Mercy 6: Unlikely Friends
#6 of Mercy
Motungo guessed he might be able to just glide down to the small clearing in the woods that Mercy was headed too. All night long they had flown over the Lower Graygrowth, and Motungo was ready to finally lay down for a while.
They had stopped once at a small lake to take a drink. Motungo practically dove in, but he noticed that Mercy didn't get anything to drink. He had never seen her eat either. She must really be dead like the other boneweavers. He wondered if he should ask, or if it might offend her. She did mention that she lived, just differently. Nothing came to mind as to exactly how she lived differently or even what that meant exactly.
Mercy arrived a good minute before he managed to glide into the clearing. Short grass covered most of the place with bushes growing on one side. On the east side however, hidden by the early morning shadows, the grass had been trimmed close to the ground and a small house and barn stood next to the woods.
It made sense in some way that if Mercy had a human friend, that they would be living far away from the rest of his race. Humans never much liked things that were different from them in general. Motungo guessed their religion had something to do with that, humans were first chosen by their god. It might only be a philosophy, only your own kind can be trusted to do right. Whatever really motivated the humans to act like they did, that drive manifested itself to an unwarranted distrust of outsiders. Sometimes that same drive forced individuals of their own kind that thought and acted differently away from them. This little hut in the woods might be such a thing.
"I don't think they're home yet." Mercy said, "I suspect they will be soon."
"Do you feel tired at all?"
"What?" Mercy turned around. For a moment she looked like she was straining to understand what he had just said. Then she smiled at him as if she was smiling at a child, "No, I haven't felt tried in years Motungo. You should see the things that I do. You would be pretty amazed."
"Well, I'm going to go lay by that tree and sleep till they get here. I've been up for longer than I can remember. Gods you are a slave driver."
She looked hurt by the comment. Her bone like spines lay back and she shot him a dirty look that he did his best to ignore. When he was tired, it was almost easy to just assume she was like every other dragon he'd ever known.
The tree Motungo selected grew near the hut. It was a small young thing that also nearly bordered the thick woods nearby. With all the growth it would easily shade him until sometime after the noon day sun. It would be perfect.
He lay down and braved one last look at Mercy, then laid his head down. As his eyes closed, a bird like shriek blasted his mind back into wakefulness. He whipped his head to where the sound came from.
From the dense overgrowth a huge brown and white bird that easily stood as tall as him, charged him. As Motungo threw his weight into getting to his feet, the bird leaped towards him. It's legs were long, and it's wings were far too small for the bird to have flight at all. It's long neck gave it tremendous reach with the wicked curved beak. What Motungo saw reaching for his back, was the hooked claws.
"Argh!"
The bird instantly clenched its talons and closed it's beak, all before the huge body crashed into Motungo. The force rolled him to his other side, and the bird seemed to skip off him and landed nearby. Then Motungo had mind enough to roar and twist himself about to face his attacker.
"Argh," the voice called out again from somewhere in the thick brush of the forest, "you're not supposed to go surprising Mercy's guests. Not yet."
Motungo stepped backward and spread his wings, ready to fly or fight if the bird moved again. "What?" he shouted, "What?!" he shouted louder.
"Relax," the voice was nearer, directly behind him now. Motungo glanced over his shoulder to see a human coming out of the woods. "Argh here is pretty territorial. He's not used to strangers. My apologies."
The human might have been middle aged, but Motungo was still not very good at guessing humans characteristics yet. He was certainly a male at least, that much he could tell by the voice. He wore a robe, one of the most elaborate Motungo had seen yet. The colors were drab, browns, blacks, and whites, but with sashes and ties all over him. It made him look like he built everything he wore from strips of cloth, not all of them sewn together either. The man had long black hair, much of it was graying, and a thick beard. One of his eyes were covered with a leather patch that seemed to come off of a leather band around the man's head. He carried a large white wooden staff in one hand.
Motungo turned so the bird was on his left, and the man on his right. "Who are you? What is that?"
"That's my partner," The man sounded nearly amused, which annoyed Motungo, "His name is Argh-My-Eye, but he prefers Argh. He's happy to make your acquaintance, and he does say he's sorry about surprising you. He didn't know you were with Mercy." The man leaned on the staff he carried, "Likely story though you feathered hooligan."
The bird clicked it's beak and turned out into the field. It strutted like a chicken, only much larger. Motungo watched it as it kept walking several steps further away, then he turned his attention to the man.
"Who are you then?"
"My name is Gothard. I'm a simple woodsman. I look after what the rest of my race doesn't seem to care about. I try to undo the damage that they cause. I also entertain special guests from time to time. Welcome to my humble home." He ended the comment then tilted his head towards Motungo, silently asking for his name.
Mercy trotted forward and stopped as she came within arm's reach of the man, "This is Motungo, Gothard."
Gothard grinned, "Oh ho! That's him is it?" He bowed, then stood again his grin even wider, "Then you are most welcome, my home is your home." Then he turned back to Mercy and for a brief moment laid his hand on her nose. Motungo's heart caught in his throat, but relaxed in wonderment as Mercy nuzzled his hand for just a second. "It's good to see you again Mercy."
Mercy rose her head again with a wide smile, "It's nice to get out from the Ether and visit. You know how lonely that can be sometimes."
"So true. Well, I assume what brings you out here this time is pleasure. You wouldn't be that fine dragon if it wasn't for pleasure I assume."
"Well, actually it's more business, but I think that should wait. I kept Motungo up all night flying here."
"On Life's wings, you kept him up all night flying?" Gothard's face grew concerned, "Young dragon, if you want I've got an enclosed shelter with some good straw on the other side of the hut here. I can have Argh get you something to eat too if you would like to eat first. I don't normally keep much for your size around the house, as you can understand."
"Sleep would be fine, thank you." Motungo said as he stood. As Mercy and Gothard spoke, he could feel the ache of the flight and weariness seep back into his body. Despite only being a scare couple minutes from the surprise attack bird, Motungo already felt ready to sleep until the next morning.
Gothard walked with him to the shady cool enclosure built into the hut. It was unnaturally cool, but extremely comfortable. Motungo knew something had been done to the place, most likely magical in some nature, but he was too tired to figure out what had been changed. He curled up on the straw, and closed his eyes. This time everything was peaceful enough for the few moments he was awake.