Master of the Mind: Prologue
07/02/2020
Hey guys! I'm glad to say that I have officially started writing my next book. It will be a prequel to the Silver Trilogy, based on Eldawin's past, and how he became as he was. I'm not actually going to post the book for a while, but I'm going to post the prologue and first chapter on here. So have a look, and enjoy being thrown back into the world of dragons.
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The anxious clicking of talons against stone echoed through a small cavern deep in the earth. A fire pit flickered its orange light, casting dancing shadows for the three figures that were currently present. Three dragons. The largest of them had earth brown scales that blended in startlingly well with the surrounding stone walls. It was a male dragon, a drake, with two long horns that stretched upwards from the back of its head and large scales that seemed almost like stone themselves.
The second dragon was a light green dragoness, with smaller scales that sparkled brilliantly in the firelight. She sat back on her haunches, regarding the other two dragons with slight amusement. Especially the final dragon of the party, another female, who was maybe a tad smaller than her. The other dragoness had cream-white scales and a soft complexion. Her wings, though held tightly to her sides, were obviously larger than the other two dragons, and she paced back and forth anxiously, her tail flicking from side to side.
The source of her anxiety was situated in a nest of sticks and straw in the centre of the cavern. A single egg, around the size of a watermelon. It wobbled and moved back and forth, the hatchling inside eager to get out but seemingly struggling to do so. It made the mother even more worried.
"Calm down Sapher," the large brown dragon said in the deep growling language of the dragons, "You are worrying over nothing."
"Hynder," Sapher rumbled back, pacing all the faster as she ranted, "I'm allowed to worry. It's my first clutch... and there is only one egg! There is never only one egg! And it's taking forever to hatch! Is a hatchling supposed to take this long? And even if it does hatch... it won't have any brothers or sisters. And it'll be lonely. And it should have brothers and sisters. But it doesn't. And that's weird. And there'll probably be something wrong with it. There's probably something wrong with me! What dragoness only has one egg!"
"Oh Sapher," Hynder sighed, standing up and walking over to her, "Everything will be fine. Trust me."
He gently nuzzled his mate, the action causing her to stop her movement. She let out a long sigh and nuzzled him back, allowing her breathing to return to normal. Truthfully, he was a little worried as well. Most dragon clutches were about three eggs. Occasionally there were two or four, but never one. At least, he had never come across it before. But it wouldn't help if he told her that. So instead he gave a pointed look at the other dragoness in the room, who had remained mostly silent during the ordeal.
"It will be alright. Right Pantela?" he asked the green dragon.
She only grinned, "You have no need to worry. As far as I can tell the hatchling inside is healthy. In fact, I would be excited! The last time there was only a single egg in a clutch an entirely new species of dragon was born!"
Sapher looked back at her with a slight frown, "You didn't tell us that before. A new species?"
Hynder looked at the single egg as it rocked back and forth, his curiosity burning. If this other dragon was telling the truth, then his mate and him had brought an entirely new dragon into the world. The last new species of dragon had been hatched a hundred years ago but was killed shortly after by hunters.
"You life dragons are relatively new, right?" Sapher asked.
"Yes. My mother, Iraliene, is the first of us. That was just over three hundred years ago now," said Pantela, "And yes, she was the only one in her clutch as well. So, it's looking up for you two."
The mates looked at each other, before turning back to the egg as it gave a ferocious shake. A small crack appeared near the top as the hatchling inside finally decided to push at the outer shell. Sapher took a step closer to the nest, watching as if in a trance as her child broke from its shell.
The first thing to appear was a snout, breaking through the top of the egg. The hatchling had a snarl pasted on its face; its tiny needle teeth bared in the effort it took break out of its confines. Now that one part of the egg was broken, the rest quickly followed, and the small hatchling growled as it fell into the nest, its four legs and two wings sprawled out on either side as it huffed in fresh air for the first time. The broken egg shell was scattered around it.
It was indeed an entirely new dragon... at least to some extent. It certainly wasn't a telekinetic dragon, like its father, as its scales were a sky blue, and while its physique somewhat resembled a wind dragon, like its mother, it didn't have the massive wings that her species were known for. It had two slightly curved horns, a tail, and small spines running down its spine. But other than that, it seemed really nothing special. If anything, it looked flimsy, weak, or at least more delicate than most hatchlings straight out of the egg.
"Darling... shouldn't you clean him?" Hynder gently reminded Sapher.
"Oh, yes!"
The wind dragoness bent down her head, gently running her tongue along her hatchling's back, steadily cleaning off the albumen that covered him. The hatchling purred softly, seeming to thoroughly enjoy the tongue bath. Sapher gently climbed into the nest, laying next to the hatchling as it tried to force itself to its feet, but seemed unable to.
"Is he alright?" Sapher asked, glancing at the life dragon.
Pantela bent her head down, studying the hatchling with interest. She opened her mouth, allowing a stream of green energy to trickle from her throat and into the hatchling. He let out a soft squeaking rumble as the energy flooded him, but seemed content just laying where it was.
"Well... he seems fine," Pantela said, "Congratulations. You two have brought into the world a new species."
Hynder nodded, frowning softly at the seemingly quite weak hatchling. Yes, his child was a new species, but it seemed the hatchling was already struggling right out of the egg. It didn't bode well for the future.
"What do you think we should name him?" asked Sapher, looking at her mate.
The telekinetic dragon thought for a moment, still a bit hesitant. Surely his son shouldn't be struggling so much. With a deep breath he cleared his mind of such thoughts and let out a smile. As a new species they had no idea what he would be capable of, no idea of the power he could wield. Only time would tell. So he decided on a name.
"I will call him Eldawin" said Hynder, lowering his head so that it was right in front of the hatchling, "A strong name, for a dragon that will become the strongest of them all."
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