The tale of the fox and the dragon egg

Chapter 2 - The egg

With careful curiosity, Wei Ying went nearer again, grief still gnawing at the back of his mind. There was a powerful lifeforce pulsating from the shell, no, within the shell. Even he, without a golden core, could feel it vibrating in his soul. Radiating into the open space around it.

A pale hand of his touched the shell. Something inside reacted to him, a sudden warmth flowing through every cell of his body. Gasping, he threw his hand back towards his chest. This was not good.

The egg seemed to contain a perfectly healthy dragon child.

A Lan child.

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He stared at it, for a long time. Not believing for many minutes – because who would actually trust him with this?

His friend must have made a huge mistake. Or he had no other choice. Probably both.

Wei Ying nibbled at his bottom lip, edging and almost drawing blood. Even when he was millenniums old, he suddenly felt like a child again. He wished his shijie was here with him. He wished it all the time actually, but she would know what to do here.

With one long gaze into the night sky he sighed, already accepting this newfound situation. It was a fast change in a moment he couldn't change and although his heart was still torn, he felt determined to not let any thought of his friend go to waste.

The pure white egg before him pulsating with qi was the only thing keeping him from breaking down.

He needed to get a grip, he told himself. It wouldn't be good to have a full out breakdown within these woods, attracting unwanted attention from the dark creatures luring in the shadows. Such as himself.

His resentful energy would increase, exploding out of him and making him a preferable target. He had witnessed it countless times in these lands; nothing good ever came out of it. And with the egg in such an open and obvious space, filled with the scent of blood and unguarded anymore, he had no gut for it.

Wei Ying forced himself to turn towards the egg slowly.

It was safely tugged between luscious green grass and countless flowers. The fox was surprised by such a nice sight. Nothing with such a healthy, living energy would grow in this cursed place. But the pulsating, lingering energy of his dragon friend seemed to make it possible. Or no – at second thought, the pulsating, pure energy from the dragon egg!

With careful curiosity, Wei Ying slipped closer again, grief still gnawing at the back of his mind. There was a powerful life-force pulsating from the shell – or at second thought, within the shell. Even he, a creature without a golden core, could feel it pulsating within his soul and radiating into the open space around it.

A pale hand of his trembling body touched the shell and felt how warm it actually was. Something inside this little object reacted to him, a sudden surge of qi flowing through every cell of his body. Gasping, he threw his hand back towards his chest. This was not good.

The egg seemed to contain a perfectly healthy dragon child.

A Lan child.

Here, in the burial mounds. Within his space.

Everything made sense to him now. The aggression of his dragon friend in their first meeting, the curled up bloody body, the determination to keep on living, even with the knowledge of his nearing death.

An unpleasant chill traveled down his back. There was a thick knot in his throat and a pull under his stinging eyelids. Again, he reminded himself not to break under the responsibility. And again. And again.