Those Who Live Under the Earth

by Silvfyre

Veilspun is a dragon of old, her name long forgotten to the sands of time. When she comes into the care of eleven eggs, she raises them as if they were her own children. They are raised away from the world, the underground caves becoming their home. But not even Veilspun can keep them away from the terrors of the Above forever.

1. Chapter 1

Prologue - Lonely No More

The Veilspun paused in her mindless wandering. For years she had wandered the tunnels beneath Dragonhome, no destination in mind, no goal to strive towards. She didn't even have a name, or at least she didn't know if she did. She had spent so long underneath the earth that she didn't know whether it was day or night, whether it had been a day or a week, and she hadn't seen another dragon in so long, she wasn't even sure if they still existed. For all she knew, she was the last of her kind.

But something had caught her attention, some sort of noise from the world above. It was the first time she had heard anything that wasn't the sounds of the underground. Slowly, she followed the noises, hissing when she came upon a hole in the ceiling, sunlight illuminating the path in front of her. She hated the sun. But her curiosity on what was happening was stronger than her hatred and for the first time in forever, she stepped into the light. The light was blinding, and she had to fight the urge to shrink away back into the shadows. But as her eyes adjusted, she looked up at the world above.

High in the sky, there were dragons of various shapes flying in the sky. While it looked like a dance, something deep within her, some deep forgotten instinct, told her that this was a skirmish. She watched for a few moments before deciding to continue on her wandering. As long as the skirmish didn't affect the underground, it wasn't any of her business what the fight was about. But just as she was about to leave, something landed with a thud on the ground beside her. She turned, surprised to see an egg where there hadn't been one before. She blinked, and suddenly there was another egg, and then another. Miraculously the eggs were landing without any harm coming to them, but the question remained on where they were coming from.

As the fighting raged on overheard, the Veilspun gathered the eggs into a pile; eleven of them, each of them different. Then she took up residence in the shadows, watching the pile. The fighting continued long until the light had faded, and still she watched them. Eggs were always precious to those they belonged to. Surely once the fighting was done, they would come for them. But as time passed, and the fighting ceased, she grew worried. The light had faded entirely by this point. If anyone was looking for the eggs, there was no way they'd be able to see them now. She stretched her limbs and walked over to the pile before curling around them, her massive body providing them with warmth. For now she would keep them safe.

At some point during the night, cracking noises woke her from her doze. Drowsily, she climbed to her feet and moved away from the eggs she'd been curled around. In the dark, she could see the eggs faintly, all of them starting to tremble or violently shake. The eggs were hatching. She was worried. There was no way she would be able to look after a bunch of rowdy hatchlings, especially if they happened to be Banescale's or Gaoler's. The two species were always warring with each other after all, she was sure their hatchlings would have that same inbred nature. But as the first egg hatched, all thoughts left her mind.

The hatchling was neither Banescale nor Gaoler, but she didn't recognize this breed of dragon. It certainly wasn't an Imperial; she hadn't been underground long enough to forget them. The hatchling was tiny, no bigger than her toe. She was afraid to move in case she stepped on the newly hatched child. Instead she watched the other eggs hatch, amazed with what emerged. Two more hatchlings resembled the first, just as tiny as it was. Another two were the opposite, massive with bulky bodies and giant feet that showed how large they would grow. Some had fur, currently wet and slicked back with egg residue, but she was sure that once they were dried off, they would look as fluffy as the Gaoler's did. The remaining hatchlings were also strange with four eyes. One of these hatchlings looked at her and blinked, each eye blinking at different times. It freaked her out a bit. But deep inside, she felt protective of these hatchlings, and while she wasn't sure she could raise them, she was certain she could teach them the skills they needed to survive.