The golden egg wriggled.
It was hatching.
“It’s coming out!” Thystle cried. It was his first time witnessing an egg hatch, but Cobalt knew the magical feeling never got old.
A chip flew off the shell. An egg tooth stuck out, followed by a big, angry peep.
Cobalt was relieved. Good lungs meant a healthy dragonet. It was also heartening that the baby hatched on its own. Instinctively, he knew it was a bad sign when a dragonet was stuck. He was grateful none of his brothers had needed help.
A scaly arm exploded from the shell. Two horns popped out, then a goldenrod head. The dragonet was slimy and loud, but it was alive.
Yet something bothered Cobalt. The hatchling was tiny—half the size of his brothers when they hatched.
“It’s so cute and small,” Violet said. Noticing Cobalt’s worried expression, he asked, “Is it supposed to be that small?”
Cobalt didn’t answer.
“Yes, it’s small. But it looks healthy,” Jade said, trying to ease everyone’s worries.
Then the golden dragonet shocked everyone.
It attacked its own egg.
“Whoa,” Crimson blurted. “What’s it doing?”
A pit opened in Cobalt’s stomach. The hatchling was free. It should’ve left the egg by now. Normally, the hatchlings tumbled out of the shell and abandoned it. This was abnormal. Combined with the baby’s unusual size, it flooded him with concern.
The golden hatchling snarled as loud as its little lungs could muster. It clawed and bit at the other half of the shell.
“Should we stop it?” Thystle asked.
Everyone turned to Cobalt for the final decision, but he didn’t know what to do. He had never seen anything like this before.
The golden hatchling didn’t care for Cobalt’s opinion, either. It ignored the bigger dragons. All it wanted was to destroy the egg.
Cobalt began slowly. “I think we should—”
A second voice, muffled and weak, was just loud enough to be heard over the rain.
The older dragons froze.
The golden hatchling grew frantic. It raked at the shell desperately, calling out like a parent searching for its missing cub.
Cobalt’s heart reached his throat. He understood now.
There was a second dragonet inside the egg.
He reached out a claw to help free it. Whipping its neck as fast as a snake, the golden dragonet bit him.
“Ow,” Cobalt said, more surprised than hurt.
Normally, hatchlings didn’t have fangs except an egg tooth. Why did this baby already possess teeth, especially when its growth seemed stunted?
“Maybe it thinks you’re trying to hurt the other one,” Jade remarked.
Cobalt’s stomach flipped. Of course, he was only trying to help, but the hatchling didn’t know that. It was just born—it acted on pure instinct.
Finally, the golden dragonet broke through the other half of the shell. It snapped off with a crack.
