The Queen

Chapter 1: Hatching

I was encased in something, but it wasn't caging me. Rather odd, but that was my first thought when I gained consciousness. The "world" around me was dark, but comforting and warm. It was home for now, but apparently not much longer. I could practically feel the moon calling out for me. I yearned for it with an ache so deep in my soul that I could live. That's how my life started. My hatching.

Upon feeling a few smaller details from the world outside my egg, I began rocking back and forth a bit, shifting. Suddenly, the place that had provided comfort for me while I came to seemed too small, as the moon reached for my scales. I sliced the hard shell into pieces and cheerfully began shaking goop off of myself before inspecting my body.

I had midnight black scales that shimmered ever so slightly in the full moon, rather like obsidian, but I didn't know how I knew that. I twisted my head around to glance at my back, and I took in the glowing spikes with surprise. As if mirroring my emotions, the spines glowed just a bit brighter. I grinned with satisfaction before turning my attention back to the surroundings.

A dragon who was covered head to tail in scales just as black as mine smiled as my gaze fell upon her. "Mama?" I warbled.

The elegant dragon tilted her head with a smile and nodded. "Yes, little one. I am your mother." She gently wrapped her claws around me and faced me towards the other eggs, most rocking some, which I hadn't noticed before. I glanced curiously at Mama, and she nodded. So these were the other eggs in my hatching.

We watched together in silence as my siblings shook themselves free of their shells. As soon as the last one settled down, I pounced back in the nest and we all started play-fighting. Mama chuckled slightly and told us off. "Stop fighting, hatchlings. We have lives to live." She lifted me out of the nest again, and instructed me to pick a name. I glanced around for inspiration, thinking of a name that was related to darkness. Suddenly, a great name came to me. I lifted my head and looked my mother in the eye, a spark in my own. "Yin."