Feye's hatchery quest [Part 4]

Still on a bit of an adrenaline rush from saving the Thunder hatchling, and not quite sure if she should have done that, Feye climbed back up to the ledge where Ouroboros was waiting. (Did this big dragon live here permanently? Does she even have a rider?)

Opening her mouth to explain to Ouroboros, she instead found herself beaten to it once again when the older dragon spoke first. “You would make a nice Rider,” she said simply. “I have a feeling that some of our dragon eggs may choose you. We don’t normally allow riders as young as you to start the bonding process, but I think you’re ready. Would you like to visit the hatchery?”

If Ouroboros, an Ocean crossbreed, said that she had a ‘feeling’, it probably meant she was right. So Feye snapped her mouth shut, shoved all of her surprise at being allowed a dragon at all- heck, a month ago she wasn’t even aware that women were allowed to be riders!- to the side, and followed the little mini version of the long feathered dragon down rows of stone staircases. (The staircases were stone, it turns out, because little baby Fire dragons couldn’t resist burning everything in their way.)

Emerging into a cavern, Feye noticed that it was separated into various quarters using large stone walls, with a pile of eggs in the very centre of the cavern sitting closer to one side or the other. They came in nearly every colour, and many of them looked like giant gemstones. Interesting, she thought, having never seen dragon eggs before. She impulsively ventured into the first area she saw, and upon being hit with a faceful of snowflakes she stopped. Turning around, she walked no more than twenty steps before nearly tripping into a deep pool of water. What is happening?

(She realised that this was the hatchery where eggs of each element were stored, a level beneath the nursery where the hatchlings are. A dragon of each element was keeping the respective areas infused with magic.)

After a while of inspecting each walled-off area, Feye was intrigued by many of them, but had none of the special feelings that Ouroboros told her she’d feel if a dragon chose her. After a circle around the area, she turned around towards the only place she hasn’t been yet- the pile in the middle. These must be the ones whose elements they aren’t sure of, or had multiple so they placed them somewhere in the middle. And- there it was. She saw a glint of blue within the pile.

Without thinking too hard about it, Feye carefully stepped between the glinting eggs, each as large as a giant stone and probably very heavy. She reached the little egg that she saw first, the blue having been one of the only visible parts of it- the rest was covered in some strange substance that was definitely solid but wasn’t gemlike like the other normal eggs. It felt like whoever was inside was almost… Calling her. She hasn’t felt this with any other egg. (Ouroboros later informed her that this egg had been in their hatchery for years, but no one could get the black substance off so they didn’t know its element.)

So this must be the connection they were talking about. Carefully tracing a finger across the shell of the egg, she considered the implications of her taking care the egg. There wasn’t much of a choice for her, admittedly, because she’d never leave the hatchling inside abandoned without a rider, not when it has chosen her. For now, she considered if there was a way to get that black thing off, but she had suspected that it was some sort of protection against the elements. Still unsure of its element, she tested the egg- very heavy, like all the other eggs, and hard-shelled like the others. There was no real indication as to what element it should have been, and the hatchling inside seems healthy enough (how did she know that?) so she left it where it was.

Feye turned to exit the hatchery. It was time to prepare for a baby dragon.