The Chronicles of Drakken

Chapter 2: Two For One

Twelve years have passed since Michael's departure and the Coronation of King Zallerferd. Over the years, King Zallerferd worked hard to live up to Michael's expectations. Despite his nervousness, he did a tremendous job, and, as a result, the race of Dragons prospered.

Today was the annual holiday, Michael's Day, set in place by King Zallerferd, and everyone was coming from all over to celebrate. As before, the Pearl Tower's grounds were packed with Dragons, exceeding into the tens of thousands. King Zallerferd was high up on his balcony, overlooking the crowd below. Even though Zallerferd was this high up and the Dragons looked tiny, their sheer numbers made the ground look like moving water.

Zallerferd just smiled as he closed his yellow-golden eyes. He let the populace's joyful noise wash over him like the warm ocean waves of his island home in the Water Region. It was so surreal that he could almost smell the ocean on the wind and inhaled deeply to capture the moment. Zallerferd missed being near the sea and longed to return to it. Ever since he became King, his duties have limited his time alone, and even these were interrupted. However, he by no means regretted being crowned King. Quite to the contrary, he enjoyed it much and loved to help where he could. Thus far, the Dragons all over Dragos loved their new King almost as much as Michael himself.

The light blue shirt he wore flapped loosely in the light breeze as he felt the warm summer air splash over his scales. Zallerferd could feel the change in the air and know that the cold season will start in a few short weeks, lasting two months. He could feel it in his two seashell-like horns sitting on top of his head. He opened his eyes with a broad smile as his tail swished mindlessly back and forth, thinking, "Today is the day Michael told me about. I can feel it in my very soul. My successor will be hatched today, and I feel it'll be something that none of us will expect."

Zallerferd flexed his fin-like wings and bent the tip of his tail with a fin up to scratch an itch. He walked back inside the throne room and thought, "Gailwind is going to have her hands full today, I expect."

While Zallerferd attended to things in the Pearl Tower, another Dragon over in the Wind Region's Cumulus City sat high on the valley peak was getting ready for the day. It wasn't hard to tell who lived in this little cottage or what her favorite color was. Aside from the yellow hay thatched roof, the gray stones that made up the chimney and the house's main structure were painted pink. Around the house, a flower bed was full of different blooms, with a vegetable garden full of half-grown produce in the back.

A light musical humming was coming from a dragon standing in front of the mirror-straightening the pink bow in her long brown hair pulled back into a French braid. As she finished this, she looked over her pink uniform consisting of a long-sleeved, ankle-length dress. It flared out at her hips a little and helped to accentuate the long curves of her body. The white apron had a red eight-pointed star to represent the medical staff of the Pearl Tower. She donned a pink hat that was no bigger than a bagel but just as round. Finally, she slipped on pink loafers and made one final check in the mirror. Her sky-blue back scales and silver front scales matched perfectly with her outfit. The two jet-black horns upon her head stood straight up.

"Perfect!" She said aloud as she grabbed her side bag and walked out her front door. The fresh morning air felt fantastic against her scales as she spread her wings and kicked off from the ground with her tail. Within seconds, she flew high over the clouds as the two moons started to set over the horizon behind her. She was heading southeast to the Supreme Region, making pretty good time.

Notwithstanding, the flight still took a bit of time, so while she flew, thoughts played through her head about King Zallerferd's announcement yesterday. Something extraordinary was going to happen today, and it would involve the Hatching. Of course, she trusted the King, but it was still somewhat curious why the King had not given any details to her or any of the other staff members.