From Dragon's Nest to Mother's Breast

[Dawn Shadowsbane]

(( April 20, 2011. ))

The long snout snuffled into the grasses, snorting in agitation. Sharp claws dug furrows into the ground as she rent the surface. She had had a bad few days; she'd shifted three days ago in preparation for the laying of the egg. She had found a cave deep within the forest and settled in, venturing forth once before today to hunt for sustenance; the tender sheep had been adequate, temporarily. Now, thirst pulled her from the confines of the cavern; there was no hidden stream nestled within. Her belly rumbled and gurgled, the soon-to-come egg was restlessly moving through her draconic form, edging closer to freedom.

The belly scraped the ground, fat and full from its additional cargo. Black scales caught every hint of moonlight on her thirty-foot-long bulk, reflecting supernatural (and lovely) rainbow sheen. At each angle were different colors: red and green and blue and yellow and indigo all swirled together in toneless patterns. Her wings, the span double her length, were magnificent, strong, and full violet, almost dark as the night. Her long tail flattened the low-lying plants behind her as it swished slowly over them.

She found water; beads of moisture pooled in her made hole. She flicked out the forked tongue to lap up every droplet as it rose to the surface. A few more careful gouges later and the water pool grew. Minutes went by before she had enough to slake her thirst temporarily. She snorted and lifted her head. Her massive stomach painted the ground, brushing the dirt as she turned, once more facing the cave's entrance. She thundered forward and through the hole, to settle deeply within. She had built a nest, of sorts, or more accurately a bed for herself; to be comfortable. Reeds peeked out from beneath her as she lay down.

She did not lie down for long, however. The time was nigh and it made her uncomfortable. She fidgeted, fussing, shifting from one leg to the other. A shudder wracked through her as it continued to push toward freedom. She let loose a growling rumble, unable to settle. This continued for hours - or at the very least it seemed hours. Finally, though, a roar escaped and so did the egg; she squatted and it gently plopped onto the waiting bed of rushes. The egg itself was large, almost as tall as a normal human, and soft. Its shell consisted of a thick leathery skin, pliable for the laying but one that would harden soon enough.

The residual shocks of meeting the ground so suddenly set the egg's shell gently rippling. Dawn lifted her tail high and shuffled forward before turning her bulk around. Her black snout extended on toward the egg. She snuffled it a moment, warm draconic breath serving the unintended purpose of drying the shell and beginning the hardening process. She rubbed the side of the egg with her snout, an almost loving and perhaps even maternal gesture. Forked tongue flicked out, darting over the surface.

She seemed to nuzzle the egg for a time; she curled her slowly-diminishing form around the thing, tail wrapping about it. Finally, though, she uncoiled herself from her protective embrace and backed away, providing distance between her and it. She roared, and then reared up. Talons splayed, flexed, and then turned wide again. You must die. It was as close as a goodbye as she could and would give.

[Dawn Shadowsbane]

The Earth shuddered, and the mountain replied to her roar in kind. The entire thing seemed to be shaken from its foundations. The cavern jerked back, and then settled with a slight aftershock. At the same time, the air seemed to thicken. The already dim lighting in the cavern became flushed with a reddish overtone, and the sounds of the forest were no more. Silence reigned.

The earthquake sent her staggering back, off balance and into the wall of the cave and left her momentarily stunned. The sounds of claws scraping on harsh stone filled the silence as she fought to get up and compose herself. Once righted, however, she crouched in place, not yet willing to move forward. Nostrils flared as she sought the source of her attacker and the filter that sent the air crimson.

The egg burst into a deep purple and crimson flame, and was utterly entrapped within it. A familiar voice shifted the air; parted it to come through more clearly. It was perfect and soft, smooth and sultry and everything you could ever want to hear in a woman's voice. "Naughty." The sound beckoned the Dragon towards the mouth of the cavern.

She started; her long neck jolting up with the shock of the voice. It lowered a moment later, turning to the side to better peer at what seemed to have become a burning 'bush' of sorts. She lowered her head further, snout falling until it was mere inches from her progeny. A sniff, a snort, a growl, and then her attention shifted toward the origin of the sound. Indeed, she projected, her mental voice as smooth and silky and slinky as the reptile she manifested. Talons clacked against the stone as she finally slunk toward the entrance.

The entrance of the cavern was nothing like it had been before. The ground shot off for about fifteen feet from the entrance, supported by the deeper rock of the mountain itself, and dropped into what seemed from the mouth of the cave to be nothingness. Light came from below, and the sky seemed to be a blackened hollow thing cast in crimson light. The closest thing to a sun appeared to be a seething ball of darkness emitting the red light from somewhere in the sky.

Things Dawn had likely only seen in nightmares or fantasies, depending on her mood, sparsely littered the practically empty sky. The outcropping looked down on what appeared to be a massive, sprawling landscape; pitted with chasms and endless drops into nothingness or oceanic pits of smoldering substances that may pass for water in such a place as this. There were cities, colonies, towns, something grouping lights together down below, but it was too far down to see. The horizon stretched on forever in every direction, and there was no speaker to be found. Her voice still came, though. "Welcome, sweet Child, to My domain."

She stopped suddenly, flush with the topmost edge of the cavern. Her nostrils flared and fangs bared at the sight before her - unexpected and dangerously different. Why have you brought me here? She finally queried, belly scraping along the ground even while her neck extended to peer over the edge of the ledge, cautiously curious of the surroundings. The tone of her mental call was much less self-assured; indeed, there was a tinge of fear in the words.

"Because, Child, you’ve made a mistake." The blackened orb that seethed with the paltry excuse for a red glow in the sky seemed to focus upon her. Deep in the distance and far below something began to rumble. From below, a creature wreathed in fire and shadow was fighting against gravity while its wings beat with a strength that could only be challenged by its prodigious size. It was either curious, or displeased at the appearance of a mountain in its airspace. The voice from nowhere, apparently unrelated, continued to speak. "You have displeased me."

[Dawn Shadowsbane]

Her ears and wings flattened against the rest of her form and she drew her head back nervously, seeking to present a smaller target. Talons flexed, scraping across the hard stone. Indeed? The repeated word was a question this time, nervous but gaining in the bravado she normally expressed. The long shaft of her neck drifted to the side, allowing an eye to directly face the beast swiftly rising.

"That egg is not yours. It never was. It belongs, as all things I have touched in any manner, to Me." The beast below seemed as though it should have already arrived. But it simply kept getting closer, and growing in size. Finally, it was close enough to be heard. Only a huffing, multi-tonal breath was coming from the creature, but it was something terrifying to the ears. Not only that, but it had already reached her. It surged above the precipice, smoke and shadow pouring from the Devil's body in the moment it blazed past her towards the mountaintop. Despite its speed, it still took a few moments for its whole body to move past her frame of vision. "As such, your position on what to do with my new addition upsets me. What can we do to rectify this?"

Her attention was torn between the monster and the stereophonic voice. She shrunk back from the entrance as the being loomed and consumed her field of vision before falling from it. She was so taken by the thing, in fact, it look several moments for her to comprehend the contents of the words spoken. Destroy i -- remove it! I shall not raise this child. I cannot do so. Her head lowered to settle mere inches above the cold stone.

"You were never meant to. That creature you have bonded yourself to would do nothing to instill the values I intend this offspring to hold, even if it deigned to incite my wrath and invite its demise by ending its life prematurely." The shadows began to gather along the precipice.

She cast a rumbling growl at the growing darkness, inching back once more. Take it, do what you will. I will not argue your choice. There was a very small, faint part of her that held relief; despite appearances and common belief she had a strong bond to her children (adopted and natural) and had a crisis of conscience in destroying any of them. The dragon shifted another few feet back, swiveling her head from one side to the other.

The beast from before was vocalized from all around, screaming something before its shadow blotted out the mockery of sunlight that kept this place from being bathed in total un-darkness. It took flight as quickly as its behemoth wings could carry it, nothing short of panic in its terrible roar. The shadows already present rose up, roiling and surging against one another until the slender form of perfection and lies stood before the Dragon. Her lips had turned up in a smile. "Of course you won't. You almost say this as if you could have done so with any degree of success in the first place."

Wings flared above her, filling the already-cramped space behind. Her head snapped up, every muscle of her form tensing in readiness. Take it and leave me be. Another time, perhaps, she might have risked answering the comment directly but perhaps for once her common sense took her - at least for the moment.

Shadows exploded from the ground at her feet, a hand nearly as big as the Dragoness' torso and dripping darkness crushed around her neck. The Daemon’s smile persisted. "Never, in all your life, shall you dare to make a demand of me again. If you do, I will dismantle everything you hold dear. And then, I will hold you here, for all eternity, while you relive it into infinity." Her head tilted to the side, just so slightly. Her smile seemed even sweeter when held against the voracity of her actions and the cold of her words. "Do I make myself clear, Child?"

Yes, the Dragon returned with an inward swallow and an unhappy wavering of her great head. Scaled body scraped the ground as she gave obeisance to the being before her. It is clear.

The woman smiled; a slow monstrous gesture. A simple wave of her hand sent the shadows to swarm over the Dragon, to blacken not only her vision but her mind. It became harder to see, to breathe, even to feel, until there was nothing left of her senses. She was lost in darkness.

She woke in the cave, the light of the sun nearly blinding.


The egg was gone.