Chp.41: Time to go

It happened one morning, on a rather cloudy and breezy day. Haku and his siblings woke up in the cave, but they quickly noticed their mother wasn't there waiting for them.

For some days they had noticed some strange attitudes from Neytiri. It started with a simple increase in aggression, then she stopped talking to them completely and she refused to even let them sleep next to her. She had become much more grumpy and irritable and she was staring at them in a very unappealing way. She had even refused to feed them the night before.

Haku knew what this meant, and his thought was shared by all of his siblings. It was time to go. The entire litter mentally prepared to leave the cave that had been their home since they were born. While his brothers and sisters argued with each other about this, Darbi and Kotaru approached Haku. "You know what's coming, right, brother?" Darbi whispered to him.

Haku nodded. "Yes. Get ready, we'll leave as soon as our mother kicks us out"

"And what do we do if she will try to do… that?" Kotaru asked with clear concern in her voice. Darbi nodded as he heard her ask that question.

Haku knew what they meant. He well remembered that his mother told him that once her maternal instinct faded maybe she would have seen them as food. "I have a plan" he said, and he raised his right paw, revealing the portable gate.

After he discovered its use, Haku had almost never separated from it. After the signs that their mother was about to become their enemy began, he had held it tightly in his paw even while he slept. After all, if Neytiri would have tried to eat them, escape would have been their only option.

Darbi looked at the sphere. "Is that that strange object Rhaegal took from one of the fairies? What are you going to do with it?"

"It would take a long time to explain. Just know this: if when our mother comes back she tries to attack us, you have to tell everyone to gather next to me" Haku replied.

Darbi and Kotaru wanted to ask for more explanations, but a large shadow slightly blocked the light that entered from the cave entrance, signaling that something very big was coming. The two of them looked at Haku, who signaled them with his eyes to go immediately, and then they decided to listen to their brother and they ran towards the other little dragons.

Neytiri entered the cave shortly after, and her gaze turned hard as it landed on them. Haku felt his blood freeze and his muscles tensed like never before, ready to snap at the slightest sign of danger. Neytiri began to approach them, and even the other littke dragons who didn't yet know the extent of the danger backed away driven by their survival instinct.

Sensing the danger, Darbi started running all over the cave, whispering to all his siblings to approach Haku; while not understanding, the other little dragons accepted the suggestion. In doing so, however, Darbi realized too late that he had attracted too much attention from their mother. Only when he heard her deep snort behind him and he turned around to see her giant eyes fixed on him did he realize his mistake.

Neytiri glared at him so murderously that Darbi nearly trembled like a leaf. Not knowing what to do, he tried to say something: "Hi..."

But in response the great dragon gave him a paw and slammed him against the wall. Darbi flew for five meters and he hit the stone with such force that cracks formed on it. The blow was so unexpected that Haku jumped when he saw it; for a moment he feared that Darbi was dead, but fortunately his brother got up immediately, even if he staggered a lot. "Mother..." he whispered, but was quickly cut off.

"SHUT UP!" Neytiri roared, with such intensity that the hard rock walls of the cave shook. "Get out of my house immediately, you stupid little creatures!"

Their mother's killing intent was so powerful that all the little dragons couldn't help but back away, and even Haku found himself shaking like never in his life. The fairy warriors' murderous intent had been nothing in comparison. He knew very well that Neytiri could have ripped him apart in less than a second.

The fun was over. Their mother's maternal instinct was completely gone. Now in the eyes of the great dragon, the little dragons were nothing more than mouths that consumed the food of her territory. And she couldn't tolerate it.

Haku gripped the portable gate and quickly but silently walked over to the others, who were gathering next to him. He was ready to use it and teleport them all out of the valley. He didn't care if doing so would have wasted his one use of the portable gate: it was for a more than just cause. But before he could, Neytiri snarled: "I wasted a lot of energy and time raising you, so I'll avoid killing you this time and allow you to leave. But if I see you again in my territory, I'll devour you instantly!"

Her tone was hard and deep. She wasn't saying it just to scare them: she actually would have done it.

Haku looked into his mother's eyes for a moment. There was no more affection, no amusement, no kindness in them: indifference and anger were the only emotions he could find. She wouldn't have taken a no for an answer. "Okay. We understand it" he said quickly. "Come on, guys. Let's go" and with that words he walked towards the exit of the cave, still holding the portable gate in his paw, ready to use it in case his mother had second thoughts.

Darbi immediately followed; after the blow he had received he wanted to get away from Neytiri as soon as possible. Even Kotaru immediately ran after him: she remembered well what her mother had said some time ago and she didn't want to stay there a second longer. All of them had been preparing for that day for months.

However, the same couldn't be said for all the others. Though Haku had long ago reminded them that they needed to prepare for when they would have been gone, and Neytiri herself had explained to them that once her maternal instinct wore off they would have had to leave, being chased away by their own mother hurt them in any case. And in that way to boot… they hadn't expected Neytiri to threaten to kill them.

But not only that: they were scared. Although they were now used to hunting and fighting, until now they had always been under the protection of their mother, which gave them a sense of security. And now… they had to abandon her. Even though they had a plan and had spent weeks preparing, now they were afraid. "Mom..." Serengal tried to murmur, but she could say nothing more.

Neytiri stared at the small female dragon with a murderous look in her eyes. It seemed that just being called that way had infuriated her. Serengal felt a terrible pressure upon her and she expected to be mowed down by those huge claws in the next few moments. Time seemed to slow down in her eyes: Neytiri's mouth slowly opened, revealing razor-sharp teeth coated with saliva, teeth so strong and hard they could have crushed a rock without the slightest effort... Serengal felt her heart begin to beat furiosly and she became unable to breathe. She wanted to run away, but her whole body seemed to have turned to stone.

But just when she was preparing for the worst, it wasn't Neytiri the one who spoke, but Haku: "Sister, stop it and come with us! It is clear that we aren't welcome here. Don't disturb our host anymore. We will go and live elsewhere, out of this valley. After all, this isn't our place, so there is no point in staying"

Haku's words calmed Neytiri. The declaration that they really wanted to leave without making a fuss seemed to have had a calming effect on her. Her mouth closed and her body became less tense, though the killing intent didn't fade from her eyes. Taking advantage of this, Malchia grabbed Serengal by the neck and dragged her away. After a few moments Serengal was able to move again, and without thinking twice she ran towards the exit and she immediately joined Haku, Kotaru and Darbi. The rest of their siblings didn't hesitate to follow them: all of them had now understood that any danger they would find in the outside world would certainly be easier to manage than the furious dragon who was ordering them to leave.

The little dragons came quickly down the cliff. Once they got to the ground they took one last nostalgic look at the cave, but all they saw was Neytiri's head sticking out of the entrance and she was checking that they were really leaving, with no emotion in her gaze. The little dragons didn't challenge their fate and quickly moved away, disappearing in the middle of the forest. None of them had any idea where they were going: they simply followed Haku. They knew the plan, but they couldn't remember it right now: they were too confused and scared. All they could do was rely on the only brother who seemed to have remained calm even in that situation of extreme danger.

He knew what to do. Or at least, that was what the others hoped.

Haku led them to the place where they had hidden all the magic bags (which contained all the food and things they had stolen) and where they kept Sinar, Sarpa's son with whom they blackmailed his father. They tied the young ogre even tighter until he couldn't move a muscle, then they slung him over their shoulders and rode away.

No one said a word throughout all the journey. As they continued they looked up from time to time and they could see the shadow of Neytiri that was flying above them, clearly checking they were leaving. Only when they finally came out of the valley and therefore out of her territory the great dragon stop following them and went away.

Now the dragons were in the part of the forest occupied by ogres and fairies. Haku already knew where to go: in the previous weeks he had studied the place and had found an excellent temporary refuge, well hidden and quite far from the various ogre tribes or the fairy kingdom.

It took them a short time to reach it. It was a cave half hidden by vegetation. On top of that Haku had also moved more leaves and trunks to make it even less visible. Inside was a small waterfall and enough space for all of them. Once inside, the dragons placed Sinar in a crevice in the rock and closed him up with a boulder, after which they dug a hole and deposited all the magical sachets in their possession, then hiding them with dry leaves. Then each of them chose a place to sleep, and finally they rested.

It was only at that point that someone (probably Rhaegal, but they weren't sure) had the courage to ask the fateful question: "So... what now?"

This made the tension explode: from totally silent, the cave was transformed into a chorus of protesting voices.

"How could our mother do that!?"

"We are always her children!"

"To kick us out like that... she could at least say a kind word!"

The little dragons were clearly hurt by their mother's behavior. Even though they were aware that one day they would have had to leave, they had imagined the day of their departure as a tearful goodbye or at least with a warm greeting, certainly not with death threats and beatings.

Haku let them blow off steam for at least ten minutes, then he decided he'd had enough and he snorted so loud it could be heard throughout the cave. "Stop it. Leave these thoughts aside. They are useless" he grumbled.

Hos siblings looked at him. In their eyes it was amazing how Haku was able to keep calm even in that situation. "We'll be fine" he assured them. "We have been preparing for this day for a long time. We have prepared our path well and studied how to survive. Forget our mother. We don't need her anymore, so for me she can even die as far as I'm concerned"

Yes, Haku had planned everything in detail. He wasn't at all afraid to face the world without his mother's protection. He just had to stick to what he planned, and nothing and no one could ever stop him and his siblings.

"Brothers, sisters, our time has come. It's time to walk on our paws. From this moment we are no longer babies, we are dragons. We are not adults yet, but we are still dragons!" he said aloud. A ray of sunlight penetrated the cave and reflected off his silver scales, making them glow gold and making his eyes look like embers. "And I can assure you that no matter how many challenges we are thrown at, we will never leave anyone behind. We won't be like our mother or like our father or like all the other dragons. We won't discard the weak in favor of the strong. We will be a herd, a family. We will protect each other. And if anyone dares to get in our way… we will show them the true power of a herd of dragons!"

Hearing those words, the hearts of his brothers and sisters seemed to warm up. The fear and sadness hadn't gone away of course, but now they seemed to have been eased as a new feeling surged through them. A feeling that made their courage and confidence shine again, a feeling they had never felt before and had not yet learned to associate with the name of hope.

A few seconds passed, then Darbi stood up. "You're right, brother. We can do it! We are dragons! Why should we be afraid?"

"True, true!" Kialandì exclaimed, standing up too. "What are we afraid of, then? We are the strongest predators in the world!"

"We are more than that... we are a herd of the world's strongest predators!" Malchia said.

"Right!"

"We don't need our mother!"

"We will win against this world!"

"We are strong!"

"We are a herd of dragons!"

One by one, all his sixteen siblings stood up and looked fiercely into Haku's eyes. All of them were ready to face any challenge the world would have threw at them, and they would have faced it together.

Haku smiled, and then he turned towards the exit of the cave, looking at the sun filtering through it and the landscape of green trees that could be glimpsed, as if anticipating their future rise as a herd... no, as a family. "Let's do it, then"