High up in Cthea Pgrevre, darkness fell upon the peaks of the mountains as a blizzard crept in from the north, obscuring the full moon. The storm had started as a whisper as the winds began to blow from the north instead of the east. The trees swayed silently in the forest, their bare limbs shaking under the changing winds. Not one cry, or howl, or whimper was in the forest for miles. Only the murmur of the wind rustling against the barren trees.
The humans outside the forest took notice of the silence of the forest and the changing winds with grim regard. They could feel the change deep in their bones. It would be a bad storm coming despite the first buds of spring growing on the trees. The humans outside the forest stopped preparing to till the land in preparation for planting and instead began chopping wood. They wanted to be inside with a large pile of wood when the storm hit.
As the storm built into the night, winds began to howl through the mountains, racing up and down the white mountain peaks. Thunder rumbled faintly in the distance. Thin veins of spider-like ice grew on top of the rivers below as the temperature plummeted. The few flakes of snow that had fallen had multiplied, and now entire mountain tops where coated with thick layers of snow.
On this night, the southern kingdoms were having Winter's End Festival under the spring's first full moon. As they celebrated, they looked down to the north. They pointed towards the barren trees. Above them a solid wall of snowy wind rose from the ground supported by gray pillars of stone. The castle of ice.
The name rose and fell from their lips in excited gasps. It was a rare occurrence that it formed, and to them it was a natural beauty of the world. That night, they gathered around the fire and told stories of wild beasts and stolen princesses inspired from the visage of the icy castle to the north. The ate and danced and told stories from outside the fury of the storm.
As the moon reached it's zenith, the storm was fully formed. Thick sheets of ice formed upon the top of the rivers below the mountains. Within the mountain, only whiteness of the blizzard was seen. The wind whipped around the mountain and the trees angrily. Thunder shook the earth and lightning blazed the sky.
Hidden inside the blizzard's wrath, unbeknownst to humanity, a tiny blood red dragon was hatching.
. . . . .
Towards the top of the second tallest mountain, there was a wide mouthed cavern that opened up to a ridge connecting two mountains. Two meters from the the mouth, the ceiling abruptly became a third of the initial height. As it went deeper into the mountain, multiple paths opened as its paths curved randomly inside the mountain.
Unlike the frosty air at the front of the cavern, the air at the back of the cavern was sweltering hot. Snow drifted inside only to melt on contact with the caverns warm air. Since the blizzard had begun, the cavern had gathered a small pool of water where snow had melted and flowed into a depression in the ground.
The sources of the heat were several wide circular holes scattered throughout the cavern. They were the size of two grown men fists. The holes themselves were connected to a larger network of tunnels that ran deep underneath the mountain where magma caverns naturally formed. Scorching hot air, heated by the molten magma, filled the tunnels which lead to the cavern.
A head emerged from one such hole. A round, cylindrical head encased in rocks. It wiggled, the rocks of the case grinding against the rocks of the hole. The creature stopped moving and emitted a low hum. It paused, waiting, and then began to wiggle out from hole until its three fourths meter long body was fully free and slithering on the ground. The creature looked like sedimentary rock that had become alive. The creature began to glide towards glowing blue crystals growing on the cavern floor.
The creature was a rock worm. They formed their nests in the deep recesses of the earth above magma caverns. They were completely blind, relying on vibrations to guide their way through the recesses of the mountain. They used earth magic to bind rock into a protective case around their soft bodies making it easier for them to travel through rock.
As it traveled, it emitted low frequency sounds from mouth mapping the space around it. The rock worm reached the blue crystal and stopped. Rocks began to peel from case towards the head reveling dark purple skin underneath. The rocks dropped to the ground with a soft plop. It lowered its head and wrap its toothless mouth around the crystal . A content purr came from within the case of rocks as acid dripped from its mouth, dissolving the crystal enough so that it could eat it.
Once it had eaten the first crystal, its burped loudly and shifted so it could begin eating the second one. It's toothless mouth once again enveloping a blue glowing crystal.
. . .Guurrrgle. . .
The sound vibrated through the room. The rock worm stopped eating, and removed its mouth from the crystal. A low hum was emitted from the worms mouth, so deep that human ears wouldn't be able to hear it. From the rock worm's perception, four shapes had shifted position since it had come out of the hole.
The rock worm tensed its body, coiling, and sprang from the blue crystals away from the four new shapes towards a hole in the ground. There was a loud crunching sound as one of the shapes sprang catching the tail of the rock worm, its claws grinding into the rocky case of the worm.
The creature attacking the rock worm, excluding its tail, was the size of a small boulder. It's claws easily grasped the rocky exterior of the case gripping it so it didn't escape.
Rocks nearest to the shape shifted, quivering. They flew through the air far away from the shape. Then they accelerated towards the shape bombarding it. The shape reared up on its hind legs shrieking, black wings fully extending, its wings hitting the top of the cavern. Its high-pitched shriek echoed through the cavern as the rocks hit it. It let go of the worm, and in that moment, the worm bolted for the nearest hole and dived deep.
A second later a blue clawed arm dove deep into the hole claws grasping nothing but empty air. With a small growl, the creature slowly retracted its arm.
. . . . Gurgurguuurgle. . . .
A tiny green creature emitted a pitiful sound as it whimpered softly.
A white creature started sniffing the other holes in hopes of other prey.
These creatures standing under the cavern's blue tinged light had scales that gleamed the colors of woody grasslands and swirling rivers and the night sky with sparkling stars. They had sharp claws and sharper teeth. The horns on their head would fall off and regrow every year as they grew, until they grew to their full size around twenty years later. Around ten years later, they would reach full mental maturity and be considered an adult. They were dragons, creatures born of fire and magic, hatched from deep within the cavern.
With a dejected sigh, the tiny dragons headed back deep within the winding cavern where it was warmer and went to sleep.
. . . . . . . . . . .
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
. . . kkk. . .Crack. . . kkk. . . kkk. . .
Hearing a noise echo through the cavern, the blue dragon woke up from its slumber. It blinked three times before turning to look behind it.
. . . .kkkk. . . . .kkkk. . . . kkkk. . . .
Danger. The blue dragon began to growl softy and rose to its feet. As his tail whipped back and forth in agitation, it hit both the black and the green dragon sleeping next to it multiple times.
The black dragon woke with a start and jumped to her feet snarling, unsure of what was happening. Seeing the blue dragon's line of sight, she quickly scrambled ahead of the blue dragon, ready to lead against the danger, her mouth pulled in a ferocious expression. Her teeth bared. Once she was ahead of the blue dragon, she paused. And waited. Hearing no other dragons getting up, she shifted foot to foot and then looked behind her uncertainly to see if any other dragons were coming with her.
The white dragon still slept but shifted as though to cover his ears move completely with his arms.
The green dragon opened its eyes as it laid on the floor. The blue tail continued to hit him, so his claws extended, and he quickly snatched the blue dragons tail, biting it playfully.
The blue dragon turned and glared angrily at the green dragon who was biting his tail repeatedly.
Roarrr
The tiny blue dragon cried as it tackled the green dragon. It sunk its teeth into the green neck as a warning. The green dragon pawed at this assailant to know avail squeaking. A series of tackles ensued until they eventually rolled over the white dragon who was trying to sleep peacefully.
The white dragon got jostled awake, stumbling to its feet in sleepy confusion. The blue and green dragon continued to roll around tackling each other. The white dragons eyes began to focus on the two moving creatures in front. The white dragon growled and quickly bit the green dragons neck as it had been the one to hit it first. It pulled its teeth back satisfied. Then it bit the blue dragon because it looked smug.
The two dragons cried in outraged. They briefly glanced at each other before they began their assault of the white dragon, an alliance temporarily formed. The black dragon looked at the tumbling creatures and then towards the back of the cavern where the sound was the strongest perplexed. It tentatively stepped towards the noise, looked back, and then took a step back towards the other dragons.
. . . . Crack . . kkkkk. .Crack . .kkkkkk
The white dragon stopped playing looking towards the back of the cavern. The blue dragons teeth were still around is tail and the green dragon was standing on top biting at its neck. The white dragon tilted its head quizzically, and then with no hesitation, shook the green and blue dragon away and bounded towards the depths of the cavern.
The black dragon eyes opened wide in surprise. She paused, unsure of what to do.
Seeing the white dragon's tail waving back and forth as it ran, the green dragon eyed the blue dragon's tail and pawed it earning him a growl and a quick bit to the neck. Seeing it not moving, the green dragon went sprinting after the white dragon's tail, followed a second later by the blue dragon.
After a pause, the black dragon followed slowly. And then faster as it realized that she was falling behind. She cried in confusion as she scrambled behind them trying to keep pace.
The tiny dragons raced deeper into the cavern passing glowing blue crystals that illuminated their way. The smell of sulfur and metal permeated the air. As they ran, shells crunched underneath their feet. They turned another corner.
The dragons in front skidded to a stop causing the other dragons to hit them. In front of them, a tiny red dragon was stretching.
They backed up nervously smelling the dragon. She smelled similar to them. Of embers and ash and iron. The tiny dragons relaxed.
She was family.
. . . . . . . . .
Embers and ash floated serenely in the air. The world tilted, shifting down, falling, blurring, burning with wisps of fire. Spikes impaled white and brown flesh below on a battlefield. Rain fell from the sky in little red drops. The battlefield shifted and blurred into a desert. Monstrous jaws rose from the ground; creatures danced laughing inside, their gangly blue legs and arms moving unnaturally in the air. Mists rose obscuring the creatures transforming into a huge face of a golden monstrosity that roared shattering the surrounding teeth like glass. The teeth shattered, the creatures crackled, laughing and dancing on bones. They began to burn, their flesh turning to black as they continued to laugh; their bodies turning to ash in the mist. Images and colors began to blur. The world shifted.
Pain. Unbidden, images flashed around in a kaleidoscope of memories. Fire and ice danced weaving in and out of the air. Magma bubbled up from the earth. Voices pierced through the sky shattering it like ice. The pieces of the sky gleamed with colors of warm flowers and flowing oceans as the sun's rays reflected off of them. The pieces fell down, down and down, falling and swirling in the wind as the world tilted, onto a city of glowing embers. Deafening sounds erupted from the cities center as horned creatures roared banging their bloody weapons on metal shields. The world tipped sideways, blurring into blackened flesh on a gray floor. A black dragon roared over golden hair, sulfur burning in the air.The red dragon flared her nostrils, inhaling deeply. She smelt sulfur. Yellow dust exploded, blinding and burning. Every time she smelt the sulfur, her mind went white with rage. It made the memories stronger, more substantial. Giant gleaming slitted yellow eyes peered from behind a hole, sulfur smothering all other smells. She took a step backwards growling. And then another. And another until rocks cut into her legs and her scales grinded against the rocky cavern walls. She produced a long, drawn growl displaying all of her small, gleaming white teeth.
In front of here were four tiny dragons. But in her mind, they were monsters. In her mind, phantom creatures faces superimposed on the dragons faces. The images consumed her mind until she lost where she was, who she was. Around her was not the earthy cavern but grasslands and lava and dessert. She was everywhere and nowhere. She reared roaring. Their faces merged with the creatures in her mind until she was unable to tell either one apart. Fear. Pain. Enemies.
The red dragon's violent reaction made the black dragon react in kind. The tiny black dragon's teeth were bared and the dragon growled and snapped at the red dragon. While the other dragons stayed at a distance, the black dragon started advancing claws fully extended.
A similar larger purple face with gleaming red teeth advanced smiling rising from murky waters. The face superimposed on the black dragon's face. To the red dragon, they were the same. The red dragon hissed in fury. She felt the energy of the rocks, of the air, of the black dragon advancing. The energy vibrated calling on her to use it. She pulled at it and pushed it from the earth.
Ten spikes of cavern rock shot out of the earth, protruding from the ground towards the black dragon; their sharp tips angled at the head. The black dragon jumped backwards enraged and snarling. Blood trickled down its left arm where one of the spikes had broken scale and skin. The green and blue dragon began growling but backed up slowly. Only the white dragon remained in place. It was not in the direct line of attack, so it kept still, watching.
Energy left the red dragon's body in a rush, and the earth spikes dissipated. The red dragon, roared stumbling before she fainted, energy drained.
The other dragons continued to growl but didn't approach. Only the white dragon walked up to the red dragon. He started sniffing her body. Yawning, he stretched and laid down curled up against the red dragon. He closed his eyes and began snoring softly.
The other dragons stared at the scene before them. The dragons held their breath for the span of ten heartbeats. The green dragon was the second to walk over laying near the white dragon, not the red dragon. He shifted a few times before becoming content with his position and closed his eyes. The blue dragon followed a couple of breaths later laying down the furthest from the red dragon.
The black dragon did not come closer. She claimed a boulder and climbed up as it glared in the red dragon's direction. She stayed awake the longest, growling softly. But as the night continued, sleep took all the dragons.
. . . . . . . . .
In the back of the cavern, five tiny dragons slept. Some slept peacefully, some slept fitfully. But the night was a very special night. For it was the first night that all the children of Thirzah slept together.