Vaxildan still snored away in his drugged sleep even as the nest began to crackle.
Danu paced atop the coiled cables of the nest. Her tail lashed behind her, her fans coiled and stretched, and she couldn't help but open her mouth, breathing in the scent. Hunger... it felt as if it consumed her, narrowing her focus to only the three soft glows nestled beneath.
It wasn't as strong as the first one. Had she forgotten to change out the herbs, to create the ritual so they'd have more power? No matter. Soon-
The first egg cracked.
With an impatient screech, Danu dove into the nest, claws extended to rip open the shell and feast.
----
Desert ghosted over the dry grasses, creeping low to the ground, wings tucked close to his body so not to scare his prey. The colony of burrowborrowers paid him no heed, and he had to stop his tail from twitching, ensuring it was held above the grass where no sound could alert the skittish little animals. Mirrors were always hungry - and it had been nearly two hours since his last meal.
A dragon screamed.
The burrowborrowers perked up instantly, scurrying this way and that. Desert snarled and leaped from cover, pouncing through the dry grass. It was too late. His claws landed on bare earth, pockmarked with holes too small for a Mirror's head or paws.
He spent only a few seconds pacing, growling at the missed meal, before he heard the scream again. This time it was different - triumph, perhaps? It wasn't a Mirror, but Desert knew a food-cry when he heard one.
Hungry, he broke into a lope across the Thunderhead Savanna, following the sound. Perhaps this dragon would be willing to share their meal.
----
The second egg cracked. The first child - a tiny Fae, eggshell still on its now-gray and shriveled wings, lay dead at Danu's feet. She licked her lips and preened her fins. A second egg. A second child. The power hummed within her, filling her up, making her feel more alive than she'd felt since- since, since ever, really.
A soft rustle made her perk her fins up and look to the third egg. It wobbled among its cables, but no- that wasn't the rustle, now was it? A gleaming white head peeked over the side of the nest.
"What-" muttered Vaxildan.
The second egg cracked, a tiny little tail poking out.
Danu pounced. Her teeth sank into the tail and she dragged the hatchling unceremoniously into the world, drawing blood, then recoiled at the taste. It was... bitter. No matter. The power was sweet, and she drew it in, consumed it as the hatchling thrashed. It cried out - the only sound it would ever make, a thin, reedy wail.
"What-!" shouted Vaxildan. Coward. Cowards,
all of these drakes, Danu decided through the sweet electric haze, and when she was the mother of all, they would never be afraid of her again, now would they?
"What?" responded a new voice.
The second Fae hatchling lay dead with its sibling, gray and lifeless. Danu pushed herself up and stared at the third egg. It wobbled once more.
Yes. Yes. Soon.
But a second, unfamiliar face looked into the nest - a face of bent metal and staring black eyes which Danu saw herself in. Her eyes flared bright blue, her fans crackled with electricity, contorting in crazed positions she'd never thought fans could go into.
She paused at the sight, confused. The dragon behind the lenses gave her an equal pause, its head fins puffing up.
Crack, went the third egg.
Danu tore her eyes away from her reflection and reached for it. Her claw hummed as it got close. She could savor this one, let it tide her over until there were more children-
But before her claw touched the shell, it was scooped away.
Danu shrieked in rage and thrust herself up into the air, gathering up the new power within her. Vaxildan cowered at the edge of the cave. The intruder Mirror backed away from her, the egg disappearing into his satchel.
"Get away from it! Egg thief!"
"It's
mine," Danu hissed. The Mirror shook his head and kept backing away. It was Vaxildan who responded, carefully stepping away from the wall to cover the Mirror's retreat.
"That makes you worse."
Rage bubbled up in Danu. She let it crackle along her wings, imagined it coming from her eyes to dance along her fins like she'd seen in the Mirror's lenses. That child was
hers, its power forfeit - and she. would. have. it.
But Vaxildan leapt at her, his claws out.
Everything went static blue. Danu smelled ozone, felt only rage, heard a shriek and a small, soft child's cry - but too far, too far, out of her reach! Another one- escaped!
Her ears rang, and a blast echoed before everything went black.
Danu felt stiff.
She pushed herself up, her bones popping, muscles protesting, and shook her head. That little nexus of fresh power still coiled within her belly, though it was less than she'd wanted - less than she'd deserved.
Dust clouded the air. White glinted through the dust. Danu hopped and fluttered until she landed on the flank of the Wildclaw who had fathered this batch of children - his veil torn asunder, the golden band around his throat now dented and half-melted. He was alive, she thought, from the slight twitches of his chest, but barely.
And she felt
power from him. Not as strong as from a hatchling, but still, power...
One had gotten away. But this one hadn't. The Spiral had said hatchlings had to be consumed, but surely, she wasn't only trying to mother hatchlings. She wanted power over all dragonkind - so, all dragonkind were fair game, right?
Vaxildan drew his last, shuddering breath, as Danu consumed his power and life for her own.
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