The Fifth Queen

Prologue

Two dragons sat alone in a dark cave, far from the other dragons. They both stared at something in the back of the cave. The dragoness didn’t take her eyes off it while the dragon glanced at her a few times. Thunder shook the cave, wind blew cold rain into the mouth of the cave. The dragon didn’t even shiver as the cold rain hit his back. The dragon stared at the back of the cave, a hint of fear and sadness in his eyes. He pulled his eyes away and looked up at the dragoness sitting next to him. She didn’t stir. He got up and took one step towards the back of the den and froze as the dragoness snarled. He looked back at her and she narrowed her red eyes.

“Stay away from the nest, Dart!” she hissed, baring her yellow fangs.

Dart bowed his head and walked to the mouth of the cave and looked back at the dragoness, sadness filling his eyes.

“Mora-”

“No. You can’t stay.” She avoided looking at him. What was this feeling she had? It was as if she wanted him to stay.

“I can help you raise-”

She spun around to face him and growled as loud as she could.

“No, Dart! Males don’t stay to raise hatchlings! You’ll hurt them! You’ve probably already killed the eggs! You refused to warm them!” Mora hissed.

“I promise I….I’ll…” he sighed. He knew no matter how much he begged he could never stay with his beloved Mora. “I will leave, and never bother you again, if that is what you wish.”

Mora turned away, tears in her eyes. “Y-yes. That would be better for both of us.”

She heard him turn around and fly into the freezing thunderstorm. She watched him go until he disappeared from her sight. She shook the rain from her freezing scales and walked to the back of her cave where her nest was. She had four eggs. Three of them had amber shells and the other had a blue shell. She felt the amber eggs, and found no signs of life. She felt the blue egg. Her heart jumped out of her chest when she felt the little dragon inside move.

“You’re still alive.” She murmured to the egg.  “But your siblings,” she looked at the amber eggs, “aren’t.”

She carried the three amber eggs to the mouth of the cave. She rested her head on them.

“Goodbye my children, you would have been great dragons.”

She closed her eyes and pushed them out of the cave, and winced as she heard them shatter at the bottom of the mountain. She walked back to her nest, her head low. She curled around her remaining egg. She closed her eyes and slept, but was awoken by hatching sounds. She stared at the egg as a tiny dragoness tried to break out of the egg. She finally broke the shell and tumbled out, hitting Mora’s arm. The little dragoness looked up at Mora with bright blue eyes, and wailed.

“Uh… shhhh little dragoness.” Mora tried to calm the upset hatchling down.

The little dragoness continued to cry. Mora wrapped her tail around her and brought the hatchling’s face close to hers. She breathed warm air onto her, trying to warm her up. The hatchling purred and curled up under Mora’s arm. Mora rested her head on the ground and looked at the sleeping hatchling.

“Ammolite.” She said. “Your name will be Ammolite.”

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