Mortal Kombat: The Three Titans

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Egg

-Kuai's POV- I go back to Shadow Canyon alone.
With the worry of more Titans appearing, there is a chance we could go to war again.
The moon is high in the sky once more, making the run back to Shadow Canyon a little easier. I tend to be more active at night, anyways.

When designing Pangea Ultima, I added a large cave system under Shadow Canyon. The cave system itself is filled with gems used to sell in the markets. But it also has another surprise buried in the rock.
Everyone assumes dragons have been extinct even before all three of us got the Hourglass, but they've simply been hiding.

I recall, long ago, finding a female ice dragon in a cave near the Lin Kuei temple, and took one of her eggs. The egg never hatched, sadly. But discovering the existence of dragons kept my interests peaked. So I began to study them in secret. Their habitats, diet, behavior, everything.

No one can ever really tame a dragon, they are not slaves. But it is easier to train them from the moment they hatch. After giving orders to my people to hunker down and stay safe, I enter the temple quickly.
"I heard the news. Is it true that Titans are appearing?" Tundra asks, walking beside me after I enter.

"It's true. We'll need reinforcements. How is that black dragon egg doing? I still haven't told any of the others about my find."
"It's doing well. Rocking back and forth occasionally. Where did you find a black dragon egg?"
"Deep in the canyon, near the corpse of its mother. It wouldn't have survived if I left it alone."

We both walk over to my room. The egg itself is on the floor in a makeshift nest of blankets, close to the fireplace. The surface of the egg is black, with a small scattering of white spots that look like the night sky.

"How long does it take for an egg to hatch?" Tundra asks, kneeling down near it. It's around the size of a football, maybe a bit bigger. But it felt heavy when I carried it out of the cave. "I think that varies from species to species."

"What did the mother look like?"
"I don't know. Her body was too decayed to take in any details. I only saw a few black scales."
The egg rocks again, cracks appearing on the surface.

"It's hatching..." Tundra's eyes widen.
"She." I blurt out. "It's a girl."
"How do you know?"
"I.. don't know. Lucky guess?"
The egg suddenly splinters apart, shards of eggshell flying everywhere.

I jump back with a surprised yell.
The small dragon in front of us shakes herself like a wet dog, black wings slightly wrinkled as they stretch out. She is around the size of a small dog, with curved white horns and spikes that travel down to her tail.

The inside of her wings are white, with grey specks. But her eyes catch my attention. They're ice blue, like looking over a frosted lake. The underside scales are the same grey as the specks on her wings.
Her claws are also grey, like dirty ice.

She sneezes, smoke and purple sparks exiting from her nostrils.
With a squeak, she lifts her head up and looks at me. "I think she's imprinted on you already," Tundra sounds amused.

"Great. I'm surprised she even hatched." I smile, getting down on my knees and holding my hand out.
Her blue eyes look at my hand, then sniffs it.
With what sounds like a happy growl, she stumbles out of the blankets.

"Woah, slow down there," I laugh, holding her in my grip. Since I know that Kana is okay, I've noticed my grief and sadness has gone away, meaning I won't kill everything I touch. "What will you name her?"

I tilt my head, and she does the same. "Hm...Zodith. Yeah, Zodith the shadow dragon."
"Zodith, I like it."
Zodith growls softly, tail lashing. She begins to chew on my armored finger, clawing at my hand like a cat.

"Heh, she's feisty. Probably also hungry. What do dragons eat?"
"Fish, cattle, any kind of meat." I answer, prying my finger out of her mouth. Her tongue is pink, healthy looking.

"Do they prefer to eat it raw or cooked?"
"Usually cooked, from what I've read. They breathe fire on their meat and then eat it." Zodith lets out a high-pitched yip to complain, getting on my lap and snuggling into my abdomen.

She lets out something akin to a purr. "She probably thinks you're her father." Tundra observes.
I smile down at her, petting the area on her head between the curved horns.

"But we should get her something to eat." I state, getting up and setting her down.
She immediately begins to complain on the floor, flapping her wings and letting out outraged squeaks and small roars.

"What?" I muse, getting down on one knee. Snorting out smoke, she hops up on my bent knee and jumps into my arms. I nearly fall back in shock.

"You just want to be close to me, don't you?" I murmur, cradling her like a small child. She squeaks happily, laying on her back as I hold her close.
We both walk over to the kitchen and I find raw meat in the freezer.

After I set her on the table, I place a small cube of raw steak in front of her. "Go on, eat up." I order gently. She sniffs the meat, but looks uninterested.
"Use your fire," I say. Zodith tilts her head at me.
"Fire," I repeat, pointing to the meat.
She sneezes. I roll my eyes. "Huǒ." I say fire in Mandarin Chinese.

She growls at the meat, then lets out a small stream of purple fire, like that of a blowtorch. With the meat cooked, she eats it, then looks at me. I crack a smile, patting her head. "Good girl."