For the long lived dragons, reproduction was such a rare occurrence that it actually only happened when another was dying. A dragon had to give up their greatest treasure and their immortality to lay an egg. It was near impossible for dragons to increase their numbers. This was supposedly to keep a balance in the universe. In very rare cases a dragon will lay two eggs at a time, or one egg will bear two hatchlings. Instead it made it easier for their numbers to decline. An adult could be killed after their egg is laid, and the baby could die before they bonded their greatest treasure. A hatchling cannot form this bond, only a dragonet can, and only when they grow old enough to change their shape. The non-mana creatures who enslave the young dragonets from birth have a bad habit of accidentally killing the baby dragon. What the non-mana beasts have yet to realize is the correlation between the survival rate from those who have found a greatest treasure and those who have not. In truth the dragon gains their immortality when they infuse a bit of themselves into their greatest treasure. It is why it becomes their greatest treasure, something that can be used to leash them. Very few ever realize how strange those treasures become. They might be eternally cold, never melt, or bring unexpected wealth, gleam with an unnatural light. If ever the beasts were ever to realize what it was that they held, then it would truly be impossible for a dragon to recover their treasure.
Such fears and dangers were not present here in this remote place. For the last thousand or so years groups of wild and freed dragons have been gathering here to live in peace. When Smokeyes and Oltaria decided to lay eggs it was not a decision made in pain and despair. It was the decision of two souls who were tired and ready to move on to their next adventure. Like any healthy draconic society these hatchlings would grow from dragonets to adults with the security and guidance of their parents, before the older dragon succumbed to age. The most surprising thing had been that two dragons had laid their eggs at the same time. Both had been shocked when they heard of the other’s decision. Now the entire sanctuary was in an excited frenzy. Both eggs showed signs of hatching at the same time. This was nearly unheard of. Both the Ruby and Gold dragon eggs were shaking and squeaking at the same time. Bets were being placed on who would come out of their egg first. The Ruby egg did, by a whole five minutes. She was a stunning dark almost black red color, with yellow orange scales on the top of her head, leading down her spine to end at the tip of her small tail and edging her tiny immature wings. She looked like some smoldering ember. Smokeyes puffed out his dark red chest with pride. The hatchling blinked up at him, then hissed at the crowd that stared at her. Grumbling deep in his chest at the fire in this baby Smokeyes made the declaration that they had all been waiting for. “She is my little Fyrestone.” A cheer rose from the crowd, then they heard yelling that the other egg was broken through. The crowd moved over to the next nest, Smokeyes picked up the staggering Fyrestone and carried her to the next nest, “Time to meet your new friend.” He whispered to the spitting baby dragon in his claws. She continued to struggle in his hold until the squeak from the newly born dragon caught her attention. She squinted transfixed at the dazzling sight. The Gold dragon was a boy, his whole right half of his body was glittering gold scales. Not a shock, gold dragons were named for their gold scales, but instead just a few metallic scales the entire left side of his body was covered in bronze scales. The scales met on his tiny face, when he opened his eyes another surprise. Unlike Fyrestone’s eyes of burning yellow-orange, he had two colors, his right eye was bronze and his left eye was gold. Truly a stunning combination. Golds are larger naturally than Ruby dragons, but right now the difference was so slight that sitting up the Gold was only a few inches taller than Fyrestone. Oltaria smiled down at her son. “He is my adorable Goliath.” A cheer went up through the crowd. The baby gold looked so startled, until he caught sight of Fyrestone in Smokeyes claws. The two locked eyes, Fyrestone snorted and Goliath sneezed. It was the cutest thing the crowd had seen in the last two hundred years, since the last hatching.
“Hurry Gol! Indred is coming back today! I want to catch him coming into the valley!” A pair of gold and bronze eyes scanned the rocks above his head trying to catch sight of the yellow orange scales that would tell the location of the dragon. Fyre’s dark red scales were so dark to make her almost invisible in the shadows. Had it not been the orange scales that made it look as if she really was on fire he never would have been able to find her in their games of chase and hide and go seek. She had the most unfair advantage. Goliath couldn’t help that he literally glowed as soon as any ray of light hit any of his scales. Fyre says that his scales blind her so that they are even. He wasn’t so sure. It made his hiding spots so scarce, Fyre already knew all of them. If he hid anywhere else she could find him a mile off, he glowed so much. He was always it. Today though, one of the younger dragons, still a couple of hundred years older than them, was coming back from a trip outside of the valley. It was said that he even left the planet. Indred was supposed to be back anytime today. Goliath was excited as well, he and Fyre had never left the valley. They wouldn’t be allowed to until they grew old enough to change their shape. He and Fyre were in a daily competition to see who could change their shape first. Smokeyes and Oltaria claim that the two of them have been in competition since the day they hatched. Fyre holds those five minutes over his head in far too many of their arguments. She claims that those five minutes make her so much more worldly and tough. “I broke out of the egg first, and handled two crowds before you could be bothered to stick your head out of the warm comfy warmth of your shell.” No matter how many times he says it wasn’t like that she always retorts that he wouldn’t know since he had been in his shell. Goliath grit his teeth, he wasn’t about to let her win this race. He would get to the entrance and see Indred first and have stories about his time with Indred to hold over her head. He was so tired of losing. Beating his wings he rose faster than Fyre. Gold dragons are bigger and his wings were growing in faster than his body, making him much faster than her at least for now. He could hear Fyre’s growl as he passed her. He went as fast as he could and reached the ledge that marked the entrance of dragon valley a full two minutes before her. That meant that he had a full two minutes of standing frozen staring at the horror before Fyre’s scream broke the spell. Indred was indeed back, if you could call the bloody mess on the ledge in front of him. He was full of holes, and one wing looked as if the flesh had melted, and the other looked like it was still melting. Fyre’s high pitched scream had brought the attention of the dragons who were watching the perimeter. It wasn’t long before large bodies blocked their view of what was left of Indred. Someone had been sent for help while Pleskes tended to Indred and Jovaba, an ancient Agate dragon picked the two of them up in his claws and flew them out of there. “This is not something children should see.” Jovaba dropped them off in front of Smokeyes who was having trouble flying for more than a hour or two anymore. It was mere minutes before Oltaria flew into the clearing panic in every line of her body. “What happened?” She demanded as she inspected the two shaking figures, “It looks like Indred came afoul some hunters. He made it back to the entrance before passing out. Fyrestone and Goliath found him.” Smokeyes growled, trying to heat the air around the two traumatized children enough to stop the shaking. Oltaria spat in rage, “Those damned hunters! They think that just because someone has mana then they are fair game. How dare they!” Fyre lifted her shaking head to look at the adults “What is a hunter?” The adults locked eyes in a silent conversation, should they tell them? Was it time? With heavy hearts they realized that yes it was indeed time to give them “the Talk”. It was with growing horror that they sat and listened about the reasons that they were not allowed to leave the valley. The pain and cruelty that the hunters and the masters that they sell to inflict on dragons and all creatures who are born with mana in their bodies. That was the day that Fyre and Goliath decided that the hunters must be stopped. Later when the two of them were alone in Smokeyes nest, the adults away doing whatever they could for poor Indred and making sure that no one followed him home, Fyre and Goliath vowed to each other that they would do everything they could to end the reign of terror of the hunters.
Comments (0)
See all