1.2.21 Clutch 2 ... and 3? Caer Paniya Dunes year 570
“It wasn’t going well for him, so I’m glad that you’ve decided to accept the offer,” Qalam said as he and the tall red-headed man headed back into the warm hatching cavern.
“I don’t want to sound cruel,” Arnes replied, looking at his black dragon who sat perched casually above on one of the cavern’s many ledges, watching his dappled purple mate and their eggs below. “But it was only a matter of time. Perogrin was... not healthy. I think it distracted Dlajhok enough that he would not be able to be an effective fighter.”
Qalam nodded, they were relieved that the older rider had willingly allowed them to replace him on the Paniyan council, but they both knew it was only a matter of time before Perogrin was listed on the memorial to fallen riders. Sadly it wouldn’t be because of battle or old age, he was simply wasting away due to the passing of his wife. His two children were grown and riding dragons of their own, and frightfully it looked as though the dragon he rode would be more effective without his rider.
But that left a gap in the political arrangement that the Caer had: the Council of Riders required each ranked dragon to be represented, carving out duties around the island of Paniya, from diplomatic efforts with the Aeries, to defending small villages from the natural dangers of the wilderness. It was one of those defenders walking with Qalam now, on his proud and impressively handsome black male dragon. Arnes still proudly bore the scars from his childhood attack by ants, and his dragon had none: they were intense and focused in combat, and the black dragon’s hide had no marring even after nearly a decade of work.
There was no need for vigilance against the ants here, the Caer was safe and well maintained. But the posture that the dragon held was surely more alert than most: and that was because he guarded his mate and their eggs.
And more.
As Arnes caught up to the purple-rider Contedever who sat beside her purple directly on the dunes, Qalam headed toward another corner of the chamber, up a few spiraling stairs to the second level of ledges. Two women of remarkably similar looks sat chatting quietly together. Unrelated by blood, but drawn together as rider and caretaker of their dragons that had paired up. Those dragons were also split into a maternally sleeping gold on the dunes, and the bold red who watched from this ledge’s vantage point. There was, however, a third dragon with them: a black with jagged markings who remained beside the red almost as if protecting him from harm, and was between the ledge’s steps and said dragon beyond. He eyed Qalam and lifted his extended wing, allowing passage to the Caerlord.
Since they had arrived as a trio and not a ‘couple’ several weeks before, the Caerlord knew that this arrangement had spared them some grief. Maddoz the red dragon was not well suited to life among many humans, after all, and he did not look comfortable even now tucked behind his protective friend. Qalam kept his distance respectfully, instead addressing the women.
“Do you think they’ll be ready around the same time as Ksotsik’s?” He asked, of the purple’s eggs below. The gold dragoness that had chosen to share the dunes was keeping her eggs separate but not by much, the females seemed much more open to the company.
“Some may,” the violet-eyed and slightly younger-looking woman bonded to the queen below peered over the edge of the hewn rock ledge. “She was quite eager to lay them, we barely made it to the dunes here before she started. I swear,” she smirked and her friend beyond also chuckled, “she was going to leave a trail of eggs along the way.”
They had been deposited safely in the warm sands, however, and like her purple companion, the gold would shuffle them around with care every few hours. Sometimes they would silently discuss things - the females would stretch and circle the dunes before exiting and getting some much needed air and flight time. Their mates and even the Caer residents provided more than enough food and protection, but dragons must fly!
Qalam examined the dragons, noting well that their features were foreign, exotic to these dunes. “I wonder what they’ll look like,” he said, “our dunes have been known to develop interesting changes.”
The women both laughed, the one with shorter hair slightly louder; Qalam knew her secret, he was a wordsmith after all, he was well aware that she was a shapeshifter, and ‘changing’ was something she did frequently enough. If their dragons had new features, it might be something in the air here in Paniya.
He was about to continue chatting, getting as far as asking them if they’d like something brought up to eat or drink, when all five of the dragons in the cavern lifted their heads as one. The purple and gold on the dunes both peered at their eggs, the purple much more excited, and the gold a little more picky about what she gazed at. So instead of suggesting a sandwich and chilled coffee, Jasmine, rider of Maddoz, hinted that Qalam should start getting their potential bonders on the dunes.
He in turn communed with his dragon, who noisily trumpeted from the top of the peak and soared around the entire Caer town. While they had been eager to gather candidates, this call was meant for those who would observe as well. A few of the local inhabitants had put up the visiting bonder potentials in their homes, and hustled out with them.
One or two of the candidates had been near, and showed up earlier than the others. One of them, a tan-skinned sailor named Shaeen was first in the place, looking more than a little harried, and he cast worried looks up toward Qalam. The Caerlord made note of that, but his own ire at the candidate had long since vanished. It had been a stressful time when the man had last been on the Caer dunes... well ‘on’ was an overstatement. Instead of dwelling on it, Qalam gave a significant nod toward Shaeen, who took his place and waited, this time surrounded by the other candidates.
Two of those stood close together, though truth be told one of them was leaning heavily on the other: Grenivdel had roused her sleeping twin Reznik, and dragged him to the sands. He’d been there before, too, they both had come past the eggs on occasion. Somewhat to the distress of the dragons there, but... none the less. They were familiar faces, and though twins, they looked rather disparate with the elegant red-haired Grenivdel, and her blond brother remaining a bit disheveled at any given moment. But he steeled himself, stood straighter and brushed the sand out of his hair when he spied Qalam - and the mothers and fathers of these two nests - staring at him in judgment.
Though most of the bonding candidates that had come for this particular nest were humans, several were not. One in particular was elfin, tall as could be, with a stark white mohawk contrasting with her studded leather jacket. Qalam was sorely tempted to ask where she’d gotten it, he liked that look. She did have to leave the winged wolf she’d found along her journey just at the entrance to the dunes: it was not a candidate, only they had the privilege to remain near the eggs like this.
The other obvious non-human was an incredibly pretty silver dragoness, taller and longer than most of the native Paniyan dragons, though she bore only tiny wings spreading from her forelimb wrists. She needed no help flying, it looked like: the power that came from her was impressive as she drifted just above the sand. Her delicate hind paws barely brushed it, as she settled nearest the eggs beside Ksotsik’s nest.
One...
unobvious nonhuman was Sidhu, who swayed into the dunes cavern with style and grace well beyond anyone else. Her broad smile was always visible against her dark skin, currently behind a transparent veil of deep red and gold. She had already endeared herself to the dragoness on the sands, somehow, Qalam didn’t know how deep that impression had gone. The dreams of dragons were not ones he was privy to, after all. But the candidate was also apt to hand out gifts of shiny jewels and shimmering silks such as the ones she wore, so no one thought twice about how odd she actually was.
Another disparate pair that had come from a very distant place - Nidus Novalux - stood attentively, one much more attentive than the other. The shorter brunette woman was of a more physical stock than her blond-haired male companion, but they worked so very well as a team that Eowelia was convinced they would do well here at the dunes. Liacha had an air of confidence and strength even if that strength seemed at the cost of perceived femininity, while Merritae beside her seemed to be keenly memorizing anything he heard or saw. Whether that was a self-defensive tactic or a strong feature, Qalam wasn’t entirely sure.
Finally came the dark skinned Manad - whose own arrival to the Caer was highly unusual, even momentous. She clutched to her chest a small orb, and even Qalam could tell that there was some intense power there at work. Some of his consultants told him that they had magic to them, but magic here on Alskyr was more limited to the Gryphons and not humans for the most part. Plus he was fairly sure that even the Gryphs wouldn’t know what this magic was about. Maybe the dragons did. They almost always surprised him with their wisdom.
It was perhaps with wisdom in mind that the first of the eggs guarded by purple Ksotsik fully broke. There was very little mucus or remnant goo left inside the egg, though the hatchling inside was still a bit damp and had shell bits sticking to its shiny skin.
Very,
very shiny skin. It was a Silver - distinguished from its shell by mere shades in places, but then as that shell fell apart and was left on the sand it became more and more apparent that this was...
“That’s absolutely the shiniest thing I have ever seen in my life,” Qalam muttered loudly enough to cause a murmur of chuckling and comments from those watching from the sidelines and ledges beyond. And it was true: this dragonet opened his wings, and they were smeared with reflectivity that wasn’t just due to the egg goo. Where light hit him, it shone. Almost like a glass bauble, almost like one of those shiny grey-colored pearls that Sidhu had given out to the baker and his new wife a few days past. Like liquid mercury he tried to look casual and started stepping toward the awaiting candidates. His skin glinted, and in the light cast down through one of the lighting vents in the cavern it almost blinded people in its intensity. “Do not look directly at the dragon!” He chuckled.
A whisper came from
Merritae’s throat, he blinked and tried to speak again, and this time spoke more clearly, “
Yeddaek,” was the word trying to form, “he is Yeddaek, that is an amazing color,” he then addressed the dragon directly when he moved forward onto the sands more confidently than before. “You look like chrome!”
Though the dragonet was still quite fresh from the egg, he looked incredibly smug. Whatever was spoken between the pair, in words or pure emotions, was private. Merritae’s hands shook a bit, though, when he helped pick up the dragonet’s tail and cleared off the remnants of the egg and sand from it, before searching out the finely chopped meats ready for their first meal.
Qalam was somehow able to produce his own records-keeping tablet, sheaves of paper bound in a leather case. It wasn’t ‘somehow’, it was his daughter Qleea adeptly handing it to him on arrival to the hatching, knowing he’d left it in his office. She settled in and peered on with her own wide-eyed look.
Several eggs were bulging and cracked, none ready save for one nestled near its mother’s protective claws. The purple snout that burst through at last was remarkably dark, and more or less even in tone unlike its mother’s mottled tone. But when the rest of the dragon emerged that little purple queen tilted her head, long horns making the motion obvious.
There was a clear conversation going on between them, the hatchling as it struggled and finally pushed out from the remnants of the shell, and the dam who was apparently just a touch displeased. Perhaps not displeased: confused, surprised?
She spoke aloud, a bit of that surprise showing through in her tone. “He is male,” she announced, which did cause a little bit of a ruckus up where Qalam and his daughter suddenly took more interest. “But he is still mine! I do not approve of your choice, my child, I know his
history here, but... it is yours to make.”
Apparently some held a stronger grudge than others, but that encouraged the dark hatchling to stand fully on his wobbly legs and stretch his wings out for all to see. He was quite dark in violet body, but his wings even darker - his sire above on the ledge was proud of this one indeed. And on both his body and wings were bold stripes in contrasting colors, near black on the purple parts, and purple on the nearly black wings and trim.
**
You live on the sea! I want to see the sea! I want to swim, what is swimming?** The dragonet spoke directly into
Shaeen’s mind, which startled him enough to let out a yelp of surprise.
That yelp turned into a sudden peal of laughter from the sailor, “you don’t even know what the sea is yet,
Vitorlask!” Then to the purple mother he lifted his gaze and solemnly spoke more quietly. “I promise that I will do you proud. I know you don’t care for me, I suppose the other dragons... talked about that to you. I know it’s hard, but... I won’t screw this up.”
The purple queen reached her nose out a bit, across the broken shell and closer to the young man and her own child. She snorted the air around him, and nudged him with her blessing. “Go, then, teach this unusual son of mine the ways of your oceans.”
While they were preparing the area for Shaeen and Vitorlask to exit, another of the eggs that the queen was guarding more protectively than the others hatched. And, she had compelling reason to glare at the boy that she just knew would be its intended bond. Out from that egg was an incredibly shiny deep red wing, which reached out and smacked its mother’s neck a few times in the effort of breaking the shell. And unlike the silver earlier, this one’s egg
did seem to have remnants of goo and liquid in it, which made the sounds of that smacking quite audible. Obviously red, and this time obviously normal for its color type as a male, the body of this dragon was much brighter and speckled with what looked at first to be just sand - no, it was a pattern of very fine markings, darker at the feet and bright at the face. Those wings and crest though! They were like liquid, and to that one bonding candidate that Ksotsik glared at, it looked more like wine than blood.
He gulped,
Reznik realized that wine would be the lowest priority on his list now. It had to be. And, seemingly emboldened by the sailor’s strange speech toward the queen, Reznik inclined his own head as he approached her and the hatchling. “He calls himself
Gedawik, and he calls to me... I can’t deny that I’ve had my share of screw-ups. It looks like I’ll have to try living up to those standards now too.” The other bonder Shaeen was already out of earshot, but everyone knew he meant the sailor by now. “No more stupid stunts, I promise, I told you that night and I will say it again.” He tried straightening and saluting but there was goo on his hand from the hatchling’s still-wet skin, and he wound up slapping himself with half a shard of shell.
Egg on his face literally, even he couldn’t stop himself from laughing with the rest at that. The queen rumbled with it too - were they on equal footing at last?
Excited for her brother, as well as his seeming to accept his new more serious lifestyle, Grenivdel hadn’t seen the one shell nearby break and chip in a careful line. It was almost a perfect halving, and delicately held mottled silver paws pushed outward to open the top of the shell as though it was a hatch. The face that poked out after determining the opening was wide enough seemed marked as well, though as with many sand-covered wet hatchlings all around the Nexus, it would be difficult saying which dark bits were sand, and which might be dragon. It became clearer that they were markings when she (clearly she, the little queen she was) stood up and out of the bottom half of the shell, as most of her body was free from any changes in color. Her wing fingers were darkly mottled, as well as the sails, though crest and tail spade seemed much lighter in color overall. And she knew she was pretty: she stood for a moment preening and caught the eye of her mother.
A brief and private conversation went on between mother and daughter, and then the dragonet strode with some amount of wobble toward
Grenivdel. The dragonet’s wings looked for all the world like plush fur, a more matte texture than her still shiny body. She started warbling for attention, which did the job more than adequately, as the red-haired girl turned in surprise. “
Tawmak!” Both of them exclaimed together, the dragon working up to it beforehand, and the girl blurting it out to make sure she heard it right inside her mind. The dragon didn’t speak any further, but it was clear that she would be known for being talkative. The little red caerlizard that had been hiding under Grenivdel’s hair peeked out at their laughter, but hid again when the silver dragonet locked on to him.
“Swave isn’t for you to chase,” Grenivdel asserted, “but I bet you’ll like the food they have ready!” She escorted the hatchling off the dunes, where all the siblings reunited.
It was about that time that the golden queen nearby rustled her wings, looking down under the one but not allowing anyone else to spy. Above, her rider Tayla sprouted wolf-ears in surprise, but very few people noticed that little blip.
Before the purple queen however, there were two eggs left: perhaps why she hadn’t been irate when the other queen showed up on the sands, there were only six in her clutch rather than seven or eight as she’d been hinting at. One of those two eggs cracked, kept cracking, with the lines expanding against the creamy-white shell. Finally it was merely a network of dark lines and bright shell, which then were brushed off by Ksotsik’s careful tail.
And then Ksotsik looked at her own tail as though she’d never even seen it before, “I did not do that,” she muttered verbally. It became apparent pretty quickly that the dragonet herself had commanded it, a remarkable power to have fresh out of the shell. The dragon was incredibly dark, as dark as the first to hatch’s wingsails, but of an even tone all across her body and limbs. Her wings, crest, and tail spade were pale, almost lavender in its hue.
“You must be more polite to your mother,”
Sidhu scolded very gently, “but I will admit that was impressive.”
“Of course it’s hers,” Qalam whispered to his daughter, who looked away while spinning her finger through the silk wrap that the candidate had given her, one which almost matched that same dragon’s deep colored skin. They both listened attentively when Sidhu announced that the dragon’s name was
Vaekhelik, pronouncing it with the raspy sound in the middle, almost a draconic sound itself.
Everyone was sort of waiting for that last egg of the purple queen’s to break open, but instead, golden Fayvazh raised her wing to show that there was movement among her eggs. She broadly asserted with her mind, **
it is not a surprise, they are the first to be laid, they will be the first to hatch, though I do not believe all of them will do so today.**
It also wasn’t much of a surprise that the dragonet that came out from under that protective wing was richly brown-red, but also marked in a fashionable cinnamon strip from nose to tail tip. Though he might have been mistaken for a red dragon, due to the impressively velvet-red color on his wings, he was very much a brown dragon, and he very much wanted to check out
Raen.
He was unsteady on his feet, but even at this early stage in his life, he was clearly bigger than the purple and silver dragons that had hatched less than an hour before. He staggered over to the pale sleek dragoness, who wanted to look aloof... And failed. “We are similar, my little friend, your silver does match mine.” She gently started smoothing away the sand that had collected on his wingsails.
When she mentioned ‘silver’ though, that caused a rippling of discussion among everyone watching. It was true, too: he had short nubs of horns, in the same silvery color that his parents had. It stood to reason of course, but Paniyan dragons were well known for their long spiraling golden horns. “
Nyzhewik is his name,” Raen announced while looking up at Qalam and Qleea, who were both furiously writing in their own record books now.
And speaking of matching colors, the final egg from Ksotsik and Farabak’s clutch had hatched, producing another round of gasping and trying-to-get-a-closer-look peering from people around the site. Like the ‘chrome’ silver at the start of this hatching before her, this incredibly shiny black dragonet looked like molten shadow - all except for the brilliantly white wingsails which were dotted in large black spots! Both of her parents
did have markings suitable for such a thing, Qleea drew quickly in her record book - a budding artist herself, but how much black ink would be required to show just how shiny and dark this dragon was?
She’arr reached out to the dragon as she stumbled over a runnel formed by the other hatchlings and people walking around on the sand. It was clear though, that the sand clinging to the dragonet’s feet would reveal very faint silvery markings, similar to the dots on her wings. Shiny as the leather jacket, with studs in silver and white to boot, She’arr chuckled and looked first to her other winged friend still lurking in the entryway, the wolf, and proudly said, “her name is
Qohgith!” Returning her gaze to the dragon, she said, “I’m sure that we will find plenty of exciting things to do and see, even pancakes, but I don’t think you’ll want those...”
Fayvazh lifted her wing once more, and though people could see that there was more than one hatchling already emerged from a shell, only one dared come out just yet. Dappled yellow sunlight wing fingers spread to reveal speckled tan sails, and the gold hatchling rose to her full height proudly. She would certainly be larger than many hatched at Paniya, even bigger than her brown marked brother. And those silver horn nubs proudly showed her parentage, as she walked out from her mother’s protective curl. Even her sire looked on proudly, though it was clear he would rather have been anywhere else save for these little dragonets he’d sired...
It was to
Liacha that this gold went, and they apparently conversed privately before Liacha found her voice. Trembling with emotion, unsure of how much of that conversation to allow anyone else to know about. She decided upon saying, “this is
Guztemik, and she is my one.”
They exited the dune together, the dragonet walking on her own, but closely leaning in to the woman when she wobbled a little to avoid spare shell fragments.
It didn’t surprise anyone that the last of that small group to hatch - for the moment - bore bright body and darker wings. This one, though also clearly female, was paler of body and had darker wingsails, a Cream, whose sand-colored wings nearly matched that of the dune below her - wet sand, almost like pebbles in the sun. She wasted no time fussing about, she’d preened herself under that wing of her mother’s, gotten herself dry, now she was ready to stretch and move. She moved right toward Manad, though quicker at the start, she slowed to a more careful footing nearby.
It was also clear that she was telepathically speaking to her new bond-friend, everyone could actually ‘hear’ that a conversation was going on, but only Manad knew the contents. This dragonet would be remarkably adept with communication, Qalam made a note.
**
We will find a place for her,** the dragon’s mind rang true and strong within
Manad’s, **
and then perhaps later, we will find a dragon for them too.** She nosed very pointedly at the orb resting near Manad’s heart, and focused her eyes - and something else - upon it. The warm air in the cavern was good for it, apparently, the warm heart even more so. Delicate magic was worked between the pair, and it was true magic, not merely psychic powers or psionics, t-power, or what-have-you. Preserving the orb’s contents just a little longer, that was all they really needed to do. So that was what
Palzhak did. She did announce herself mentally to the chamber and its people, but the rest of that dragon’s discussion was meant for one and only one in the room. Well... Perhaps
two, given the shine to the orb as the pair bonded.
Everyone kind of held their breath now. Would there be any further eggs broken from that second unusual nest? It didn’t look like, after a few minutes passed. Even the gold and her mate - and his protector the black dragon Hgezh - were sure that this would do it for the moment. The other eggs she shielded from eyes and perhaps trampling feet would remain hidden and uncounted for the time being.
The people there to gawk were shuffled out, and the newly bonded pairs were collected after they all had the chance to clean up, eat a bit, and let their minds settle in with one another.
“I understand that each of you has a unique responsibility either with yourselves, your friends and family, or with crews elsewhere,” Qalam announced to them as they sat in a warm room not too far from the dunes. The sun had set, but only barely, and the chambers here would be quite warm for hours to come - for exactly such a reason. Those dragonets would be cold on exiting their shells, it was best to let them get used to the air a little at a time.
“If you wish to train with our riders and craftspeople,” Qalam asserted, “you’re very welcome to do so. If you’re planning on remaining here at the Caer, we will have places prepared within the hour - well you’ll all be here for a bit, anyway. Your dragons won’t be suitable to travel even to the shore nearby yet,” he explained, “so I want you all to take the time you need to sort out your own feelings. I may,” he looked at a few of them, from Sidhu and then to Manad, “need to help you work up helpers for your dragons specific training. Those powers they’ve displayed are ... well, quite strong and remarkable. Some of your dragons appear to have decent t-power already, which might get a little overwhelming.”
He also explained that there would be regular dragon-healer meetings, to make sure that the dragonets did well physically. Knowing that many of these new riders would not be combatants seemed to please the Caerlord, as he himself was ‘merely’ a records-keeper and not particularly a fighter.
He drew the evening to a close with a salute, however, to the new riders and their bonds. There would be more of these on the sands soon enough, given that three of them still had siblings waiting to hatch.
Pickup Links and pictures (hopefully)
Ksotsik and Farabak -
https://toyhou.se/9436371.ksotsik-and-farabak" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
-- Shaeen's Purple Male Vitorlask (prior bond from a while back)
https://toyhou.se/9435771.vitorlask" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
-- Merritae's Silver Male Yeddaek
https://toyhou.se/9435841.yeddaek" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
-- Reznik's Red Gedawik
https://toyhou.se/9435903.gedawik" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
-- Grenivdel's Silver Female Tawmak
https://toyhou.se/9435920.tawmak" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
-- Sidhu's Purple Female Vaekhelik
https://toyhou.se/9436001.vaekhelik" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
-- She'arr's Black Female Qohgith
https://toyhou.se/9436045.qohgith" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Fayvazh and Maddoz -
https://toyhou.se/9436383.fayvazh-and-maddoz" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
-- Raen's Brown Male Nyzhewik
https://toyhou.se/9436174.nyzhewik" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
-- Liacha's Gold Guztemik
https://toyhou.se/9436220.guztemik" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
-- Manad's Palzhak
https://toyhou.se/9436290.palzhak" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(( updated a link but i don't know whether it's accurate yet))