Secretkeeper held her breath. For the second time, she was sneaking out to the rainforest. She needed to lay her new egg, now.

The volcano rumbled loudly, and she jumped. Dark molten lava poured through the crevices in the mighty mountain, and it shook violently each time it rumbled. It was stifling hot, and Secretkeeper couldn’t wait until she was in the sweet blissful coolness of the rainforest. Worriedly, she crept forward, and her talons scraped overwhelmingly loudly on the stone tunnels. 

Moonwatcher will be so happy to have a friend. She shivered as she stepped into the tunnel leading to the rainforest. No guards, she tilted her head to peer at the empty entrance before scurrying out. Something bad must be happening.

I wonder what it’ll look like. She knew the dragonet would be a hybrid. An IceWing NightWing hybrid. I wonder if it’ll be a boy or girl. She hoped it was another girl.

Secretkeeper hurried forward. The egg was coming, and she ached everywhere. She snuck into the safety of the rainforest, her talons leaving small prints in the muddy undergrowth. Light filtered through the trees. All three of the moons were out.

She pushed aside some ivy and stepped into the moonlit clearing Moon lived in. I’m here. Secretkeeper tried to add power behind the words. She needed Moon to know that she was there. Stay where you are though, she added. Her lean black body glided over the leafy ground, and she moved to the small trunk she had once laid Moon’s egg.

She lay down on the leaves and the egg sled easily out. It was huge, bigger then any other egg she had ever seen, it was beautiful and completely black. Or almost completely black. Small speckles of white and blue were scattered along the edge of the egg. Perfect. Secretkeeper smiled as she looked at the egg. She remembered this same feeling of love from when she had laid Moon’s egg.

“Mommy,” Moon whispered from the undergrowth. Secretkeeper turned her head toward the voice. She walked over to the tiny black dragonet.

“Yes?” Secretkeeper said. She looked at her dragonets face — it was perfect in every way.

The tiny silver scales by Moon’s eyes twinkled as she tilted her head. “Did you just lay a egg?”

“Maybe.” She answered in a soft whisper. She shrouded all thoughts of the new egg from Moon. I want this to be a surprise. Secretkeeper smiled to herself. She wanted to surprise Moon, make her think everything was completely normal, then present he new baby dragonet to her.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

“Actually,  Mommy, that’s not what I wanted to tell you. I just wanted to show you this;” she scrunched her face up in concentration before relaxing it. She opened her mouth and a small shoot of flame flew out.

Secretkeeper smiled in pride. Her dragonet could already shoot flame! “That’s amazing, my little Moonwatcher.” She whispered.

The dragonet seemed to draw from her praise, and she puffed up her chest and opened her mouth wider. A huge bolt of flame shot out of her mouth.

“Good job,” Secretkeeper said approvingly. She wrapped her wings around Moon. They stood together in the rainforest for a moment, quiet. A panther roared in the distance, and drips of water pattered onto Secretkeeper’s scales. A feeling of peace settled over her and she smiled. It was going to be alright.

Secretkeeper and Moon stood there for a long time, watching the moons shimmering in the sky. Eventually Moon pulled away.

“I’m tired.” She said groggily. She walked towards the center of the clearing, where the moons shone the brightest.

Secretkeeper smiled to herself. Her life was better then any other dragons. She had a healthy young dragonet and a big strong egg that would hatch soon.

She walked to the egg and stared at it. It looked sad in the darkness, and she pushed it into the clearing, where Moon was already curled up, asleep. Secretkeeper rolled it to fit under Moon’s wing, and she smiled at the peacefulness of everything.

As she watched, the egg slowly shifted colors, turning into a silky white color. So that was what made the eggs white! The moons! Secretkeeper grinned at the discovery.

She took a step back. And tripped. Her talon twisted around a big branch and she fell forward. She felt wild instinct roll over her, and she reached for something to help soften her fall. Her hand caught onto something and she gripped onto it, bracing herself. It caught her and she landed on the ground softly. She heard a crunch and looked at her talons. They were covered in yolk.

“No!” Secretkeeper gasped. A sob burst forth, she looked down at the egg. Half of it was crushed, the dragonet that was inside was definitely dead. “No,” she wailed. The egg was ruined. She felt tears gathering as the sun began to rise. “No.” She said in barely a whisper.

Moon stirred a little, and Secretkeeper choked down a cry. I need to hide the egg, I need to keep it away from Moon, she can never know. If she knows she’ll always think about the egg. She looked down at the cracked egg. Slowly, she picked up the shards and put them in the rainforest, far away. She didn’t notice how the egg still had another yolk in it, a twin.

She put the pieces on the other side of the rainforest, on the ground by a big brown oak. “Goodbye,” she whispered to the egg. The poor little egg that would never hatch. “Goodbye.” She hurried away, vowing to herself she would never come back to that tree ever again.

That was why she didn’t notice that two weeks later a small black and white dragonet clambered out into the world. That was why she didn’t hear the small voice call out gently, “Mommy?”