Nouveau

When the little cavern was discovered, it was a shock that any were alive at all - two Gaolers curled around a nest of Banescale eggs. Even for the Icewarden's children, it had simply been too cold, and where they once had vivid scales and bright fur, now only a sickly rot remained.

But they remained, even in this strange unlife, and so did their charges.

When the eggs hatched, however, it was clear that despite the best efforts of their guards, the hatchlings too had suffered from the cold. The same rot, the same wounds never quite healing. But worse was their dull eyes, their blank stares. The cold had driven the song from their minds and the fire from their hearts.

These are not the monsters we were meant to destroy, not any longer.

And so the Gaolers took pity on these lost children - for while their broken bodies would never truly heal, their spirits could.

---

"They are not even hatched, they can't-"

"Your Warden has given a command! The caverns are all to be sealed off."

It was not a choice at all.

"Then I will guard them. The ice may not last forever, and one of us will need to be here when it thaws. My ice magic is strong enough - I will endure."

Though his words were calm, his stance was defiant. He would not leave these eggs, and he did not care the cost to stay.