Ereneya Ruinscale

I watched Naravie fall from my arms and I scooped her up, feeling the chill in her body. My hatchling. My Daughter. I looked at the two humans and grit my teeth.

“You two. You wish to help your sister?!” I growled.

Both of them nodded, rushing forward as Naravie collapsed.

“Good. Follow me. She is in danger of the process going very wrong.” I commanded as I waved my hand at the doors to my Lair and they slid open with frightening speed.

I rushed inside and made my way towards the doorway that led down into the Mountain springs. I pointed to the Storeroom door.

“You, loud one, in that room there are several crates filled with large glowing stones. Bring as many as you can carry down these stairs to the bottom level. Quickly.” I hissed and the Loud one nodded as he ran towards the doorway.

“What is happening?” The smart one asked as he kept pace with me.

“She is entering the final stage of the Transformation with far too little Magic in her body. I mean to supplement hers with as much as I can.” I said with a growl.

“Will she be okay?” He asked, the concern evident in his voice.

“I mean to give her every chance.” I said, reaching the bottom of the stairs and entering the steam filled room.

It was a large room, easily large enough to accommodate my true body several times over. I had spent decades carving it out with my magic and then reinforcing the walls with enchantments so that they would not degrade under the constant flow of water. Four massive Wellstones were fitted into the far wall, sending forth a torrent of steaming hot water. I stepped into the pools and made my way towards them, heading for the central pool closest to each of them.

“The pools that each of those feed into! Block them all off so that they only flow into this pool.” I called back to the human.

I didn’t look back but I heard his armor clanging against his form and the sloshing of water as he waded into one of the pools.

When I got Naravie to the central pool I set her down into the clouded mineral water, her head resting gently against the edge of pool. I winced as I ripped the clothes from her form. She had chosen them herself and been quite pleased with them and it hurt to ruin them but I did not have the time to be gentle. If she entered the next phase with the clothes on they would be pulled into her body and that could cause complications she did not need. I tossed the ruined clothes aside and pushed as much of my magic into her body as possible. Magic transfer was indeed a notoriously slow process and I could only do so much with it but it was better than nothing while I waited for the dumb human.

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The dumb human who chose that moment to enter the room carrying the crate. I waved him over and he rushed through the water with the crate. When he saw Naravie’s form in the water he averted his gaze toward the ceiling and I rolled my eyes.

“Yes yes she is indecent but if it means saving her life then I think we can all forgive you a wayward glance. Hand me those stones.” I growled, holding out a hand.

He handed me a pair of them and I groaned with the effort of pulling the magic from them. It was a skill I did not employ often and one that was niche in its usefulness at best. But in this instant it was about the only thing that would keep her alive. The magic flowed out of the stones and formed a viscous ball, not unlike honey in its appearance, in the palm of my hand. I grabbed another from the human and I could feel the exhaustion creeping into me already. It took only a minute to drain all of the dozen or so stones in the crate but by the time they were gone my arms and legs felt like lead.

I held in my hands enough magic to devastate a small city and I pressed the small globe of energy into Naravie’s chest. It slowly sank into her skin and I saw her eyes flick open for a moment before they rolled back in her head and she curled her body into a ball. Slowly I saw the shell of a Dragon Egg form around her, manifesting in the air using her own magics and encasing her body entirely. The egg was several times larger than her true body and formed a Radiant Blue shell around her. I fell back into the water, utterly exhausted from the expenditure of so much magic and I felt a hand on my shoulder.

“Dragon? Are you alright?” The smart one asked.

I nodded.

“Magic. Tiring. Did as much as I can for her. Need. Food.” I gasped out and shakily rose to my feet.

Exhausted as I was, I still refused to ask Humans for help. True they may not be the same humans who slew my mother but I did not care. I had avoided them as much as possible in my eight centuries of life and I did not want to rely on them. I made it to the top of the stairs and found both humans trailing after me.

“Shouldn’t we stay with her?” The dense one asked.

“She will be in there for at least a week. And if she is the only one in contact with the water it will help keep her stable and supplied with magic. So better to leave her alone.” I said as I found the meat from our earlier meal still on the table.

They both stood there watching me as I hungrily dug into the meat, not caring that they were watching.

“What do we do now?” The smart one asked.

“Now? Now we wait. I will permit you to stay here provided you remove your weapons and armor and place them in the Antechamber at the entrance. You may ask questions but I do not guarantee answers.”

The two of them looked at each other before nodding and they both made their way towards the entrance. I heard the clattering of metal and looked over at them in surprise as they made their way back. The smart one was giving me a wolfish grin and the other looked nervous without the plate mail around his vitals. I gave them both a grin that showed off my very impressive teeth and laughed. This would be an amusing week indeed.