ENTER THE MYTHRIL Chapter II

CHAPTER 2

Two days later.

Apart from the few oil lanterns left lit along the street, lightning was the only illumination provided the landscape and the village leaning just at the base of a rocky mountain. No-one dared exiting their homes, for a common cold would end in hypothermia and the Black Death lurked around every alley and corner. The stone walls bordering the village resisted the deluge, well build and reinforced since the last attempt of an English invasion, but the currents of water formed from the higher levels of the citadel degenerated and corroded the landscape into mud puddles accumulated in corners and blocked the drainage. The houses, more than providing a cozy atmosphere for their inhabitants represented a threat as dangerous as the illness that roamed freely across the country yard. The village seemed deserted with the exception of guards and soldiers moved along the streets and over the wall for regular patrols. Three of the 10 towers places along the wall showed the shape of a gargoyle with glowing eyes. The dragons crouching atop of each stronghold guarded the landscape up to where their eyes would allow them to see.

Behind the village, the mountain stirred water and mud, which added to the water down below. Every other excavation within the mountain displayed a series of dim light as if several hunters were stalking the villagers. Draconic figures and a few human shapes were revealed with every lightning, guarding the entrance to their dens, their homes and their nests. Inside, the mountain held the real housing for both humans and dragons. Blacksmiths, leatherworkers, herbalists, healers, housekeepers, everyone sheltered from the overwhelming conditions outside. Most males were awake to watch over their beloved wives and kids, others busied themselves with anything that would keep them awake or stayed awake because of insomnia. Few simply stayed up vigilant or were asleep with their mates. Warm and dry, children slept peacefully on their improvised beds and hatchlings on their respective mothers’ nest. Few females were really awake, assisting the humans, helping with keeping the caves clean enough, or laying down with their kids, or eggs in the case of some dragon ladies.

One of them was specifically waiting eagerly for her little one to hatch. It was foretold by the elders, and she herself felt it that way, that the egg would hatch at any point on the current week. She was a fair Sapphire - blue - dragon, her young appearance hiding her real age but from the ones that knew her well. Her singular snout was shorter that most female dragons, but she enjoyed and displayed more slender features that ran from the tip and all the way to her slightly curved horns. Her head was decorated with a crown of smaller horns the grew from the larger ones down to where her jaw connects with her skull, also adorned with smaller scales that seemed to meld with one another to form a continuous, smooth like turquoise skin. She had no prominent crest but a slight hind to a trail of larger scales than went from her head to the tip of her long slender tail. Plated, lighter scales decorated her ventral zone from her neck down to her tail; her modestly shaped yet well built body, along with her large wings, was curled around and protecting an oval shaped capsule, her egg, her little baby dragon soon to hatch.

The Sapphire carefully and constantly accommodated the little egg within the hay nest, making sure it was in a safe position and warm enough for it to hatch. She and her mate had decided to breed a male instead of a female, more for the desire of the mother than anything else, so she set the egg to stay at a more or less an even temperature, close to the environment’s rather than hot enough to produce a female. Periodical blows of her freezing breath were required for it, taking special care not to put it at freezing point. She afterwards proceeded to polish the surface of the capsule with her tongue to warm it up a bit and not let it dry.

Under the low light of a torch placed on the opposite corner, close to the entrance to her chamber, the dragon lady took special care of her treasure. Cozy as she was, she cared about nothing more than her son within the capsule, hoping to see him break out. Periodical movements from it announced that the day was coming, but the shaking of the little egg have had taken place several days now. She got worried that the hatch hadn’t taken place already. And the fact that the father was out performing his duties for the King made her anxious at times.

“Aritov?” a whisper came in from just outside her chamber. It was a male voice. “Kilyne, are you awake?”

The first word barely startled her and hid her naked body with her wings, but then she knew it was her mate coming as quietly as possible to not awake her if she was sleeping. But it was not this case.

“I am, my beloved”, she replied. “Please, do come in.”

And so he did. Tal’kar entered the chamber as quietly as he could; taking off his robes, wearing only his somewhat wore leather pants, a wool shirt and a pair of bracers that identified him as part of the Royal Council. He carefully kneeled down staring at his beloved lady and his soon-to-hatch son. A smirk appeared in his face as he looked down at the egg, shinier than he had ever seen it and a lot bigger than the last time he saw it, about two or three months ago.

“You have been taking good care of him”, he said with a low voice, glad to see it almost ready for a great event.

“I can’t wait for it to hatch…” Kilyne said gently nuzzling the egg. “I almost want to open it myself.”

“I can tell…” he said looking at her working on the care she gave to their son.

There was a pause. A couple of thunders were heard from the chamber. Tal’kar just watched her mate carefully worked on the little one with subtle caresses and ministrations with her nuzzle and tongue. He too wanted to touch the small capsule, but he knew perfectly how females would be so territorial when they expected for the hatching. It was quite impressive that she let him get close enough to be at reach with the egg, especially if he was away for so long and left on her own and alone for the most part. However, she didn’t seem to mind much that he was away. Kilyne had had another dragon female, a good friend of her, bring her food and supplies on her mate’s behalf, which she gladly accepted and felt honored about. She stayed within the chamber for the most part, never leaving the nest alone for too long, and even when she needed, she had her friend watch over the nest. No male was allowed inside, not even to take a peek at the mother and the egg, or notify something. Kilyne finished licking his son’s encasement and talked to him with a somewhat shattered voice.

“I was afraid that you would not make it. I was afraid that you would not be able to see him hatch…” she shed a tear, smiling. “I did not want him to be unable to see his father at the moment of hatching… but now, you are here and it makes me so happy, Tal’kar…”

“Milady…” he replied and he licked her chick, carefully watching not to stomp on his son. Then he moved to lay behind her and hugged her, folding his wings around hers. He nuzzled her gently and caressed his beloved.

“These last two days have been wonderful with you…” she said after a small sob. “I have missed you.”

He didn’t want her to know that he nearly missed the hatching. He had been careless about it and started wondering about his duties and his position within the Kingdom. Even though they had arranged it that way, they both hurt because of their time apart from one another. He loved her, and she loved him back as fiercely and passionately. He comforted her, the best he could, feeling guilty, and he assured her he was regretting his choices.

“I am so sorry, my love”, he whispered. “I want to be with you, really…”

“We arranged it so it would be this way, there is nothing to apologize, darling” she interrupted him putting her finger at the tip of his snout.

“I am putting my duties before you, and with that, I am missing the best of you and our relationship…”

“You are not…” she said softly. “Because of you, I am well fed and protected, loved and safe. I feel your love and I love you as much. You have proven yourself to me before, several times. Besides, your duties are a part of you I felt attracted to...”

“Are you saying you are interested in me because of my position?” Tal’kar said jokingly with a smirk.

“… Maybe…” she chuckled. And then she looked into his eyes deeply. “… But the best of you is not precisely your hoard.”

“And what is it…?”

She smiled and intended to gently lick him, and he was ready to return the love to Kilyne. But as soon as their snouts touched, a cracking sound came from below… they both stopped. They panicked for a moment and retreated from the center of the nest to make room and looked at the egg.

It had moved. And it was still in motion. Every few seconds, the egg trembled more fiercely than Kilyne had seen before. They knew this was it. It was hatching now. The shaking continued as both dragons stared at it waiting for the long waited moment. Tal’kar sat down holding Kilyne’s shoulders while she remained half seated from her original position. Her tail remained in place around the egg. She was afraid that the capsule would roll out of the nest with the sudden spasms it showed, which even though were subtle would be enough to make it stumble off its hatching place. One of her paws kept Kilyne half seated; the other was held in front her snout, almost containing a scream of joy and fear. She held her breath. It was her first born and she didn’t want to miss a moment of this certainly memorable moment. Her eyes wide open, completely fixed on her egg. Tal’kar caressed her, smiling and eager to see at least a part of his son’s anatomy pop out of his temporary entrapment. He kept repeating “come on” to himself and to his son in a whisper. It seemed like an eternity had passed before them and the shell still didn’t show but a small crack on the top side.

Then, another crack and part of the shell was lifted by the little dragon inside… Kilyne almost jumped from the sudden burst. She was now breathing hard. The little one pushed a couple of more times trying to break out of the shell… them it stopped moving for a few seconds. Kilyne crawled closer to see what had happened, fearing the worst, but then pieces of the shell came out flying as the head of a little discolored dragon came out, snout first. The kid let out a high pitch, low but long growl out of his lungs, announcing everyone that he had finally hatched.

Many came to see the new born, both humans and dragons, to see the miracle of a young hatchling being born. Everyone was pleased and amazed at the new born, especially his parents. Tal’kar was unable to speak; he just kept his mouth open with a smile. He felt his chest swell at the sight of his first new born. As for Kilyne, she was at the brick of crying. She already had tears in her eyes and came in closer to nuzzle his son for the first time.

Then the shell completely shattered and startled everyone around it. The hatchling had broken free from it with his little wings and tail; he was completely covered in the gooey substance from within the egg. But apart from it, it was a beautiful sight as he tried, and impressively succeeded at moving on all fours towards his mother. Then Kilyne curled around him and started licking him as both a gesture of infinite love and to clean him up. Both the hearts of Kilyne and Tal’kar were pounding hard at the miracle that had just happened, and the father watched as the mother cleaned their first born, their first son.

As Kilyne cleaned him up, the little one started to show that he was not only completely white, but he also had strange markings all over his body, as if he had been imprinted with a tribal tattoo before he was born. Both the female and Tal’kar, and the audience staring at the hatchling were most surprised at the sight. Some of them, certainly Tal’kar, knew about those markings, including a few humans looking into the chamber.

“A Darkflame…the Mythril…?” whispered one of the dragons, and the rest turned around to make sure they had heard right.

Kilyne, a little scared at the somewhat negative reaction of the audience hugged and held her son tightly and covered herself and the little one with her wings. Tal’kar looked up violently to notice the ones that witnessed the hatching and now had started talking among them. He could overhear the phrases “prophecy”, “new era”, “disgrace” and “chosen one” repeated in various occasions, and he finally moved before his beloved dragon and kid.

“Alright, that is it!” he shouted somewhat upset. “Leave us! NOW!”

He forced most of them out of the chamber and violently closed the curtain that barely blocked the entrance. He remained standing there in case someone decided to take a last peek, as if he was defending his family from being assassinated. Growls came out of his throat.

“Tal’kar?” Kilyne said quite alarmed about his behavior, holding the little one on her arms.

The Ruby turned to her immediately, showing his fangs for a brief moment. He then controlled his breathing down to a regular rhythm and looked at her.

“What is it, love?” she whispered. The kid on her arms not really minding the situation; he was too busy trying to curl up where he was.

“… He… blessed him”, Tal’kar spoke finally. “The Platinum blessed us with His new chosen one.”

“What are you-… what do you mean?”

The Ruby walked towards his mate and child, kneeling to comfort both of them, but they didn’t really seem to be affected. In fact, Kilyne’s look of uncertainty told the red dragon that she at least didn’t really measure the dimensions of what just had happened.

“Kilyne… he is the next Mythril dragon”, he said signaling at his son with a gesture of his head and eyes. “He is the one from the prophecy… he will bring a new era for us dragons!”

“Is it bad? I thought the coming of the Mythril would do us a great good!” she protested. The little one made a slight moan for lack of comfort. “Why are you acting so… weird?”

“Kilyne, the prophecy!” he held her head to make her come to her senses, as if. “The Mythril means the start of a new era, but the Mythril is also meant to end it… The last one, he was corrupted with so much power that he almost wiped out our race and made other races go through the same fate, or worse…”

Kilyne was shocked. At that point she looked at her son with concern, and perhaps a bit of fear. The little one would become a powerful entity when he grew up and discovered the inherent magic within himself. She feared for the future of her race, but her love for the hatching was stronger, maybe more now than when she didn’t know she was holding the next messiah of the dragons.

“And the fact that he is my son makes things much more complicated…” Tal’kar continued. “His hatching in our family will most likely have a greater effect on how our lives will go on. The elders will want to summon us to evaluate the situation. They will most likely forbid us to teach him magics. Moreover, they will be watching us, especially me, looking out for the way we will be raising him… He will give the Darkflame family a reputation at an early age, but I cannot tell if it will be a bad one or a good one… He may even be shunned by our own kind, since some dragons fear the coming of the Mythril…that kind of life can affect him and…”

He stopped at that point, he didn’t even dare mentioning his son, his hatchling, his first born, followed by a phrase with the word “mad”. A deep sigh escaped the dragon male.

“He shall not…” she said after the pause. “Allastor shall not be that way… I shall not let him fall into… madness. I will protect him and he will always be able to seek shelter with me. I will make sure to raise him properly, teach him to discern between good and evil…”

“What about when- … wait… Allastor?” Tal’kar repeated, a little confused.

“That will be his name… we agreed that I would choose his name, remember?”

“I… like it, my love…” he answered at the name chosen by his mate. But then he returned to the original subject. “But, ultimately, Kilyne, what will-”

“Let me worry about him, ok love?” she finally stated.

Then she looked back at her little one, who was looking back at her with his big wide open blue eyes with an interested look. Only by looking at him made her relax and felt a great relieve. Something in his eyes told her, or rather made her think, that things would come when they had to come, and burdens will be carried when the time came. For now, she would only worry about raising him and enjoying her little one the most she could. She smiled at little Allastor, and he seemed to comprehend, for his tail started waging. He then produced a weird brief moan, as if calling her and she chuckled.

“Aren’t you a cute hatchling? My beloved little Al…” she nuzzled the little one and kept caressing him with her snout.

Tal’kar remained quiet, looking at the scene. Somehow, he also realized that worrying about the things he said now wouldn’t solve anything at this point. Allastor having hatched with the mark of Bahamut was a matter to be concerned about, but he was his son. Religion and his duties would not interfere with this moment. He had asked for and was granted with permission to have some time with his family, and it should not go to waste. Eventually, the elders would summon them for an audience and decide what would be best for the little one, the Darkflames and the enclave of dragons, as well as the dragon kind and the humans they had arrangements with.