Dracowing Saga
Chapter 1: Eggshells
Ben and Solaria had been trying for many months to have a child of their own. The poison in Solaria's body had weakened her hatchlings eggshells causing them to break apart quite easily. A poison that had been administered to her one year ago at night by the dreaded cheetah army led by that ruffian Thazgar the Terrible. His warriors had been a thorn in Ben and Solaria's life for many years. Eight generations of egg clutches had met their end in the cheetahs' claws. The nineth generation that she had recently laid, had broken apart on the hard ground littering the ground with their shards.
Solaria growled loudly in aggravation that she now had lost yet another clutch due to the cursed cheetahs. She had great hopes that this clutch would be strong enough to last, but fate taunted her at every turn. Solaria refused to clean up the eggshells from her previous failures despite Ben's insistence on getting rid of them, knowing how badly these losses affected her. She wanted to prove to the world around her that she hadn't been beaten yet and would continue to try despite being born the runt of her mother's colony.
"Another bad clutch my darling?" Ben asked.
"Yes, grrrr every eggshell has completely shattered on this accursed ground. The vile poisonous liquid courses through my body making my eggs so brittle that they break apart with the lightest touch. The world taunts me with their own offspring, and I cannot have any!" Solaria shouted.
"Perhaps a change of location might help?" Ben asked.
"Never! My mother gave birth to me on this beach like sand with harsh rocks around it. My children will be born in the same way as I was!" Solaria shouted.
"I know you wish to my mate, but all this death here affects you greatly. You are not well my mate, please allow me to get rid of the eggs for you." Ben replied.
"You shall not touch my lost eggs! I do not want a single broken one removed. This is my curse and mine alone to bear! The world mocks me for being born a runt and even more by causing my eggs to crack with great ease. Leave me to wallow in my pain! The cheetah's curse runs through my veins." Solaria shouted as she torn into the ground with her claws sending some of the eggshells flying.
"I know love how much you wished to have a large family of our own, but fate is not on our side. Perhaps it is best that we find another animal who we could raise as one of our own." Ben replied.
"Take another creature into our family and raise it as our own?" Solaria growled in anger. "Never, I am a mighty fire dragon! Why would I wish to raise such a filthy lowborn beast in place of my own child? Never I say! My clan would never allow an event such as this to pass!"
"I know this is not what your clan would wish for, but we need to plan for the future my mate." Ben replied as he went over and touched her paw softly.
"Grrrrrrrrrr. Get out! Get out now!" Solaria shouted, as she pulled her paw away from his hand.
Ben decided to leave before Solaria set him on fire since she was in no mood for him to argue with her and took his fishing gear with him. Ben then went off to explore one of the lakes he had found during one of his trips. He figured that maybe if he brought her some food, it might calm her nerves a bit. As he headed southeast, he noticed a flock passing bird overhead. He sighed with relief that the birds flying overhead were just blue jays knowing that he would not have to worry about them sneaking off with his fish.
Some of the birds could be quite cheeky at times. When he finally got to the lake, he noticed that there were many different animals nearby busying themselves with their various tasks. When Ben got closer some of the animals disappeared into their burrows for fear that his dragon mate may be waiting somewhere nearby. When he approached the lake, he dipped his hand into the water and could feel how warm it was. The water of the lake was heated by the sun's warm rays and the water itself was clear. Ben listened to some of the animal's conversation before deciding to cast the bobber on his fishing pole into the lake.
Sometime after Ben had left, Solaria decided to storm off into the woods and began to cut up every tree she could find with her sharp claws. She was still quite angry from losing her latest clutch that many trees in the forest to the east of her had jagged marks cut into them, some from previous outburst as well. After she marked up sixty trees, she felt the anger still boiling within her. She then decided to take to take to the skies on her wings and set the forest ablaze. At first the animals were not bothered by the fire since it was much further away from them, but this was no ordinary fire.
As Solaria continued to fan the flames with her hot breath, she managed to catch some of the animals unaware and torched them. She let out an evil chuckle knowing that she was making the forest inhabitants pay for mocking her with their offsprings. As the fire began to burn out of control the animals finally decided to run for their lives. Solaria decided to change her pattern of flame attacks to be in the form of a Zigzag to allow for her to cause more destruction before deciding to zoom north for a bit before traveling more east. She sent flame after some of the fleeing animals and used it at time to drive their path.
"Flee you miserable creatures! You will pay for mocking the great and mighty fire dragon Solaria! Roarrrr!" Solaria shouted.
"Aaaah run for your lives she has gone mad!" One of the animal packs shouted.
"Head for the river! Save yourselves!" Shouted a second pack.
"Ahhh we can't find the river she has cut us off." Shouted a third pack.
"There is so much smoke around its hard to make out where one set of flame ends and the other begins." The fourth animal pack shouted.
Solaria landed back on the ground and chuckled haughtily to have caught a large group of animals inside of her winding ring of flames. She stepped through the flames and looked at the cornered animals.
"What do you want!" Shouted one animal from the pack.
"Please let our colony go we did nothing to you." Spoke another.
"Begging for mercy, are you? How quaint!" Solaria chuckled.
"Please we mean you no harm." Spoke a third.
"We will give you anything?" A fourth spoke up.
"You can't possibly give me what I want!" Solaria shouted. "Nothing of value you hold will ever be worth anything to me!"
"What is it that you want then?" Spoke a fifth.
"I want an offspring of my own, but a sickness prevents me from having one." Solaria growled. "You filthy beasts mock me with your children and cause me pain."
"No, we wouldn't do that." Spoke a sixth.
"We wouldn't think of doing such a thing!" Spoke a seventh.
"When ever I see another animal's child, I am reminded of what I can never have. Now burn!" Solaria shouted as she flame breathed the whole pack.
Solaria chuckled upon hearing the animals scream in pain for a moment or two before flying off to start more fires throughout the entire forest.
Paletta the Druid thought maybe today would be a quieter day where she could relax for a bit and take a nap. She was a bit of a lazy type of guardian. She figured her animal subjects were fine on their own after the last check. As she started to slumber for about ten minutes, she began to pick up the smell of smoke nearby and the sound of animal screams piercing her ears.
"Ugh, can't a forest guardian get a bit of sleep around here without some calamity happening around here." Paletta groaned as she woke up. "Aaaah god there are flames nearby when did they get here?"
Paletta then began to summon a couple of pitcher plants to put out the fire. She then picked up the pitcher plant and poured the liquid on top of the fire. She felt relieved that the fire she had to deal with was quite small.
"Oh, great there is more of those fires burning further in the distance. Uggggh why me! Well, there goes my sleep time. I really hope my magic can hold together for this disaster. I am not a skilled magical creature like my subjects expect me to be, yet some days I wonder if my magic will ever be good enough." Paletta sighed. "It is probably better for me not to show my face around. I do not think they want me to be around anyway."
Paletta decided to fly off in the opposite direction to relax. She settled on a small and quaint babbling brook where she could drink a bit of water and take in the scenery before heading off into one of the nearby caves.
"Maybe I can get a bit of a nap here to sleep and hopefully no one will disturb me." Paletta spoke up before she decided to curl up to sleep.
As Paletta slept the forest animals were running for their lives from the advancing fire.
"Where is that accursed bumbling oaf Paletta the Druid!" Shouted one of the forest animals.
"We don't know she should have been here by now." A second animal replied.
"Probably off being lazy again as usual. Not like she ever helps that much." A third animal spoke up.
"Her magic is out right terrible it always falls apart just when you really need her to pull through." A fourth animal replied.
"Maybe we should kind of call for her help? Like this fire is quite large and there is no way we can put it out ourselves." A fifth animal spoke up.
"No, we do not need her. She will just muck everything anyway." A sixth animal replied.
"I know your all probably right, but I feel this is something that definitely requires her attention." The fifth animal spoke up. "I will be back when I can but do your best to be safe."
The others shook their heads and sighed knowing that the young deer was off on a fool's errand. They figured the fire would get him if another predator had not caught him first. His entire family had been burned up in the fire that ravaged his herd in the last 3 hours. He was all that was left of them. As he ventured forward, he accidentally tripped over a loose rock and smacked into a pack of foxes.
"Hey watch it." Spoke one of the foxes that the young deer had knocked over.
"Uh sorry I didn't mean to knock you down." The young deer replied as he tried to get back onto his feet.
"Wait you're a deer aren't you." A second fox chuckled. "What fun!"
"Yes, I am and your fox." The young deer giggled looking over at the second fox.
"Hmm seems like we got ourselves a delicious little prey that has landed in our lap." A third fox chuckled.
"A prey what is that?" The young deer curiously asked.
"Oh, how delightful, the silly deer doesn't know." The fourth fox chuckled.
"Should we tell him?" A fifth fox asked giggling.
"Tell me what?" The young deer asked.
"Hmm no, he probably wouldn't be interested in learning what a prey is." A sixth fox spoke up as it started to circle him.
"I would be interested in learning what a prey is." The young deer giggled.
"Hmm no, I don't think you would be." The sixth fox replied as it continued to circle him.
"He is far too young to probably comprehend what a prey is." The fifth fox chimed in and began following the sixth fox.
"I would be interested, though you guys use a lot of big words." The young deer giggled.
"Hmm are you really sure you want to know?" The sixth fox chuckled.
"Yes I am." The young deer giggled wagging his tail happily.
"I love this kid's enthusiasm. Would you all agree?" The sixth fox chuckled.
"He is quite naive, isn't he?" The fourth fox chuckled as he followed the fifth one as they circled the young deer.
"I would say so. Look at how happy he is." The third fox chuckled as he joined in the circle.
"So, when are you going to tell me what a prey is?" The young deer giggled as he continued to wag his tail.
"My, my, my someone is an eager little kit." The sixth fox chuckled.
"Oh, what fun and the dinner bell has not even rung yet." The second fox chuckled and then joined in on the circle.
"What bell, I don't hear any bell?" The young deer asked as he looked around.
"I like this kid he is so funny." The sixth fox chuckled again.
"Oh, I can't wait to taste him." The first fox replied after getting up on his feet only to get smacked by the sixth fox as it came around. "Owww!"
"Taste me? Why would you taste me?" The young deer asked looking confused.
"Such a naive little child you are. Well, I probably should explain what a prey is now."
"Yes, please tell me. I am dying to hear what a prey is." The young deer giggled as he wagged his tail quite fast.
A roar of giggles erupted from the foxes that surrounded him.
"Did I say something silly?" The deer asked curiously.
"In a way you did. Let me and my group recover from your most amusing joke." The sixth fox replied.
"Okay." The young deer replied.
After 20 minutes had passed the sixth fox turned to look at the young deer as the first fox joined in on the circle.
"I think I am ready now to tell you what a prey is now little kit." The sixth fox replied.
"Okay I am all ears." The young deer giggled playfully as he wagged his tail.
"Quit that! No. Bad deer!" The sixth fox giggled from the joke. As the rest of the foxes joined in as well. It took about 15 minutes before they finally stopped giggling from that last joke.
"You are quite the funny one with the puns. Now please no more puns. They kind of wear me out." The sixth fox spoke up.
"Okay I will try not to." The young deer replied.
"Thanks, young deer. I am ready to tell you what prey is. A prey is one of the most delicious animals that one can hunt depending on the type of animal that does the chasing." The sixth fox spoke up.
"That does sound kind of fun." The young deer giggled as it wagged its tail as it slowly got to its feet. "Can I join in on the chasing?"
"It doesn't normally work that way." The fourth fox spoke up.
"You see little deer you are the prey and us foxes are the chasers." The sixth fox replied. "Its in our blood to hunt you down."
"Oh, then that makes me your meal then." The young deer replied.
"That is correct young deer." The third fox chimed in.
"Can I ask for a delay in eating me?" The young deer asked.
"Begging for your life, are you?" The sixth fox chuckled.
"Yes, I am." The young deer replied as he goes back down to the ground again.
"What a good prey you are. You are making things so much easier for us." The sixth fox spoke up.
"Yes, I know my place now, still I am willing to offer you something in exchange for my life." The young deer replied.
"Well, that depends on what you have to offer us." The sixth fox spoke up.
"I am on my way to find Paletta the Druid to help put out the fire that is rampaging throughout the forest." The young deer replied.
"Hmm that is certainly is an interesting story." The fifth fox spoke up. "Still, I am not sure how that helps us."
"Like why would you seek her out anyway? Most animals know how bad of a magical creature she is." The third fox spoke up.
"I heard the same from the pack of animals that I left as we were fleeing from the fire." The young deer replied. "I am sure she might give you something after the fire is out."
"That sounds nice and all, but what if she fails?" The sixth fox replied.
"Then I will walk with you as your meal. You can cover me in berry juices to enhance my flavor. You win either way." The young deer replied.
"Hmm so let me get this straight you will not run away when we find you again if she fails." The sixth fox replied.
"Yes, that is correct." The young deer replied.
"Even if you wish to, wouldn't your parents or colony stop you from doing this?" The fifth fox spoke up.
"My parents died in the fire, as far as my colony goes, I do not know what happened to them. I am all that is left from my colony." The young replied.
"So, you are all alone." The second fox chimed in.
"Yes." The young deer replied sadly.
"Hmm that does pose a problem." The sixth fox replied.
"So, I am guessing that means that dinner is off the table." The third fox spoke up.
"Seems so." The fourth fox replied.
"Why not just eat him now and be done with it?" The first fox spoke up. "Owwww."
"Because that would leave us without any food source. Plus, with the fire raging on, our food source is gone. Without other animals to feed on we will go hungry." The sixth fox replied as she slapped him. "Not to mention we don't know how many animals will be left from this."
"So that means you're going to help me?" The young deer asked.
"Yes, we will, but if this is some form of a trick you will wish that we had eaten you." The fourth fox replied.
"Thanks." The young deer replied.
"Do you know which way she is?" The sixth fox asked.
"No, I don't." The young deer replied.
"So let me get this straight you came here to find her with no idea where she is." The fifth fox replied.
"Yes. Sorry." The young deer replied sadly.
"This is going to be one very long trip isn't it." The fifth fox sighed.
"Well not all hope is lost. I do happen to know some places she normally visits." The sixth fox replied.
"Well, that narrows it down some at least." The third fox replied.
"So, what are we going to do with our prey?" The first fox asked.
"We will guard him to his destination." The sixth fox replied. "I need two foxes on his left and two on his right. You will be the rear guard, and I will be in front."
"Thanks, for your help. You do not really need to do this." The young deer replied as he got back up to his feet.
"Trust me kid, there are many more animals out here who would wish to make a meal from you and that doesn't help anyone." The sixth fox replied. "So, follow my lead kid and stay behind me. We have a long road ahead of us."