Hatching 4
Green Hydrath and Brown Xhisoth

It was a hot summer morning. The sky was the blue of many rainless days yet to come and horizon in the distance seemed to shiver. Hydrath awoke cranky and watched the heat rise from the surface of the Hatching Cavern.
The ground was warm, the sky was warm and the cavern was bone-dry and dusty. Hydrath sneezed and nearly cursed. But she shouldn't. Not in front of her unborn children. No that would be setting a bad example and she wanted her children to grow up good dragons.
Hydrath looked at her eggs. All 4 were still there. All 4 were ok and evenly warmed. 3 were unharmed.
Three? Hydrath stopped and looked closer. One egg had a hairline crack expanding down.
"XASNIS!!!!" Hydrath yelled at the top of her lungs and mind.
"What?" Xasnis asked.
"My eggs! They're hatching!!! Bring the candidates!"
"Ok, It'll only take a few minutes."
"I don't know if they can wait that long..." and then to the eggs, "wait a little more. Don't hatch before the candidates are here..."
One by one people entered the hatching ground. Only a few days earlier the Summer Clutch had hatched and some people were still suffering the consequences. As were the Laedrysses, but not in the usual way. Several small fires had started on the Isle. Suspiciously all had started were Venus Fly Trap Evilness had come and gone. None of the fires had done any harm, but Cyan and Trix held their heart for a day when no-one was around.
"Are there enough candidates?" Hydrath asked.
"There were three this morning." Xasnis said, immediatly Hydrath's eyes whirled red.
Xasnis looked around for help. Cyan finally waved her hand, four fingers stuck in the air. Relieved Xasnis saw a new face, a girl head toward the circle of candidates.
"Four, Hydrath. There are four now."
Hydrath calmed down and watched as the first egg cracked. A small foliage green female, the spitting image of her mother emerged and creeled of hunger. Only then did she look at the candidates. Finally she found one that appealed to her.
"Lavira, who is this Inuith you are weyrmated to?" she asked.
"Thulessa, you are far too young to think about mating yet." Lavira answered blushing.
"But it is what you've always wanted... and now you can."
As Lavira left the sands, gazing up at Drayk, her weyrmate, smiling, another egg hatched. This one hatched into a horned blood red. The young male, dark red with even darker spots and wings opened his eyes. They were whirling red as he approached the mind he had wanted from the start.
"Listen Hediru." he said, "I may be small, I may not be the evillest dragon around... but I'm sure as hell ain't cute. Got it!"
The last yards the dragon had jumped, landing perfectly on the male Mantichore. It held up it's claws and showed them to the not so though big-mouthed Mantichore and said:
"Now say to my face I'm cute."
"I wouldn't dare...eh?"
"Karkadan."
"Now would you get off me so I can feed that hunger of yours? I swear it's leading a life of it's own."
Karkadan got off and followed Hediru to the exit. His eyes were down to a whirling blue.
Cyan watched him go wearily. She hoped their wouldn't be another troublemaker on the Isle. Evilness was enough.
The next egg split in half and knocked over the fourth. The first hatched into a small female rain blue with foliage green wings. The second a soft light earth brown male.
The rain headed over to Tazia, the angel with clipped wings without as much as a hesitation in her step.
"Can we go visit my daddy after this thing?"
"Won't you be sleeping?"
"I guess... Can he come to me?"
"I'll ask Fr'dyre."
The earth first sat. Though there was only one more candidate left it felt a bit reluctant to go to the girl.
"What's the matter Quail?" she asked him mentally.
"The thing... It was a one time event, was it?"
"Of course. Murder can only be committed once without punishment."
"Why did you have to remember it so graphic? I don't like it."
"I'll never do it again, I promise." Chimera said intending to keep it, though only the future would tell how that turned out.
Xasnis sighed as the last dragon finally bonded. She had a feeling Hydrath wouldn't have left without that reassurance.
"Come dear, let's go eat. The riders will take care of your babies now."
"I'll be watching them." Hydrath said.
"I know, but you can't watch them forever."
"That won't stop me trying."
Xasnis sighed and shook her head. At least Hydrath would be off the hot sand and into the cool ocean soon to cool off.

Hediru and Blood Karkadan (m)
Chimera and Earth Quail (m)
Tazia and Foliage-Rain Ikatee (f)
Lavira and Foliage Thulessa (f)