Nursery
I must have accidently fallen asleep down in the tunnels, because one moment, I close my eyes, and once I finally opened them, I was surrounded by four death worms. They had circled the worm I killed and were making a quiet hissing sound. I pulled Magma closer to me. I still can't believe he's gone.
Magma was both the oldest and biggest of his clutch, and he was the most likely to survive. It must have been horrible to watch him be taken by the death worm. How am I going to face Sora and tell her how I couldn't save her son?
Something began to pull on his tail; it was one of the death worms. I raised my hand and readied a spell to scare it off, but then I realized something. The four death worms surrounding the one I killed were babies. Tears once again to fill my eyes as I realized what I did.
I just killed a parent who was just trying to feed its children.
I looked down to the small dragonet's cold body that I still held in my arms, and let it go. Their parent was never going to come back, and it was my fault. The least I could do was feed them what their parent caught for them.
I stood up and turned away as the little worms began feeding. I need to find a way out of here, but I can't remember where I came from. Did I get here from one of the higher tunnels or a lower one, one from my left or to my right? I just don't know.
"Look out below!" I heard someone bellow from the top of the cave. I looked up just in time to see a fountain of water blast down from one of the tunnels.
"Oh no!" I flew up to get out of the way, but the baby death worms were still eating and didn't even notice the torrent heading there way. I quickly swooped down and cast a spell that made the worms float out of the way of the rushing water. They squealed in protest as I dragged them from their meal, but they quickly stopped once they noticed the water below them. I carefully placed the baby worms in a higher tunnel that had no signs of water in it and watched them disappear into the darkness.
"You must be crazy girl. To be down in a flood chamber with the death worm like this!" a voice scoffed "If you didn't have wings you would have drowned."
I looked up to see a dragon looking down on me from where the water came from. He was dark brown with blue eyes, and he had no wings.
"My name is Bloom, who are you?" I asked
"The name's Clay. What's a human girl like you doing down here?"
I flew closer to Clay and quickly explained what happened. He sat on his hind legs and crossed his forearms as he listened to my story.
"…I see. You have learned a lesson then, right?"
"Yes, I have." I sighed "I will never do something like that again."
"Never say never girl. One day, you may be forced to do something similar to what has happened today. Now follow me, I will lead you out of the caves and to the nursery. My mate and sons are actually there now and I wouldn't mind visiting them." Clay turned in the small tunnel and I began to follow
"Are males not allowed to stay there? In the nursery I mean." I asked
"It is not recommended for fear of overcrowding, and who is to hunt for the young? Males normally stay out of the nursery and go hunting to bring back food for their mates and young."
Suddenly, I began to feel dizzy. I landed and fell to my knees. My vision began to fade and my ears began to ring. In the distance, I heard Clay saying something to me, but I couldn't understand him. All I could do was curl into a ball and wait as my world faded to black.
I opened my eyes to see nothing but blue. I opened my mouth and sighed as I realized I was dreaming, but was startled when bubbles came out of my mouth. I was under water. I looked down to see the sandy land not far from my feet.
I reached down with my feet and felt my toes sink into the sand. I giggled as some colorful fish passed by me.
Hello Bloom. It has been some time.
The familiar voice of the silver dragon sent ripples through the water. I turned around to see her silver scales shining beautifully in the blue tinted light.
"It has, hasn't it? I missed you." I whispered as I wrapped my arms around her neck.
There is much I need to speak about but we have little time, so listen carefully. I looked her in the eyes and nodded my head slowly.
The spell you used called Dragon's Bane is a powerful spell that you must never use unless the situation is dire. The spell is almost guaranteed to destroy or kill whatever it touches. If used too much, it can even kill its user, and that cannot happen. You are already feeling its effects right now.
"But I feel fine. A little tired, but fine." I said
You shall see when you wake up. Now, what have you learned from Magma's death?
"That I shouldn't be so quick to act."
Precisely. It is a fact of nature that some will die and others shall survive and others will die, no matter how cruel it may be. It is a fact of life to hunt and be hunted. It may seem unfair, and in the world of dragons, you may lose many friends, but it is the natural way.
"Even if it is the natural way, I won't not try to save my friends." I said
And I would never ask you not to, but do not kill the one who attacked your dragon friends because you never know the reason.
Just as she finished speaking, I felt myself begin to wake up. I held onto her neck, not wanting to go, but she pushed me away gently.
I cracked open my eyes slightly. Large shapes were rushing about in front of me, but I couldn't move. My entire body felt like it was on fire and I was so weak, I couldn't even lift a finger. I recognized Clay's voice, but there were many others that sounded familiar but I couldn't place them. I closed my eyes again and tried to wait out the pain.
When I opened my eyes again, I was alone in a cave. I looked around to see that the cave was filled with moss and there was a small pool nearby filled with crystal clear water. My body still hurt, but my need for water won out over my tiredness. I was wrapped in a fur blanket, and when I removed it, I found I was completely naked. I wrapped myself with it again and crawled to the pool.
I filled my cupped hands with the cool liquid and brought it to my dry lips. I sighed with relief as the water seemed to fill me with new energy. Once I quenched my thirst, I spottes a pile of river berries next to a folded cloth. I ate the berries slowly, savoring each and every one, and looked over the cloth. The cloth turned out to be a simple dress, and under it were two boots. The dress was made of a fine silk and it was red with a single strap. The boots were black and knee length, and had leather, adjustable straps around them.
"It's yours now, you know." I turned around to see Cloud standing in the entrance of the cave "You can put it on if you'd like."
I slipped on the clothes and adjusted the boots. They may be simple, but they were the comfiest clothes I have ever worn.
"Thank you Cloud. How did I get here?" I asked as she approached me
"A drake named Clay brought you to the nursery while you were passed out and screaming on his back. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with you, but after a while, you simply stopped. Now, WHAT IN THE NAME OD THE GREAT DRAGON DID YOU DO TO YOUR SELF!" she roared at me
"I used a spell that took a little-" Cloud glared at me "Okay, a lot out of me. I have learned my lesson and I will never do it again."
"What spell was it?"
"Dragon's Bane"
Cloud seemed shocked. "That spell is forbidden in draconic magic, so how do you know it?"
"I don't know, I just knew it and now I am never going to use it again."
"Good, now, King Enti is waiting for you along with Thanatos' clan." She leaded me out of the cave and I nearly tripped at the sheer beauty of my surroundings.
We were on some kind of giant, Hollow Mountain that was filled with forests and three water falls that I could see. Sunlight streamed through the opening at the top of the mountain.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Cloud chuckled "Now, come. Enti and his family are waiting."
Cloud led me through the underbrush where I saw too many different kinds of dragonets to count. This was the perfect place to raise young. There were no predators, there was always two or three adults around, and the young always had someone to play with.
We climbed up one of the rocky cliff paths that led to multiple caves which was where I guessed the dragons slept, and Cloud led me to the highest cave. I moved some of the hanging ivy and was met by a decent sized blood red dragon that looked similar to Enti
"Who are you?" she snarled
"Peril, this is Bloom. She is here to see Enti." Cloud answered and passed her by
"Bloom, it is good to see that you are better now. You really gave us all quite the scare." Enti came up behind the dragon called Peril and greeted me warmly "I would like you to meet my mate, ShadowFlame, and our eldest daughter PerilousBlaze." Enti beckoned to the black and green dragon laying in the back of the cave and then to the red dragon next to him
"So, have you considered my offer?" he asked
"Yes, and I would love to train with you, but I need to find Thana and the others first." I answered "We got separated on our way here."
"I heard. I sent Peril and some other scouts to find you, but a dragon named Clay brought you here two days ago and we all thought you were dying." He shivered "Your screams were heart wrenching to all who heard them."
"I'm sorry if I disturbed anyone."
"It's fine. Everyone was worried about you after I explained who you are and were all relieved once you seemed to be getting better." He said "Now, I would like to leave tomorrow morning for the palace, so let's go find your clan."
It didn't take long for Enti and I to find Thana and the others, and just like always, Mink was the first to greet me.
"BLOOM!" he cried "We thought you were dead!"
"I'm fine. Just a bit shaken up." I laughed as Mind nuzzled my cheek
"Did you get him?" a voice I had been dreading to hear asked "Did you get my son?"
I turned to see Sora and her two dragonets gazing at me while Basalt stood back, staring at nothing.
"Sora… I'm so sorry. I was gone by the time that I got to him." I couldn't look at her or Magma's siblings. Greyfall and Brightfire came up to me and I rubbed their heads softly. They probably didn't understand what happened and why Magma wasn't here, but they knew something was wrong. Ayah also approached me cautiously, but began to make a small rumble in her throat when I scratched behind her chin.
"It isn't your fault. If anything, you saved all of our young by bringing them back to us." Shine said quietly "I can't thank you enough for healing our daughter when she was weak, and now you have saved her a second time. I am forever in your debt."
The others quickly agreed with Shine and thanked me in turn, even though I didn't deserve it. Enti gave his condolences to Sora and Basalt and he even greeted Grey and Bright, but the look in his eye told me that it was time for us to go.
"Thana, everyone, I can't thank you enough for your hospitality while I stayed with you. I will be going with Enti to train with him now, and I'm not sure when we will see each other again, but I will find a way to pay you back." I said after a moment
"You have already paid us back tenfold. We are the ones that are in need of paying you back." River said as Ele ran up to me to say goodbye.
I wiped away a tear and climbed on Enti's broad back. I fest his strong wings lift us upward, towards the opening in the top of the mountain. I looked back and waved as Thana and his clan disappeared from sight. Peril and Cloud followed us out as well.
I was sad to leave, but something deep inside me told me it was the right thing to do.
"My training is going to be tough, but it will be well worth it if you survive." Enti called back to me
"Okay, when do we start?" I asked, trying to not sound too nervous
"As soon as we get to the Sky Palace." Cloud shouted over the wind
"What's the Sky Palace-" I was cut off as we finally climbed over the clouds and came into full view of a gorgeous flying mass.
