There were a lot of other creatures in the mountain alone. It was easy to find insects crawling along the cold floor. Each leg leaving a print in the moisture. Or a small family of mice, protected stubbornly by my sister. Bats pressed themselves into the corners in the hundreds. We tended to avoid those caves however, because your average dragon wasn't keen on wading through guano. Except Wren of course, but Wren was far from average.

Master Wren is the young leviathan teaching creature studies, which means they're the same age as my parents and still growing. Ronan always joked that if they held completely still, they'd be invisible, which I took to mean Wren's scales are...cave colored. I guess. I always liked them because they had a thing called spectacles, little discs of glass in a metal frame that curled around their horns to help them see. I don't understand how they work, but every few minutes one of their six hands would push them up to the bridge of their nose.

Master Wren was in the guano again when I found them, I kept my distance to save the water in my eyes. Unfortunately, my question was that pressing.

"Master?"

"Oh! Good morning Longtayle, you're up early." They laughed upon seeing my twisted-up face, "what's brings you to my stinkdom today?"

"Something along those lines. I was wondering if some dragons don't have a signature scent?"

They paused, "...no? Everything has a smell, whether it be sweet, sick, or sour."

Squelch, squelch, squelch. Master Wren joined me on the outcrop before the bat-pit and slipped off six pairs of soiled leg-coverings. "Scent is very important to dragons, especially. You can get all of your basic information about a new dragon from smell alone. No other creature I've found is as sensitive to pheromones. A dragon with no smell... that would be quite unnatural, there's not much point to it."

They pushed their glassed up to the bridge of their nose, the metal clacking against their horns, "Why do you ask? Are you planning on sneaking around undetected?"

My tongue curled around one of my fangs. "No, just... wondering, I guess. It was stupid."

Master Wren clucked in dismay, "the purposeless wonder of a young mind is the driving force behind innovation. It's the young bats that find these caves and populate them. It's the pups, in hungry curiosity, that find new sources of food."

They paused, lost in thought, "I've been studying this colony for quite some time. They look a lot like us, similar wing structure and all that. These creatures fly quite sporadically yet...there's a method here. I think somehow the darkness of the caves they can see, even though everything else suggests otherwise." 

I shrugged, "maybe they just have good hearing."

"Longtayle! Are you back here?" A wavering voice called down the tunnel.

"Good morning Hailpip!"

"You're late for teachings."

I turned to Master Wren, who I suspected I'd lost to thought. "I have to go, sorry. Thank you for helping me, hope you find what you're looking for in the bats!"

Hailpip chirped when she saw me and we dashed through the tunnels to our morning lesson.

Our new teacher's tail trailed along the grass with a hiss as we skidded to the halt.

"There you are, we were starting to worry." He said as if the words were bitter.

I stiffened, why did our flight teacher have to be Lore? Why not Master Kuu? She was surely the most adept at flying.

Hailpip's wings curled in on themselves sheepishly, "sorry pop."

I whipped around to face her, "what?"

"Not you, bird brain. Master Lore is my pather," she snorted.

"What?"

"Quiet down you two, unless you have something to share with the whole pride? No? Kiri, do you mind summarizing what I've told you to our slow-waking peers."

"Sure thing, Fea! Master Lore is taking around to the east-facing side of the mountain. We're going to work on gliding."

"I already know how to glide," Ronan scoffed.

"Wonderful, feel free to take over the class." Lore's voice trailed off. "Follow me fledglings."

The air smelled of that which had not yet died. Each step we made upwards the less loose dirt fell away at my feet and the more rock there was to dig my pads into. They were hot, dry crags that dulled my claws and made my body feel light. Every time a breeze dragged its honey-warm tail across the mountain it asked to pull us along with it, to just grab on, let's see where we end up.

"Breathe it in. We'll stop here." Master Lore rested the parade on a flat mound jutting out from the rock.

Seven young noses instinctively raised to the wind.

"I want you to look around and tell me what you see," he instructed, "one at a time."

My ears twitched back. Part of me focused on Hailpip and Seth, the closest dragons to me, and the other in the sole of my paws. The rocks were warm. Seth mumbled something under his breath and lifted one wing above his head.

"The sun is on us here." I said through my teeth.

Master Lore's tail flicked back and forth. "Precisely, your wings aren't fully developed yet, it will help you rise."

"How does that work, Pop?" Hailpip asked.

"That's a question for Master Hemlock—"

"I bet Longtayle knows," Ronan jutted in.

Their eyes focused on me.

"I do?" I frowned.

Tallin perked up, "yeah! What do you think Longtayle?"

"Oh." I blinked,"...it's because...dragons are made of fire."  

Master Lore opened his mouth, but then stopped himself.

My head spun as I realized he was letting me finish. "Dragons are made of fire and stars, every single bit of us want to rise into the sky. To Skylark's Kingdom. The hotter and...brighter we are... the higher we rise."

"Nice one," Seth beamed.

"See I told you, I already know how to glide." Ronan's chest swelled.

"Cause you're hot?" Kiri tilted her head.

Ronan stammered, "well, uh—"

"Y'know, like, your breath," she clarified. "Dragon breathe fire, right? Did Skylark recreate us this morning and I missed it? Or?"

"Oh yeah," Ronan nodded furiously, "no I totally got that, my fire breath is so hot."

"Actually, your breath stinks," Tallin offered helpfully.

Master Lore was a quiet swirl of undisclosed judgement, standing there like the mountain himself, blocking the sun. He didn't seem to like my story.

"I thought you might have said something about your father," he remarked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Seth asked.

Master Lore paused, "ask him about it yourselves. You came here to learn about flying. If the shenanigans are over with, I'm sure you'd like to get on with it."

After a chorus of agreement, the lesson officially began. It came with a string of other challenges. Lore made examples of how to lift off with his own wings, which of course, wasn't entirely useful for me. I did my best to follow along audibly but it didn't do anything to help how clumsy and stupid I felt. I'm sure it was noticeable, because Seth stopped and came over to me.

"Do I have your attention, Seth?" Master Lore chirped at him.

"Yes, don't stop teaching because of one student, Master." He replied, the disdain he felt coming up into his throat. He turned back to me and in a much quieter voice asked, "I'm getting the feeling describing this won't help much."

My ears flicked back and I scoffed.

"May I?"

Seth was tall enough that when he stood over me, his keel brushed against my spine. I heard his wings unfurl and caught on, doing the same myself. My wing tips just missed his.

"Taking off is jumping, pretty self-explanatory. You want to tilt your wings like this." His wings curled back, scooping up mine. Then his wings folded slightly and his thumb dipped towards the rock. "That will bring down pretty fast. Make sure when you flap your upbeats are folded in or your down beats are just going to be harder—ow."

I'd brought my head up and accidently jabbed him with my horns. "Sorry, I think I'm getting the hang of it."                

Seth chirped and stepped off to the side. "You are."

Kiri, quick as always, let out a fledging cry, high pitched and sharp with triumph, that echoed off the mountain side. A sound that came from over our heads. Her wingbeats sounded like a duck, quick and clumsy, but she was indeed, gaining air. Every other beat her hind legs would bounce off the rock and kick pebbles onto my unsuspecting snout.

Her breaths were ragged and wild when she came to a skidded halt. Each step had a newfound strength, as if the winds had taught her how to walk again. Even her scent was different.

Master Lore purred, "well done Kiri. One at a time now, you may jump off the ledge if you feel comfortable. It's mostly grasses and water below." 

"Can I go first?" Ronan begged.

"I want Seth to go first so he can explain it," May butt in.

"How do you know I can't explain it?"

"Because last week you tried to tell me how to skin a fruit."

"Some of us don't like the feeling of wet, slimy, skin sliding down our throats."

Seth's wings snapped open, cutting off the Groanan™. He reached the edge of the mound in a few jumps and promptly flung himself off the edge, wings spread wide. There was a crisp womph as the hot air caught him and his roaring laughs bucked like rams above us. His feet scrapped against rock only a moment later and, like Kiri, something was completely different about him.

I wanted—needed—to be up there. I took my place in the line, in the back, and one by one, the air changed my friends and family. Tallin had an exceptionally lifting experience. He got so far into the sky he landed on a higher ledge and couldn't find the courage to come down. Seth had to climb up there and gently help him down. 

But when I finally cured my claws around the craggy edge of the mound, I found there was little to grab onto besides the wind rushing past my ears. It was forsaking me. When a unfolded my wings and let them buffet behind me, I knew I wouldn't be able to find the mound face again.

"I don't know how to do this," I admitted.

"You can step aside and let Hailpip go," Master Lore suggested.

"But he's to go first, pather." Hailpip reminded him.

Seth's striding paw steps padded towards me, barely audible above the hum.

"The mountain is steep here but still angled. You won't get hurt if you fall, besides losing a few scales. There's a shallow pound underneath a waterfall no bigger than May directly below us. The ground is soft," he explained.

My face burned, "I don't want to fall. Nobody else has fallen."

Seth's ears flicked against back against his scales. "There's nothing wrong with falling, Longtayle."

"You didn't."

"I have big wings and an easy breeze, so do you."

Then why does the sky lift you up and swallow me? I wanted to ask. The unsaid words curled around my teeth. I stood there, burning, and scented the air one last time.

"You go Hailpip, I'm going to practice over here." I let my head sink to the ground as I slunk by her.

They watched me return to the now-shade. Here, if I spread my wings and curled them up it lifted me from the ground for a sweet, beckoning second. Which is what I continued to do, listening to Hailpip's pather whisper her instruction. Instead of laughing like the other when she leapt off, she yelped and her chirps disappeared from the air immediately.

I scrambled back to the edge, surrounded by the rest of the class; ear pricked. There was the splash of rock falling into water. Then Hailpip's frustrated scream and a much larger sploosh.

She fell.

"Are you okay?" Master Lore called.

"Oh yes! Just wet and," she sighed, "covered in mud."

One of my feet slipped as someone pushed our worried flock from behind.

"Ronan she's fine, stop pushing!" Kiri chirped.

"I wanna see!"

"Go around!" May pushed him back.

"You go around." Ronan pried his shoulder underneath her.

Then May fell into my backside and promptly pushed me off the edge. Their shrieks of terror warped around me as I fell into a tail-biting loop, careening down the hill. Until one of my flailing hindlegs found the smallest bit of traction. Every instinct screamed jump.

For a tantalizing second, I floated. Muscles flexed of their own violation, my wings snapped open, my tail whipped around until I was floating right-side up.

I was gliding. I let out a frightened, extremely confused yelp, but I was gliding.

"Longtayle!" Hailpip gasped, "oh wait, oh no—"

I landed, not so gracefully, right on top of her and we rolled one before landing and epic squelch in the mud. She jumped up, shaking the mud off, and screamed.

"What?" I still desperately trying to get my bearings.

"You looked so cool!" She shrieked. "Longtayle!"

"I barely did anything. I think." I scoffed, and shook of the mud as she did.

Hailpip let out a sharp guffaw, "neither did anyone else, bird-brain."

My heart twanged away all the anxiety I had left. My nervous laugh sent her giggling, and we bounced another's adrenaline-heavy happiness back and forth. Why was my face warm? It felt hot in a completely different way. Until I felt a shadow passed over me.

"Tally Ho!" Kiri ripped down the mountain and slid along the bank of pond.

My spines flew up, Hailpip and I scrambled to cover as all the fledglings came yelling down the mountain after her. Each falling into the mud with an epic soaking radius. Anyone who shook off was only drenched by the next crash landing. We couldn't even use the pond to wash it off, it had been muddled a long time ago. Ronan was the one who started throwing lumps of it. I was content to have my wings spread to shield me as I sunbathed. Dried mud would be easier to clean, at least.

"Well I'm not worried about scale ticks anymore, Hailpip." Master Lore noted, with a little mirth thrown into his tone.

Hailpip looked up from where she'd been rolling. "Poppy! Come join us."

"No, I really shouldn't, I have counsel tomorrow and I can't spend all night licking grime out from between—"

PLOP.

A Hailpip-sized pawful of mud landed right on his snout.

He was silent for an impossibly tense moment. Before finally, from the deep depths of his scaly lungs a laughter broke forth. Quiet at first, I almost didn't believe my ears, but it rose to a boulder-shaking crescendo. He took two audible bounds, and I froze when I didn't hear the third.

Master Lore had curled into an oval midair, before landing in the pond with such force it sent a wave that lifted us up in all directions. I chirped in indignation as a wave of fresh, moist slime washed over me and pushed me a few wing-lengths, at least! When the water finally settled, some of the fish were spasming about on the shore.

He broke the surface with a might roar, which landed as a warm chuckle. "You all did very good today, I extremely impressed. Seth, I liked how you took initiative for your younger peers. Hailpip, my darling, it is indeed, perfectly okay to fall. Not everyone gets it the first time." His voice softened as he turned towards me. "I admit, perhaps I was too hard on you, Longtayle."

"Mm," I smirked, floating in the pond with just my nose, eyes, spine and tail visible. "Go harder next time."

In his following stunned silence, even with the caws of playing fledglings and wind roaring in my mud-soaked ears, I could tell I'd finally earned his respect.