Okay everyone! Today's a short chapter but it'll resolve that nasty cliffhanger from the last chapter.
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Filianix's ears rang with a high-pitched buzzing. She wasn't aware of her body or what she was on. There was only the buzzing.
Then came the tingling. Many sharp tingles running down her body.
But slowly...painfully...the tingling left...she could feel more normally again...and her mind sluggishly took stock of everything touching her. Four hundred and ninety-seven gold coins...a shield, five plates, three cups, one chest of silver with...emeralds...she was certain she saw that chest when she first laid down. A brooch. There was a brooch as well...the one with a giant pearl in the center.
Then warmth...breath, smoke, something rumbling through her. Rumbling again and again. It pained her ears...
She strained to open her eye...and for a brief instant all she saw was darkness...then suddenly light, then a golden glow...then red. Something huge and red looming over her.
The rumbling happened again, much harsher this time, and she closed her eye.
There was a sharp pop in her ears and she flinched at the sudden rush of sound that filled them. Gold tinkling, heavy breathing, thudding heartbeat, panicked voice...fiery voice...she knew that voice.
"Filianix! Open your eye!"
She did not care for that voice to carry such a frightened tone...so she struggled to open her eye again.
"Nix!"
Warmth covered her and she could feel and smelled a male nudging her face...a male...her male...Smaug!
Her eye immediately opened and she tried to speak, but all that came out was a garbled sound that shamed her. Red momentarily filled her vision until Smaug's eye was all she could see.
"Nix? Can you speak?"
She wasn't sure if she could...so she said nothing. His eye reflected his worry, "Be still. I will return."
Something was pressed to her neck and he was gone. She unsteadily lifted her head a little to see his retreating form disappear.
She felt confused. What had happened to her?
Her tongue flicked in and out, tasting the air...blood? She smelled blood...and Smaug's distress. Right as she began feeling fearful, she caught sight of the egg.
Once again there was a pop, one that went straight down into her nose, and her head ached. She shook it...then gasped as she remembered everything. She was laying, something felt wrong, her body gave out on her, Smaug was with her...he must have helped her lay…
She stared down at the egg, her mind now working as it should. It was about half the size of a normal dragon egg. How odd.
And why was there only one? Had Smaug lost his touch? Three eggs was the smallest clutch she knew him to ever sire.
Also, why had her laying been so difficult? It was such a tiny egg…
Her heart dropped as she thought of something. Had there been...others? Other young who had not made it? That had never happened with her before.
Was there something wrong with her? Something wrong with it? Would it be malformed in some way? Would it not have wings? Was all this because of how it was conceived? Would it survive? She didn't want to lose another hatchling!
She barely noticed Smaug's return as her mind drew up every possible way her egg could perish and every single way the hatchling inside could be ill or disfigured.
"Filianix."
Her head was directed to a large silver cistern filled with water. She admired the designs on it, not knowing what else was expected of her.
Smaug's head moved in front of hers and his voice commanded, "Drink."
She complied and carefully drank the water. It was fresh. Where was there fresh water within this mountain? She had only seen containers of old, stale water so far.
"Tell me how you feel."
Another command.
Steam rose from the water as she sighed her hot breath onto it, "Tired."
He softly snorted and murmured, "Can you move?"
She lifted up her head to meet his gaze, "Move where?"
"Onto clean gold," he pressed his mouth to hers and held it there, exhaling, "You must rest with our egg and I will care for you."
"Our egg," she grimaced, "Smaug, it's so small. What if-"
"The life within our egg is healthy," for some reason he moved his head to swiftly give her dead eye a few laps before nuzzling her neck, "Do not use your energy on fear for its wellbeing. Concentrate on healing."
"As you say," she fought back her doubts and forced herself to purr, "Such strength you show."
"Move and then rest," he moved to her side and angled himself for her to lean on, "I need to clean this area."
Understanding his need to free his gold of all filth and bodily taint, she smiled and tentatively walked to the nearest collection of gold that her fluids had not touched. He helped her lay back down then curled his tail around the egg to gently deposit it beside her. He then turned and started examining his gold before beginning to groom it as he would himself.
She rested with their egg as he did this, appreciating his skill as a mate. He had done well in assisting her laying, even though she was concerned as to why it was so hard on her. It was also good that Smaug had left the egg beside her when he had left for what she assumed was the water. What pleased her even more was that he had thoroughly cleaned the egg for her at some point.
Leaving any of her fluids on the egg for a prolonged period of time could have resulted in polluting the life inside. For at least a day after being laid, a dragon egg was susceptible to whatever touched its shell. All that an egg was supposed to touch or be touched by was the body of its sire or dam and gold.
Curling her neck slightly so it surrounded the egg, she watched Smaug as he cleansed his treasures. He kept his hoard so clean, cared for, and in pristine condition. He took care of her and had taken the time to care of their egg even though she knew he must of been anxious for her. Pride filled her. He made an excellent mate.
Now...if only he had given her at least three eggs instead of only one...but then again, she shouldn't have gotten any eggs at all. Their egg was a supposed impossibility. Perhaps he or she would be meant for great things because of it. She should not feel worried. She could sense that it was healthy and its heartbeat was strong. After the shell fully hardened and took on a darker color she would be able to tell its gender. She had that to look forward to...everything would be fine.
A light sleep caused time to slip away from her. Vaguely she was aware of Smaug joining her at some point, grooming her, and resting beside her when he was done. The warmth from his body was shared with hers and she felt at peace.
Some immeasurable time later the smell of meat roused her. She opened her eye to see Smaug tearing into a plump oxen. Hunger suddenly made itself known to her. She hadn't eaten since that horse and its scrawny rider several weeks back.
She trilled to him demandingly. His head turned to her and he swallowed his mouthful, "Do you hunger?"
"I do," she softly replied. His head reached around his body to where she couldn't see and he procured another ox and tossed it to her. She smiled in delight and caught it, eager to sink her teeth into the tough meat. As she ate Smaug walked over to her with his ox, settling himself beside her and finishing it by her side. She hummed with pleasure and nuzzled his neck, "I approve of your kill."
He took a moment to return the nuzzle and she noticed some meat hanging off one of his fangs. Smirking, she gently bit at the meat, her teeth rubbing against his. He opened his mouth, his breath flowing over her as he allowed her to take the meat for herself.
She let it rest in her mouth so she could savor its taste before swallowing it. She was aware that his eyes were on her, watching her movements carefully, but she felt much recovered after her sleep. He didn't have to worry about her anymore.
"Mindful one, stare any harder and you shall peel the scales from my body," she smiled at him, "Do you still feel concern for me?"
He scowled, "I have every reason to be concerned."
"My body feels much recovered," she stretched and was pleased that nothing protested at her movement. He only snorted, "Of course it does. It has had two weeks to recover."
"Two weeks?!" she shrieked, "I was not aware of this!"
"Silence!" he snapped, "You have been slipping in and out of consciousness over the last two weeks. As far as I could tell you were oblivious to my activity during that time," his tone softened slightly, "It seems I was correct."
"I…" she tried to force her anxiety down, "I remember nothing."
His scowl had lost its foul humor and turned into a concerned frown, "I was hoping that the smell of food would rouse you."
She nodded, "And it did."
"There was also your eye," he went on, "It bled when you first lost consciousness, though very little. However it continued to occasionally bleed while you slept."
Alarmed, her body tensed and her claws dug into the gold beneath her, "Something is wrong with me. I laid too soon after we mated, the laying caused me to lose consciousness, there is only one egg and it's too small and my eye-"
"Nothing is wrong with you," he pressed the side of his face to hers, "You are healthy my Nix."
"Something is wrong," she insisted, "If not with me then...something else. No, not you," she drawled as Smaug's eyes narrowed, "You are obviously functioning above par."
He rumbled smugly and proceeded to lay down and curl his body around hers. His response was not what she wanted. Why wasn't he as worried about this as she was?!
"Smaug, dearest to my heart," she hissed, "I believe there is something very wrong and you act as though you don't care."
He was silent, his head turned away from her...then he whispered, "You believe me not to care?"
"I question your lack of seriousness on this matter," she replied, completely aware she had just insulted him by suggesting he didn't care about her, "What if our hatchling should perish?"
"Then we'll make more," his voice sounded strained.
"What if we can't?" emotion filled her as she voiced her greatest fear, "What if something broke inside me during the laying and I am incapable of bearing any more young?"
He was silent.
"Answer me!" she demanded, "What will become of us should we be unable to breed?"
"We will live on."
"Live on?!"
"Yes," he growled, "We are dragons. We will live on for many centuries to come. In our solitude. Together."
"But we must have young to carry on our species."
"Filianix," his head turned and his eyes locked on her face, "There is a darkness churning under the earth. An evil is beginning to stir from its slumber. Surely you have felt this."
"I have," she frowned, "But what would that have to do with us?"
"With it brings change for this age," he looked away and adjusted himself so that he could fit his wing over her, "This change will affect everything to some degree. Even our kind."
"I...have also felt this," she murmured, "Perhaps you have also noticed the altering ebbs and flows of this land's magic?"
"I have," he sighed, "The magic is fading."
She also sighed, "Where it isn't fading it is being corrupted."
"Where it isn't corrupted it is being strained and becoming unmanageable," he finished. She shuddered, "Without our fire the magic will become even more unbalanced and the world will become cold...which makes my duty all the more important!"
He slowly breathed in then out, "Nix."
"...yes?"
"Should you be unable to breed, we will live on together," he solemnly stated, "I will remain by your side and you shall remain my mine. Together we will stay here in safety and surrounded by wealth as we should be."
She watched his eyes as they gazed around his hoard while he spoke. He was loving it with his eyes.
"Together we will survive the coming ages until our fires wane," he met her eye with his, "It is not our responsibility to keep the balance of magic for those who do not use or manage it properly."
She barely heard his words. She wanted to go on about her duty. She wanted to express more of her fear. She wanted to demand that he be as worried about their hatchling as she was.
"Filianix," his voice lowered until it was a vibration that flowed over her and made the spines on her back shiver, "Hear my words. You have nothing to fear."
Her eye closed and she dropped her head. Her resolve to fulfill her duty could not be so easily pushed aside...but his words brought her some relief. No matter what happened, he would be by her side. That would help with the pain of…
"I don't want to lose anymore young Smaug," a dry sob made her chest heave, "I've lost so many…"
His wing tightened around her and his tail slid up to cradle her hindquarters, "You will not lose him. His life is healthy and nothing here will harm him."
"H-him?" she opened her eye to see him smile, "He will be a strong male my beloved."
She quickly looked at the egg. Its coloring had darkened into a shade similar to copper...that meant it was a male. She smiled slightly, "I...I want him to be like you."
Smaug nuzzled her with a hum, "He shall be the greatest of the next age."
Leaning against him, she purred, "Not this one?"
"No," he snorted, "Not this one. Never this one."
I hope you enjoyed!
Let me know what your thoughts are on things like Nix's 'recovery', her thoughts and feelings about only having one egg, her fears about not being able to have more, how Smaug seems to be handling all this, his comments about the 'darkness' and the world's 'fading magic', and the revealed gender of the egg?
Oh yes, and are there any theories for why her dead eye keeps bleeding?
Again, I hope you enjoyed this short chapter! Please leave a review :D
