Aleirian

"...when you can come to us you will and when you do you will feed nurture nourish sustain us and you will learn the beauty of dark shade night Shade shadows where we will stalk hunt our prey..."

The unrelenting litany spoke to him for days from outside his shell, never once stopping the hypnotizing flow of words. When he taptaptapped against the thick wall that divided his fetal self from true life, he was already a minion of the Shade. He craved the feel of thick blood sliding over his tongue, desired the screamed pleas of dying foes, and needed the intoxicating power one gets when they hold a being's life and death in their claws. The youngling pushed angrily against the shell that kept him from his prey, and with a final giant shove he broke through the egg and sprawled in the dusty ashes beyond the thick walls of the Great Furnace. His parents were nowhere to be seen, nor did he find any siblings to feed from. Yet, he felt eyes studying him, weighing his worth, and he hissed his fury to the surrounding dull-colored rocks. When he could find no beings nearby, the hatchling tamped down on his simmering rage and sniffed the air in search of what his eyes couldn't find.

"This one is cunning," a deep draconic voice chuckled from above the baby. Closing his tiny eyes, the baby dragon lifted his nose and smelled...prey. His lips pulled away from his needle-sharp baby teeth in a threatening snarl.

A higher, sing-song voice answered the first, "And ferocious. Ooh, I like him very much, Moondust!" The baby loosed a tiny growl in protest.

Two loud THUDS sounded from directly before the Shade-touched baby and his eyes snapped open even as he never moved, just stood his ground in front of two fully grown Bogsneak dragons. The slightly smaller dragon, colored like ice, brought his face close to the snarling baby and took a long sniff. "Yes," he sighed, "I fear this one is saturated with corruption from The Shade. Our foe is becoming more dangerous, I fear."

His companion, a towering blue female, nodded solemnly at his words. "You would know, Moondust, having come so close to The Shade when you were so young," she crooned, and the sound of her voice woke a small fire from within the hatchling's body. It was a tiny flame, a warmth that countered the cold need to destroy. When the blue dragon leaned close and smiled warmly at the baby, he shook his head and sneezed.

"Moondust," she smiled to her smaller companion, "his baby smell lingers. I think he can be saved," she turned to face the gleaming male at her side, shocked him with her hopeful smile. "Let me take him in," her pleas brought a look of pain to Moondust's features, and the baby studied the interactions between the two adult dragons. He studied their features, noticed he was built the same as both dragons before him, and he still felt that warmth battling through the darkness that filled him.

After long minutes, the male dragon sighed and nodded, which earned a happy squeal from the blue female and she bounced around happily as she enthused, "Thank you thank you thank you!" Then, when she wound down, she landed beside the touched baby and nuzzled against his cold flank. "What shall we name you, little one," she crooned in her low voice, a voice which fought to bring a smile to the baby's lips.

Understanding eluded the baby, he knew no words beyond the ones whispered to him in the shell. He knew nothing of love and warmth and happiness. Yet, the large dragon next to him woke such cravings inside the baby and he felt his lips pulling away from his teeth in a twisted sneer - his first attempt at a smile. Instead of repelling the maternal dragon, she just gasped, "Aww, that's so cute!" as she lightly pinched his cheek. Then she wrapped her front legs securely around the baby and carried him into the air with her. The baby felt no fear, just a blooming trust of the female who carried him high into the skies as his own wings were weak to fly. He looked over his new friend's shoulder and saw the male was following her through the clouds, and the baby tried to smile again, came closer to real mirth in his expression, and was satisfied to receive a smile in return from Moondust.

Bluejay and Moondust carried the Shade-touched hatchling into the mud-filled swamp that she called home and introduced the youngling into the nameless clan. She explained how they were following the spoor of a giant Shade creature and found the baby just as he hatched from a mottled, rotten egg sitting alone without parents or even a guardian. As Bluejay nuzzled the unnamed baby, a huge dragon came into the clearing which caused the baby to push in front of his new mother and rear up to hiss at the newcomer.

Avenue had heard the voices coming from the Bogsneak glade and drifted through to see what the commotion was about. When the tiny bundle of dark fury thrust its stout body between him and Bluejay, the Guardian gave a startled laugh and brought his face to the baby's darkly glittering features. "What's up, Bluejay?" he asked the chuckling dragon that mothered every injured creature that came into the lands. When his friend gave him the details of how and where the baby was found, Avenue nodded sagely and admitted, "I have heard of such happenings, where The Shade steals eggs and corrupts the baby inside before it can be born. It doesn't happen often," he sighed, "but it does happen."

The baby watched the conversation move back and forth from the blue dragon that warmed his tiny soul to the imposing armored dragon that seemed to be her friend. By the end of the conversation, it was decided unanimously by the entire gathering that the baby should be raised by Bluejay (for if any dragon could teach an empty soul how to love it would be her) and the baby would be trained to combat the encroaching Shade by Avenue who had encountered the dangers of the darkness in his long travels.

Aleirian grew slowly, as if his body were stunted by the cold beginning of his life. Soon, he was moving unseen through the surrounding swamps, then later across the island that his nameless called home with other warriors who guarded the borders from dangers untold. He loved his adopted mother without limits, and there was also a warm respect in his heart for his mentor, even after Avenue ascended to serve the dragon gods.