A desert ivory merchant must climb the edge of the world to obtain a legendary Roc feather and raid its nest before the gigantic bird returns home.

Written for  poetigress Thursday Prompt. The prompt was 'the egg'. Since I'd written a couple of stories about things hatching, I wanted to try something different.

Thanks so much for reading. Comments are always welcome
 ilovecritique

Icon art by  crowchild Done on my computer.

An Egg among Elephant Bones
By: Tyvara

If it hadn't been for his son's carelessness, Keiyan wouldn't be hanging from the edge of the world by his fingertips, but his family and livelihood depended on his successful return. Foolish children thinking they're fearless men — he could strangle that boy. He used the energy to grip the rocks instead. Besides, after a few weeks of cleaning his workshop, the boy'd better learn to keep his hands off his Roc feather. Now the only option was to climb up and retrieve another.

Keiyan kept his thoughts moving to ignore the urge to look downward. There was no down only up, and each handhold brought him closer to his destination. All it took was one section of crumbling mountain to change everything, and his hand slipped, clasping only a handful of dirt. From the corner of his eye he caught the perilous drop into nothingness and it sent his heart in a rapid tumble. Experience helped his hand regain its grip. Never allowing himself to make a sound, the mother's hearing was superb, and she would not like him in her home. Despite the nauseating palpitations he continued to pull himself up. Each handhold, every foothold, he envisioned as safe and secure.

After clearing a layer of clouds, Keiyan could see the familiar ends of driftwood he knew to be the nest. He was so close. Soon he'd be done with this infernal climb. At least some good would come out of his return to the world's edge, the large empty sack that served as a wind sail, should he fall, would be full before he took his leave. If only the mother didn't return before then. He'd never gotten on well with the gigantic mother bird; she was far too possessive of the things in her nest — as if she couldn't make more. No matter, the sun beat down on his back, a clear sign of a Roc-less sky, so he had time.

When his hands grasped the ledge, he pulled himself over, and took a moment to catch his breath against one of the nest's logs. He looked up and saw the last of his climb awaiting him. Keiyan allowed himself a sigh before he stood and began to ascend the log nest. A mere moment compared with the mountain, he quickly reached the top, where he found himself face to face — or rather to beak — with the current resident. They stared at one another, the immature Roc's beak absorbing his view like a polished golden mosque-dome, his aquiline eyes the same russet-brown as the feathers that peaked from layers of grey down.

"I thought you weren't coming," the young bird whispered as best as a giant bird can. "You've never come so late before."

Keiyan threw a leg over the nest and began to make his way down. "It would have been weeks ago if my foolish son hadn't broken my feather."

"Well, my mom molts plenty up here. Take what you like." He assisted Keiyan into the nest with a nudge of his beak that lifted and lowered him to the nest's floor. "I saved the best bones for you, the one's you said you like for your work." Shoved to a corner of the nest was a pile of long elephant tusks. "There isn't much to eat in these and Mom can't understand why I keep them. She'll be glad to see I got rid of them when she gets back."

Keiyan patted one of the large toes of his friend, running his had over the ridged scales that covered it. "These look fantastic, picked clean, and a perfect thickness. This'll really save me some time. You've got a great ivory eye."

"You spent so much time talking about it, I couldn't wait to see it once I hatched." A pleased look pulled the fleshy sides of his beak into an avian grin. "I'm glad my choices meet your approval."

After spreading his sack over the nest, the roclet helped to fill it with the best of the tusks, until the sack-ends touched just enough to tie together. "This'll surely keep me in business for many years to come. The next time I see you, you may be full grown."

"Perhaps I'll come and find you, so you'll never have to deal with my mother again. I'm not much attached to those rough bits, but I wouldn't mind trading it for a few baubles. I bet I'd impress a mate with a pretty chain of your carved ivory atop my crest." He puffed his breast out, spreading the fully fledged feathers and still sealed blood quills from the soft coat of down, giving him a spiny puffball appearance.

Keiyan laughed. "Already your mind is on thoughts of mating. You are so like my own son. I like the bargains you strike."

"I bet once he set eyes on me he'd believe your stories and leave your traveling feathers alone," his friend said while Keiyan perused the nest for a new feather.

Picking up each thick quill, he waved it through the air to see which made the stablest wind, a current he planned to ride all the way home. "Should he ever catch sight of you, he'd come with me and learn the ways of an ivory carver. To him I'm just a foolish merchant who needs to tell grand stories of the giant Roc myth to keep my life entertaining." He used each feather to raise the large bag of elephant tusks above the nest, using the feather to control the motions, and testing the strength of that control.

The bird watched him, tilting his giant head to sharp angles, much like the smaller raptors of its kind. "If only we saw the adventures of others when we're not around. We'd be entertained for all our lives."

"I suppose there are those who lead lives where the most fantastic animal comes no higher than my calf." Keiyan tried another feather and found a storm with easy maneuverability, smiling at his newfound prize.

"Then you should tell them of us, and let them know we are real."

"I do what I can in my work. If ever your shadow should cover my part of the sky, there'd be quite a change of tune for the naysayers."

"Look for me then, I'll come find your patch of desert and show you where my roost will be."

"I'll do that, friend." Keiyan patted the young Roc's toe. It amazed him to think that all this had come from his talking to himself while the bird had still been snug inside his egg. He'd never dreamed how smart such a bird could be. The mother hadn't been as verbal with him. She'd knocked him off the cliff and chased him in his sky-sail once, but never shown more intelligence than any other bird of prey.

With everything ready, and knowing the mother could return at any time, he climbed atop the sack and waved a goodbye to his friend. "If I don't see you before you're fully fledged, you know where to find me."

"I doubt it'll take long to fly there."

"Not for the likes of you, I’ve no doubt."

With parting words said, Keiyan waved the feather in the air, creating a giant windstorm around him and the sack of ivory. He rose and left the nest. Safe within the eye of the windstorm, he rode it down the side of the edge of the world, off toward the desert - off toward home.

The End