Hatching 5
Issnidi calmly opened the door that closed of the deep cavern from the rest
of the castle. The few scattered holes in the ceiling, showed that it was
near noon. Light streamed in abundantly, lighting up almost every corner of
the waiting area. As always, Mary, Issnidi's rider was sitting there, ready
for any request she got. Today the Judge from Chindor Castle was reading a
book while she was idly playing with her fingers in a bassin of water. The
underground caverns kept the worst of the heat out, but Mary was used to the
colder Northern islands of Icarus. DesCas felt like an easy bake oven to
her, and she was the muffin.
"Is that you?" Mary asked.
"It'ssss me." Issnidi
answered, "Where isss Ijkiosss, I thought he'd
be here."
"He got called away to Chindor again." Mary answered, "He'll
be back in an hour or two to make sure you get everything your heart
desires."
"I can't wait that long."
Mary looked up from her book. Usually Issnidi would not like her mate being
away, but she had never said anything as blunt as this. Suddenly a smaller,
brighter nose pinched through beside Issnidi's legs.
"Not yet." the forest drak
shushed, "We will
wait till Ijkiossss issss back."
"They hatched?" Mary asked, "Can I watch?"
"Usually you wouldn't be allowed..."
Issnidi started.
"It will be a long and lonely wait." Mary said, knowing her drak
and how she disliked not being able to call out her happiness to the world.
"Oh, ok... but you can't tell anyone."
"Cross my heart." Mary said seriously. "Just let me leave a
message that everyone is to gather when Ijkios and Hywll get back."
Five minutes later she slipped into the hatching cavern. Excited as she had
been the first day she had gotten to talk to Hywll. Truely, there were not
many feelings she could remember that were so intens.
Two hours, 32 minutes and 17 seconds
later, Hywll staggered into the waiting area in front of the deep cavern,
stumbling down the last steps that were hidden in shadow now that the sun
had moved westward in the sky. He was the last to arrive, the candidates,
neither of them fools, had gotten wind of the hatching as soon as the clerk
that had taken Mary's message had relayed it to the High Princess by
carelessly shouting it over the courtyard when he had seen the woman he
needed to pass the message on to.
Three aspirants had been judged for the three eggs issnidi had reported. The
forest drak had kept insisting she was telling the truth and not many had
doubted her words. Though she was a forest, she seemed not prone to joking
about something this crucial. Two of them were young men. The first a
dark-skinned fire-juggling wanderer who, was looking quite calm and relaxed.
Efoshiq was resting on a bench, calmly observing what was around him. A bit
earlier he had entertained a few of the people present by juggling, but the
most attention was still going to the doors of the deep cavern.
The other man was tanned, blond and blue-eyed. Despite his temper (or maybe
because of it), he had gotten the attention of quite a few girls in the
castle. Much to their regret Dakhren had no intention of getting into a
conversation with one of them. he had usually spent his days around the
training fields where no-one seemed to have the time to do much talking.
The last aspirant was a youn girl with an optimistic disposition. Needing
just the odd 2 to 3 hours of sleep a night she had explored most of the
castle in the first week she had been assigned to the clutch. After that she
had meddled in the affairs of the castle, and it's people. Or had gotten
quite a few draks to look up surprised when she played her bass, battery-run
amplifyer hooked up sending out her own 'good vibrations'.
Suddenly the doors swung open and everyone dropped what they were doing,
getting some of the meat and drinks spilled. Issnidi strode out, holding in
the need to skip a few paces because finally her lifemate had appeared and
he would now see their children for the first time. Mary walked out as well,
quickly getting beside Hywll.
"You missed quite the afternoon." Mary said, "I got to play
hide and seek with three lovely draklings and their gigantic mother who
insisted she fit behind the drapes."
Mary laughed, "I'm glad you're back though, they were getting
restless."
Proving her words, the three draklings did not waste time getting to their
chosens. All three of them moved simultaneaous to another part of the room.
All around people got out of the way of the rushing new draks as they made
their way to, surprisingly, the food tables.
Picking up the spilled food, the forest female was the first to look up.
Licking her muzzle she butted Marion and said:
"I wassss sssso hungry, I thought you wouldn't mind to wait a bit
longersh."
"Of course not, Nahosdi." Marion answered, "I think you still
have quite a bit of room in there." slowly patting her draks belly,
Marion tapped a simple rhythm, "Yup, a whole lot of space if you sound
this hollow."
"Guilty." the forest grinned.
"That makes me feel kind of good, you came to me first. Let's go
back."
The two males, fighting over a bit of meat did not notice their sister
pairing. They only had eyes for the meat. In the end it was the fire that
won the piece and happily snorted victory. The mud turned away and looked at
Efoshiq with teary eyes,
"I'm sooo hungry. And I can't reach the
food.... I'm too small."
"I get it, I get it, Prudios." Efoshiq answered, "Follow
me."
The third male looked up and saw his brother and sister being aided to more
food, cleaner food, food that hadn't been laying on the floor.
"Yo Dakhren!" he called, "How
about you giving me some food as well?"
"So you chose me."
"Why do you doubt, Do you think I'd let any of
the other have you? Besides, we had plenty of time to discuss you in there.
We played charades and everything. I know more of you than you could
imagine."
"Eh, I didn't know they'd know so much about me, "Kovadios."
"Do not underestimate my mommy. She got my
daddy spying on you."
"I see... I don't know if I should be disturbed by this. I think i'll
let it slide."
"Now how about that food!"
Kovadios got Dakhren back on topic, swishing him closer to the tables.
Marion
and Forest Nahosdi - Trained by Mary and Forest Issnidi (Judge)
Efoshiq
and Mud Prudios - Trained by Rhaeen and Forest Madalloski (Jousting)
Dakhren
and Fire Kovadios - Trained by Alexis and Earth Xelet (High Knight)
