed at the charging drake with detached interest.
The drake's teeth snapped shut a foot from Jay's face. The dragon leaped over him and ran around the hilltop, sniffing the ground and whining in his throat. Jay watched him. He could ask the male for the egg, he realized.
The male slowed to a walk and approached Jay again, moaning deep in his body. He stopped in front of Jay and looked down at him. Jay looked up at the drake's deep brown eyes. The male opened his mouth, and the moan became the words, "What happened?"
His voice was not like a human's. It was like hearing a horse's nicker turned into speech.
"Orcs came," said Jay. "I saw them and I came, but I couldn't stop them. She fought them and killed some, but they smashed the eggs and she just cried. I saved this one."
The drake moaned again, and again it was several seconds before the moan became words. "Keep it. Raise it with love. It is all we have left." He turned away and nuzzled his dead mate. Then he sat up and began to sing a song of mourning much like the female's keening, but three octaves lower.
Jay wrapped the egg more securely in his shirt and slowly walked home.