The Uprising

Prologue

Moonlight slanted through the glass ceiling of the nursery, the light illuminating a dragon with gold and baby blue splotches that dappled her white scales.  Her gaze was fixed on the sky, her eyes reflecting the full moon suspended in darkness.

A small cracking sound broke the eerie silence. The white dragon turned around to four eggs, a red, green, blue and purple one layed out on a velvet blanket. With another crack, a tiny forest green snout punctured the hard shell of the green egg, a small chirp echoing through the room.

"I'm so excited!" A voice sounded from the entrance to the nursery. The lone dragon turned to see four dragons emerge from the shadows. There was a pale purple one in the lead, followed by a dark blue, bright red, and deep green dragon.

The dark blue one continued talking. "I mean, me, teaching our queen's child!"

"Yes Tsunami, we all are." The pale purple one grumbled. Under the light of the moon, her scales looked worn, and her eyes were wizened with age.

"You all brought the royal jewelry, right?" The white dragon leaned closer to the other dragons, worry swimming in her tired, blue eyes.

"No need to fret my queen." The purple dragon smiled, jagged teeth poking out her mouth. She revealed the bracelet she had clutched in her talons. It was made of silver, twisting lines of metal, trapping a lavender gemstone in the bracelet. "We have all brought our jewelry."

The white dragon sighed in relief. "I'm sorry for doubting you, Feather. I should have known you'd keep the others in line." She turned back to the eggs, staring intently at them. "I'm just so worried something will go wrong."

"Hey! Feather isn't our babysitter you know! We can take care of ourselves." The red dragon's amber gaze flicked between the queen and Feather. "We are the ones teaching your dragonets how to use their powers, are we not?"

"Yes, of course. I'm sorry for doubting you Lava." The white dragon beckoned toward the last dragon, a deep green dragon."Your dragonet is hatching Boulder."

The green dragon nodded his head vigorously and strutted to the egg. The newborn awaited him, staring at the dragon with wide eyes. The white dragon came from behind Boulder and ran her claw over the dragonet's head. He trilled with pleasure.

"Your name shall be Olive, for your scales remind me of the olives that grow in the castle's grove." Boulder brought forth a silver choker with a gem as green as the forest embedded in the metal. He lifted the choker over the dragonet's large head. The jewelry magically shrunk to fit snuggly around the dragonet's neck. Boulder looked proud as the white dragon moved to an orange egg with fractures criss-crossing over each other.

A light orange and magenta dragonet's head popped out of one of the cracks. A small chirp came from it's mouth. The dragonet leaned forward when she saw the red dragon standing before her. The egg lurched forward with the sudden weight, causing the orange dragonet tumble forward and topple out of her egg. Trying to smother her laughter, Lava approached the dragonet with a pendant in hand, a big red gemstone attached to a thick black string.

"Your name will be Ember, for your scales remind me of the dying embers of a fire." The white dragon announced. Lava slipped the pendant over Ember's small head, the jewelry falling to the bottom of the dragonet's chest. The little dragon batted at the pendant as the white dragon walked over to the blue egg, a baby blue and lavender dragonet already awaiting her. Strange enough, the water dragonet had a sliver of understanding in her eyes, like she knew exactly what was going on.

"Your name shall be Aqua, for your eyes are as blue as the deepest depths of water." The white dragon said, a sudden softness filling her voice. Tsunami approached the dragonet and slipped a silver bracelet with dark blue gems jutting out of it over her wrist. The dragonet almost seemed to smile. Finally, the white dragon approached the purple egg.

Immediately, the queen realized something was wrong. She gasped as she saw green mist oozing out of the cracks.

"Feather!" The elderly dragon rushed to the white dragon's side. The purple dragon stared at the egg like it was some kind of foreign thing she'd never seen.

"This is... this is not supposed to happen!" Feather stuttered.

The white dragon bolted to the egg. "I need to help it!"

"Stop Snowfire!" Feather said sternly. The white dragon stopped in her tracks and stared at Feather with a pleading look. "You can't interfere with the hatching process. You know that very well."

"Yes, of... of course." Snowfire stepped away from the egg, fear still showing through her gaze. "I don't know what I was thinking."

The five dragons waited for the egg to break open and reveal the air dragonet that was supposed to hatch. Another fracture appeared on the egg with a loud crack. More green mist spilled from the egg, making Snowfire whimper in dismay.

Suddenly, a dragonet popped out of the egg. Immediately, Snowfire rushed over to the dragonet, picking it up and inspecting it. The dragonet squealed when being lifted into the air, but hushed as Snowfire stroked it's head.

"Queen... Queen Snowfire?" Boulder stammered. "It's... It's black!"

The queen looked down at her child and gasped. It was true. Instead of the dragonet being purple like it was supposed to be, it's scales were a deep black. It's underbelly, talons, and wings were the darkest shade of purple Snowfire had ever seen. It's spine and feet were dotted with silver scales, almost looking like stars in a night sky. It's wide, violet eyes stared into the Snowfire's blue ones.

"My baby had been cursed!" Snowfire wailed, a sudden dread creeping in her voice. "Who could have done this?!"

"Wait a second." Tsunami narrowed his eyes in suspicion at the purple egg. He summoned a orb of water and doused the egg with it. The color was drained from the egg, purple water flowing down to the floor. The egg was now as black as midnight.

"It looks like someone stole your egg, your Majesty." Lava tapped the eggs' shell, trying to maintain a calm demeanor. "And they got away with it."

"Search the palace!" Snowfire commanded. "Don't leave any stone unturned. Find who stole my egg!"

Tsunami, Lava and Boulder raced out of the room, calling for the guards. Only Feather remained by the queens side.

"My queen, we cannot get rid of this dragonet." Feather pointed out. She looked down at the tiny dragon, a sympathetic look swimming in her eyes. "If we were to throw her out in Dramania, she'd either be banished or killed. I would wish that fate on any dragon."

"I wasn't planning on it. I would never do that to a newborn dragonet." There was a long pause. In a soft voice, Snowfire said, "Your name will be Twilight, for the path ahead of you will be filled with darkness, but also, with light."

Feather slipped the silver bracelet around Twilight's wrist. The dragonet curled her claws around the pale purple dragon's talon. A genuine smile spread across Feather's lips, a few white teeth peeking out of her mouth.

"She won't be allowed outside, only if it's for mandatory purposes." Snowfire turned and looked at Feather seriously, protectiveness making her gaze sharp.

"Of course, my queen." Feather bowed and exited the nursery, leaving Snowfire and her fostered dragonet in the moonlight.

Snowfire ran her claw against Twilight's bracelet. It stopped on the purple gem.

"I will protect you." Snowfire whispered, her voice barely audible. The sound echoed through the small, simple room; so different from the rest of the palace. The queen tilted her head up to the moon, like she was making this promise to the round globe in the dark sky. "No matter what it takes."