Moonborn

Dark Dragon

An hour passed and she'd traded her small garden spade for a bigger shovel. An egg out of place was serious business, as all eggs were guarded jealously until hatched. However this one had gotten here, it was important that she return it to the Wings as soon as possible.

Even with her body occupied, she found her mind kept traveling back to Indigo and searching the part of her mind that he had always occupied, now as empty as the sky was of heat-blocking clouds. It had to have been imagined, that spark. They had said she'd go mad after Indigo's death; maybe this was it.

She accidentally struck the side of the egg, and suddenly she felt something. It was little torch of the mind, almost like there was a presence there. "Indy?" she thought, insane hope filling her. She searched it again, but again there was nothing there. Great. Now here was proof of her madness.

She kept digging until she had cleared all the dirt around the egg and the sun was almost sitting on the horizon. She slapped another mosquito absentmindedly as she surveyed the egg. It was about four feet tall and two feet at the widest point and was covered in ripple patterns. She put both arms into the hole and heaved, nearly falling backward when the egg turned out to be half as heavy as she had expected. It made sense, though. Dragons had special elements in their bones to make them light enough for flight, so a baby would have to be very light indeed.

She carried the egg into her house, kicking the door open with her foot. Then she placed the egg carefully on the couch and rushed to her bedroom, bringing the mirror above her headboard back to the egg. Engraved around the frame were dragons, and she touched each one feverishly as she recited Aldebar's name three times. No longer the school master, he was now the Head Wingmaster, and would probably be at his desk. If not, she'd just have to try to contact somebody else, though Aldebar would be the best choice, as this was a matter of urgency.

She didn't have to worry; he was there, sorting through papers with a grim frown. She sighed in relief, and he looked up at his mirror with a combination of intense surprise, pleasure and worry that came out in his voice.

"'Lyn!" He nearly jumped up from his desk but composed himself at the last second. He had silvery-grey hair, going bald, but his spritely blue eyes still danced liked they used to. "What-is everything fine?"

No, everything was not fine, and had not been fine for quite a while, but she refrained from answering the question. Instead she said what she knew would catch his attention. "Is the hatchery missing an egg?" she demanded.

He was severely alarmed now. "No. Why do you ask?"

"I've got one here," she said, moving aside and motioning to the egg behind. "I was planting in the backyard . . ." She relayed the whole story, excluding only the imagined spark. She finished and waited for him to speak.

"But we're not missing an egg. I can't think of why . . ." Suddenly he stopped, mouth open in sudden realization and astonishment.

"Out with it, you," she said tiredly, knowing Aldebar had probably forgotten she was there.

"Hang on," he said, coming out of his trance. "Let me check with the hatchery first, I just want to confirm." He stood up and walked out of the mirror's view.

Evelyn bit her tongue in frustration as she heard the door close and then jumped in surprise as she heard someone knocking on her door just a few seconds later. At a time like this? She grudgingly walked to her front door as the knocking continued and opened it, thoroughly annoyed and confused when there was nobody standing behind it. She was about to close the door when she heard the knock again, this time from behind her.

Sudden understanding reached her, and she hurriedly slammed and locked the door as she all but sprinted back to the egg. The knocking sounds started again as soon as she got there, and she could see clearly now that they were emanating from the egg. It was rocking greatly from side to side and one, hair-thin crack had appeared at the top. It was hatching.

By the time Aldebar returned, several more cracks had appeared and the knocking sound was so loud that she didn't hear him at first.

"We have records when the dragon Lapis was lost during her pregnancy and later found with one egg," he said wearily, after she had moved a ways away from the egg. "She remembered nothing, and the incident was suspicious, especially because she was found in Hallons, so that we kept a close eye on the egg until it hatched earlier today."

"This one is hatching now," she blurted out, accidentally letting a bit of panic seep into her voice.

He nodded solemnly, unsurprised. "I'm sending someone over to you. They should reach you in about twenty minutes. There's a chance the egg might be tainted, so we're taking all precautions and urgency."

"Tainted?" she said, surprised, as the knocking rose to a new level. "What do you mean?"

"It's not exactly common knowledge, but for centuries anti-Wings groups have tried to get an egg. To hatch a dark dragon."