The Dragon's Star Chronicles - Book 1 [The Elemental Furies]

Chapter 22

Melithor looked over the clutch of eggs, nestled in magically warmed sand and smiled at the sight of the first movement in the platinum egg. Apparently, that was the cue for the other four eggs to begin rocking, lightly at first, but in moments, the rocking became frantic. He looked over at his mate, Feyrnith who had begun to pace with impatience. She was just as ready for the hatching as he was. Ten years was a long time to tend one's eggs, even for dragons.

He thought back to the night that Feyrnith had laid them. It had been a night of such hope and promise. He had experienced the honor of watching one of his own students, awaken the spirit of the platinum dragon, while his other student held off an onslaught of enemies. But there had also been so much pain. He was seriously injured and lost track of his students, due to circumstances beyond is control. Thoughts of that injury reminded him of the stiffness that still troubled his shoulder sometimes. "Damn dragon bane weapons!" He muttered to himself.

That wound, kept him from flying for way too long. Even now, his time in the air was limited. His only hope of fully recovering, was to find one that could mend the very magic that his physical body was comprised of. Not even the Dragon Priestess, that Feyrnith had brought to their lair, when he was unconscious, could completely heal him. After restoring him to awareness and treating the wound the best she could, she took the spear that Allyan had pulled from his back, to study it. Just a few days ago, she came back to Melithor's lair, to explain to him, that only a divinely touched magic user could repair the damage done by that damned weapon. He really wished that he knew just who had put that spear in his back, so that he could tear him or her to pieces.

His dark thoughts were washed away by the sound of the first crack in one of the eggs, followed by a loud crackling as all of them began to split apart. Ten years was an unusually long time for dragon eggs to remain unhatched, at least when the parents were there to tend them. Untended, they can take up to a century to hatch, depending on the conditions around them. But it didn't matter anymore, all of his worries that something was wrong, vanished with the appearance of five little beaks, breaking through their shells. The shells fell away, revealing five healthy and glowing dragonlings.

As the colors of the eggs had denoted, there were two silver, two bronze and one shining platinum youngster, staggering awkwardly across the sand, towards their excited parents and the pile of fresh meat, that would be their first meal. As Melithor assisted in feeding his young, he wondered which one was Allyan. He had tried to reason out, just how Allyan could have been reborn as a dragon, but had finally just come to accept that it simply was. The how, wasn't that important.

One of the silver dragonlings clamped down hard, biting through the meat that Melithor had offered and began gnawing on Melithor's talon, like a dog gnawing on a bone. His eyes were quite intently staring at Melithor as he started to nestle against Melithor's chest. Melithor felt a joyous warmth as the youngster pressed against him and promptly fell asleep. It was extremely rare for dragonlings to bond strongly with their fathers, but this one clearly wanted to be with his father.

He looked up to see the other four, including the platinum female, sound asleep in a pile between his mate's rested front legs, all of their bellies bulging from their first meal. She looked up at him and smiled. "It seems that he has taken to you. I think that you should name him."

Melithor looked down at his tiny little son, sleeping contently, coiled against him. "So, are you Allyan?" He wondered. The little silver dragonling opened his eyes and looked straight up at Melithor. The line of his tiny scales progressing down his neck, created the illusion of a long mane of white hair, when observed from above. For a brief moment, Melithor could almost see Allyan's face reflecting back at him, in those silver eyes. "I'll call you Allynth." It was the closest to Allyan's name, in draconic. The youngster smiled and closed his eyes, falling back to sleep.

Melithor did not want to disturb his son's sleep, so he sat perfectly still and looked within, to contemplate everything that had happened in the past decade. Five years after the ritual and the Darkened One's attack on the university, Melithor had finally found Eric, teaching new battle mages at the Enchanter's School of Magic. With the loss of Gray Vale, the other schools were forced to open to wider varieties of magic. Gray Vale was originally the only place to train battle mages. But Eric took on the mantle of leadership and guided the remaining magic schools in developing their own battle mage programs. It was a good thing too, considering how militant the new Gray Vale had become.

But Eric had settled at the Enchanter's School for another reason. Love. He had met and married a very lovely lady who definitely enchanted his heart. Melissa was her name and he was completely devoted to her. From what Melithor had seen, she was equally devoted to Eric. Together, they had started a new variation of battle mage, that used enchantment magic as well as battle magic, against their enemies. Melithor was proud of his former student and very happy to see him successful, even in these dark times.

Celeste...She should be back now. He wondered just what she had been doing this past decade. Allyan's last message to Melithor was contained in a recording crystal. In it, Allyan had explained that Celeste was in another realm, making herself ready for the return of the platinum dragon. She had to unlock her true potential, if she was going to help the platinum dragon fully return to this realm. If she was successful, then she would return at the same time that the platinum dragon was born. She would still be Celeste, but she will be changed.

On a side note, Allyan had informed Melithor that Celeste and Eric were brother and sister. Eric's mother had fallen for Celeste's father and during a brief fling, become pregnant. She hid her pregnancy from their father, leaving when she realized that he was actually in love with Celeste's mother. She offered Eric to an affluent family that had no male heirs. That is how it was that the two of them were not aware of their relationship. While this bit of information wasn't important in the grander scheme of things, Allyan had wanted Melithor to better understand his students.

"Melithor?" Feyrnith spoke softly, trying to get Melithor's attention. He looked over at her. "What will we name these young ones?" She tilted her head toward the pile of dragonlings between her front legs.

Keeping his own voice low he responded, "Traditionally, the one that they bond with is the one that names them."

She snorted, causing them all to stir a bit and then fall back to sleep. "I should have known that you would say that. I guess that I'll have to wait till they wake and figure out what names suit them." She glared briefly at him, then turned her attention back to the dragonlings.

Melithor felt happy. It was an emotion that dragons weren't really known for feeling, or at least showing. He also felt sleepy. Maybe it was the soundly sleeping dragonlings, softly snoring and occasionally growling. Or maybe it was he sense of relief at seeing all of his young hatched and healthy. Whatever it was. He gave in and settled his chin to the side of Allynth, and fell asleep.