Dragon Moon - a work in progress 3

3.

     Frightened bird calls startled them awake! “Listen, Snow Moon, our friends, the night birds are warning that some danger is near. Your play in the ash has concealed your whiteness and you must now be still and hide your mind. Think only of empty darkness like the back of the cave. Do not move and be mind quite!”
     Sweet Grass moved slowly and silently away from Snow Moon. She kept a close eye on his location while scanning for what had startled the birds.  Suddenly a cloud of glow-flies illuminated the night to her right. In their light she could see the cave lion crouched low and testing the air with its nose.
     Thankful that the ash should conceal Snow Moon’s scent as well as his color, she made ready to sprint if the cat caught her scent. If the lion sensed her prescience, she was ready to lead him away from where her son lay hidden.
     Noise filled the air as the glow-flies began a sound that seemed bigger than they were. Swooping and diving they began circling the lion with a maddening strobe light display.  The cat no longer able to conceal himself from his prey gave up and bounded away.  He was followed up the cliff face by the annoying glow-flies.
     Once she was sure that the lion was truly gone, she turned her attention to Snow Moon and was startled to find a single glow-fly resting on her son’s budding horn.  Wondering at the strange events, she called out, “Come, the danger is past and we may venture out to eat.”
     “But, Mama, you said I should hide by night and only go out at first and last lights.”
     “That is what I had said, however, I didn’t realize how clever my little Pink-nose would be to cover himself in the charred grass.
     “I’m clever, Mama?”
     “Oh yes!”
     “Clever AND special?”
     “Yes but it’s best not to be boastful of your accomplishments, Little One."  She led him to where the water bubbled from a rock just over their heads. The water cut a small, muddy stream along the cliff and then wandered lazily through the meadow. As they drank, they were visited by tiny orange frogs that seemed to be curious about these visitors to their stream. The single glow-fly that had rested on his horn vanished as Snow Moon bent to examine the tiny amphibians.
     “Look, Mama, the tiny People make the water twinkle!”
     “Frogs – they are called frogs. And I see! Where the frogs swim the water is clear. But do you think they make it clear or do they swim there because it is clear?”
     "Oh, I think they make it clear so we can see how pretty they are!"
     Sweet Grass thought to herself how strange and marvelous it is to see through the eyes of a child. “My clever …”
     “And special, Mama!”
     “And special, little stallion, the water has cleansed the ash from your muzzle. You must again darken it with ash, then I’ll show you how to use a horn to gather tree fruits.”