Smokewind trailed along beside Darkness as they went up, up, up the winding cave tunnels toward their destination. Darkness is hurt, badly, she knows. She has eyes, so of course she does. There is a bloody trail behind him. His leg looks crippled. It'll likely need to be cut off to let a new one grow back. His wing is torn bloody with bullet holes. She notices scraped, cuts, and burns all across his scales. He looks almost more red then black. Be brave. She needs to be brave. She promised him she would. She cares about her companion so much. She should have been there. But she had needed to go get the white egg. Her journey was largely uneventful, just being handed the egg by the temple up north and sent down south to place it in the spire.

  But darkness was hunted. Darkness was hurt. And she wasn’t there.

  “Smokewind, come on.” Darkness called to her and she realized she had stopped.

  “Sorry!” She called up and hurried back up to him. She was so useless, wasn't she? She couldn't help him when it mattered. She was just too scared all the time. She was never there when she was needed.

  The tunnel began to curve upwards. The wall began to be covered in crystalline shapes. Some red, some blue, some purple.

  “Smokewind, have you seen Aquis?” Darkness asked.

  “She should be here with the third egg.” Smokewind responded. “He said he was going to the Lavaflow territory to get it. I was originally supposed to be the one to go since it would be difficult for her with all the heat, but…”

  “You didn't want to see your parents?” Darkness finished.

  “Yes. They work at the temple. They would have been the one to get the egg. I would have had to see them…”

  “Its fine, Smokewind. She volunteered to do it. And she is strong. No matter what gets in her way, she can face it.” Darkness assures her. It didn't help her worry.

  “Darkness, you almost died, and you are a magic genius compared to me and her!”

  That gave him pause. He stumbled on his injured leg, blood dripping onto the rough stone. Blood isnt flowing to his cripples leg anymore, but the leftover stuff is creating a small trail along their path.

  “Just… dont worry. I'm resilient. I can do this. SHE can do this.”

  Just then the cave went straight up. Smokewind gripped on the stones and began to climb.

  Mana push

  Darkness launched up onto the platform above. Good thing, too, since his leg is crippled. It'll be a month to heal unless life magic is applied. Smokewind has a minor affinity for life, and a major affinity for fire and earth, so hopefully she can learn a healing spell or two to help him along. She managed to get to the platform and flop down onto it. Climbing is a skill all hatchlings learn and rely on for the first 5 years of their lives, and she has gotten pretty good, if she does say so herself. Now on the platform they continue up the winding set of obsidian stairs. Above is a large spire shooting straight up into the sky. When the time comes, the spire will open, and the eggs will hatch.

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  Now, they stand in a huge room. there are 5 sections here. One is glowing green with vines, moss, and rocks. There is no pedestal for an egg here. The second is covered with gold, diamonds, mirrors, and lights. There is a pedestal here, but it's not the one they plan to use. The pedestal is empty. The third is covered in ice. Spikes of ice and snow cover this section, and in the center is a white pedestal. Around the pedestal is blue fire. On the pedestal is a shimmering white-blue egg. Its the one she had gotten. She watched as Darkness walks towards the section of darkness. Spheres of darkness float around, consuming all light but never touching anything. The ground and walls are completely black, covered in purple stones like splatters of paint on a black canvas. In the center is a pedestal. Darkness reaches down into his bag and pulls out his egg. He sets it down in the pedestal. There is a soft purple glow, before calming.

  “There, its done.” Darkness said, moving to walk over to Smokewind. Then he stops. He is staring at something.

  “What?” Smokewing asks, turning to see what hers looking at. He is looking at the fifth section. This section is red, red, and more red, yet somehow consumed by blackness. not darkness, blackness. The pedestal is made of a black metal with a red almost outline to it. The ground is made of charred bone and ash. Blood drips on the floor and vanishes without wetting anything. The pedestal is empty.

  “The egg that Aquis was supposed to grab… it was supposed to go there…” Smokewind says. Now shes panicking. It's about to start! Where is she?!

  “She could just be… running late or something… maybe.” Darkness says, his voice getting quieter and more nervous the more he speaks. “Shes fine. She has to be!” Smokewind is hyperventilating. No. No, no, no, no, no, NO!

  Then, an earthquake. The ground began to shake. All of Smokewind’s fears and worries were washed away in an instant, replaced by awe at light began to fill the room. The roof of the spire began to open, revealing the full moon. The eggs began to glow.

  Then… CRACK!

  They began to crack open as the little creatures inside began to push their way out. The first to get out was the white egg. The first thing she saw was a white snout. Then blue eyes. Then 2 long, thin blue horns, like icicles. Then the dragon broke free. 2 back legs, 2 large wings with 3 large claws on each wing, holding him up, a back of tiny stubs soon to be spikes.

  “A wyvern.” Darkness comments, sounding like he's desperately forcing a calm tone despite his excitement. “Rare. A nearly unfindable variant of dragons. Anyone of any dragon type can be a wyvern, its just a genetic mutation that happens under unknown circumstances.”

  Then the next one started to get out.

  This hatching was all at once. In an explosion of egg shell in all directions, revealing the hatchling with its fully formed wings spread wide with a manically gleeful expression on its face. No, his face. This little dragon, like the wyvern, has fully formed wings. Darkness looks as baffled about it as her.“Wyverns have fully formed wings from birth since that's how they move. They need the full wings just to walk. this… this shouldn't be possible. Only ancient dragons are known to hatch with full wings.”

  It wasn't the only thing strange about this one. Deep black scales as if made from shadows cling to a strong, yet not bulky, frame. 2 round, curious eyes of piercing purple eyes with flecks of pink in their depths. Purple membranes along scales spikes jud up along the top of his head, splitting and connecting to the horns and going down his jaw and stopping just short of his chin. A series of bumps along his back show where more of these strange membranes are likely to grow. His claws are stubby and teeth barely even there, like a regular baby, but those dazzling purple wings make her think twice. Her own wings haven't even fully grown in yet. This baby could probably fly if he wanted to.“Abhor.” Smokewind blurts out. She doesn't even know why.“What?” Darkness turns to her, looking at her with confusion.

  “His name.” She says. “Is going to be Abhor.” She turns her head to the little baby wyvern, sho seemed to be trying to chew on an egg shell but froze it somehow. “And that one will be Snowstorm.”

  She turns to Darkness. She's forgotten about the missing third egg. Shes forgotten about everything that's happened. She's forgotten even her own name. She knows only one thing.

  “Darkness… These dragons are going to change the world forever.”