Dragon of the Flames

Prologue

"All rejoice in Thy Flames, for thy heat warms o'r hearths," the Elder whispered, the flames flicking in crackles as they made her scales glow. The younglings surrounding her stayed silent as she peered in the fire and gazed intently in it.

"Young 'uns, thy time has come you received yo'r names. Thy Flames whispered it in ma' ears," she explained, as one opened it's tiny mouth to say something, the Elder raised a claw to silence him. "Silence! I shall be thy one who speak."

He clasped his jaws together, nodding silently. A few younglings glanced around nervously, as if the dark, silent cave would eat them whole. The Elder curled her tail around them all and rumbled softly. Bending down, she picked up the first, a little green dragon with brown spots and deep blue eyes.

She then dropped her in the fire.

The flames burst ablaze and swirled in different hints of dark blues and greens, until it lowered again. The youngling lay in the now dying flames, blinking up to her with newfound wisdom shimmering in her blue orbs, and brand new green wings hued with deep blues upon her back. She stepped out slowly from the fire, ready to utter her joy, when the Elder silenced her with a gaze.

"Thy Tanzanite." was all the old female said, as the younger female nodded. The naming was one she liked, which matched the dragon. The Elder had heard, in the blazing flames, the name whispered to her by her ancestral spirits.

You see, when dragons are born from the eggs that their parents laid, they're wingless and nameless. Days would pass, until the newborns could walk and run. Then, the Eldest Elder, the wisest and oldest of the dragons, would bring the springtime litter of young hatchlings to the Cave of Names, just before the last full moon of springtime glowed in the sky. She would recite the words of the ceremony in front of a blessed fire she had blew, and would pass each youngling, one at a time, into the fire for them to receive their wings and name.

The Elder picked up a dull red youngling with one white leg and yellow eyes. The little dragon struggled a bit, not enjoying being picked up. The Elder then dropped him too, but this times, the flames swirled deep red instead. In the end, though, they lowered and white, scaly wings were on his back.

"Thy Clay." she said, and the male dragon nodded in approval, more wisdom in his eyes then ever before. He padded beside Tanzanite, blowing a small billow of smoke with an amused grin. She smiled and billowed a bit of smoke to pass the time herself.

The Elder pressed on, to a pale beige female, curled up in a tight cocoon of sleep. As she was picked up, she awoke and flailed her legs and tail in alert.

"Have no fear, little She," said the elder, and the little female calmed down at the soothing words. Dropped in the flames, a brilliant burst of white and pale pink flames enveloped the youngling. When they lowered, her long wings had pink scales here and there, matching her now calm pink gaze.

"Thy Sweet." said the Elder, and proceeded with a few other dragons until she fell on a completely black female, who even had hidden black eyes. The aura around the youngling mystified her, and at once, she dropped her in the flames. They blazed so high and so bright, of a golden glow, that the old She had to gaze away from the light. It took a few moments, but they finally dimmed, and in the fire there was no more a black dragon.

There lay a pure golden youngling with equally golden glittering wings and onyx black eyes. The wisdom in her gaze was undeniable, the strength of her posture strong and the way she walked up to the stupefied Elder was perfect. At once, to the youngling's surprise, the Eldest of Elders bent down to her, and the other younglings reluctantly copied her, a bit puzzled, as the Elder recited what she'd heard from the flames.

"Thy Queen."