Cinderax leaned close, his breath stirring the hatchling’s leathery frills.“She will sing storms of fire.”
The dragon’s eyelids peeled open like petals unfurling to light. A transparent membrane swept across the narrow crimson slit, revealing the sharp, glinting edge of newborn sight.
Then she sneezed, a wisp of smoke spiraling from her snout.
Serenna’s hand flew to her mouth as laughter broke loose, caught between a sob and awe. Heat pricked behind her eyes, blurring the dragon before her—this flame-born creature, the most delicate wonder she’d ever beheld.
Kaedryn leaned back on her heels, chuckling softly. For the next hour they watched as the hatchling clawed her way into the world.
Serenna’s fingers itched to pry the shell apart, to ease the hatchling’s emergence. But Cinderax hissed, insisting that the struggle was sacred, that the rite to life forged strength in the body and fire in the bones.
And so they waited as the egg fractured, agonizingly slow, each crack seeming minutes apart. Until, at last, the dragon spilled onto the warm sand in a tangle of damp wings and trembling limbs. Her ribs heaved in quick, uneven breaths, eyes clenched shut.
Cinderax nudged her gently with his snout.
The hatchling answered with a defiant clack of razor-sharp fangs. She wobbled upright onto four legs, wings sagging at her sides as she fought for balance.
“She’ll be a menace,”Cinderax said, pride curling through the words.
Eyes smoldering like flame, he looked up at Serenna.“The naming rights belong to the flamebearers of the clutch—those who kindled life. But as there are no remaining kin…”His words faltered, a dying cinder of loss.“That duty falls to us.”
Serenna blinked, the air fleeing from her lungs. Her attention darted to Kaedryn. “You–you wantmeto name her?”
Kaedryn nodded, eyes softened by quiet certainty. “She wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t shattered the Aelfyn’s starlight chains.”
Serenna had scarcely begun to believe the hatchling would survive, and already they asked her to name it. That privilege belonged to lineages—to legends—not to someone who’d nearly unmade the very flame entrusted to her now.
Adjusting on her knees, Serenna turned back to the dragon wobbling on unsteady legs. She searched for a name worthy of the ages—for a creature who would outlive them all, carrying within her a primal fire and the power to forge the world that would endure after they were gone.
The slick black sheen of the hatchling’s scales was already transforming. The supple surface tightened and darkened until every plate gleamed like armor wrought from night itself.
“Vasharax,” Serenna whispered at last. “She who rises from sacred flame.”
A faint smile curved Kaedryn’s lips as the name settled between them.
Nostrils flaring, the hatchling lifted her head toward Serenna. Ruby irises caught the light, pinning briefly.
“Does she approve?” Serenna asked.
“She’s a hatchling,”Cinderax replied dryly, his tail sweeping around him.“She comprehends little beyond hunger and flame.”He chuffed at Vasharax, whose tiny claws flexed against the sand.“But she’ll grow into the name.”
Kaedryn rose and beckoned toward the pavilion’s edge. Velinya approached with a pool of flame cupped between her palms.
“I’ve already spoken to Lykor,” Kaedryn said. “He’s agreed that his wraith—those not bound for the war front—will aid in the hatchlings’ care.” She gently placed one of the remaining eggs into Velinya’s waiting hands. “A new guild is forming, devoted entirely to their survival.”
When Velinya departed, Kaedryn turned once more to Serenna, her voice softening to reverence. “And the guildmasters have agreed you will lead it. As the First Keeper of the Cradle Flame.”
Serenna’s lips parted, but no words came. The title echoed through her, the responsibility heavier than any crown. Before she could stammer about how honored—or how unready—she felt, Kaedryn continued.
“I’ll help with the framework, of course,” she promised. “But this…this can be a bridge between our peoples. A united way forward. And I understand you already bear other duties. Velinya and Mara have agreed to serve as your voice when you’re pulled elsewhere.”
Speech caught in Serenna’s throat. Her heart swelled, brimming with a quiet, staggering wonder. That they would trust her with this…
“My siblings will need firm guidance,”Cinderax rumbled low, steam curling from his nostrils.“They will truly be hatchlings in every sense—ruled by base instinct until they mature.”He flicked his tail as Vasharax nipped it, lip lifting around his fangs.“I will teach them the memory of fire.”
His molten eyes narrowed, amusement simmering beneath the glow.“And before you voice it—though I’ve no doubt Lykor will—I know I do not tower over Vasharax. But I, at least, carry the mind of my line.”
Serenna’s smile broke free as Vasharax chirped an indignant croak and flopped back into the warmed sand. The little dragon’s eyes fluttered shut, chest rising in a slowing rhythm.
