Moonfall, #2
The Ballad of Falling Dragons
by Sarah A. Parker
Contents
Chapter 78
Overview
Pyrok returns to Raeve’s precarious hideout, secretly housing Essi and the ravenous fledgling Gruffin. He discovers Essi sleep-deprived and injured from blood-etching runes, then exhausts himself hunting and feeding the bird.
Worried by Raeve and Kaan’s absence as the aurora cycles, Pyrok prepares to hunt larger prey but collapses, underscoring isolation and mounting strain.
Summary
Clinging to the cliffside entrance of Raeve’s hidden aerie, Pyrok hauls a heavy sack of vermin inside, narrowly avoiding a fall. He notes the lethal drop below and curses the unsafe lodging while resolving to build a pulley to keep up with Gruffin’s growing appetite.
Inside, Pyrok finds Essi asleep at her worktable for the first time in days. He notices blood on her etching tool and a bandaged hand, then peers through her scope to see minuscule blood-etched runes in stone, which worries him. Gruffin, smuggled in by Essi, stirs at Pyrok’s presence and displays rapid growth and a voracious hunger.
Pyrok methodically skins rodents and feeds Gruffin to satiation, cracking pin feathers and keeping the bird from scattering bones. With supplies running low and Gruffin’s needs rising, Pyrok weighs hacking carcasses versus hunting larger game and decides he must venture south of the wall despite the dangers.
Alone and anxious as the aurora has risen and fallen twice, Pyrok frets over Raeve and Kaan’s prolonged absence and the world’s unraveling. After readying bait from stripped carcasses and debating moving Essi to a seater, he lies down to rest briefly but is overtaken by exhaustion, postponing the risky hunt.
Who Appears
- PyrokNarrator; maintains Raeve’s aerie, feeds Gruffin, discovers Essi’s blood-etched runes, worries about missing Raeve and Kaan, and collapses from exhaustion.
- EssiSleep-deprived rune-worker; secretly shelters Gruffin, injures herself etching tiny blood runes, finally falls asleep at her worktable.
- GruffinRavenous fledgling; rapidly growing, demands constant feeding, nests at Essi’s feet, briefly wakes and displays increasing wingspan.