Unexpected Encounters of a Draconic Kind and Other Stories by Beka Gremikova EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Author:Beka Gremikova
- Language: English
- Genre: Fantasy Anthologies & Short Stories
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
Unexpected Encounters of a
Draconic Kind
DRAGON SCALES. THAT’S ALL she needed. Just a few shimmering
handfuls, and her family would be set for the next year.
But had she found any in this cursed jungle?
Not even a glimmer.
Cahya was beginning to think she might have had better luck as a viskala,
one of her village’s famed warriors, than as a dragon scale gatherer. She
scowled at the mockingly empty basket tied to her belt before turning her
glower on the simple dagger that hung at her hip. The weapon would ward
off wild dogs or other smaller predators…
…but if she happened to meet a dragon, she wouldn’t have much luck
protecting herself.
But she didn’t need—or want—to see a dragon; she just needed to find
their scales, curse it all!
Dragons always shed more scales during the summer months here in the
mountain jungles, but this year, Cahya hadn’t discovered any of the
precious scales in time to preserve them before they crumbled away. After
Unexpected Encounters of a
Draconic Kind
six months scrounging through scattered leaves, flower petals, and animal
dung, she had nothing to show for her time away from the village—from
her husband and children.
Was she what the village youths called kial, with sad shakes of their
heads? A foolish old woman, clinging to the ways of the past?
Tears stung Cahya’s eyes, and she paused to lean against a tree, fighting
for breath. She could almost feel the spirits of her mother and grandmother
beside her, could almost feel their desperation for her to continue their
legacy. To not let their ways be forgotten, snuffed out by sneers or pity.
But surely her forebears had never had such disastrous searches. She
couldn’t remember her mother ever returning from her foraging emptyhanded.
Forgive me, Mamua and Alumamua. Forgive me, Boskoro; forgive me,
our children.
Cahya stood there a few moments, soaking in the chittering of the birds
and the hooting of the monkeys in the distance. The sounds, now so
familiar, also felt comforting. They seeped into her soul, each one a gentle
reminder that every being in this jungle struggled in their own searches—
whether for food, companionship, or shelter.
She swiped a hand across her eyes and straightened. She still had a few
weeks left before she would need to return home. Until then, she must do
her best to honour her ancestors and this place, where nothing was easy for
anyone.
She stepped forward, squinting at the jungle floor and praying she might
finally uncover her quarry.
About an hour later, her foot landed on something that crackled
underneath the mass of withered leaves and discarded tamir petals. Cahya
squatted, reaching out to brush away the slimy, decaying foliage to reveal
long, paper-thin material reminiscent of crumpled scrolls.
A shed dragon-skin. Yellow and curled, it was probably a few days old.
Whatever scales had once been attached had long since crumbled away, and
eventually the rest of the shed skin would do the same, turning into dust
amidst the brown leaves and crimson petals.
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