Hatch: A Dragon Story

Chapter I: The Egg

Long, long ago...
There was an egg. This wasn't unusual. Many eggs were laid by other dragons. Big eggs, small eggs, smooth eggs, ruff eggs, etc. This egg was nothing special. It was... well... an egg. The other dragons knew he would just have to grow up like every other dragon, fight like every other dragon, survive like any other dragon... and die like any other dragon.
This tiny egg was laid by a dragon called Te. Te grew up on the island of More along with her family.

When she was old enough (18), she travelled to the Dragon City in order to find a husband. There, she settled in the mountains in a lonely cave. Eventually, she found a husband: Kruger. A tall elegant young dragon with a long tail and blue scales. They got married at once and only a few years later, Te laid an egg. The egg was smooth and big. Te and her husband both knew he would succeed in the Hatch Test, so the next morning, they flew to the canyon of Hatch and dropped their egg at the Tester's feet.

They failed. The egg was too big. the Tester said the egg looked too round and its mind could cause great harm to society. The egg would have to be thrown away in the dump of despair.

"But why?" sobbed Te when they reached home, thus Kruger did not say anything. He looked serious.

"Run," he told Te. "Take the egg and run. Runaway as far as you can, I'll join you later.

With that, he spread his wings and flew off into the midnight air.

Te did what Kruger had told her: She clasped the egg firmly in her talons and she flew away in search of somewhere safe. Eventually, she found a small cliff on which she nestled in.

She waited months, and finally, the egg had hatched... but Kruger wasn't there to see it.

As she waited on the cliff's edge, Te heard the sound of cracking. She swivelled around to see the egg beginning to hatch.

Instead of crying out in joy, she cried out in misery, "No! No! Not now! Please not now! Kruger hasn't returned. I can't just stand here and watch our baby grow up without him!"

Nevertheless, more cracks began to form on the egg, and eventually, the top broke off to reveal a small orange creature covered in yoak.

"Come here, my baby," Te said as she wrapped her child in her arms and then the baby dragon began to cry. "Come now, my boy mommy's got you," whispered Te.

NOTE: A mother can tell that her child is a male by seeing if it has a spike on its tail. Females don't.

Te lifted her baby up and a tear formed in her eye.

"I think I'm going to call you..."

She remembered what her father's name was:

"Marman."

Te could now notice a tiny smile form on the dragon's cracked lips.

"Marman," Te repeated. "Heroic," she translated from the old dragon language.

Te lifted her head and roared into the valley far below.

~~

17 years later...

Marman whooped with joy as he flew past canyons and rocks jutting out of the sea.

"Here's the tricky part!" he said to himself as he neared a few dangerous pieces of rock sticking out of the water. Nevertheless, Marman managed to dodge all of them and he looked back at his achievement in triumph... thus, he didn't see another big rock right in front of him, and he smashed right into it.

"Oof!" he cried as he hit the stone surface of that sharp rock. The impact knocked him unconscious and he fell into the icy water below.

Meanwhile, another dragon had heard Marman's "Oof!" and had responded quickly.
He dove into the water and carried out Marman's soaked body to shore.

~~

"How many times have I told you!" cried Te to Marman. "I have warned you over a hundred times: Doing dangerous stunts could get yourself killed!"

Marman sighed, "Yeah, Mom, I know, Mom."

Te looked up at the small home she had built out of rocks and old shipwreck pieces.
She had built it only a few months after Marman was born. It basically looked like an old Viking hut. The outside was made of tiny pebbles. The door was a big chunk of wood pressed up against the entrance. Inside was a fire cooking for when Te went and cooked food.

They normally liked to sleep wherever they wanted to because beds weren't such a big deal.

"There is only one thing I can do to protect you," said Te. "I have to keep you in my sight always."

Marman eyes widened.

"What!? I'm not a baby! You can't do that to me!"

"Actually," said Te. "I can."

"No!" cried Marman. "No! I won't let you do that to me!"
With that, Marman spread his wings and flew off.

"You come back here, right now, child!" shouted Te to Marman.

Rage filled Marmen as he flew. He could hear his mother flying after him and calling.

"She can't boss me about," he thought. But although Marman didn't know it, he wouldn't want to know it, but... his mother was going to die. It was true. There was nothing he could to do about it, but as Marman flew faster and faster he went further and further, and then he heard the sound of "Agghh!" behind him, and Marman turned to see his mother falling down... down... down...