It was barely daybreak when Ryslen was seranaded with dragonsong again. The newly hatched flurry dragons and their bonds slept soundly. The unbonded two, Miasolanen and Anlerinth were snuggled together for companionship in the cold dark night With sleepy yawns, the yet unbonded tiros made their appearances. Some wore the white candidate �vests� over their sleepwear, but most managed to dress. Most of them were human or humanoid, with �strange� pigmentation or animal-type extras, usually wings, though sometimes not. The most unusual were Ril, a Hyade lizard, and Scala, a Melcey. Even the dragons who had proclaimed themselves candidates were a comparably normal sight. The first egg split open with no additional fanfare, spilling an icy purple hatchling into the world. She shook her head clear, and then oriented on the tiros. One in particular - she was winged and purple and completely non humanoid. Rillenshairanitai. Or should I just say Ril? The Hyade lizard executed a surprised midair flip. �Yes, that�s me.� Her blue flit Omi flew in orbits around her. �Your name must be Tainidann then.� Yes, but feel free to call me Tai. �Woohoo!� Ril squeeled in a second midair flip. �I got Tai!� The second egg shivered and cracked open, spilling out a silver-white hatchling. It could be argued that it was a twilight silver hatchling, save that its parents were decidedly pure silver and pure white. The hatchling didn�t care what its bloodlines were. It had no interest in anything Ryslen - but rather in something Rerir. Auden. Tell them my name. The young offworlder blinked. Then opened his mouth. �His name is Niveuth!� In the wake of this announcement, one of the seemingly perfect eggs of Derensalieth and Belithrandith shook apart, revealing a White Gold hatchling. Somehow, her Danachian nature had mixed with his Ryslen heritage to produce this beauty with rainbow-swirled wings. Her ears were not the biggest surprise, for when she opened her rainbow eyes, she opened her mouth as well. �My name is Soaring Harmony, and I seek Imeras Raul.� The tiro in question stepped forward. �Here I am, Harmony.� Imeras said. The hatchling smirked. �What beautiful music we�ll make.� The fourth egg split in a more traditional way, and a dark sapphire blue hatchling came forth. Quietly he moved to the candidates and stopped before the boys. �So your choice is made, Rigeoth?� The dragon nodded, and Elphan became E�phan. An egg that seemed wider than it was tall was the next to grow hairline fractures and fall to pieces. From the miniscule chaos came a dragonet of surprisingly pleasant coloration, clearly one of deep Ryslen heritage. He was a deep purple-blue shading to silver hindquarters - Twilight Indigo, and his wings... (bliss!)
The next egg split with force, having been rammed by the horned muzzle of a small marbled blue. He didn�t make much sound, and moved quickly towards the tiros, practically knocking his choice to the sand. �Calm down Icioth!� Khanndos said, surprising himself with the sudden outburst. Amazingly, the hatchling did just that. Following that swift bonding, a dark blue dragonet with white horns pushed free from his shell. His nighttime coloration seemed slightly out of place when one considered that this was a winter clutch, but Demicth and Pryzith saw no fault in their son. And Tarak saw none in his new bond, even when the blue tackled him to the sand and set about licking the wolf-shifter�s face. I am Zevziic! A grayish-silverish dragon pushed free from its shell and was quick to unfurl its rainbowy wings. They were practically transparent, and the GhostWinged son of Etonserapth looked about the sands. He moved gracefully towards a young man with icy silver eyes. Frollond, my name is Abieth. In less than a heartbeat, what was sure to be the most normal hatchling of this batch stood before the tiros. Dusty brown hide and pure white wings, the stocky male made his way to a rather normal, yet very helpful young man of the sort leaders liked to come to depend on. �Unabith, you�ve chosen me? Are you certain?� The tiro asked. Without a doubt, Birkel. the dragon responded, his rainbow faceted eyes whirling slowly. The next egg to break open yielded another duowing to the growing count of Flurry dragons. His coloration had been seen but once before -- at the First Flurry. His hide shaded from black to white hindquarters. He was decidedly a Duowing Light Black. With the sort of quiet assurity that might become stoicism in later life, the hatchling moved to a dark sort of tiro - but not the bad sort of dark. Dolperi Neleb cautiously knelt before the hatchling and held out his hands. The black came past the mage�s hands and leaned against his chosen. Not all that is dark is without light... The hatchling purred, and Dolperi looked from his new bond up to Elara. �He... Vaofykath...� The woman smiled, but said nothing. With a suddenness that suggested tardiness, a speckled egg broke open, and a silver hatchling fell out into the sands. The way it stood and tried to shake the fine sand off of damp hide gave the impression of the dragon�s femininity. Without warning, Sorangiata left Aya�s side and scampered across the sands to the silver�s side. Her bare wing-arms seemed so incredibly much more skeletal when contrasted to his double set. The featherwinged hatchling accepted her clutch-sibling�s ministrations with a degree of tolerance. Aya and everyone else just stared.
The next egg cracked, and pieces of shell fell away like autumn leaves falling to the ground. From the debris stepped a green dragon with wings like the canopies of trees, marked with Flurry snowflakes. She moved with a natural breeziness to a young winged woman who had a metaphorical green thumb. Iyore, can I help with your garden? The harpy blinked, and then leapt forward to embrace her dragon. �Of course Yerpiverth!� Her sisters� expressions were tinged with the green of envy. A darkly green dragon pushed free of her cradle, and opened her snowy silver-white wings. She was pretty - and pretty normal - save the slight white and red markings on her muzzle and the tip of her tail. Clearly she was of Istabithan stock -- Holarith�s daughter. She moved with the agility expected of a green and powerful presense one would expect of a fiery red. Ceana! The hatchling called, and a young shifter with incredibly red hair stepped forwards. �Siclassenth.� The girl responded, and the bond was made. Everyone looked on as the sands cleared, and one largish egg rocked rhythmically. As the egg split open, the woman known often as Silver opened her eyes. The whisper of the dragon�s name came in her mind, as every hatchling she�d ever seen had announced itself to her. The hatchling was white, with softer snowflakes than other Flurry dragons, and had amber-copper colored siamese markings - gemtoned markings, very shiny. The tiro who would leave with this beauty must be special indeed. But you are, Nemia. You are my Rider. The amber-white Siamese bespoke her, leaning against her. �Kekaranth...� Nemia murmured, tears sliding down her cheeks. In the stands and higher up, Akhbar Mon and his copper-silver bond Agroraji roared in delight. The white nub horns of the dark purple hatchling identified her as the sibling of Blue Zevziic, but who would the unusual flurry beauty choose? Her choice was swift, as was her rider, the harpy Imbraya. My name is Ysomaiciz! The next egg fell open as if it were hinged, and the hatchling within gave a leisurely stretch. She stood, revealing her Light Purple coloration, and her silvery hide. With an ethereal grace, she moved to a young woman with surprisingly angelic wings. Christine...? The former angel crouched before the icy hatchling. �Yes Kalanianri?� I had the strangest dream... you were dead... �I was dead, love, but now I�m here with you. A second chance.� Aeshyin looked on, but said nothing. A less than perfect looking egg split explosively, revealing a flame-marked white hatchling. On his head were finlike crests -- he was clearly Speeder�s son, no doubt about it. And his parents accepting looks just encouraged him to move forward. His choice was a young man whose father was by far not accepting of him. Tommy almost cried when the hatchling�s colorful eyes met his. �Sulaanerth...� The touching bonding of Tommy and his flame-white was overshadowed by the second egg in Onatirveth and Taveth�s clutch rocking feverishly. It broke open, and the sibling of the brilliant opal hatchling stepped into the world. Unlike her sibling, this hatchling was not a white gem, but rather, a black one, with opalescent rainbow markings on her dark wings. This Dark Opal made one tiro grin, or at least made the corner of her mouth curl up in a smirk. The hatchling trotted defiantly up to Elara Alaven. I am Cysscatainth. I hope you�re not afraid of the dark. The hatchling said. I am the Dark. Elara laughed. Next to hatch was a dragon of more normal colors and slightly odd pattern. Her - for her hide was shades of white and green and purple - parentage was certain, White-Bronze Erynduth and Peacock Nievereignath. But what did that make her? A White Peacock? The cool-colored hatchling moved across the sands, a bit standoffish to any tiro who thought to step towards her, and she seemed to ignore the other eggs as she walked around them. She had eyes for one girl only -- Nirais, from Rerir. �You don�t need to be so frosty, Alsiuth...� The next dragon to break shell was a vibrant liquid emerald green, and she was very fast indeed. Whoa! she said as she almost skittered into another egg, but she recovered and kept moving. She wasted no time inspecting possible candidates - she went directly to the one who�d gasped in surprise when she spoke so suddenly. Tora almost didn�t realize what was happening, but Talastea, like Zevziic, chose to tackle her wolf-shifter bond, and then Tora laughed. Golden paws pushed through ivory shell, and then as the crowd waited for a queen to emerge, a tri-colored hatchling burst free. He was incredibly steady on his feet, and as the spectators took in his red-gold-white-gold-red hide, he strode across the sands to a young miracle worker -- the EMT Mink Takei. BlingBling divebombed towards the male dragonet, and with surprising patience for a hatchling, he waited until the cute little flit�s examination was done. Mink, I am... �I know your name is Zhellecko.� The woman interrupted, smiling. I was going to say I am prepared to help you save people, but yes, my name is Zhellecko. Was he the first Emergency Medical Dragon? Who knew...? Before Mink and her brilliantly colored dragon made any move to leave the sands, three eggs broke in rapid succession. One was white, with ghostly spectral wings, one was a blue Ryshathian with white stripes on his forearm, and the third, attempting to brush a piece of shell from her gold-red shoulder. None seemed to notice the others, and they all began to move towards the remaining tiros.
The young woman who had thrown herself between the beast and its prey yet stood in the middle of the sand. She had arrived at Ryslen with no idea who she was, where she came from, or what she was capable of. The idea that she had magical talent had not entered her mind, nor the minds of those who were taking care of the amnesiac. One last egg broke, and the sunset colors of the gemtone siamese dragon drew her eye. My name is Enbanonth, and I know what you have done today. I will be with you always, no matter what the past or the future hold. The young woman dropped to her knees and embraced the hatchling -- her bond, even though she knew not who she really was. So Twenty Eight more hatchlings were born into the world, exactly half of the Flurry Clutch. They will join their slightly older siblings for training, and the rest will hopefully join them soon. Only time will tell what will become of the eggs that were �stopped� by one truly accidental magical outburst. Many thanks (Again!) to my Conspirators for their help in coloring images, to everyone for their continued patience, and to Frizzle for use of her bandwidth. :)
Pickup Pages:
|
