Rise of Fire: Dragons Reborn [COMPLETED]

Chapter 22

*** We've made it to dragon hatching!!! Hurrah! Things are heating up and I mean that quite literally. What will happen next? I hope you're enjoying things so far! Let me know what you think and as always I'm thankful for your continued support and reads. See you in the next chapter!***

Talia's breath hitched as she stumbled. How far had they run? How much farther would they have to go? She used what little mana she had left to move large chunks of debris off the road. Lotus did her best to help as well but learning new spells on the fly was no easy feat.

"Do you think we're nearly there?" She huffed while pushing a large support beam that used to reside within a building off the street. Talia coughed harshly. With all the smoke she couldn't see where the gates were. From what she could remember they weren't all that far but the process of clearing a path was draining them of precious energy and burning away time.

"I sure hope so." She continued to cough; reaching for the satchel she reassured herself that the egg was still safe. Once the support beam was moved they both pressed on, hands covering their noses as the smoke billowed down into the streets.

Time passed painfully slow, with each new pile of debris removed they came across more and more dead. At first Talia wasn't bothered by it but the more unseeing eyes she gazed upon the more her stomach turned. She wasn't above murdering dozens of people when it was needed, but these people had no money down to kill them... They were all just caught up in their King's idiocy. While most were far from innocent they still didn't deserve to die in a hailstorm of flame and fury.

"This is horrific. How did this happen?" Lotus's voice cracked as she closed the eyes of another victim. She looked away towards the skies which had long since been darkened out.

"Hell if I know, Dragonfyre is illegal for a reason. When I first saw it I swear it looked like they were moving it up from the dockyards. The King must have had it shipped in some time ago for it to have aged as much as it did. Perhaps he was simply too stupid to know that it grows unstable with time." Perhaps it wasn't common knowledge, she couldn't truly be sure.

"Whatever the case... All these people..." Lotus stood up and swiped at her brow smearing the dirt, soot, and blood across her bronzed skin. Talia bit the bottom of her lip; her good arm reached out and once again she cast the spell to shove aside a large pile of broken wood, bodies, and stone.

"We can't dwell on it Lotus. We don't have the time." She stepped forward again only to stumble and fall to her hands and knees. With a start she noted that her satchel had fallen forward and the egg rolled free. To her horror it started to roll across the stone street; with each bump she could feel her heart stutter.

"G... Grab it quick!" She shouted, her hands and feet scraping desperately as she lunged forward. Lotus didn't even have time to reach for the egg as Talia's fingers brushed against the glowing shell.

The moment her fingers touched the shell a rumble rocked the ground. Small glowing orange cracks started spread from the center and light softly peered through. She watched in mounting horror as the thin little cracks stretched further.

"Oh gods, what have I done?!" She picked the egg up to place it in her lap. Quickly she covered the growing breaks with her hands as if that would stop the damage. What would the dwarves be angry with her? She didn't expect the egg to ever hatch with her carrying it.

"You are my rider, of course I would hatch for you..." A feminine voice whispered in her mind softly. At first she was terrified at the intrusion. She tried to close her mind to everything but the voice persisted,