Ghouly-Girl - thank you so much for your kind review, I appreciate it x
MulishaMaiden - I can't wait for her to run in to Geralt either
Nessa sat atop the mountain, breathing in deeply and eyes closed, she seemed to be asleep, when in fact she was listening to the sounds of the dragons breaths becoming weaker, such an amazing creature - dying .
The great green beauty had laid her egg mere minutes ago, and now she was fading, the sight of a human like creature might of startled her and caused more pain so Nessa stayed out of the way. Borch said that before she had laid her egg some humans came to loot her cave, they had succeeded in nothing more than injuring her so she is probably weary of anyone who looked human.
Ragged breaths were slowing, hopping down the skylight hole she saw the egg, a dark charcoal colour with glowing ember like light shining through it, it was larger than her head. The dragon had her eyes closed, chest rising and dropping sedately, Borch stood near her in his own dragon form, wings lowered and head bowed in mourning.
Looking at the egg Nessa left the cave to retrieve some twigs and moss, it needs to be kept warm otherwise it will not survive, its mother was meant to keep it heated but now that she's no longer going to be here the egg will need a nest.
Ripping the moss off of a tree Nessa grunts at the effort, there's scarcely any trees this far up the mountain so she breaks some of the smaller branches.
She makes her way back to the open mouthed cave, sticks and moss in hand. Borch has transformed back into his human form, he's kneeling next to the egg, a look of wonder on his face, Nessa did tease Borch about the dragon before she found out its situation but now she actually does wonder if the egg is his, her mother would scold her saying it was insensitive to ask such a thing at this time.
She shuffled forward and bent down, trying to form a structure of the twigs, laying the moss over it for both insulation and padding, Borch had said a dragon egg is very dangerous to move, it might kill the babe.
There were four days until the 'dragon hunt', Borch's insane plan included luring the people most likely to actively search out dragons to join him in his supposed hunt - she had no idea if they would end up killing them or not, she just knew that she was to stay out of the way, only use her magic to defend the egg and fight to save the egg if necessary.
Borch never gave a specific reason, only cryptic responses like 'it is not yet the time '.
Most of their world believe in destiny, its hard to ignore when impossible like things happen.
Borch stands clearing his throat, "Nessa, you won't see me for maybe weeks now, I'm going to get Téa and Véa and then the rest of the hunting party, will you stay with the egg?"
Nessa nods "Of coarse I will, can you just fly me home so I can collect my bow, I'll need to hunt for food". He stands smoke engulfing him, shining golden scales shimmer, "Come on child, we don't want to leave it alone for too long" he remarks, Nessa hops onto his back, it'll take less than an hour to get home on dragon back.
Sitting by the egg which she had taken to calling Mal Dovah, little dragon, Nessa prepares a rabbit, all she had been eating lately were rabbits, the fire bounces off the cave walls, its been two weeks , Borch should have started the 'hunt' by now, in fact he should be close to arriving.
Nessa had scoured the cave looking for a place where she can defend the egg but remain unseen, there was a small ledge about ten feet off of the floor of the large cave, it overlooked the egg and had a clear line of sight towards the mouth of the cave, it was perfect.
She climbed up to the top of the mountain every few hours in case they were getting close, Borch's earlier warnings to not needlessly ignore destiny rang through her head, she must remain unseen.
Dovah - the egg, had not moved at all, though the light emitted from the egg was constantly changing, she had no idea if it was the dragon inside or it was just the shell but it was beautiful.
Nessa had started speaking to it as though it could hear her, she didn't know if it could but secretly hoped it would.
Readying her arrows and concentrating on her powers Nessa bundles into the small alcove that overlooked the cave, they were close - the hunters.
Borch had arrived not a day ago, he had tumbled off the side of the mountain, transforming into his dragon form and bringing Téa and Véa to the cave. He had said that the party had split up, Sir Eyck had been killed and the Reavers had snuck away in the middle of the night to get a head start, the Dwarves, the Mage and apparently a Witcher - she was still vexed over the fact that Borch had negated in disclosing the fact that one of her own kind was on the hunt - were not even a few hours away.
Nessa had not bothered to ask of the Witcher's name, she knows she shouldn't judge but her only experience with a Witcher was her own father who had abandoned her mother, and she was almost certain she'd never see anyone from this hunting party ever again.
The sun filtered through the open roof of the cave as Nessa finally sensed it, it was an uncomfortable feeling - one of which a person felt when they were stuck outside in a storm with no shelter, like a freezing shroud had settled over her, Borch had said that this Mage was no threat so why did Nessa feel as though the life had drained out of her.
The Mage had dark hair and the most unusual eyes, she stared at the deceased dragon in shock, the glinting of the dagger held in her grip caused Nessa to become weary, silently focusing to bring up a shield around Dovah.
Téa and Véa step forward out of the shadows to confront her "You should have stayed dead" the mage snipes at them, Nessa scowls, even though she was not close to the sisters she felt a sense of resentment towards the mage for them.
He runs in shouting at the Mage, the Witcher, he has white hair and golden eyes, Nessa berates herself for noticing how handsome he is.
Concentrating once again she hears Borch's entrance, both the Mage and the Witcher stare in awe, she can't blame them, the first time she experienced it it was life altering.
They talk between themselves, Borch stating how he specifically seeked out the Witcher. Nessa's ears perk up, faint footsteps approach, many of them, it's not the Dwarves, they stomp about, so it must be the Reavers, she catches Borch's eye and signals that they are not alone.
The dragon growls lowly as the Reavers approach, Nessa slinks down the sloped ledge, hovering behind the dead dragoness, shield strong around Mal Dovah. The Witcher attacks first, brutally slashing at his victims, the Mages power startles her, she freezes the attackers before striking them, Téa and Véa dance around disposing of their enemies with frightening accuracy as Borch stands protectively in front of Dovah and Nessa.
They're outnumbered, almost laughably so, Nessa recalls Borch's earlier warning but she needs to save Dovah, she lifts her bow and draws her arrow, lunching them at the Reavers with perfectly practiced precision, her arrows don't bring attention to her yet but when Nessa kills one of the Reavers swinging at the Mage both her and the Witcher turn, scanning the cave with confusion.
A cry of rage breaks them out of their thoughts as they continue fighting, Nessa sighs and turns her attention back to Dovah, it sits motionless but movement behind brings her attention to and injured Reaver creeping up to the egg, she's too far, she never should have left her post, Dovah could die and it's her fault.
I feel evil, I've deprived you of the ending of this chapter because I want a bit of surprise.
I used a translator that translates the language dragon to english or vice versa, the name of the egg is completely my own.
Love Liya xx