Feye's hatchery quest [part 3]

A month into her new life at the flock, Feye was taken by her superior to visit one of their other dragons. By this point she had been quite familiar with the few couriers in the flock, all small-sized dragons that could carry one or two riders at maximum. Through some winding stone stairs that lead into the carved cliffs surrounding the area, she emerged to a large ledge which overlooked an oasis below. There were hatchling dragons scattered all over the area, with a substantial pool for Ocean hatchlings and a heated corner for Fire ones. What appears to be their riders milled around, and she stood transfixed for a moment as the sight of so many baby dragons gathered in the same area.

“Feye,” a voice said behind her, and Feye whipped around, so transfixed by the sight she didn’t notice the long, coiled body of another dragon. This one had a deep purple and blue iridescence scattered throughout its feathered body, with curled vines emerging alongside long, curled feathers on what appeared to be its tail. It was hard to tell since it only had two front limbs. It was also bigger than most of the other dragons she’d encountered, beaten only by the large combat dragons in the clearing of the flock.

And most of all, not only was there no rider in sight, it could speak?

Turns out, ‘it’ was a female named Ouroboros, and she spoke to Feye with an air of cautious respect. “It was very brave of you to come here,” she said, with Feye still puzzling how the vocal cords on a dragon would even work, “I have heard of your story, how you came here to save your brother. I hope you would treat your own dragon the same way.”

Feye absently replied, more interested in the small dragon that had just crawled up to her, looking like an identical mini version of Ouroboros. “It wasn’t that big of a deal, it was the only thing I could- Wait. Did you just say my own dragon?”

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Turns out this was the place where hatchling dragons are placed until they grow old enough to be responsible. A few hours later, and Feye was sitting with the hatchlings inside the oasis to learn their mannerisms, as directed by her superiors. She idly observed the colourful little dragons flapping everywhere, with the few Thunder dragons wobbling around in mismatched prosthetics and the Dark hatchlings zapping in and out of her perception every so often. There was a sense of strange calm within the chaos of all these hatchlings practising their magic and learning how to fly, and she couldn’t say that she wasn’t enjoying the order that had resulted from her joining these riders. A little Jungle dragon came up to her, and she petted its curious buzzing wings idly.

When she raised her eyes again, it was to the sight of a little blue dragon splashing into the pool in the middle of the oasis. Probably an Ocean crossbreed, she thought, noticing its tiny legs that seemed oddly reptilian for an Ocean dragon. Then she spotted another dragon, decked out in the clanky wiring and metal that made it obviously a Thunder hatchling, jumping for the pool right next to her.

Feye wasn’t sure what came over her, but in that moment she jumped up and snatched the baby dragon moments before one of its robotic claws contacted the water. She wasn’t sure what would happen if the rusted metal and exposed copper wiring of its body would contact water, but she wasn’t about to find that out at the cost of a hatchling’s safety. She carefully set it down on the ground after enduring a slight beating from its little mechanical wings, and explained to it that it probably wasn’t good for its wiring if it swam in the lake with its Ocean friend.

She had no idea if the hatchling understood her. What she did feel, however, was a pair of eyes watching her, and as she turned she saw the little dragon that looked like a mini Ouroboros skitter away into the bushes.