Beginnings by Steamwitch
Based on characters from the Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No copyright infringement is intended.
BeginningsShiara saw the moonlit flash of her silver wings and blue hair reflected in something in the dragon's mouth as it passed. She had never seen a dragon as shiny or as icy silver blue as the one that had just landed. Dragons were notoriously bad-tempered and she didn't want this one breathing anything dangerous like fire or poison on her. Still she wanted to see what was that was so shiny that she could see herself in it. So she flew close to the dragon while hiding in the shadow of the trees.
She got close enough to see that the dragon was cradling a few large silver and blue eggs in her half open mouth. They were very shiny and she saw a flash of her reflection once again. The dragon entered a cave at the edge of the forest. She followed the dragon into the cave wanting to see more of her reflection in the shiny eggs. She trailed behind hugging the dark cave ceiling and watched hidden in the shadows as the dragon traveled deep into the cave and hid the eggs.
Shiara loved her blue hair and silver wings. She thought they were the most beautiful colors ever. Consequently she had a weakness for all things blue or silver. The dragon and the eggs were both. But like all fairies she was vain and coveted her own beautiful reflection above almost anything else. Shiara had been bored but now she was curious and driven by her desire to see herself again. She observed the dragon tenderly tuck the eggs in a niche on a high shelf in a dark hole of the cave.
She followed the dragon out of the cave and watched her fly away. She didn't want to get caught looking at the eggs by a grumpy dragon and get scorched for her trouble.
Shiara eagerly flew back into the cave to take a closer look at the large eggs. She laid her hand on one egg and it buzzed with tiny vibrations. She tried them all and they all buzzed. There were tiny lives in the shells. She wanted to see if the baby dragons would be silver and blue too so she kept a watchful eye on them. She had no idea how long it would take.
The eggs were so shiny silver that as she glowed in the darkness of the cave she could see her reflection. The silver was same color as her wings and the blue was like her hair. She liked one egg in particular, the others were pretty but this one was very silver with less streaks of blue. It had large solid area of shiny silver that reflected her entire lovely body with no distortion.
The mother dragon came to check on the eggs every full moon. The dragon almost caught Shiara once mesmerized by her reflection and lost in self-admiration; she barely had time to hide when she heard the dragon approach. She quickly hid in a deep crack in the back of the niche, when the dragon came near. Otherwise nothing entered the cave except Shiara.
She kept up her watch and listened to her favorite as it grew inside its egg. She checked on them every so often but mostly she went to see her reflection. Time went by, their growth was so unhurried that she worried but the eggs still vibrated with life. She was excited when they all were large enough to swim around inside their shell, it was something new. Wriggling and swimming around when they weren't dreaming. When she visited she would make their shells glow so she could see inside them. She talked to all of them and they responded by wriggling faster.
But she grew to like the shiniest silver and blue egg the best because of the way it purred. She would lay curled up on the top of the large warm egg and listen to the baby dragon's heart thrum. She could hear it dream too, when it would dream cold dreams and its shell became cool she would warm its shell with her magic and the dreams became warm and cozy. It didn't take long before it had no more cold dreams. She occasionally listened to the other baby dragons. Their eggs were just as warm and their hearts thrummed just the same but they mostly dreamed cold dreams. Their dreams made her shiver but she didn't warm their shells so she spent most her time in the cave with her favorite.
One day she heard about a great dragon commotion. The other fairies passed on the information that there had been dragons fighting nearby. Shiara worried about the eggs and rushed to the cave. She was relieved that they were unharmed. She began to check on them every day.
The year went on and the eggs remained in their cave untouched. Shiara worried that the mother dragon had stopped checking on the eggs. Nothing went that deep into the cave except her. So she assumed that the mother dragon knew nothing would bother the eggs.
The other fairies thought she was being foolish for playing surrogate dragon mother. They laughed at her but she didn't care. They had their entertainments and she had her own; she had her reflection to admire, and the baby dragon dreams to listen to.
Eventually she came to care for the baby dragons, she developed a deep emotional attachment for them especially her favorite. She felt responsible for them since the mother was no longer coming. She matured and grew beyond her vain and petty fairy mind-set.
The next year passed, the babies were all very large now as they tried to wiggle and writhed inside their constricting shells. She noticed that their dreams were changing. Although her favorite's dreams remained warm and cozy there were hints of power and strength. The others with their cold dreams also dreamed of firelight or storms.
Early one morning she saw a cockatrice enter the cave. Shiara followed the intruder. She saw it pick up an egg and carry it away. She was horrified when it threw the egg down, cracked it and devoured the helpless baby dragon. Frantic she flew back to the nest and pushed her favorite egg into the crevice at the back of the niche. Using all the strength her magic could give her she pushed it too deep for the cockatrice to reach. She tried to push the other two eggs in also but there wasn't enough room and her strength was gone.
She flew out of the cave to call her sisters to help her save the eggs. It took her a while to convince enough of them to help her. When she returned with help the niche was empty. The cockatrice had taken the other two eggs and was gone. Scratches on the rock face showed where it had tried to get to the hidden egg.
The other fairies helped her pull the remaining egg from its hiding place and the group just barely managed to lift it and fly it out of the cave. Other fairies came out of curiosity at the flash of the reflective egg in the sunlight. The large group flew the very shiny egg to the Fairy Queen's shrine. Each fairy watched her reflection in the egg as they made their way to the shrine. A few times they almost dropped the egg when a fairy, wrapped up in her reflection, would forget to fly. Shiara made them fly close to the ground to limit the damage they might do if they did drop it.
When they arrived at the shrine Shiara humbly called to the Fairy Queen for assistance. She was extremely tired but she was anxious for the safety of her favorite baby dragon. She opened her heart to the Queen sharing her long years spent with the egg-bound dragons. She shared her favorite baby dragon's warm dreamy thoughts with her.
The Queen was impressed with Shiara's devotion and commitment, a rare thing in fairies. She accepted and shared Shiara's evaluation of the uniqueness of the baby dragon's goodness and positive strength. She agreed to accept the baby dragon as a ward.
The Queen determined that unhatched dragon's life was in danger. It could no longer remain in its egg, it was too vulnerable. She also suspected that the magic the fairy had shared with the dragon had changed its nature. The queen knew if she didn't act its dragon guide would destroy the dragonet when learned of its corrupted magic. Even though it was still immature, more than a year from hatching on its own, it needed to emerge. She commanded her fairies to use their powerful healing magic to prepare the dragonet so it would mature and be strong enough to hatch ahead of time.
Dozens of additional fairies came to the call of their Queen. They surrounded the large egg their tiny hands covered the entire surface. All night their magic penetrated the egg and strengthened the young dragon's body. When one fairy fainted away, drained of all her energy, another took her place. Fairy magic filled the places that dragon magic would have eventually filled. It transformed more of the dragon's nature so it would accept the fairy magic as its own. The magic provided development to organs that hadn't reached the proper mature state for life outside the egg. Just before dawn the dragonet's body was ready, it had no need for its protective egg. The baby dragon struggled to escape the shell now that it had no use for it. The fairies released the egg and it rocked with its exertions.
It pushed and scratched until it made a small crack in the shell and then another. The tiny but strong hands of the fairies took advantage of the cracks and pulled the shell apart. A dozen fairies who laid it gently on the ground cradled the baby dragon's wet body. It took his first deep breath and hiccupped.
It was a tiny male dragon with shiny platinum scales, much smaller than any dragon had ever been. Small spikes in hues of blue ran from his head down his spine to his tail. The sun rose and the fairies got a good look into the reflective scales that shimmered with rainbows. The tired fairies thought he was wonderful because they could see their reflections. They surrounded him and cuddled him; they yawned from their exertions and fell asleep on and around him.
Shiara was happy as she curled up on the top of his head. He was just as beautiful as she had imagined.
She called the bright shiny little one Raxtus, and fell asleep with the others.