Book One: Onnu and Pannu

New Ending

The founding citizens of Onnutrey grew sullen, as her departure loomed near. Every time she scratched another mark in the wall, they were one day closer to losing their dragon.
   She reminded them often that her child was their dragon. She was simply the egg's mother. She was on loan, far from their dragon's siblings.
   Reminders of Sage, Stone, and Sunny were the most reliable ways to get them to stop fretting... aloud. She knew that they worried, so she reassured them whenever she saw a droop that they were doing well.
   "I trust you will succeed. Look at this strong house you've built for the egg already! They haven't even hatched, and you've already provided them a safe haven."
   One day, she said the words that finally brought them around: "This will be the first Hold to be settled by smaller kin first, dragon second. The first to raise a dragon from egg to adult. Now, I know that sounds intimidating, but you were chosen for this. You've seen the very worst, and now you will see the very best."
   "A dragon hatching?" an orc snorted.
   "Birth, which is rebirth. This will not be a first, in the Fortnight Worlds, however, these eggs will be the first Celestial Dragons."
   There was one day left, so she felt it time to educate them as much as she could. Most nearby perked up, suddenly interested in this new bit of information.
   "What's a Celestial Dragon?" many asked.
   She settled more into what they'd dubbed "lecture pose", forepaws crossed one over the other. Her voice rumbled through the Bowl like distant thunder, with none of the anxiety that sound brought.
   "Celestial Dragons could be great, or they could be humble. If they are raised right, they will be both."
   That was too profound for some of her listeners, but that would have to be okay, for now.
   "In plain terms, a Celestial Dragon would rise if one of the Elder Dragons fell. They begin life as any other dragon, but they live in between ordinary dragons and Elder Dragons."
   "What does that mean?" a gargoyle snapped.
   "Elder Dragons, unless something should go awry, are eternal."
   Silence spread across the Bowl.
   "Dragons do live long lives. Celestial Dragons live no longer, unless..." She paused, to let her words sink in.
   "Unless one of us royally screws up," Trey said. He dropped his kills with the skinners, and joined Onnu.
   Some of the smaller kin hadn't realized that Trey was also an Elder Dragon. They didn't know how, but that was quickly rectified.
   "These eggs are our understudies," he said.
   "May they never be needed," she finished.
   "Aye aye," Kaia said. Her brother agreed more quietly.
   "So we have to raise a dragon that might someday become like you? An undying, giant dragon that's responsible for, like, everything?" The giant looked more than intimidated.
   Onnu forced a laugh. "We aren't responsible for everything. We simply guide the flow when necessary. Free will is still very much a thing, you know. The short version is: dragons guide and teach their Holds, and Elder Dragons guide and teach them. We only step in if we have to, y'know? Otherwise, how would we help everyone?"
   "That's not a job I'd want," the giant said with relish. "One wrong move, and you literally have to answer to God Himself!"
   Onnu simply bowed her massive head in acknowledgement. Trey swallowed hard and looked up at the spires. Their differing reactions did not go unnoticed.
   The morning she was to leave, the atmosphere was practically flammable. A fairly large percent of the kin had clay huts attached to their sleeping niches, there were ample food stores, and Trey would remain until the egg hatched. It didn't seem like enough for them. She was, in a way, their mother. Trey hadn't birthed them, but she reminded them constantly that he provided for them as any father would. As any dragon would.
   But he, too, would leave them.
   She reminded them that any Elder Dragon could speak to, or through, their dragon. That included dragons they hadn't met yet. She didn't say that there was only one other, of course. She never did.
   "Why aren't you putting your harness on?" Kaia fretted, as Onnu looked ready to fly away forever.
   The dragoness smiled down at her daughter. "Pre-flight instructions first. I will fly Above, to learn which egg stays behind. Then I must learn how you are to travel with us."
   "What if He takes you away when you go up there?" she fussed.
   "Have faith, little one. I do."
   Kaia and Sven's faith wasn't as strong as hers, but that was why they hadn't been transmogrified as dragons on the Fortnight Worlds.
   "Look, I leave the eggs behind to ask. If you have not the faith in Him, there is your hope. I cannot leave without them, so I leave them with you, for now."
   Strangely, that settled their minds. It worried her that they had more faith in her than in God, but they had to have some, or they wouldn't be here.
   She launched into the air, leaving the kin in the care of her Brother. Her wings beat strong and true, despite being kept on the ground far too much in the past fortnight. Her heart flew ahead of her, to the place she was happiest.
   :Right, then. How's this gonna work?: she asked without preamble. She knew He'd know what she was talking about.
   The answering data stream dazzled her vision for a moment. It took time to sort it all out. Time where she hovered in the ether, where it felt like He held her in a fatherly embrace.
   :If You're sure You want to give us this--what? But that would help the boys--Yes, sir. Trey isn't going to like this, You know. Of course You know. Okey doke, here goes... everything.:
   She dropped reluctantly back into the gravity well and coasted back to her children, in and out of eggs. The place she'd stood was still eerily empty. Had they not moved since she left?
   "Right, then. Collar me." It was an odd way of phrasing it, but also efficient. She wanted to be done with it quickly, to avoid as much of her Brother's wrath as she could.
   When she was collared, the wagon they'd built for the egg was waiting for their dragon to be gifted. Some of the kin thought she would leave them with nothing, she could see. It made her sad, but as she'd said, they'd seen the absolute worst reality had to offer.
   Onnu gave Trey a hug first, before her paws were filled. Then she set one of the smaller eggs in the grass-lined cart and gave it a quick "kiss". She helped her son and daughter up onto her neck, and waited until they were tied in.
   The Elder Dragoness cradled the remaining two eggs to her keel, looked directly at her Brother, and said "I'm sorry."
   Before he could ask what she was apologizing for, Onnu, and her children, vanished in the afternoon sunslight.