Chap. 43 The egg hatches

Chap. 43  The egg hatches

The egg is rocking and making noise

K'ndar was jolted out his concentration on the book he'd been reading. The fire lizard egg, settled on a bed of heated sand, was rocking. He could hear the lizard inside cheeping.

Shards!! He had nothing for it to eat!

Do I have time to get some fresh meat?

He wanted to kick himself. He'd been so busy with family, seeing them off to their cothold, then getting deep into the book, that he'd forgotten to get something for a possible hatching. But, he consoled himself, there was no place in his weyr one could store meat, without it being eaten by the wild creatures- or attracting insects.

I'm not sure. I will call Zeta to come and check.

In a few moments, Zeta, Lindea's gold, arrived.

She looked at the egg. She'd never laid one, but she WAS a gold. She folded her wings and gave Raventh the impression that it would be a while, yet.

I think it will be a little later. I think you have time.

I better take it with me, just in case.

He reached for the egg…and Zeta hissed at him, mantling over it possessively.

Whoa! He thought. Like a mare, protecting her new foal.

She doesn't want it moved. 

He sighed. He shoved a pair of boots on his feet and headed for the dining hall.

Lindea met him, with a bowl of raw meat in her hands. 

"Here," she said, shoving it into his hands, "I think your egg is about to hatch."

"Thank you, thank you. How did you know?" he gasped.

"Zeta was here with me, gave me a picture of an egg, and suddenly took off."

"It's rocking right now and I can hear it peeping."

"I think you have about ten minutes, then. Did you have Raventh call her?"

"I did. He knew right away it is about to hatch," he said, "can you come with me, in case I do something wrong, or do I have to be rude and run off?"

She looked around. "I can't, I'm sorry, but I have some bread in the oven that is about to come out. I doubt you'll do anything wrong, you've impressed dragons at least once! But come by later on when it's asleep. It will probably wake up again this evening, wanting more. Good thing  it's only noon,  you're going to be a bit busy."

"I was going to bring it with me but Zeta hissed at me!"

"Really! I don't think she'll hurt you, though, I think she's just discovering that she's a gold and that's what golds do. Now run."

He did. Zeta had moved aside from the egg as it was rocking quite hard by now. She saw the bowl of meat, but made no move towards it. She began to croon to the egg.

She feels better now. I think she was angry that you had nothing for the hatchling.

But how does she KNOW? She's never bred. Yet. Oh, wait. I think I know. It's called "instinct". I read it in the book I'm reading. 

Instinct. I will remember that. A way of knowing without having to learn?

Exactly! Smart dragon!

He remembered the day when he and Raventh met each other for the first time, when the cracks in the egg resounded in his ears. He remembered the feeling when they first met eyes and Raventh entered his mind. 

I remember, too. I was so little. It was so…bright. So different. And then I saw you and I knew it was going to be wonderful.

Hasn't it been!

Crick! said the egg. It flopped over, the cracks spreading instantly. There was a slight bulge, a flake of eggshell fell, and, with some anxious peeping,a tiny head poked out. It looked around.

He is…surprised. Just like me. It's so bright, outside the shell. So bright. What is this thing in front of me, he sees you, he is wondering what you are  

K'ndar reached forward and pulled pieces of shell off the tiny lizard.

It looked at him.

And impressed. 

It wasn't like the emotional and mind filling impression he'd had with Raventh. It was more that of an acknowledgement, a sense of appropriateness. 

It is a different sort of impression.

Not like us. But he sees you and you are…you are something he loves? I can't explain it.

Like a parent?

No, something different. Like a...leader. But not…not like us. 

Raventh had snaked his head into K'ndar's room, filling the opening. He was as fascinated by the lizard as K'ndar.

The hatchling pushed to exit the egg. Its forelegs exited, pressing on the ground. It opened its  tiny wings, causing the pieces of shell over them to fall. It attempted to stand up, still half in the egg, and fell over on its face. It squeaked in protest. K'ndar removed the rest of the shell and re-arranged its feet,so easily done,this time, being in miniature.

I remember doing this for you, setting you on your feet

I don't remember that

It's about all I remember. That, and you were so hungry.

The fire lizard stood shakily on four feet. 

Was I that small?

Oh, no. Not even close. Not even as an egg. 

The hatchling shivered, its wings drooping on the sand. It looked up at him and squeaked again.

I know what that means, little thing. Are you hungry?

Oh, he is hungry, enough to eat an entire wherry 

It stumbled towards K'ndar, squalling, smelling the meat. It was ravenous. It fell upon the piece K'ndar held out and gobbled. K'ndar fed him more and more, wondering where is he putting it all? He led it on, little by little, in order to tuck the wings next to the lizard's body. So small! So perfectly formed, a dragon in miniature.  The plate was almost empty when the hatchling stopped eating. It sat back on its hindlegs, a piece of meat still hanging from its jaw. It's head went up, eyes closing as if it had no room left in it's skull to keep them open.

Then it slowly and gently toppled backwards onto the sand, asleep. 

Zeta. They'd forgotten her presence. She'd watched the entire hatching without a word. She opened her wings, hovering directly in front of Raventh's face for a few moments, then flew out of the weyr and away.

She seemed happy. I think she learned something about hatching

It was quick. I didn't remember your hatching going that fast, but then, I was pretty busy.  Everything was so…so…

Mind filling?

Yes. You were in all of my mind. Just like now.

Ah, he finally had a moment in which to see what he had.

A blue. Not just blue, like the sky, no, this little fire lizard was a shining, metallic blue with hints of sea green. Lovely. 

Did he dare roll the tiny thing over onto its belly?

It is completely...I'm not sure of the word. It's more than just asleep.

Unconscious?

I don't know 'unconscious'

Right now, you and I are 'conscious'. When we're asleep, there is nothing in your mind except dreams. That's 'unconscious'. Like when we're asleep. You don't hear anything

I hear everything, all the time. All dragons do even when asleep 

Oh. Humans don't

That must feel strange. Unconscious. I think you could pick it up without it waking

He gently picked the sleeping lizard up and placed it belly down on the sand. It didn't so much as twitch. It was already dry from the hatching. 

He looked closer, fascinated by the tiny perfection. He noticed a small blaze between the lizards' eyes, almost completely green. 

Do they tell us their names?

I don’t think so. He didn't say anything other than he was hungry.  I think you name them what you want. Do you have a name?

Well, it came to me out of the blue. Ha! I will call him Siskin.