Author's Note

I'm so sorry this chapter took me so long! I had it written for ages, but I just didn't get round to editing it. I hope chapter 5 won't take as long. Anyway, enjoy.

Chapter 4: Hatching

Asha paced around the cave, unable to keep still. He had been gone far too long, and now, she was getting frantic. Hvitur had left to fetch the SkyWing egg and hadn't returned. It had seemed like hours to Asha as she had sat below the sky hole watching the Sunset, waiting for him.

Three days had passed since she had returned from the Lost Continent. The others seemed hardly able to believe she'd made it back relatively unscathed. Although Asha had to admit, she had rather more minor wounds than she had actually felt on her journey. The others had marvelled over the eggs, like they were wondrous treasures. Well, Asha thought, they sort of were. Inside of those eggs, underneath those shells after all, were Dragonets of Destiny. So the prophecy said, anyway.

"Will you stop that!" Kestrel snapped, snorting a plume of smoke into the air. "Your pacing isn't going to accomplish anything."

"I can't just sit here and wait!" Asha snapped. "I'm going to look for him."

"Oh no you don't," said Kestrel grimly.

"Asha, don't be a squid brain. You're no fighter and you know it. You can't just go out into that mess," Webs reasoned.

Asha knew he was right. She had never been good at fighting. Even though she was a MudWing and very strong, she had just never wanted to hurt anyone.

"That's true, but that doesn't matter. It's why we all joined the Talons of Peace, isn't it? To avoid the fighting. But if I have to fight to save Hvitur, then I'll do it," Asha said, her face set in determination.

There was silence. Asha made a move for the entranceway, when Kestrel suddenly spoke. "I'll go." She stood up, moving in front of Asha.

Asha stopped in surprise." But…"

"Oh, I know you're ready and raring to go, and your intentions are admirable. However, I am the only one who can actually rescue him if he is in some kind of trouble. After all, intentions aren't much good without good claws, which I don't believe you have, and neither does Webs. Of course, Dune isn't exactly much use either," Kestrel gave him a scornful glance. The SandWing gave the SkyWing a glare, daring her to go on.

"You and Webs would likely drop the egg anyway, and then where would we be? I'm going now. I'll return with Hvitur and the SkyWing egg," called kestrel, turning away.

"Wait, at least let me come along!" shouted Asha, running after her.

"Don't waste your breath," said Dune. Asha moaned, Frustrated. Of course, kestrel was right. She would probably do a better job than Asha, but she hated it. She could've at least let her come along. Honestly, Kestrel was so annoying.

"We should go get the eggs now," said Dune.

"I suppose," replied Asha, turning towards the cave that they had chosen to use as a storage room. Inside, seven little rock niches held seven differently coloured eggs. Asha carried them one by one to the guardian sleeping cave. "Where should we put them?" asked Asha, grateful for a distraction.

"For moon's sake, just put them anywhere," growled Dune impatiently.

Asha ignored him. "How about the sky cave?"

"Are you mad? Do you want them to be discovered before they even hatch? Do you want the prophecy to be prevented before its even begun?"

"Well, it's sort of has already begun. I mean, we found the eggs where the prophecy said we would," Webs pointed out.

"Shut up!" snapped Dune.

"You're the one who's being a squid brain. If we thought the dragonets would be spotted through the sky hole, would we have actually left it there?" Asha pointed out. "Come on Dune. Wouldn't it be nice for them to hatch into moonlight, rather than darkness?"

Dune was silent. Then he sighed. "Couldn't we just light a fire or something?"

"And have them incinerate themselves as soon as they crawl out? Absolutely not!" Asha retorted.

"Fine! But not directly under the sky hole, that's just too risky. I still think it's possible someone could find it and use it to spy on us. Also, we'll have to be quiet, just in case," said Dune reluctantly.

They carefully carried the eggs into the sky cave, as they had dubbed it. Asha, it turned out, was right. The moonlight shone through the sky hole, playing on the rocks beneath. The guardians formed a circle of rocks in the middle, so that the eggs wouldn't roll away. Asha looked at them, thinking about how different they were. There was one the colour of blood, one deep blue as the sea, one pale yellow as sand, one jet black as night, one pearly white, one as green as grass and one as silvery as the moon.

"I wonder what they'll be like when they hatch", Asha thought. She pondered for a while over the dragons in these eggs, and the lives they would've led if there hadn't been a prophecy. The MudWing egg contained her own niece or nephew, who would've grown up in the mud kingdom with six or seven siblings. Asha didn't know the exact number. The deep blue egg, which contained the SeaWing, would be a prince or princess. Webs had stolen it from Queen Coral's own hatchery. The jet black egg was shrouded in mystery. According to the others, it had been delivered by a huge pompous NightWing who had given no clue to its origins. "Typical," Asha thought. The pale yellow egg contained the SandWing. he or she would've grown up in the scorpion den. Asha shivered. The scorpion den was renowned for crime and chaos. Asha supposed that the LeafWing would've lived in the creepy jungle, full of terrifying plants and giant insects. The HiveWing probably would've lived in one of those giant structures and the SilkWing in the webs connecting them. Asha thought about their parents, but quickly stopped, because it made her feel too guilty. What must they be thinking now? They must know that their eggs were to hatch tonight. Perhaps they were wondering where their dragonets were now, if they would even hatch, what they would be like and who would care for them if they did. Suddenly, webs spoke.

"What do you think those lost continent dragons are going to look like?"

However, no one had the chance to reply, because there was the sound of rock scraping against rock. It was the noise that the boulder made as it was moved aside. Asha leapt up, darting down the tunnel ready to greet Kestrel and Hvitur with the SkyWing egg. Suddenly, she froze. Kestrel was there, but there wasn't a fiery red egg in her claws. Instead, there was the silvery broken body of an IceWing. Asha couldn't believe it. They couldn't have lost one of their number already. Perhaps it was some other IceWing? No, that didn't make any sense, and Asha knew it. For a second, she couldn't speak. Her throat tightened, her vision clouding with tears. Her insides were as cold as her fallen companion. Hvitur hadn't been a friend exactly, but he had been the most agreeable dragon in these caves and had always been nice to her.

When she could finally speak, she asked, "How?"

"Burn. Stabbed him with her tail and pitched him over a cliff," Kestrel answered grimly. Although her eyes weren't glistening with tears as Asha's were, her voice sounded strange and tight, and her head was bowed.

Asha gasped. "And the egg?" she whispered, dreading the answer.

"Smashed to pieces. It's finished. The prophecy is finished, it can't happen without a SkyWing."

"No!" Webs choked from behind Asha. She jumped, having not noticed the other guardians until now. Webs clenched his talons. "It must happen! We have to try! We'll get a replacement, I'll go back to the SkyWing Palace and find one."

"We can't get one from the SkyWing Palace, that's for sure. They'll have guards now," Kestrel replied.

"How about a RainWing egg then? It would be easy. They've never kept count of their eggs."

"Not that! Get an IceWing for moon's sake," Kestrel snapped.

"I'll see what I can get," called Webs, moving towards the entranceway.

He wasn't back for a long time. The guardians put Hvitur in the small storage cave, until they could figure out what to do with him. However, the immediate concern was for the eggs. They sat round the rock ring, just staring blankly at them. The moonlight played on their shells, making them gleam and shine. However, this was no distraction for Asha, as she sat there thinking over and over again about what she had lost. They had lost Hvitur, one of their own, and what was worse that they had lost the SkyWing along with him. Asha had been excited before Hvitur had gone missing. She couldn't wait for the eggs to hatch. Unlike most MudWings, Asha actually wanted dragonets of her own. This was the next best thing. Being able to take care of the Dragonets of Destiny wasn't just a honour or duty for her, it was a dream come true. The best part was that one was actually related to her. Now however, even this thought couldn't bring her any joy. Because as soon as she tried to think about them, Hvitur's broken body appeared before her once more. Finally, Asha again heard the sound of rock scraping against rock. Which was quickly followed by the step slap, step slap, of Web's wet talons.

"I got one!" webs shouted triumphantly.

He entered the sky cave carrying a white egg which was clearly about to hatch. He placed it in the ring beside the Nightwing egg.

"Webs!" kestrel hissed.

"There was no time to fly to the Ice Kingdom," Webs squeaked, shifting so that he was behind Asha. She considered pushing him away with her wing, but thought better of it.

Suddenly, a sharp crack pierced the air. The MudWing egg quaked as the tiny dragon inside forced the shell apart.

"Look, they're hatching!" Asha exclaimed.

"Shush! We don't want anyone to hear us," hissed Dune.

A tiny brown talon poked through the shell. Asha leaned forward excitedly. Then a brown head emerged, then a body, then wings. Suddenly, there was no egg there anymore, only a tiny muscular MudWing with dark brown scales that shone in the fire light. Asha scooped him up in her talons, already loving him with all her heart.

"He's perfect," she whispered.

"He's acceptable, I suppose," grumbled Kestrel. "I suppose you should name him Asha."

Asha pondered over this for a minute. It was rather a big responsibility. Then she said decisively "Clay." It was a name she'd always liked, and it appeared to suit him. He squeaked appreciatively, as if he liked it too.

Asha tenderly placed the newly named clay back in the ring of rocks. Which was extremely difficult because she never wanted to let him go. However, Kestrel was giving her glares and she really didn't want to end up a fireball. After all, she had to look after Clay now, and she'd be no use to him as a pile of ashes. Immediately, he leapt on top of the SeaWing egg, and attempted to smash it.

"Oy! No!" Dune yelled in horror, snatching up the squirming clay.

"What do we do, Asha? Why is this happening?" enquired Webs.

"Oh, it's fine, don't worry. The first-born MudWing in a hatching always helps the others come out. It's perfectly natural. Obviously, Clay thinks that these are his siblings. Actually, since they aren't MudWings it might be a good idea to keep him off the eggs until they hatch. Here, I'll keep a hold of him," said Asha, holding out her talons eagerly.

"Strange thing to do," mused Dune, looking relieved. He thrust the squirming clay at Asha, who caught him and held him tight. Meanwhile the deep blue egg had begun to hatch. Soon, a deep blue SeaWing scrambled from the shell, staring up at them with wide curious eyes. She swept aside the fragments of broken shell with her tail.

"Not very impressive, but she'll do," Kestrel commented, pushing the dragonet off a rock. The SeaWing burbled indignantly, pushing back with her tiny talons.

"At least she seems fierce," Dune pointed out.

Suddenly, there was another sharp snap. Cracks spiralled across the LeafWing egg surface. Abruptly, it split apart, leaving only a small green dragonet with gold and brown underscales.

"Do they usually look like that?" enquired Dune, examining him.

"I don't know, I only glimpsed a couple. I think so though," replied Asha, trying to remember.

"Look at his wings! What's wrong with them?" exclaimed Webs.

Asha examined the dragonet's wings. Admittedly, they were rather different from her own. They were shaped unusually. Like long ovals, or even leaves.

"Huh. Maybe that's why they're called leafwings?" mused Asha.

"Don't be so ridiculous. SkyWings aren't called SkyWings because their wings look like the sky. Obviously this dragon has something wrong with it," Kestrel snapped.

"I think all the dragons like this had wings shaped like leaves," Asha said, trying to remember.

"Besides, we can't do anything about it. This dragonet has been chosen for the prophecy, so we just have to put up with it," Webs pointed out.

At that moment, Asha noticed that while they had been talking the SilkWing egg had hatched revealing a dragonet whose scales shimmered with royal blue and silver.

"Wow," Asha whispered, mesmerised. "She's exquisite - even more beautiful than a RainWing,"

"Three moons! She doesn't have any wings! She's just a lizard!" Kestrel roared, disgusted.

"It's deformed," Dune growled.

"No, she's not. All the SilkWing dragonets I saw look like that. It's like the leaf shaped wings, I suppose they hatch like this," said Asha.

"Did the adults have wings?" Dune asked, looking panicked.

"They did. But…" Asha started, meaning to tell them about how the SilkWings appeared to have four wings, but Kestrel interrupted.

"What should we call them?"

"I think Tsunami for the SeaWing," suggested Webs.

"Fine," Dune said impatiently.

"What about the others though? The SilkWing sort of looks like a butterfly. I think we should give her a butterfly name," said Asha.

"You would think that," Kestrel growled.

"Pink lady?" Webs suggested.

"Does she look pink to you?" Kestrel scorned.

"Aponi?" suggested Asha, remembering that she had heard one of her brothers naming butterfly species. Her other siblings had laughed at him, even Asha herself had done so at the time, but now she was extremely grateful.

"Are you a butterfly expert?" enquired Dune.

They were so busy that they didn't notice the jet black egg quietly rolling away towards the moonlight. Just as they hadn't noticed that there was a small gap in the rock circle big enough for a dragon egg to roll silently through. The tiny dragon inside could hear the voices coming from outside. Two were loud and harsh, but two were quieter and kinder. He couldn't just hear their words though. He could feel their feelings too. So as well as the voices he could hear with his ears, there were other voices that he could hear in a different way. Those voices came from inside and spoke different words than their counterparts. He searched for one called mother, but there was none. There was one dragon who was filled with fire, her thoughts were full of anger and irritation.

"How could he! A RainWing! It'll be like training a butterfly for a prophecy. A RainWing!" But then, a little later, "It's my own fault. If I had arrived just a few minutes earlier I could've saved that egg, and him, and everything would be different! We'd have a proper SkyWing!"

There was another angry dragon, but he was bursting with bitterness and regret, instead of firy anger. "What'll Thorn think of me? But I did it for a prophecy. Stupid Webs! Why a RainWing? Stupid leg! Stupid wing! If not for them and Burn, I could've gone out and gotten us a proper replacement."

The third Dragon had a mind that felt like a deep well of sadness. However, he wasn't as bitter or as angry as the other two. He was so depressing that the tiny dragonet couldn't stay in his head for long, for fear he would drown there.

However, the fourth was different. She was softer, sweeter, caring. Almost like a mother. Unconsciously, she was ready to love him, he could feel it. "I hope I'm right about the Lost Continent dragons. I hope I didn't misremember. Oh, Clay! I can't wait to teach him all about MudWings. I love all these dragonets already. Dragonets to care for at last." Perhaps there was someone in this strange place that might care about him. Perhaps the other dragons would too, deep down, but this dragon definitely would. He could see it. He knew it.

There were other dragons too, though they didn't have coherent thought. They simply had feelings. One was protectively fierce, another full of love, still another seemed quiet and gentle, and the last was very curious.

Suddenly, he noticed something penetrating the darkness that surrounded him. It was feather light, but it called to him. Then, just as suddenly, he felt an even greater urge to break the darkness. He rammed his talons into it, shattering it until he could push his head out. He wriggled and pushed, until he was out of it completely. Now, he could see that he was in a cave, surrounded by stone. Above him, three moons shone brightly through a small hole in the ceiling. He gazed up at them in awe. There were many different times he could see, happy and sad, where he sat beneath this hole, though he couldn't understand them properly yet.

The other dragons were clustered around the RainWing egg, though he didn't know that yet, which had hatched just before he had. The dragonet was overwhelmed by the many minds and voices that he could now hear louder than ever, not to mention the many thousands of possible timelines that spread out before him like a web that he couldn't ignore.

Although he was probably the most knowledgeable dragon in the cave at that moment, there were many things he didn't know. He didn't know that he was part of a big prophecy. He didn't know that his gifts were unusual. He didn't know that he was the first NightWing to be hatched with the powers of foresight and mindreading in 2000 years.