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This is the big one folks. More to come.
Entry 39
It was colder than I’d expected, and the wind was vicious. I kept my wings tightly folded against my sides for fear of being dragged off-course by it.
Of course, for Oslowe this wasn’t an issue. He was far too massive for the gusts to affect him much, and seemed to have taken it upon himself to stand between me and the wind to shield me from the worst of it. I suppose he must’ve picked that up from looking after Miri.
We’d made it deep into the forest by the time snow started to fall, but there was hardly any sign of life about in the forest. We resorted to digging out burrows we came across, and shaking trees to see if anything edible fell out. Eventually we succeeded in finding a few hibernating creatures and a mercifully empty beehive. It wasn’t nearly enough, though, and the snow was falling heavily.
I heard Oslowe exclaim in surprise amidst the wind howling through the trees. It took a moment of squinting through the flurries to see just why. I hurried to his side and bent down to get a closer look at the object he’d found.
“It’s an egg, isn’t it?” he asked, his voice heavy with concern. “But is it of the ice flight, or just frozen from the storm?”
“I’m not sure,” I admitted quietly as I bent to pick the frigid egg from the snow-covered ground. I secured it in one of my satchels before searching the area. “Whoever left it here… their footprints must’ve been snowed over for ages.”
“I’m starting to see how your group was formed. I’ve never seen an egg just left out in the open like that before,” Oslowe remarked solemnly, barely audible over the wind.
“It uh, happens more often than you’d think,” I replied. “I didn’t know until I ended up out here, either. But I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, I knew they were bought and sold - I did hatch from one, myself.”
Oslowe nodded silently as he roamed through the area, shifting through the snow for any clue as to the egg’s origin. I did my best to help, but there was nothing to be found and my worries about how my clan was doing back in the cave were growing hard to ignore. Aside from that, the weather was nearing blizzard status.
“Oslowe!” I called out over the gusts. “I don’t think we’re going to find anything else out here, we should head back!”
The guardian hesitated before nodding and making his way over to me, and I started to head in the direction of home with him following slowly after. I opened the satchel as I walked and checked over the egg we’d found; if ice eggs were supposed to look like that, then I had newfound respect and pity for mother dragons in the Southern Icefield.
“How far do you think that egg is from its parents?” Oslowe’s voice was nearly drowned out by the weather.
I turned to face him, and was taken aback by the sadness in his expression. “I…” I began before trailing off. I looked away from his burning eyes to once more study the egg. “I can’t say, but it must be far. If I had to guess I’d say that either a dragon was hoping to sell it at the trading post here, or one of the beastclan creatures brought it.”
A dull rumble resonated from Oslowe’s throat. “I see,” he replied. “I’d hoped stolen eggs wouldn’t be so common.”
“I don’t think all of them are stolen,” I said. “I’m sure some are left behind by dragons that couldn’t raise hatchlings.”
“But for just anyone to be able to find one… or buy one… I’d be worried about what sort of person would be after an egg like that.”
“Well, some dragons want to adopt children,” I replied. “And then there’s cases like my old lair…” I began, but the words caught in my throat. Panic and fear obscured my memories of my former lair beyond anything I could manage to describe. Nausea hit as I leaned against the nearest tree for support, trying to catch my breath and calm the hell down. Why couldn’t I just think through these things like a normal person? What happened to me?
I heard Oslowe say something, but could hardly take words in amidst the wind screaming into my ears and my heart pounding in my chest. I shut my eyes tightly in hopes it’d allay the dizziness that wracked my body, but all it did was make me feel more lost and terrified.
And then the wind stopped. I became painfully aware of my own panicked gasping in the newfound respite.
“You have panic attacks.”
He stated it so simply. I opened my eyes and found myself immediately met with the guardian’s amber gaze. His massive wings were raised and wrapped around the tree, shielding me from the blizzard.
“I have little experience in such things, but I promise you’re okay,” Oslowe said. “Safe.”
“
W-what?” I winced at how broken my own voice sounded. “Uh, I mean – gods. I’m fine, sorry. Thank you. We really need to head back and check on everyone, I need to see Nova—and everyone else. You must be worried about Mirielle too. I-I’m sorry.” I was repeating myself and gods I needed to stop, but it seemed all I could do was spew out apologies.
“It’s fine. I do think it’d be wise to head back, if you feel able,” Oslowe said with a nod, folding his wings against his sides. The wind and snow hit me once more, but I was prepared enough for it to start walking again. Oslowe followed close behind, and for a good while the only sound that accompanied us was the wind cutting through the trees.
“You’re quite devoted to her, aren’t you?” Oslowe asked after a time. “Warms my heart to see such a caring mate, especially given the circumstances you’re all in.”
“…Mate?” I asked more to myself at first, but then I turned to face my companion. “What mate?”
“Wh– Miss Nova, I mean!” Oslowe replied, his brow raised in surprise. “Have I—am I mistaken?”
“Um, yeah... I love Nova dearly, but as a daughter. I’ve known her since the day she hatched, alongside most of the other dragons there. They’re my family now, but I could never see them like…
that,” I elaborated quickly, trying to hide my horror at his mistake.
“Ah, I see - sorry about that! I didn’t mean to offend,” Oslowe said, ducking his head apologetically.
“I-I’m not, it’s fine, don’t worry,” I said, waving my arms dismissively. “Just… good to set things straight.”
“Yes,” he nodded succinctly. “You must feel much the way I do about my Miri, then. I found her when she was only a few days old. I could never imagine—” he paused, scowling slightly at the thought. “I think I’ll always see her as a child.”
“I could see why,” I responded, chuckling in spite of myself until I grew concerned about his reaction.
An amused snort was Oslowe’s only response, but the look on his face gradually became more distant. I didn’t have time to ask about it, though, as crackling from within my satchels quickly caught both our attention.
I hurriedly dropped to my haunches and took the pouch that contained the precious cargo into my arms, cradling it. Oslowe lay down in the snow to get a better look at the glittering egg as pieces of it began to break away.
It paused after a few minutes, and the dragon within let out a series of thrumming chirps. It sounded frightened—I didn’t blame it for that. It was hardly ideal to hatch in a blizzard. I leaned close to the egg until my snout was almost touching it. “Hey there, little one,” I said, trying to sound as calm and comforting as possible. “Everything’s alright—we’re here for you, okay? You just have to keep trying to come out of there.”
More silence, and then I heard and felt the tiny dragon shifting within its shell. A large chunk of the egg fell away, and a pale blue eye blinked up at me. It chirped again before poking its snout out of the crack and biting off another piece of eggshell.
I let out a soft gasp when I could finally see enough of the hatchling to tell its breed. If the nose horn and hadn’t given it away, the fact it was now eating fragments of its shell certainly would have.
I held an infant pearlcatcher in my arms.
Some of these pixels go places....