Hatching 3
Achaena carefully turned her eggs around in the sands. Their shells were rock-hard and bone-dry. It was winter and that meant moist air from the sea. Though the Deep Cavern was the inner most room of the Castle, buried deep in the mountainside, it was still affected by the weather outside.
Achaena cursed the dampness in the room. Not even the warm sand could prevent her eggs cooling on the outside. The only thing she could do was burry them or turn them regularly. Achaena just didn't want to take the risk to burry her eggs so close to hatching.
"Gwaelyn?" she called.
The male Fire drak entered the deep cavern. His entry was so swift that he couldn't have been far off. Maybe just out in the hallway. Achaena smiled briefly but then started ordering her late around. In fact, it felt about the right time to groom herself a bit.
"Honey..." Gwaelyn suddenly said.
"Yes Gwae?"
"Do you know the eggs are rocking?"
Achaena let this sink in for a moment. Were her eggs rocking? Who had tripped them? And then the thought struck her:
"They're hatching!" she gasped.
"Indeed."
"Out!" she suddenly said determined.
Gwaelyn looked at her for a long moment, his eyes flaming with slow determination, but wild nex necii couldn't make Achaena change her mind at this time. Unhappy, but not able to do anything else, Gwaelyn went out to ready the aspirants and notify their knights. They'd want to be present for the pairing ceremony.
About half an hour later Gwaelyn and the aspirants finally saw the door of the deep cavern open. The door screeched a bit on it's hinges. Dampness again.
"Follow me, my babies." Achaena said, walking out, hiding most of her offspring behind her bulk. In the large pairing cavern, a big oval with wall decorations and -more importantly- the tables with food.
Several of the aspirants, all humans, 4 female and 1 male, strained forward to see past the mother drak. The small forms of the draklings tried to stay as much in the shadows, as their mother no doubt had instructed them. That told them one thing in the least, there would be no desert draks in this clutch.
Achaena positioned herself and nudged forward the first of her brood. A female rain drak came forward. The little giggly, shy dragoness, her mottled grey hide accentuated by the shade, finally stepped forward toward the aspirants.
"Ssscareh?" she finally said hesitating.
Scareh looked in the eyes of the rain drak and let the mind-pair take place. First she was still alone, but then she felt the silent presence of Rhaynna, her rain.
The next drakling to be pushed out was a forest female. The little drakling ran into the oval cavern and stopped when she saw the grandeur of the hall. She looked around a bit, stumbling forward.
In doing so, Scotia, the Ninja-trainee forester came right in her path. It
was her the forest was headed to.
"Sscotia!" the forest squealed happily, "I'm
Shadeynna."
And then, maybe to make sure everyone knew her mother was a wind, the
hatchling exclaimed, rather uncharacteristically: "Do you like my
colour? It's the latessst fassshion in camouflagshe."
"Your colour is perfect." Scotia assured her bond, "But even
ninja's need to eat. Especially if they're still in training."
While that duo trailed of, another drakling inched forward. The first male
was perfectly green, mottled and had an attitude.
"Qualave," he said, "I don't particularly like
humansss either."
Qualave raised an eyebrow in disbelief. Beside her Ideryn was busy taking
notes in his journal, sketching the pairings. Qualave glanced over and
sighed. Ideryn had also drawn her.
"I guess you'll have to do." she said.
"I'm not that bad." the plant flickered, lashing his tail
against Ideryn's journal, flipping it out of his hands. "Oopsss."
he said grinning. "The name isss Rognayn."
After that a mud looked out from under his mother's protective arms and
wings and huddled toward where the journal had fallen. Carefully he waded
through the aspirants toward Ideryn, still holding the book.
"I've been watching you." the Mud said, "My name is
Tasnayn."
"Nice to meet you." Ideryn said, taking the book from the extended
paw.
"Speaking of meat..."
Gwaelyn, Flint and Renylt, the draks' knights and even the last aspirant
started to turn away. Achaena had only spoken about 4 eggs. But then, a
small blueish head poked out from under Achaeana's left wing.
"Sssstop!" the water creeled and then moved toward Lephna.
"You can't leave!!! Not without me!" the drakling said,
feeling quite hurt.
"I'm sorry." Lephna answered, "I didn't know you were
there."
"Well I wassss. And I wass the Lasst." she said, hissing
soflty, "My name isss Lynna"
Lephna hurried after her drakling which had ran off quickly to follow her
brother's and sisters before they'd have eaten all the food.
