Book One: Onnu and Pannu

Egg Hold

Since no one had yet thought of continuing their bloodlines, there were several Holds to the east that didn't see much use, beyond hunting skitters and flitters. No one paid the empty Holds much mind, despite hearing that the Holds to the north had been filled entirely.
   Egg Hold, and the two smaller oval-shaped Holds, were left empty apurpose. They assumed that any oval Hold was for egg-laying, and they weren't convinced that eggs wouldn't one day randomly appear.
   Her kin watched Onnu for signs of such an event, and still, they were caught unawares.
   But so was she.
   She couldn't say why she flew to Egg Hold that day. They would later pester her for details, but she'd flown there without conscious thought. She could not tell them what she herself did not know.
   Onnu sat in Egg Hold, staring about, as one does when they've gone into a room and quite forgotten why. Perhaps the strangest thing was, she nearly didn't know she'd begun to lay eggs. If pressed, she would have thought she was breaking wind.
   If Tan Cutter hadn't been harvesting crystal-cover, Onnu might have trod on the eggs. It was Tan who spied the small clutch when Onnu stood again.
   "Onnu, ma'am! You might want to lie down!"
   The dragoness turned around, barely missing the fragile eggs. "What?"
   "You're laying eggs! See? There are some now!" Tan flapped in front of Onnu's face, pointing down.
   "Are you sure? Those are awfully small to be mine..."
   Tan nodded. "I was here before you, and they weren't there. You really should lie down so they don't break."
   Onnu gently scooped up the eggs and carried them to the nearer narrow end of the oval, with Tan catching the ones that fell out the back. She yelped at the dragoness to please lie down!  The eggs were too big for her to hold them all, so she had to catch, lower it to the ground, and catch again.
   Onnu turned so her tail was in the narrow part of the Bowl, to the side of the clutch that was already there. Tan carried the ones that fell out, one at a time, and added them to the makeshift nest. She eyed the dragoness warily, but no trace of color lit her placid gaze. She seemed untroubled by the process.
   They're so small, it's no wonder she doesn't feel it at all, Tan thought.
   "How do we know when you're done, Onnu ma'am?"
   The dragoness shrugged as best she could, being a quadruped. "I barely feel the process. How would I know when it has stopped?"
   Tan flew to get Mira, who was the one that noticed the difference in egg sizes.
   "This egg is nearly as big as Hammer, but this one is more my size. That one is longer, not shaped like a chicken's egg. Some are leathery, some are hard. None of this makes sense!"
   Onnu reminded her about the elf mother who was raising a daughter that was beginning to resemble a catkin. "Dragons are designed to lay eggs, but perhaps what is in the eggs varies."
   "But you're with another dragon. Wouldn't two dragons breed true?" Mira asked.
   Onnu growled a little. Mira took a step back, as did Tan. "One must first breed to, as you call it, 'breed true'. We have not had the time nor inclination to do so."
   Mira rubbed her chin. "Could dragons be born with embryos already implanted? Like that one Godzilla movie?"
   Onnu shrugged again. "I do not know. You may wish to check on the other dragonesses in our community, if that is the case. If we all made Crossing at the same time, they may be laying eggs as well."
   The elf wavered. "But we know you're laying, and if they aren't, and I leave you alone..."
   The dragon laughed. "I barely feel a thing. I promise not to die while you are gone."
   "It's not that," she flushed. "It just doesn't seem like a good idea to leave a known birth for possible births, y'know? I'd like to see as much of the process as I can."
   "Then I'll go check on them!"
   Mira nodded at the gryphon. "You could. Just make sure you send another winged one back to us, just in case?"
   Tan nodded and flew away.
   Mira asked if Onnu wanted her to move the already laid eggs further away, to make room for new ones. She was afraid to approach without asking first.
   "You may observe as closely as you like, move them if you can. Some of them are larger than you. I suppose I could try to nudge them further away?"
   Between the two of them, they managed to corral the eggs into a little cluster--well, little in relation to the dragoness. As she said, some of the eggs were nearly twice Mira's size. With the already laid eggs to the side, they could see when they stopped coming more easily.
   All told, Onnu laid a hundred eggs that day. It sounded like a lot, but they neatly filled the side of the Hold where Onnu lay, with a bit of room besides. While some eggs were twice the size of Mira, most were about her size or smaller. When you accounted for the scrunching of the embryos within, that meant that the occupants ranged in size from elf to gryphon, as best they could guess.
   "If we had flame other than yours, we could candle test them," Mira said.
   "And my flame must be preserved, for I do not know how long I must protect them."
   "True."
   Closer to Charon-fall, Grim Feather landed next to Mira. "It's just you, Onnu. Nobody else is droppin' eggs today. Don't think I'll make it back before dark, so where are the niches?"
   Mira pointed to the tightest curve in the Bowl, where she was already headed. They could see the sky dimming. She made sure Onnu could cover all of the eggs before she ducked into a niche for the night.