Post by doomsdaylee on Jan 24, 2008 15:35:49 GMT -5
Before you all start complaining about these posts, read chapter 2.
Chapter Four
The Hatching
The next morning, Xavier rose early with the sun. He lay Trido down on the bed, rising and getting dressed in some torn, worn clothes and putting on an over coat, one which tied around the front like a robe. Parts of jewels were sown into the fabric, making it shine and glimmer. His crest, which was on the shoulder, the back, and the color of the robe, were sown in silver, gold, and ruby.
Xavier placed his sword on his back, and walked outside. “Wyrin!” He called, the Wyvern waking and flying down.
“Xavier ready?” Wyrin asked “Xavier look ready. Xavier look shiny too.”
“Thank you Wyrin…yes, I’m ready.” The prince smiled, knowing what was about to happened, Wyrin took wing, flying not to far from the ground as Xavier walked behind him.
“So, who’s the father?” Xavier asked, looking to the Wyvern. Being a Dragoon, Xavier knew the importance of having a good breeding of Dragons. Dragons knew this as well, and their courtship rituals proved as such, but Xavier was still curious.
“Lord Ki’esk.”
“No way. The red?”
“Yes! Lord Ki’esk red! He make Lady She’nen fall love then beat Lord Shi’nen! Big surprise!” Wyrin said sincerely, honestly surprised by this.
“I never thought Ki’esk to be strong enough to beat Shi’nen.” As they spoke, neither realized they were being followed.
Soon enough they arrived at a great cave, the entrance lined in rounded bases where stalagmites and stalactites once stood, knocked down by the Dragon who lived inside. The scent of Dragon emanated from the entrance, mixed in with the smell of eggs. Xavier smiled. He loved the smell of Dragon eggs, not fresh of course. That scent was nauseating to all. Wyrin walked into the cave, letting out a small roar, almost like a honk.
Xavier stopped.
“Lord Shi’nen, Lady She’nen, and Lord Ki’esk I have come to witness the Hatching. I am Prince Xavier Veln of Dragoniss.”
A great booming voice came from the cave, but was filled with amusement and joy.
“You need not announce yourself Xavier, you are a brood-friend after all.” The voice spoke. “Please, you are always welcome. Especially now! This is a joyous occasion!”
“Yes I know. Wyrin has done an excellent job making sure I knew you wanted me at the hatching.”
“There have been many signs of it! My sister is by the clutch now, along with her mate.”
“I can’t believe it...Ki’esk beat you. You let him didn’t you?”
“Of course not!” The voice roared. “You know that’s not only forbidden, but it’s a fool’s practice!!” Shi’nen stepped out of the cave. Shi’nen was a massive blue Dragon, his wingspan easily hitting forty feet and his body almost eight wide. Folded to his back they still seemed large. He towered roughly twenty-six feet tall in the body, however from tail to head, he was about thirty feet tall. His scales were in the same pattern as Wyrin’s, his underbelly the same color. His head was medium sized, almost three fourths of a foot wide. His jaw looked tougher than a vice, a few fangs sticking out of his jaw. Two horns were on his head, curving back to the back of his skull, the points pointing to the ground. He had spikes on his back, sprouting from the rough and sharp scales, and lining his spine. His large tail rested on the ground, strong enough to knock a Dragon off its feet and as big around as a man was tall. This was obviously a male, as shown by the horns, maw, and spikes. Xavier looked at the great Dragon in awe. He had seen Shi’nen before, but he always was surprised at the great beast.
“You seem to get bigger every time I see you, Shi’nen.” Xavier smiled, fondly speaking to the Dragon as if he was nothing from the ordinary.
“It’s a good thing this is not true. If it were, with my sister’s clutch hatching, there would never be enough room for all of us come a few more visits, Brood-friend. Who is it you have brought with you?”
“Brought...with me?” Xavier repeated, smelling the air. He now smelt the follower, turned and growled.
“Show yourself!”
From the bushes came Mia, slow and amazed by the size of the Dragon, the Dragon talking, and the Dragon itself. Xavier growled again.
“Why did you follow me!?”
“Calm yourself, brood-friend Prince Xavier. Who is this girl? And why is her scent not that of most Humans in this world?” The Dragon craned his long neck to get to Mia’s eye level, taking in her scent. Mia bit her lip, looking at the Dragon as it lowered its head so it could see her eye to eye.
‘Oh god,’ she thought, ‘this thing could eat me alive! In one snap!’
“She is named Miatsu Tomani; she claims she’s from a place called Earth.”
“Earth...how odd...” When the Dragon opened his mouth, Mia almost fainted. The Dragon’s teeth were almost as big as her! And she was pretty sure she saw a body stuck in them. Not to mention, the smell she had smelled from his jaws was nothing short of sickening.
“Y-“ She took a deep breath to make sure she didn’t throw up whatever was in her stomach. “You’ve heard of Earth?”
“Only whispers. Myths from the town of Techion, nothing a Dragon could know.”
“Myth? My home is…a myth?” She blinked.
“Yes...It is quite a tale of this…Earth. The tale goes on about a small planet, one of whom people achieve many unthinkable technologies, making it so men could fly on giant birds and live under the sea.”
“Airplanes and underwater domes!” She smiled, instantly recognizing the familiar inventions.
“Indeed, the world was completely ruled by Humans, and inhabited by a few hidden Cubi. Because of the constant increasing and running of these inventions, there was constant war over supplies, and eventually, the population, using weapons that could destroy entire islands, they eventually destroyed all life on the world, all green on the world gone. The moral I suppose was that too much technology can be bad, I’m not sure. I’m not even sure that’s the right telling of the story but I think it is the same basic thing.”
“Yeah...I’m pretty sure that would happen on my Earth. We had huge weapons and we were always warring on each other for supplies and gas and stuff,” Mia whispered, knowing about how many wars had been in the history of the Earth.
“That is why we on Sindria will only allow two technological cities to be built, so that our planet won’t be harmed by needing fuel for the cities,” Xavier said, still ticked she followed.
“Well, are you two going to come in? If you are a friend of Xavier’s-“
“She’s not,” Xavier said.
“I’m not!” exclaimed Mia at the same time.
“Well, are you enemies?” he growled, rising to be threatening.
“No!” Xavier shouted out of surprise quickly stepping in front of the terrified girl. “No she’s not, but she is not my friend.”
“I see…You, girl, will not be allowed in, Xavier, hurry inside.”
Xavier nodded, running in. Mia groaned.
“Come on, let me go in. I promise I won’t touch anything!” Shi’nen turned, walking into the cave towards where his sister was. “Please!? We don’t have Dragons where I come from!” That stopped Shi’nen. He craned his neck back to the girl.
“No Dragons?”
“None…so I wanted to see what Dragons looked like, and I wanted to see what a hatching is…Please?”
Shi’nen sighed, having a big heart.
“Very well.” He held his head down, letting her sit on top of his head “Just don’t touch any of the eggs, and be respectful, this is a big thing to us Dragons, letting anyone outside the brood watch a hatching.”
“It is? Why?”
“The hatching is a sacred thing. Like giving birth. Would you let anyone watch you?”
“No.” She was silent watching.
Xavier walked into to the large cavern, looking at the two Dragons, and the eggs all gathered near the blue Dragoness. The young blue female resembled her brother, but her wingspan was twenty feet, her body not that big, nearly four feet wide. She was, from head to tail, seventeen feet tall. Her claws were as black and sharp as her brothers, but they didn’t look the same to a trained eye. Small ridges were in Shi’nen’s claws, making it easier to grab and keep a hold of an enemy Dragon. She’nen didn’t have spikes lining her spine, nor did she have horns. Her head was narrower, only being about four inches wide, and about two and a half feet long. Her scales were a lighter shade of blue than her brother, her tail being longer than her brother. On the back of her head and down to her shoulders was a line of light red, yellow, and light orange “feathers” held to the back of her neck by unseen muscle. She was curled around her clutch of nine eggs, protecting them from anything that would ever even dream about touching them. Ki’esk laid near her, his scales a muddy red, not blood, but dirty. He was smaller than Shi’nen, yet bigger than She’nen, being a modest twenty four feet, tail tip to nose. And almost twenty eight wing tip to tip. He growled, staying near his mate as he smelled the Dragoons scent. Xavier walked in, smiling.
“Hello Lady She’nen.” He smiled
“Who’re you?” the red Dragon growled standing and flaring his wings.
“Calm down, Ki’esk.” She’nen raised her head to nuzzle her mate under the chin. “He is a brood-friend. I am glad you accepted our invitation, Brood-friend Xavier.” She looked down, “Smiling” at the young man.
“And I am honored you have invited me.” He smiled back, looking up at Ki’esk as from behind them, Shi’nen approached with Mia on his head. “Lord Ki’esk, I am proud to introduce myself, I am Prince Xavier Veln, Son of King Kien Veln. Brood-friend, Savior, and Protector to the Nen-Kial Brood.” Xavier proudly stated standing tall and unafraid as the red lowered his head, taking Xavier’s scent and eyeing him. He growled, snapping only inches from Xavier’s face. Xavier steeled himself, not giving an inch, much to Mia’s surprise and amazement.
“Hm. At the very least, you’re brave…or stupid.” the Dragon growled.
“Amazing how often the two coincide isn’t it?” Xavier stood, not a changed expression on his face, keeping cooler than ice.
Mia gulped, realizing the mistake she made as the red looked at her.
“And who’re you!?”
“I-I’m M-M-Mia..”
“Mia what!?” he growled.
“Relax, Ki’esk, she is my guest. She is new to this world it seems, and has never seen a Dragon hatchling, or even a Dragon.”
“So you give her the honor of witnessing my brood be born!?” The temperamental red snapped, his eye locked on the girl.
“I…have to agree with Lord Ki’esk…She has just appeared in this world. I don’t think this is an honor she should be witnessing,” Xavier spoke up.
“What do you think, sister?” asked Shi’nen, looking to the female Dragon.
“It’s…hard to say. The poor Human seems very frightened, and if she has truly never seen a Dragon, then I do want her to know how we are…But they are Ki’esk and my children. That and the hatching is a big honor. I’m sorry, child, but you can come in after the hatching is complete and see the hatchlings if it is alright with Ki.” She looked at the red, nuzzling him again and giving him what looked like puppy dog eyes.
Ki’esk groaned lightly, trying not to look at his mate.
“Very well,” he sighed, defeated.
“Come on then, Mia.” Shi’nen brought her back outside, setting her down. “There you go, I will come and get you when they are all hatched.”
“Hey, Shi’nen was it?”
“Yes?” He looked at her, seeming to know to keep his head away.
“Why is Xavier allowed in? What did he do?” She asked, not having heard the introduction Xavier had given.
“He is the savior and protector of my brood, me and all of my brothers and sisters, and he is a brood-friend, one who is a friend to the entire brood, trusted as if he were one of our own.”
“How? Wait, savior?”
“Yes, a band of Dragon hunters had found us when I had been wounded from a courtship fight.”
“A courtship fight?”
“Please, allow me to answer your first question first, then I’ll answer your other. As I said, we had been found when I had been wounded from a courtship fight. The male had been over eager and wounded me deeply, thereby failing the rite. My brood is rather small, four brothers, and two sisters, not including She’nen, making a total of eight Dragons. They had caught us by surprise, killing two of my brothers before being caught. There were forty of them, and my brothers split up, one protecting my sisters, and the other fighting them off. When my brother was about to be over taken, a sudden flash had killed five. Xavier had come, and made short work of the hunters, saving my brood mates and I. We shortly after named him the savior, and he had asked to protect the Nen-kial brood, the brood that came from the Dragons Ni-Kial and Sinth-Nen, and any broods that came from it. Him being a brood-friend, well, the saving us was a big thing, but he assisted us in burying our brothers as well, and befriended all of us.”
“Wow…so…what’s a courtship flight, or rite or whatever you said.” She looked curious.
“Well, you see, we Dragons don’t want just anyone breeding with anyone. We know the importance of good breeding.”
“B-“ She stopped, nodding for him to continue.
He seemed to sense what she was next going to say.
“We do value love, just as Humans do, but if we let all weak, timid Dragons who couldn’t hunt, or all foolish, stupid Dragons breed, the species could die out, or be flooded with fools and cowards like we fear the other races will be. So the brother or father of the female the other male wants, must approve of him. The suitor must prove himself to a male brood-mate or the father.”
“Why a male?”
“Mainly so that the females don’t let love get in the way.” He looked back. “I must go, the hatching has begun.” He walked into the cave.
Indeed the eggs were beginning to hatch, the eggshells being tapped lightly from the inside, the Dragons on the inside trying to escape into life. She’nen clawed the dirt, stopping herself from going to help her young. She knew they had to do this on their own. A peeping came from the eggs, like a baby’s crying for Dragons.
“Keep yourself calm.” He nuzzled his mate.
“I know.” She sighed, returning the nuzzle to him gratefully “They have to do it themselves.”
Xavier watched quietly. Dragoon royalty was taught to, if ever invited to watch a Dragon hatching, never interfere. Never try to save a hatchling’s life. So he bit his lip and watched.
Chapter Four
The Hatching
The next morning, Xavier rose early with the sun. He lay Trido down on the bed, rising and getting dressed in some torn, worn clothes and putting on an over coat, one which tied around the front like a robe. Parts of jewels were sown into the fabric, making it shine and glimmer. His crest, which was on the shoulder, the back, and the color of the robe, were sown in silver, gold, and ruby.
Xavier placed his sword on his back, and walked outside. “Wyrin!” He called, the Wyvern waking and flying down.
“Xavier ready?” Wyrin asked “Xavier look ready. Xavier look shiny too.”
“Thank you Wyrin…yes, I’m ready.” The prince smiled, knowing what was about to happened, Wyrin took wing, flying not to far from the ground as Xavier walked behind him.
“So, who’s the father?” Xavier asked, looking to the Wyvern. Being a Dragoon, Xavier knew the importance of having a good breeding of Dragons. Dragons knew this as well, and their courtship rituals proved as such, but Xavier was still curious.
“Lord Ki’esk.”
“No way. The red?”
“Yes! Lord Ki’esk red! He make Lady She’nen fall love then beat Lord Shi’nen! Big surprise!” Wyrin said sincerely, honestly surprised by this.
“I never thought Ki’esk to be strong enough to beat Shi’nen.” As they spoke, neither realized they were being followed.
Soon enough they arrived at a great cave, the entrance lined in rounded bases where stalagmites and stalactites once stood, knocked down by the Dragon who lived inside. The scent of Dragon emanated from the entrance, mixed in with the smell of eggs. Xavier smiled. He loved the smell of Dragon eggs, not fresh of course. That scent was nauseating to all. Wyrin walked into the cave, letting out a small roar, almost like a honk.
Xavier stopped.
“Lord Shi’nen, Lady She’nen, and Lord Ki’esk I have come to witness the Hatching. I am Prince Xavier Veln of Dragoniss.”
A great booming voice came from the cave, but was filled with amusement and joy.
“You need not announce yourself Xavier, you are a brood-friend after all.” The voice spoke. “Please, you are always welcome. Especially now! This is a joyous occasion!”
“Yes I know. Wyrin has done an excellent job making sure I knew you wanted me at the hatching.”
“There have been many signs of it! My sister is by the clutch now, along with her mate.”
“I can’t believe it...Ki’esk beat you. You let him didn’t you?”
“Of course not!” The voice roared. “You know that’s not only forbidden, but it’s a fool’s practice!!” Shi’nen stepped out of the cave. Shi’nen was a massive blue Dragon, his wingspan easily hitting forty feet and his body almost eight wide. Folded to his back they still seemed large. He towered roughly twenty-six feet tall in the body, however from tail to head, he was about thirty feet tall. His scales were in the same pattern as Wyrin’s, his underbelly the same color. His head was medium sized, almost three fourths of a foot wide. His jaw looked tougher than a vice, a few fangs sticking out of his jaw. Two horns were on his head, curving back to the back of his skull, the points pointing to the ground. He had spikes on his back, sprouting from the rough and sharp scales, and lining his spine. His large tail rested on the ground, strong enough to knock a Dragon off its feet and as big around as a man was tall. This was obviously a male, as shown by the horns, maw, and spikes. Xavier looked at the great Dragon in awe. He had seen Shi’nen before, but he always was surprised at the great beast.
“You seem to get bigger every time I see you, Shi’nen.” Xavier smiled, fondly speaking to the Dragon as if he was nothing from the ordinary.
“It’s a good thing this is not true. If it were, with my sister’s clutch hatching, there would never be enough room for all of us come a few more visits, Brood-friend. Who is it you have brought with you?”
“Brought...with me?” Xavier repeated, smelling the air. He now smelt the follower, turned and growled.
“Show yourself!”
From the bushes came Mia, slow and amazed by the size of the Dragon, the Dragon talking, and the Dragon itself. Xavier growled again.
“Why did you follow me!?”
“Calm yourself, brood-friend Prince Xavier. Who is this girl? And why is her scent not that of most Humans in this world?” The Dragon craned his long neck to get to Mia’s eye level, taking in her scent. Mia bit her lip, looking at the Dragon as it lowered its head so it could see her eye to eye.
‘Oh god,’ she thought, ‘this thing could eat me alive! In one snap!’
“She is named Miatsu Tomani; she claims she’s from a place called Earth.”
“Earth...how odd...” When the Dragon opened his mouth, Mia almost fainted. The Dragon’s teeth were almost as big as her! And she was pretty sure she saw a body stuck in them. Not to mention, the smell she had smelled from his jaws was nothing short of sickening.
“Y-“ She took a deep breath to make sure she didn’t throw up whatever was in her stomach. “You’ve heard of Earth?”
“Only whispers. Myths from the town of Techion, nothing a Dragon could know.”
“Myth? My home is…a myth?” She blinked.
“Yes...It is quite a tale of this…Earth. The tale goes on about a small planet, one of whom people achieve many unthinkable technologies, making it so men could fly on giant birds and live under the sea.”
“Airplanes and underwater domes!” She smiled, instantly recognizing the familiar inventions.
“Indeed, the world was completely ruled by Humans, and inhabited by a few hidden Cubi. Because of the constant increasing and running of these inventions, there was constant war over supplies, and eventually, the population, using weapons that could destroy entire islands, they eventually destroyed all life on the world, all green on the world gone. The moral I suppose was that too much technology can be bad, I’m not sure. I’m not even sure that’s the right telling of the story but I think it is the same basic thing.”
“Yeah...I’m pretty sure that would happen on my Earth. We had huge weapons and we were always warring on each other for supplies and gas and stuff,” Mia whispered, knowing about how many wars had been in the history of the Earth.
“That is why we on Sindria will only allow two technological cities to be built, so that our planet won’t be harmed by needing fuel for the cities,” Xavier said, still ticked she followed.
“Well, are you two going to come in? If you are a friend of Xavier’s-“
“She’s not,” Xavier said.
“I’m not!” exclaimed Mia at the same time.
“Well, are you enemies?” he growled, rising to be threatening.
“No!” Xavier shouted out of surprise quickly stepping in front of the terrified girl. “No she’s not, but she is not my friend.”
“I see…You, girl, will not be allowed in, Xavier, hurry inside.”
Xavier nodded, running in. Mia groaned.
“Come on, let me go in. I promise I won’t touch anything!” Shi’nen turned, walking into the cave towards where his sister was. “Please!? We don’t have Dragons where I come from!” That stopped Shi’nen. He craned his neck back to the girl.
“No Dragons?”
“None…so I wanted to see what Dragons looked like, and I wanted to see what a hatching is…Please?”
Shi’nen sighed, having a big heart.
“Very well.” He held his head down, letting her sit on top of his head “Just don’t touch any of the eggs, and be respectful, this is a big thing to us Dragons, letting anyone outside the brood watch a hatching.”
“It is? Why?”
“The hatching is a sacred thing. Like giving birth. Would you let anyone watch you?”
“No.” She was silent watching.
Xavier walked into to the large cavern, looking at the two Dragons, and the eggs all gathered near the blue Dragoness. The young blue female resembled her brother, but her wingspan was twenty feet, her body not that big, nearly four feet wide. She was, from head to tail, seventeen feet tall. Her claws were as black and sharp as her brothers, but they didn’t look the same to a trained eye. Small ridges were in Shi’nen’s claws, making it easier to grab and keep a hold of an enemy Dragon. She’nen didn’t have spikes lining her spine, nor did she have horns. Her head was narrower, only being about four inches wide, and about two and a half feet long. Her scales were a lighter shade of blue than her brother, her tail being longer than her brother. On the back of her head and down to her shoulders was a line of light red, yellow, and light orange “feathers” held to the back of her neck by unseen muscle. She was curled around her clutch of nine eggs, protecting them from anything that would ever even dream about touching them. Ki’esk laid near her, his scales a muddy red, not blood, but dirty. He was smaller than Shi’nen, yet bigger than She’nen, being a modest twenty four feet, tail tip to nose. And almost twenty eight wing tip to tip. He growled, staying near his mate as he smelled the Dragoons scent. Xavier walked in, smiling.
“Hello Lady She’nen.” He smiled
“Who’re you?” the red Dragon growled standing and flaring his wings.
“Calm down, Ki’esk.” She’nen raised her head to nuzzle her mate under the chin. “He is a brood-friend. I am glad you accepted our invitation, Brood-friend Xavier.” She looked down, “Smiling” at the young man.
“And I am honored you have invited me.” He smiled back, looking up at Ki’esk as from behind them, Shi’nen approached with Mia on his head. “Lord Ki’esk, I am proud to introduce myself, I am Prince Xavier Veln, Son of King Kien Veln. Brood-friend, Savior, and Protector to the Nen-Kial Brood.” Xavier proudly stated standing tall and unafraid as the red lowered his head, taking Xavier’s scent and eyeing him. He growled, snapping only inches from Xavier’s face. Xavier steeled himself, not giving an inch, much to Mia’s surprise and amazement.
“Hm. At the very least, you’re brave…or stupid.” the Dragon growled.
“Amazing how often the two coincide isn’t it?” Xavier stood, not a changed expression on his face, keeping cooler than ice.
Mia gulped, realizing the mistake she made as the red looked at her.
“And who’re you!?”
“I-I’m M-M-Mia..”
“Mia what!?” he growled.
“Relax, Ki’esk, she is my guest. She is new to this world it seems, and has never seen a Dragon hatchling, or even a Dragon.”
“So you give her the honor of witnessing my brood be born!?” The temperamental red snapped, his eye locked on the girl.
“I…have to agree with Lord Ki’esk…She has just appeared in this world. I don’t think this is an honor she should be witnessing,” Xavier spoke up.
“What do you think, sister?” asked Shi’nen, looking to the female Dragon.
“It’s…hard to say. The poor Human seems very frightened, and if she has truly never seen a Dragon, then I do want her to know how we are…But they are Ki’esk and my children. That and the hatching is a big honor. I’m sorry, child, but you can come in after the hatching is complete and see the hatchlings if it is alright with Ki.” She looked at the red, nuzzling him again and giving him what looked like puppy dog eyes.
Ki’esk groaned lightly, trying not to look at his mate.
“Very well,” he sighed, defeated.
“Come on then, Mia.” Shi’nen brought her back outside, setting her down. “There you go, I will come and get you when they are all hatched.”
“Hey, Shi’nen was it?”
“Yes?” He looked at her, seeming to know to keep his head away.
“Why is Xavier allowed in? What did he do?” She asked, not having heard the introduction Xavier had given.
“He is the savior and protector of my brood, me and all of my brothers and sisters, and he is a brood-friend, one who is a friend to the entire brood, trusted as if he were one of our own.”
“How? Wait, savior?”
“Yes, a band of Dragon hunters had found us when I had been wounded from a courtship fight.”
“A courtship fight?”
“Please, allow me to answer your first question first, then I’ll answer your other. As I said, we had been found when I had been wounded from a courtship fight. The male had been over eager and wounded me deeply, thereby failing the rite. My brood is rather small, four brothers, and two sisters, not including She’nen, making a total of eight Dragons. They had caught us by surprise, killing two of my brothers before being caught. There were forty of them, and my brothers split up, one protecting my sisters, and the other fighting them off. When my brother was about to be over taken, a sudden flash had killed five. Xavier had come, and made short work of the hunters, saving my brood mates and I. We shortly after named him the savior, and he had asked to protect the Nen-kial brood, the brood that came from the Dragons Ni-Kial and Sinth-Nen, and any broods that came from it. Him being a brood-friend, well, the saving us was a big thing, but he assisted us in burying our brothers as well, and befriended all of us.”
“Wow…so…what’s a courtship flight, or rite or whatever you said.” She looked curious.
“Well, you see, we Dragons don’t want just anyone breeding with anyone. We know the importance of good breeding.”
“B-“ She stopped, nodding for him to continue.
He seemed to sense what she was next going to say.
“We do value love, just as Humans do, but if we let all weak, timid Dragons who couldn’t hunt, or all foolish, stupid Dragons breed, the species could die out, or be flooded with fools and cowards like we fear the other races will be. So the brother or father of the female the other male wants, must approve of him. The suitor must prove himself to a male brood-mate or the father.”
“Why a male?”
“Mainly so that the females don’t let love get in the way.” He looked back. “I must go, the hatching has begun.” He walked into the cave.
Indeed the eggs were beginning to hatch, the eggshells being tapped lightly from the inside, the Dragons on the inside trying to escape into life. She’nen clawed the dirt, stopping herself from going to help her young. She knew they had to do this on their own. A peeping came from the eggs, like a baby’s crying for Dragons.
“Keep yourself calm.” He nuzzled his mate.
“I know.” She sighed, returning the nuzzle to him gratefully “They have to do it themselves.”
Xavier watched quietly. Dragoon royalty was taught to, if ever invited to watch a Dragon hatching, never interfere. Never try to save a hatchling’s life. So he bit his lip and watched.