The Celestial Way

Chapter 17.3 - Protector of the Way

Airo had never seen people move so fast, not even during emergency evacuations.

The hatching ceremony was swiftly organized in one of the large observation domes. The Radiant Knights again were all present with no exception, and even some refugees had managed to find their way into the dome. Magus Dei had also arrived, although Mentoria remained nowhere to be seen. The egg was brought into the dome, stark white in color, and carefully placed on a wide, low podium. Everyone, humans and dragons alike, stood at a respectable distance from the podium, leaving a large empty half-circle before the observation deck of the huge chamber.

"A white egg," Airo heard one nearby dragon murmur. "This can't be good."

Stamat was chosen to have the honor. Lylana offered Magus to perform the ceremony, yet the old Knight declined on grounds he'd been exiled from the Order twenty years ago, and thus no longer true part of it. So Lylana stood besides the dragon egg and Stamat, blessing them both to always be able to see the Way and to forge a lasting bond in the light of the Fire Eternal. The Highlander Knight constantly glanced toward Glawlrhain during this short and evocative speech, and the sinuous dragon nodded encouragingly every time. Stamat also took a couple of quick looks at Alomar for some reason, yet the temperamental dragon gazed with a stony expression. Airo realized something significant was going on behind the scenes, since even Veralla held her breath as the event unfolded.

The blessing ceremony concluded promptly. Lylana withdrew from the podium and everyone began to wait for the dragon egg to hatch.

Soon it became apparent Yeoman Cloud had fumbled something.

"It's not hatching," Stamat said, his voice shaking with emotion.

The gathered crowd made scattered comments. The dragons were increasingly concerned with the egg being white in color for some reason.

"Au contraire, Knight Stamat," Yeoman Cloud objected blithely. "Here, have another look." The SAI summoned a cloud of golden particles around the dragon egg. The particles flashed and swirled, solidifying into a large lens, amplifying the view a thousandfold. Tiny, web-like patches of cracks had appeared in different spots upon the egg's smooth, glassy surface.

The crowd became even more agitated.

"I have never seen anything like this," Lylana said.

"Neither have I," Magus replied. "However, this does not change things." He lifted his arms high and wide, and his voice boomed with absolute authority. "Silence! The ceremony continues."

The noise died down and the observation dome became quiet once more.

Moments went by, then minutes, then hours. Beyond the panoramic window behind the podium, the twin suns lowered into twilight. Stamat stood by the dragon egg, nervous and concerned. The tiny cracks visible on the lens grew excruciatingly slow, deepening by infinitesimal amount. The crowd rustled, exchanging whispered conversations and stirring stiffened joints. Airo wasn't sure about the egg, yet by his reckoning the tension within the chamber had reached the breaking point.

At last, there was an audible pop.

The lens around the dragon egg disappeared. A second later, one of the cracked regions of the egg's shell caved in and broke. The crowd breathed a sigh of relief. Another spot broke free, and the top of the whole egg flopped away in several large, fractured chunks. The hatchling emerged.

The sighs turned into shocked gasps. Besides Airo, Veralla hrrr–ed with horror.

The dragon hatchling was a wretched sight to behold. Its scales were completely leached of color, whiter even than its shell, and its eyes were luridly purple; not in a healthy way, but rather in the limpid clarity of one whose sclerae and irises were completely transparent, showing the blood behind. The hatchling clawed weakly, and tumbled out of its remaining shell. Its body was nothing but scales and bones, giving the dragonet's already ghostly visage a skeletal quality.