Adjenna rushed through the halls of the palace. From outside came screams of anger and fear, mingling with the clashes and bangs of metal weapons and armour to create a cacophony of devastation. Adjenna cursed the scum who were destroying the Greyheart Empire. Long and hard had they worked to earn their place as Greyheart's queen, and now these lesser beings, little more than animals, had the gall to take that away.
Adjenna approached the nursery with a mixture of hope and terror. The fools assaulting the castle would lament their actions when they realised that Adjenna and their children had escaped and would serve their revenge upon the rebels. Slowly pushing open the giant marble doors with a taloned hand, Adjenna peered into the chamber as two intruders stomped the Dragon Queen's eggs with sickening crunches.
Involuntarily, Adjenna let out a harrowing cry of despair which quickly turned into a roar of fury. The two killers whirled around, drawing their swords as terror crossed their faces.
"No," Adjenna breathed, "there is no need for that. I surrender."
One of the warriors gawked dumbly. "Just like that?"
"What have I left to fight for? You have taken everything I hold dear. There is no reason to resist further."
The other warrior, apparently slightly less foolish than the first, narrowed their eyes suspiciously. "Is this a trick?"
Adjenna laughed humourlessly. "If only I still had the will to do such a thing. You have my word, my sorrow has vanquished all resistance from me. Look into my eyes and see my honesty." Adjenna lowered their massive head to gaze at the rebel, who frowned as they searched the dragon's face for deceit. Their expression turned to horror as they realised too late their mistake, and their being froze in petrifaction.
The other intruder yelled in alarm as they realised Adjenna's ploy. They swung their weapon wildly at the queen, but Adjenna easily grabbed them in powerful jaws and snapped down on them with razor-sharp teeth. Flinging the bloody corpse aside, Adjenna wailed with renewed anguish as they approached the pile of yolk and shell, taking in the mangled corpses of their underdeveloped babies. Adjenna's legs grew weak and they collapsed on the floor beside their children.
As the queen lay in the mess, a large curve of intact shell caught their eye. Adjenna clung to what they knew was an impossible hope and heaved themself toward the fragment. Carefully cleaning away sticky shards, Adjenna gasped with relief as they examined a perfectly undamaged egg. Grasping the survivor to their chest, the dragon sobbed with joy.
"My baby, my little miracle," Adjenna crooned. "My last hope. Mama will take you somewhere safe, I swear it. My child, you will be the fiercest, most powerful, most ruthless dragon to ever live, I know it in my heart. You will rain vengeance and destruction down on the lesser races who dared to hurt us so."
And with restored determination, Dragon Queen Adjenna fled with their final child and the conviction that their grief would not go unavenged.