A small, white rabbit-like creature, its fur matching perfectly with the snowy surroundings, scurried across the frozen mountainside as it attempted to find shelter from the blizzard raging overhead.

It had been less than two days since it had been released back into the wild, and while being able to gorge on the many plants infused with ice essence in the wintery forest below, it knew that the good times had finally come to an end.

Far into the distance, giant stone towers, the bright blue gems at their peaks powering the storm, surrounded the ancient forest and single mountain, keeping them in a state of near-constant winter.

For what purpose, the rabbit-like creature could not comprehend, having not condensed its monster core and gaining the increase in intelligence that came alongside it. Because of this, it ultimately ignored the unnatural structures and continued its frantic pace, believing that the centre of the storm would be safe from its pursuers.

A high pitched howl, not born from the storm, startled the creature and it quickly resumed its search for shelter.

There were more dangerous things that the elements on this mountain and although relatively dumb, the creature knew it wouldn't survive the approaching night if it remained out in the open.

Passing a snow-covered slope, the rabbit slid to a halt as it noticed a faint, glow coming from a hole made by a recently disturbed rock, made more prominent by the ever-lengthening shadows.

The mounds of snow at each side showed that it had only been recently opened and without pausing to consider if the hole was a trap or den of one of the mountain's predators, the rabbit dove in, scraping its three-foot body against the rock's sharp edges.

Unlike the many other caves that littered the mountainside, the atmosphere emanating from this particular one was more akin to an ancient tomb.

Cold, stale and foreboding.

This caused the rabbit to shiver and consider leaving to find another but after it had pushed on and made it through the rockfall, it came to a cavern that was teeming with life.

Passing the various invertebrates, small mammals, both flying and otherwise and noticing that none of its inhabitants had yet formed a core, the rabbit continued to scout the cave so that it could find a secure place to rest for the night.

During its journey, it took note of the various spirit moss and cave-dwelling plants but noticed that unlike the mild ice essence variety outside that were edible, the plants inside the cave were filled to the brim with a dense earth taint and thus, pretty toxic.

To an alchemist, this place would have been a goldmine, but to the various animals that called this place home, they were merely poisonous, inedible competition for the meek resources the cave offered and it could be seen that they were scraped off the rocks where possible.

The rabbit continued it's decent, passing more life-filled caverns and the occasional pond, filled with glistening brown water that had been filtered over thousands of years while absorbing the strong earth essence from the surrounding mountain.

If it weren't for the streams of ice melt flowing into the cave through the rockfall at the entrance, it would be impossible for the many species of animal and plant, even if they could absorb earth essence through the air to subsidise the lacking environment, to survive.

Suddenly, at the end of the third cavern, the rabbit froze, its instincts refusing to let it take another step further.

Infront of it, a ridge of bone coloured dust, a couple of feet high, lay across the entrance to the next tunnel in a wide semicircle.

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The rabbit immediately knew that many animals, both weak and powerful, had died here and even though it had been a long time since their deaths, there had been enough victims to stain the surrounding rocks with the essence of decay and scare off all but the bravest of creatures.

This gruesome dust signified the last boundary, the Dragoness formation failing in stages, of the Domain of the Immortal Dragon. The dust was the remains of those that had been unlucky enough to touch its edges or the ones foolish enough to try and feast on those that had.

Hopping back, the frightened rabbit decided that it would pick its new nest from the current options and retreated in the direction it had come from, pausing to occasionally check that nothing was emerging from the eerie tunnel.

A couple of hundred feet deeper within the cave, the fresh air brought in by the new entrance that the rabbit had entered an hour before stirred the stale air, causing the slight whispers of wind to echo off the stone walls.

After a millennium of stasis and the following hundred years of undisturbed silence, the essence in this part of the cave system was incredibly thick. Enough to distort the air yet, it diminished significantly, almost to nothing, near a hidden crack in one of the tunnel walls.

There was no sign of the white and black eggs, or of the nest that they lay on, after such a long time, yet the black, leathery egg was still there, in the exact place it had been placed all those years ago.

However, unlike the past, there was now a small hole in its surface. Tinged, slimy liquid slowly seeped out and had begun forming a puddle around the egg's base.

The egg slightly jerked as a thin, almost needle-like, curved black spike appeared through the hole and wiggled around, trying to make the hole larger, before disappearing back inside.

The egg shook, its leathery case distorting as the creature inside attempted to break through with force but finding the flexible shell too strong.

Minutes turned into hours, and hours to days, yet the leathery shell continued to resist, almost as if it wanted to keep the creature inside.

Weeks worth of struggle later, which was carried out over the period of a little over a month due to the creature frequently breaks and need to sleep, a reptilian-like head finally broke through with a squelchy, ripping sound.

Unlike its mother, it only had two horn-like spikes, more bumps than spikes a the moment due to its young age, raised from the back of its head but it was easy to find the resemblance from the structure of the skull.

Sucking in a lungful of air that felt like it was burning its lungs, the first of its life, the young, black dragon proceeded to vomit out copious amounts of the sticky fluid and clear its system.

To anyone watching this, even with its alien features, they would be able to tell that even though the process was natural, the creature was incredibly irritated.

This was emphasised when the dragon, having cleared its lungs and dragged the rest of its tiny, thirteen-centimetre long body out of the egg's remains, released a terrifying shriek that rippled down the tunnels and caverns.

The sound that escaped its throat was more suited to a devil than a living, breathing creature and it terrified the cave's inhabitants, sending them scurrying to their dens and burrows.

With rage fueled by weeks of frustration as it escaped egg, the dragon turned and tore into the leathery remains, devouring yolk, shell and the remaining chalazae with reckless abandon.

After not even a smear was left, its anger not entirely vanquished, the white, reptilian eyes of the dragon started analysing its surroundings, releasing small hisses as its tail flicked about.

Discovering that it was inside a cave, the hollow in the wall seemingly large as the dragon was so tiny, it decided that it was indeed underground. A small amount of pride in its deductive skills rose within the dragon's heart, and it turned to start analysing its body in the cave's dim light after confirming there were no immediate threats.

Using its long neck, which was incredibly flexible, it discovered that its body was slim, exceptionally so, giving it an elegant, reptilian appearance that was only enhanced by its sleek, black, teardrop-like scales.

While not as intimidating or powerful as it imagined a dragon to look, the dragon had to state this its form was impressive, seemingly built for speed and offence.

Razor sharp ridges ran down each side of its back, and down its spine, at every other vertebra, dagger-like spikes protruded giving it a menacing, if not aggressive appearance.

Holding out its two front legs, then inspecting the two behind them, the dragon examined its feet. At the end of five fingers, incredibly sharp claws extended, scratching the stone beneath it as it casually ran them across its surface.

Its thin, whip-like tail, a small spike at the end, danced in its peripheral but it was still slightly annoyed with this appendage for stabbing through its egg and so dismissed it for now.

Having taken note of its offensive and defensive capabilities, the small dragon was pleased.

It looked extraordinarily unappetising, with the claws, spikes and scales, and unworthy of the effort it would take to swallow and digest.

In its mind, the dragon's chances of surviving without its parents had gone up significantly.