Warfire | Broken Time Series: Book Two

Chapter 6

It must have been minutes before sunrise when Nagan woke up sweating.

...Why is it so warm?

Even in the sweltering heat of Summer, the castle had wards and enchantments to keep it at a constant temperature. It wasn't very likely there was a malfunction. Did Az leave the window open last night? And why does my chest feel heavy?

His mind swam in lazy sleepiness for a moment before a single thought rang clear: Something was sitting on him.

Nagan bolted awake, sending whatever it was sprawling into his lap.

Hazel eyes locked onto onyx, and they both screamed.

"Wha--What?! What's going on!" Az shouted from behind his bed curtains. Nagan was faintly aware of a lump tumbling from his friend's bed and a nearly identical screech.

Somehow in all the commotion, the boys ended up pressed against the fireplace in the corner of their room.

"Something was in my bed! Something was in my bed!" Az's voice pitched higher every time he exclaimed the phrase while holding Nagan firmly by the shoulders, using him as a human shield.

"Let go of me, Az or so help me I will feed your remains to the faes!" Nagan threatened but gripped onto Az's shirt just as tightly. If he was going down, he'd take Az with him!

"Hey, you guys ok? What's going on?" Their door slammed against the wall as the other boys on their floor rushed in. And needless to say, it was too early in the morning to be dealing with what was in front of them.

Boy, do they need an adult to handle this.

Sitting on Nagan's bed was a baby dragon. Not a fae, a real baby dragon. The school trouble magnets probably would've noticed the broken eggshells at their feet if they weren't so panicked.

She looked at them in confusion, if not a bit disgruntled from being unceremoniously tossed to the foot of the bed. Shooting what was probably a pout in Nagan's direction, she slithered over to his abandoned pillow and coiled around herself. Her amethyst wings spread wide to soak up the first rays of sunrise.

From Az's bed poked out a celadon head with the start of a crown of horns, looking equally unimpressed with his master's reaction to him. He leaped onto the floor with the grace of a cat and stretched his wings languidly before sitting with his tail curled around him. Gold eyes stared at his master expectantly.

Nagan was the first to move as he pried Az's fingers from his shoulders.

"Are they even supposed to hatch this early?" Nagan asked no one in particular but looked expectantly at the small crowd. No one dared to make eye contact, and Nagan sighed in exasperation. "Are there any dragon experts on this floor?"

"Why did I just wake up at the crack of dawn to screaming? You better have a good explanation for this, Nagan!" a voice demanded from the door. Carthadeus pushed through the crowd to glare at Nagan, but he didn't have enough time to continue yelling.

"It's Carthadeus! He's a dragon expert!"

"Carthadeus, can dragons hatch this early?"

"Is something wrong with their dragons?"

"Should we get Nurse Marvi?"

"She heals humans, not dragons."

"Enough!" Carthadeus bellowed, but Nagan could see how pleased he secretly was with being the hero of the hour. "All of you quiet down for three seconds and let me think!"

He pointed a finger at Nagan. "You!"

"Me? What did I do?" Nagan asked with an affronted look.

"Nothing," Carthadeus said with a scowl. "I just want you to start talking and tell me what's going on since it's always you who ruins all sense of peace and serenity."

Nagan didn't bother pointing out Az was equally involved in this. Not that it would've made a difference. Said boy was already cooing at his dragon, anyway. "Then I have one question: Why did our dragons hatch so early? Shouldn't they have another month?"

"Yes, that would be normal," he said and crossed his arms. "But our current circumstances aren't exactly normal, are they."

No, they were not. Despite being safe in Carvolier, there was a war going on outside these walls.

"Correct me if I'm wrong," And do so without your usual prickliness, thanks, "but are you implying the dragons hatched early for us?"

"Yes."

Carthadeus relaxed his shoulders as he continued explaining. This was a side Nagan had never seen before he soon realized. It was clear the older boy enjoyed the subject of dragons much more than incantations and rune drawing combined. And if my suspicions are correct, perhaps it was the only thing he chose.

"Dragons are sentient from the time they're laid, which is why they can choose and bond to whoever they wish their master or mistress to be. It's also because of that bond they are aware of what's going on around them. If anything, they probably sensed your stress over the war and pulled magic towards them to develop faster."

"And will rapid growth continue because of the situation?" Nagan asked, genuinely curious.

"Maybe." Carthadeus gave a light shrug and glanced between the dragons. "Depends if they feel the need to. For now, we're technically safe because we aren't directly in the war ourselves... Yet. And for the record, they look pretty healthy to me, so I don't think they'll be needing any sort of special treatment. If anything, they're probably hungry."

Nodding at Carthadeus' words, he carefully walked over to his bed and next to the curled form of his dragon. "An amphithere?"

"Sure looks like it. You don't see a lot of them in Tarkon," Carthadeus commented and stood next to Nagan, nodding his head back to Az as he said, "Mostly dragons like Icarion's. Amphitheres are more of a Hecatite thing."

"Ah." Then did my father have an amphithere, too?

"Wait a second." Carthadeus stiffened and looked back at the group of boys still at the door. "Aren't there more of you second years here? If these dragons hatched early, why wouldn't yours do the same?"

No one moved and looked at Carthadeus in confusion, and his usual irritation returned.

"Well don't just stand there! Your dragon eggs are probably hatching as we speak! Now scram!"

The younger boys tumbled out of the room while the older left more quietly. You could hear a chorus of opening doors all throughout the floor and even a few shouts of shock or joy.

"So I guess all the dragons are hatching today," Az commented as he carried his dragon. "Now what?"

"Obviously your first step is to name them," Carthadeus said, "and then feed them. Since I'm awake, I might as well find Professor Fai. We need to alert the staff about this and get the nursery up and running."

"Didn't think you'd willingly volunteer to help," Nagan said with dry sarcasm.

Carthadeus snorted humorlessly. "I wouldn't call it willing, and I'm certainly not doing this for you."

With that, he stalked out without even bothering to shut the door.

There was a beat of silence before Az turned to Nagan mildly impressed. "That was the most civil conversation I've ever seen the two of you engage in."

"Shut up."

Nagan turned back to the amphithere on this pillow and stroked her head. A wave of calm washed over him. "So what are you naming your dragon?"

Az stared down at his dragon as intelligent golden eyes blinked leisurely. "I think...Kint is a nice name. What about you?"

"Her name will be Iccmiravi."