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Literature Text
The Temple stood in a hush, aside from the occasional chatter of the guards, and the whispering of the midwives, It was a calm, quiet night in the year of the dragon. A year, that only happens every ten generations. In which the fertility of dragons is at one of their highest peaks.
Because of this, there is a large demand for midwives at temples across the country, to make sure the next generation is delivered safely, no matter what time of day.
And it was not uncommon to see dragons hanging around the temples that were the center point of their towns during these fertility seasons. The temple was the focal point of raising young. They were laid here and hatched, and even eventually went to school in these very walls.
The temples are the beginning of many dragons lives, and the will continue to be. Hopefully for many more generations to come, keeping to harmony intact for countless lifetimes more.
But as for tonight... The true gem of the year of the dragon will soon be here.
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Slouched against the stone wall a dragon sat with his eyes inspecting the door in front of him. It had been hours since it had last opened, light trickled through the cracks, practically taunting him. However, no matter how many time he tried to look through them, they were just too small to make anything out clearly.
He gave a large yawn before he shifted his body close to the ground, his chin settled on the smooth stone as he wiped his eyes with his paws. The male dragon felt exhausted, and several hours of constant worrying would do that. He would have taken a nap then and there, to wash away his worries, but insomnia got the better of him, it always did.
It wasn't long until he eventually began to hear the heavy steps of a dragon approaching his direction down the hallway, most likely one of the guards doing their nightly patrol through the temple.
The footsteps stopped at the fork in the hallway and stayed there for several moments.
"...Voltanth? What are you doing over in the labor wing?" The older dragon questioned as he turned around the corner and began approaching the other. His dull green scales and curled horns made it evidently known that he was an earth dragon.
"You had accepted egg duty tonight, what happened?" The earth dragon asked another question as he drew closer, Voltanth raised his head and turned, just about to answer when the creaking of wood broke his concentration.
Light flooded the hallway as the wooden doors slowly rolled open, blinding at first to those who had been in these dimly lit hallways. But once their eyesight began to clear, it was evident that Voltanth was filled with joy from was he saw. He wasted no time in getting to his feet and making a b-line through the door. The dull green dragon was left behind before he could even muster out a 'Hey' or 'Wait'.
The older male sighed as he continued forward once more, 'Kids these days.' he thought to himself. 'Never slowing down for their elders... what has his attention this time?'
As he stepped into the room, his vision cleared up to an even greater extent. With the bright lights of the door behind him, it was much easier to adjust to the flickering of the torch lights.
Honestly, he should have expected what he saw. This WAS the LABOR wing after all. He chuckled to himself and shook his head, he swore that he was starting to become senile.
"Now that's just cute." He said aloud. But the couple didn't seem to hear him. They were busy with their new additions.
"I can't believe there is going to be a miniature me someday!" Voltanth exclaimed in joy as he held an egg in his paws. The shell of the egg matched the yellow of his scales, proving the genes of an Electricity dragon. "Now now, don't get too excited you might drop it." The female dragon chuckled to herself as she cradled an egg herself. The shell was blue, showing that an ice dragon was forming inside.
The female smiles as she blew a puff of cold air at her mate. "Just remember that you have other children to take care of too." Voltanth quickly clenched his eyes shut so they wouldn't freeze.
"Master Anemone..?" A quiet voice cut through the ice dragons joy as she turned her attention to the corner of the room, her mate did not notice the voice and continued fawning over the egg.
"Well..." Another dragons head peeked around the corner, her slit pupils and bright yellow eyes cut through the darkness clearly marking where she was. "I've almost finished cleaning this egg but... are you certain you still want it?" Her voice held a hidden sorrow.
The answer was nearly immediate. "Yes. Please, wrap it up. I'll take care of it..." She paused. "And if you could, possibly send for a messenger phoenix?"
The midwife nodded. "As you wish." She bowed her head as she went back around the corner to the other room.
While the girls were talking, neither of the males had noticed anything. They were having a conversation of their own.
"At first I had thought you had snuck out for an extra nap, you should tell your fellow Guardians before running off like that." The earth dragons eyelids hung down as he looked at the new father. " A certain someone wouldn't take it very well." he chuckled. "Never takes anything well."
Voltanth paused before tilting his head to the side and giving his best 'whoops' expression. "I'm sorry Verdant, but things like that just don't go through when something like this happens so suddenly." he laughed nervously and looked down at the yellow egg. "But look, there's going to be a miniature version of me running around soon!" He held it up to the earth guardian so he could further inspect it.
"Sounds cute." Verdant smiled, but it quickly faded. "But seriously Voltanth, do you remember which eggs you were supposed to watch tonight?"
It took him a moment before he responded to the older male. "..Oh."
"Yeah. And I understand you're excited about finally becoming a father but you can't leave those eggs alo-"
"But.. that other guy went to go watch them."
"...What guy?"
Voltanth raised his paw to scratch his head as he thought. "It was... um. Everyone's really scared of him ya know?" He started fidgeting in a nervous manner. "It was that... Fearling! He has the skin growing up his horns, covered in scars!" He bit his claws. "Ancestors.. what was his name.."
Anemone spoke up. "He's speaking of Damascus."
"Yeah! That's his name!.. doesn't it mean something like... a sack of blood?" Voltanth whispered the last part to himself.
Verdant sighed, closed his eyes, and shrugged. "Well.. if its Damascus then we don't need to worry at all."
Laughter came from Anemone. "Indeed! they're in good hands tonight. nobody with ill intentions would dare go near any place with Damascus around! Honestly. I feel that he should be an egg guardian himself. There would be no more smashings!"
Verdant nodded in agreement. "Sadly we all know that currently, the corrupted cannot become guardians. However, maybe we can simply hire him to do it during breeding seasons..."
"That would be wonderful! I'm sure Father would accept the offer!" The midwife with the piercing yellow eyes was now finished cleaning the final egg was joined the other three. "First I must apologize, I am the one who sent him to go get Master Voltanth, but it did not cross my mind to alert you as well. I am terribly sorry." She bowed her head.
"But as a member of the community, I can say that many would feel so much better if they heard that he was guarding their eggs, I hope you do consider it."
"Think nothing of it Fuschia, you had enough on your plate. And I will be sure to bring it up at the next meeting." Verdant replied with a confident smile.
Fuschias face flushed slightly, but it was hard to notice with her pink scales. She bowed her head once more. "Thank you, Master Verdant!"
Now her attention was to Anemone. Carefully she set a small basket with a bundled up blanket inside at her feet. "I will be going to fetch for a messenger phoenix, hopefully, I will not be gone long."
Anemones face started showing the beginning of worry. "Yes, of course..." And with one last bow, Fuschia quietly exited the room. Anemones listened to her exit the room and sat there unaware that she was lost in thought until her mate spoke.
"Alright then! let's see if this little tyke will be a tie breaker!"
It took a moment for those words to sink in, but by the time Anemone had swiveled her head back around, Voltanth had already taken the basket and was reaching for the blanket.
"Voltanth..!" She whispered in fear,
But he didn't hear her.
His teeth gripped on the top of the blanket, and he started to pull it off.
She felt her stomach become a pit, and her chest curling in on itself in painful circular motions. Her heart burning along with her lungs. Her fear was overtaking her, the panic made everything feel like it was going so slow.
Maybe... Maybe she had time to stop him?
She opened her mouth to speak, but instead, it came out as hoarse screams.
"VOLTANTH, WAIT THAT'S-"
But it was too late, he had already pulled the blanket off.
Silence overtook them.
The Pit in her stomach on grew and went deeper, and deeper. She began to shake as she huffed out cold air each time she breathed.
Anemone mentally cursed herself for not paying attention after Fuschia left. She was lost in so much thought that she continued to have since she laid this egg.
This beautiful Egg, with shades of violet.
The two males sat agape, Voltanth dropped the blanket out of his mouth while Verdant stared. Blinking to make sure he wasn't seeing things.
They were all getting nervous. The air in the room started to feel heavy as the silence continued.
Voltanth glanced up at his mates face before quickly looking back at the egg. Then he glanced back up once more. He gulped and felt like his throat was being constricted, he nervously opened his mouth.
"... Anemone..?"
She visibly flinched at the sound of his voice, he waited a moment before he reached out his paw.
"Are you... ok?"
The closer his paw approached the more she shook and hyperventilated, and before he could pull his arm away her sanity snapped. Her breath came out like a blizzard, freezing his arm and part of the basket underneath it. He reeled back in shock and clutched his frozen arm to his chest.
Verdant was startled by the sudden outburst and dug his claws into the stone on instinct, he turned to his fellow guardian and glanced between his face and his arm. "Ancestors, Voltanth are you alright?" But the Electric dragon didn't seem to hear, he started rubbing his frozen arm as he continued to stare at his mate. "Anemone..."
No one tried to move or engage Anemone. And after several moments the full weight of what she just did hit her.
"I... I.. I'm so-s-sorry..!" she sputtered out, tears streamed down her face.
"I-I I j...just.."
"I-I-...."
But she couldn't get the rest of the words out before the sobs overtook her.
Verdant watched as Voltanth moved from his spot with the other two eggs and set them down at her feet, and curled his wings around her. She leaned into his touch and brought her eggs closer to her body.
SCRTCH SCRTCH SCRTCH SCRTCH SCRTCH
All three of the dragons raised their heads at the noise, and before they could identify the source the wooden doors were creaking open.
A small creature darted through the entrance, its ears up high and on alert as it sniffed the air.
Its fur bristled and it stood in a pointing motion. The horns on its head marked clearly what it was, a Jackalope.
Entering the room followed an armor-clad guard, small bags had taken their place under his eyes He held his spear in a disinterested manner.
"What seems to be the problem..?"
He blinked several times before a mixture of shock and embarrassment washed over his freckled face.
"O-oh dear, I'm so sorry Masters! I didn't know you were..!" he quickly turned his head and cleared his throat. "I'll leave immediately!" The guard hastily turned to leave. He clicked his tongue. "Pedro, come!"
But the creature didn't move.
When the guard saw that it didn't he turned back around "Pedro, come." he emphasized as he clicked his tongue again.
Yet again it did not follow instead it stepped out of the pointing position and its fur bristled once me.
The three dragons in the room eyed it nervously.
"I-I'm sorry. I don't know why it's doing that. " The guard spoke nervously. "I'll get him out of your way." He took a few steps forward and leaned down to pick it up, but the moment he grazed its fur the creature darted to the three.
It began to dig into the space in between Anemones front legs, trying to get to her eggs.
She yelped and shut her front legs as firmly as she could. She wanted to move and push it away, but the risk of exposing the purple egg was too high. Voltanth was the one who attempted to take action. The quick action of the Jackalope had shocked him, but he shook it off and growled at the rabbit-like creature.
He didn't want to actually hurt the creature, but he knew what would happen if he didn't stop it, they all did. So he dug his claws roughly into the mammal's fur.
The Jackalope squealed in pain and began to bunny kick. Voltanth gripped as hard as he could, but alas the only things his paws got, in the end, was fluff.
He lost his grip and was left with only pawfuls of fur, while the animal finally squeezed its way through the tiny gap to its destination.
Anemone let out a squeak and curled her wings in on her so the guard couldn't see the eggs when she lifted her legs to see what was going on.
The jackalope had gripped itself onto the purple egg, reminiscent of a parasite. It stayed silent for a few moments, its nose twitching every time it breathed. And then with no warning, it was squealing at an alarming volume in such a way that it mimicked a panic alarm.
Oh Ancestors, it felt like her worst nightmares were coming true. Anemone didn't think her eyes could possibly widen any further but she proved herself wrong. She was practically a cocoon with how far she pulled her wings in around her, making a panicked attempt to hush the creature that held on to her egg.
"Shhh, Shhh, please, please be quiet!" She begged the jackalope and moved to try and pry it off. Instantaneously the audible snap of teeth was heard as she reeled back. Her frills stood up on her head and she looked over the creature and growled, frost power spewing from her breath. The Jackalope growled back, in its own way. Its teeth chattered in aggression as it clutched its prize even more.
"It shouldn't be doing that," Verdant exclaimed. " Why isn't backing down Chuck?"
The young guard looked at the Earth Guardian, his face was tense and uneasy. "Our Jackalopes were trained to detect a variety of magic. I heard that they sometimes do this when an egg is laid with great magic potential, but I have never heard of them not listening to orders afterward..."
Verdant was about to reply when another snap was heard, and a whine came from behind them, followed by more chattering and growling.
They both turned their attention to the noises, and Voltanth could barely block Chucks view fast enough as Anemone got up and splayed her wings in an act of intimidation. The Jackalope had bitten her on the snout, leaving a bloody indent near the top of her mouth. And in a spout of stress and anger, she started involuntarily exhaling her ice breath.
The Earth Guardian let out an exhausted sigh. Out of the three Guardians here he was the only one keeping his cool. "Honestly, you might be losing it tonight at this rate." He scrunched his nose and glanced at Chuck. "We'll try and fix this, you can tell your commander that if anything happens I'll take responsibility."
"Oh but sir I can go try myself-"
"Anemone's very stressed as you can tell the fewer dragons the better-"
"I'll be quick, I promise!" and with that Chuck practically leaped at the issue at hand, catching Verdant by surprise. The older male tried to grab ahold of the guard, but he missed and caught himself just short of hitting the ground. He looked up to try one more attempt at stopping him but it was already too late.
Voltanth couldn't hear Chuck come up behind him with all the growling and chattering, he was at an honest loss at what to do. He glanced back to Verdant, but Chuck already blocked his view.
"Master Voltanth, please let... me.."
He slowed to a stop. His eyes were directly focused on one thing now, and one thing only.
The purple egg.
He took a step back.
"You.."
Anemone stopped her growling, her fins flattened as she saw the young dragon.
Another step back.
"Why.."
Verdant reached to touch him.
One last step back, and then he couldn't take it anymore.
"You lied!"
"YOU SAID YOU WERE PURE!!" he cried out as tears clouded his eyes, his legs wobbled under him as he took a sharp inhale. He didn't even send a glance at the three dragons as he whirled around and ran out of the room.
Silence.
It filled the room a second time that night, the pregnant pause made it worse every second that went by. Verdant hung his head down low, he failed his best friends and newly parents.
Anemone made a move to finally breathe in, but it got caught in her throat and she let out a pathetic whine. "He-he's right.." She shook.
The Earth Guardian looked up at her.
She sobbed, "I'm not a 'pure' dragon, of course, this would happen... a-and now.." she hiccuped. "And now I'm going to pay the price..."
"Anemone.." Voltanth sat up, listening, but moving closer.
"Now our kids will never know who their sibling will be, what kind of dragon they'll really be! They'll be taught that it was some sort of demon waiting to hatch so it could destroy this world like Malefor tried to do..."
She raised her paws and dug them into her face. "And they'll never get to know their own mother either! Why do these rules exist?! Why does this have to happen because of what another dragon did?!"
"Shhh Flower, it's not your fault... Chuck didn't mean what he said, It's going to end all right. Please, stop hurting yourself.." Voltanth pulled his mates paws away from her face and nuzzled her, "I'm here for you, I'm not leaving." His wings wrapped around her as she continued to cry.
Their sorrow was not cut short, as a knock happened on the door.
"Master Anemone?"
A voice asked on the other side, none of the three responded.
"This is the correct room?" the voice questioned, but obviously not directed to them.
"Yes, sir!"
A sigh, "Master Anemone...?" the voice tried again.
"...We're coming in, ok?"
With a creak, the door rolled to the side and opened, Three guards entered the room. The two behind the first seemed rather reluctant and worried.
"So it's true.." the one who called for her outside, the Captain, removed her helmet and tucked it under her wing. Her eyes held a sympathetic look. "I'm so sorry.. but, you both know that we have a job to do."
Anemone shook her head and tried to hide in her mates wings, Voltanth held her close.
"By the law of the land..."
"Please, please don't do it!" She cried.
"We must take Master Anemone to the Grand Court for trial."
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They waited for her to calm down before they escorted her out of the room. It was the least they could do, for the dragoness who trained, protected, and was loved by so many in the community.
The Purple egg was covered back in the cloth and placed back in the basket. But even with it covered the very few that were still at the temple at this hour could tell what had happened. They held their heads down in remorse and pity.
All but one, a 'pure' dragon that was actually up this late on his own accord.
The Fire Guardian, from the dark hallways he sneered as he saw his colleague being escorted away. He couldn't have been happier at the sight. He could have actually applauded for the guard who found this out.
But he had to be careful to not call any attention to himself, he had a very precious package today.
In his paws, he himself was holding and egg.
And egg of red and white speckles.
Because of this, there is a large demand for midwives at temples across the country, to make sure the next generation is delivered safely, no matter what time of day.
And it was not uncommon to see dragons hanging around the temples that were the center point of their towns during these fertility seasons. The temple was the focal point of raising young. They were laid here and hatched, and even eventually went to school in these very walls.
The temples are the beginning of many dragons lives, and the will continue to be. Hopefully for many more generations to come, keeping to harmony intact for countless lifetimes more.
But as for tonight... The true gem of the year of the dragon will soon be here.
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Slouched against the stone wall a dragon sat with his eyes inspecting the door in front of him. It had been hours since it had last opened, light trickled through the cracks, practically taunting him. However, no matter how many time he tried to look through them, they were just too small to make anything out clearly.
He gave a large yawn before he shifted his body close to the ground, his chin settled on the smooth stone as he wiped his eyes with his paws. The male dragon felt exhausted, and several hours of constant worrying would do that. He would have taken a nap then and there, to wash away his worries, but insomnia got the better of him, it always did.
It wasn't long until he eventually began to hear the heavy steps of a dragon approaching his direction down the hallway, most likely one of the guards doing their nightly patrol through the temple.
The footsteps stopped at the fork in the hallway and stayed there for several moments.
"...Voltanth? What are you doing over in the labor wing?" The older dragon questioned as he turned around the corner and began approaching the other. His dull green scales and curled horns made it evidently known that he was an earth dragon.
"You had accepted egg duty tonight, what happened?" The earth dragon asked another question as he drew closer, Voltanth raised his head and turned, just about to answer when the creaking of wood broke his concentration.
Light flooded the hallway as the wooden doors slowly rolled open, blinding at first to those who had been in these dimly lit hallways. But once their eyesight began to clear, it was evident that Voltanth was filled with joy from was he saw. He wasted no time in getting to his feet and making a b-line through the door. The dull green dragon was left behind before he could even muster out a 'Hey' or 'Wait'.
The older male sighed as he continued forward once more, 'Kids these days.' he thought to himself. 'Never slowing down for their elders... what has his attention this time?'
As he stepped into the room, his vision cleared up to an even greater extent. With the bright lights of the door behind him, it was much easier to adjust to the flickering of the torch lights.
Honestly, he should have expected what he saw. This WAS the LABOR wing after all. He chuckled to himself and shook his head, he swore that he was starting to become senile.
"Now that's just cute." He said aloud. But the couple didn't seem to hear him. They were busy with their new additions.
"I can't believe there is going to be a miniature me someday!" Voltanth exclaimed in joy as he held an egg in his paws. The shell of the egg matched the yellow of his scales, proving the genes of an Electricity dragon. "Now now, don't get too excited you might drop it." The female dragon chuckled to herself as she cradled an egg herself. The shell was blue, showing that an ice dragon was forming inside.
The female smiles as she blew a puff of cold air at her mate. "Just remember that you have other children to take care of too." Voltanth quickly clenched his eyes shut so they wouldn't freeze.
"Master Anemone..?" A quiet voice cut through the ice dragons joy as she turned her attention to the corner of the room, her mate did not notice the voice and continued fawning over the egg.
"Well..." Another dragons head peeked around the corner, her slit pupils and bright yellow eyes cut through the darkness clearly marking where she was. "I've almost finished cleaning this egg but... are you certain you still want it?" Her voice held a hidden sorrow.
The answer was nearly immediate. "Yes. Please, wrap it up. I'll take care of it..." She paused. "And if you could, possibly send for a messenger phoenix?"
The midwife nodded. "As you wish." She bowed her head as she went back around the corner to the other room.
While the girls were talking, neither of the males had noticed anything. They were having a conversation of their own.
"At first I had thought you had snuck out for an extra nap, you should tell your fellow Guardians before running off like that." The earth dragons eyelids hung down as he looked at the new father. " A certain someone wouldn't take it very well." he chuckled. "Never takes anything well."
Voltanth paused before tilting his head to the side and giving his best 'whoops' expression. "I'm sorry Verdant, but things like that just don't go through when something like this happens so suddenly." he laughed nervously and looked down at the yellow egg. "But look, there's going to be a miniature version of me running around soon!" He held it up to the earth guardian so he could further inspect it.
"Sounds cute." Verdant smiled, but it quickly faded. "But seriously Voltanth, do you remember which eggs you were supposed to watch tonight?"
It took him a moment before he responded to the older male. "..Oh."
"Yeah. And I understand you're excited about finally becoming a father but you can't leave those eggs alo-"
"But.. that other guy went to go watch them."
"...What guy?"
Voltanth raised his paw to scratch his head as he thought. "It was... um. Everyone's really scared of him ya know?" He started fidgeting in a nervous manner. "It was that... Fearling! He has the skin growing up his horns, covered in scars!" He bit his claws. "Ancestors.. what was his name.."
Anemone spoke up. "He's speaking of Damascus."
"Yeah! That's his name!.. doesn't it mean something like... a sack of blood?" Voltanth whispered the last part to himself.
Verdant sighed, closed his eyes, and shrugged. "Well.. if its Damascus then we don't need to worry at all."
Laughter came from Anemone. "Indeed! they're in good hands tonight. nobody with ill intentions would dare go near any place with Damascus around! Honestly. I feel that he should be an egg guardian himself. There would be no more smashings!"
Verdant nodded in agreement. "Sadly we all know that currently, the corrupted cannot become guardians. However, maybe we can simply hire him to do it during breeding seasons..."
"That would be wonderful! I'm sure Father would accept the offer!" The midwife with the piercing yellow eyes was now finished cleaning the final egg was joined the other three. "First I must apologize, I am the one who sent him to go get Master Voltanth, but it did not cross my mind to alert you as well. I am terribly sorry." She bowed her head.
"But as a member of the community, I can say that many would feel so much better if they heard that he was guarding their eggs, I hope you do consider it."
"Think nothing of it Fuschia, you had enough on your plate. And I will be sure to bring it up at the next meeting." Verdant replied with a confident smile.
Fuschias face flushed slightly, but it was hard to notice with her pink scales. She bowed her head once more. "Thank you, Master Verdant!"
Now her attention was to Anemone. Carefully she set a small basket with a bundled up blanket inside at her feet. "I will be going to fetch for a messenger phoenix, hopefully, I will not be gone long."
Anemones face started showing the beginning of worry. "Yes, of course..." And with one last bow, Fuschia quietly exited the room. Anemones listened to her exit the room and sat there unaware that she was lost in thought until her mate spoke.
"Alright then! let's see if this little tyke will be a tie breaker!"
It took a moment for those words to sink in, but by the time Anemone had swiveled her head back around, Voltanth had already taken the basket and was reaching for the blanket.
"Voltanth..!" She whispered in fear,
But he didn't hear her.
His teeth gripped on the top of the blanket, and he started to pull it off.
She felt her stomach become a pit, and her chest curling in on itself in painful circular motions. Her heart burning along with her lungs. Her fear was overtaking her, the panic made everything feel like it was going so slow.
Maybe... Maybe she had time to stop him?
She opened her mouth to speak, but instead, it came out as hoarse screams.
"VOLTANTH, WAIT THAT'S-"
But it was too late, he had already pulled the blanket off.
Silence overtook them.
The Pit in her stomach on grew and went deeper, and deeper. She began to shake as she huffed out cold air each time she breathed.
Anemone mentally cursed herself for not paying attention after Fuschia left. She was lost in so much thought that she continued to have since she laid this egg.
This beautiful Egg, with shades of violet.
The two males sat agape, Voltanth dropped the blanket out of his mouth while Verdant stared. Blinking to make sure he wasn't seeing things.
They were all getting nervous. The air in the room started to feel heavy as the silence continued.
Voltanth glanced up at his mates face before quickly looking back at the egg. Then he glanced back up once more. He gulped and felt like his throat was being constricted, he nervously opened his mouth.
"... Anemone..?"
She visibly flinched at the sound of his voice, he waited a moment before he reached out his paw.
"Are you... ok?"
The closer his paw approached the more she shook and hyperventilated, and before he could pull his arm away her sanity snapped. Her breath came out like a blizzard, freezing his arm and part of the basket underneath it. He reeled back in shock and clutched his frozen arm to his chest.
Verdant was startled by the sudden outburst and dug his claws into the stone on instinct, he turned to his fellow guardian and glanced between his face and his arm. "Ancestors, Voltanth are you alright?" But the Electric dragon didn't seem to hear, he started rubbing his frozen arm as he continued to stare at his mate. "Anemone..."
No one tried to move or engage Anemone. And after several moments the full weight of what she just did hit her.
"I... I.. I'm so-s-sorry..!" she sputtered out, tears streamed down her face.
"I-I I j...just.."
"I-I-...."
But she couldn't get the rest of the words out before the sobs overtook her.
Verdant watched as Voltanth moved from his spot with the other two eggs and set them down at her feet, and curled his wings around her. She leaned into his touch and brought her eggs closer to her body.
SCRTCH SCRTCH SCRTCH SCRTCH SCRTCH
All three of the dragons raised their heads at the noise, and before they could identify the source the wooden doors were creaking open.
A small creature darted through the entrance, its ears up high and on alert as it sniffed the air.
Its fur bristled and it stood in a pointing motion. The horns on its head marked clearly what it was, a Jackalope.
Entering the room followed an armor-clad guard, small bags had taken their place under his eyes He held his spear in a disinterested manner.
"What seems to be the problem..?"
He blinked several times before a mixture of shock and embarrassment washed over his freckled face.
"O-oh dear, I'm so sorry Masters! I didn't know you were..!" he quickly turned his head and cleared his throat. "I'll leave immediately!" The guard hastily turned to leave. He clicked his tongue. "Pedro, come!"
But the creature didn't move.
When the guard saw that it didn't he turned back around "Pedro, come." he emphasized as he clicked his tongue again.
Yet again it did not follow instead it stepped out of the pointing position and its fur bristled once me.
The three dragons in the room eyed it nervously.
"I-I'm sorry. I don't know why it's doing that. " The guard spoke nervously. "I'll get him out of your way." He took a few steps forward and leaned down to pick it up, but the moment he grazed its fur the creature darted to the three.
It began to dig into the space in between Anemones front legs, trying to get to her eggs.
She yelped and shut her front legs as firmly as she could. She wanted to move and push it away, but the risk of exposing the purple egg was too high. Voltanth was the one who attempted to take action. The quick action of the Jackalope had shocked him, but he shook it off and growled at the rabbit-like creature.
He didn't want to actually hurt the creature, but he knew what would happen if he didn't stop it, they all did. So he dug his claws roughly into the mammal's fur.
The Jackalope squealed in pain and began to bunny kick. Voltanth gripped as hard as he could, but alas the only things his paws got, in the end, was fluff.
He lost his grip and was left with only pawfuls of fur, while the animal finally squeezed its way through the tiny gap to its destination.
Anemone let out a squeak and curled her wings in on her so the guard couldn't see the eggs when she lifted her legs to see what was going on.
The jackalope had gripped itself onto the purple egg, reminiscent of a parasite. It stayed silent for a few moments, its nose twitching every time it breathed. And then with no warning, it was squealing at an alarming volume in such a way that it mimicked a panic alarm.
Oh Ancestors, it felt like her worst nightmares were coming true. Anemone didn't think her eyes could possibly widen any further but she proved herself wrong. She was practically a cocoon with how far she pulled her wings in around her, making a panicked attempt to hush the creature that held on to her egg.
"Shhh, Shhh, please, please be quiet!" She begged the jackalope and moved to try and pry it off. Instantaneously the audible snap of teeth was heard as she reeled back. Her frills stood up on her head and she looked over the creature and growled, frost power spewing from her breath. The Jackalope growled back, in its own way. Its teeth chattered in aggression as it clutched its prize even more.
"It shouldn't be doing that," Verdant exclaimed. " Why isn't backing down Chuck?"
The young guard looked at the Earth Guardian, his face was tense and uneasy. "Our Jackalopes were trained to detect a variety of magic. I heard that they sometimes do this when an egg is laid with great magic potential, but I have never heard of them not listening to orders afterward..."
Verdant was about to reply when another snap was heard, and a whine came from behind them, followed by more chattering and growling.
They both turned their attention to the noises, and Voltanth could barely block Chucks view fast enough as Anemone got up and splayed her wings in an act of intimidation. The Jackalope had bitten her on the snout, leaving a bloody indent near the top of her mouth. And in a spout of stress and anger, she started involuntarily exhaling her ice breath.
The Earth Guardian let out an exhausted sigh. Out of the three Guardians here he was the only one keeping his cool. "Honestly, you might be losing it tonight at this rate." He scrunched his nose and glanced at Chuck. "We'll try and fix this, you can tell your commander that if anything happens I'll take responsibility."
"Oh but sir I can go try myself-"
"Anemone's very stressed as you can tell the fewer dragons the better-"
"I'll be quick, I promise!" and with that Chuck practically leaped at the issue at hand, catching Verdant by surprise. The older male tried to grab ahold of the guard, but he missed and caught himself just short of hitting the ground. He looked up to try one more attempt at stopping him but it was already too late.
Voltanth couldn't hear Chuck come up behind him with all the growling and chattering, he was at an honest loss at what to do. He glanced back to Verdant, but Chuck already blocked his view.
"Master Voltanth, please let... me.."
He slowed to a stop. His eyes were directly focused on one thing now, and one thing only.
The purple egg.
He took a step back.
"You.."
Anemone stopped her growling, her fins flattened as she saw the young dragon.
Another step back.
"Why.."
Verdant reached to touch him.
One last step back, and then he couldn't take it anymore.
"You lied!"
"YOU SAID YOU WERE PURE!!" he cried out as tears clouded his eyes, his legs wobbled under him as he took a sharp inhale. He didn't even send a glance at the three dragons as he whirled around and ran out of the room.
Silence.
It filled the room a second time that night, the pregnant pause made it worse every second that went by. Verdant hung his head down low, he failed his best friends and newly parents.
Anemone made a move to finally breathe in, but it got caught in her throat and she let out a pathetic whine. "He-he's right.." She shook.
The Earth Guardian looked up at her.
She sobbed, "I'm not a 'pure' dragon, of course, this would happen... a-and now.." she hiccuped. "And now I'm going to pay the price..."
"Anemone.." Voltanth sat up, listening, but moving closer.
"Now our kids will never know who their sibling will be, what kind of dragon they'll really be! They'll be taught that it was some sort of demon waiting to hatch so it could destroy this world like Malefor tried to do..."
She raised her paws and dug them into her face. "And they'll never get to know their own mother either! Why do these rules exist?! Why does this have to happen because of what another dragon did?!"
"Shhh Flower, it's not your fault... Chuck didn't mean what he said, It's going to end all right. Please, stop hurting yourself.." Voltanth pulled his mates paws away from her face and nuzzled her, "I'm here for you, I'm not leaving." His wings wrapped around her as she continued to cry.
Their sorrow was not cut short, as a knock happened on the door.
"Master Anemone?"
A voice asked on the other side, none of the three responded.
"This is the correct room?" the voice questioned, but obviously not directed to them.
"Yes, sir!"
A sigh, "Master Anemone...?" the voice tried again.
"...We're coming in, ok?"
With a creak, the door rolled to the side and opened, Three guards entered the room. The two behind the first seemed rather reluctant and worried.
"So it's true.." the one who called for her outside, the Captain, removed her helmet and tucked it under her wing. Her eyes held a sympathetic look. "I'm so sorry.. but, you both know that we have a job to do."
Anemone shook her head and tried to hide in her mates wings, Voltanth held her close.
"By the law of the land..."
"Please, please don't do it!" She cried.
"We must take Master Anemone to the Grand Court for trial."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They waited for her to calm down before they escorted her out of the room. It was the least they could do, for the dragoness who trained, protected, and was loved by so many in the community.
The Purple egg was covered back in the cloth and placed back in the basket. But even with it covered the very few that were still at the temple at this hour could tell what had happened. They held their heads down in remorse and pity.
All but one, a 'pure' dragon that was actually up this late on his own accord.
The Fire Guardian, from the dark hallways he sneered as he saw his colleague being escorted away. He couldn't have been happier at the sight. He could have actually applauded for the guard who found this out.
But he had to be careful to not call any attention to himself, he had a very precious package today.
In his paws, he himself was holding and egg.
And egg of red and white speckles.
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Part 2 would have made this thing over 6000 words so I didn't put it in, it will be posted separately when it is done.
Many events have changed, and some new things have been added...
I also have a primary account for my dragon stuff now
its more for an archiving sense, but i'm thinking about shifting it all over there someday.
"Lies surround us, but most don't know it. They only see what they want to accept as the truth. Pursue the truth young one, there you will find all the answers you seek. And the power to rise up and protect those you hold dear."
"May your Ancestors guide you, and may the Gods bless you."
Part 2 would have made this thing over 6000 words so I didn't put it in, it will be posted separately when it is done.
Many events have changed, and some new things have been added...
I also have a primary account for my dragon stuff now
its more for an archiving sense, but i'm thinking about shifting it all over there someday. © 2017 - 2024 HibiWiki
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I love it, it fleshes out so much.