“She’s doing it, though,” I said hopefully. “Come on, L’eesha—don’t give up!” I urged. “Can you smell the meat?” I picked up the bowl and waved it around near the small hole in the egg.
At once, a tiny wet snout poked at the hole, and I saw two teeny nostrils flare as she inhaled. I felt a surge of hunger from her and then the egg began to rock in my lap.
I watched with pride as my drakeling began to fight her way out like the double thick shell was her mortal enemy. As soon as the hole in the shell was big enough, I pushed a gobbet of meat into her little mouth.
“so good! so fresh!” I heard her little voice nearly moaning with hunger in my mind. She gobbled the meat and begged for more, which I gave to her.
But after three or four pieces, Ryse stopped me.
“No more—she needs to come out of the shell. Keep the meat for a reward.”
“more! more!” L’eesha demanded imperiously.
I was glad to hear her bossy tone returning.
“Not until you break through and come out to me, sweetheart,” I told her. “Come on—you’ve got more strength now. Break through to me!”
The meat had given her strength because a few moments later, more pieces of shell fell off. They were coated with a thick white membrane that must be the egg sack. It was slick with moisture and almost impossible to tear—my poor drakeling, no wonder she was having such a hard time! Between the sac and the double thick shell, she was really having to struggle to be born.
I ached to rip the shell apart myself, but I knew I couldn’t. Instead I kept encouraging her, sending her love and strength and support and letting her know she could have as much meat as she wanted as soon as she came out.
I still wasn’t sure if she was going to make it. All around me drakelings were breaking free and falling into their rider’s laps. All around me, bonds were forming. But I couldn’t pay attention to any of that—I was completely focused on my own drakeling.
L’eesha, meanwhile, was getting irritated.
“bad shell!” I heard her say, as she fought to get out of it. “keeping me in. let me go! no more use for you!”
And then the egg in my lap started practically vibrating. I heard her thrashing wildly inside, hissing with anger.
“let me go! LET ME GO!” I heard her shout.
Outside the dragons’ song had grown so loud it was nearly deafening, as though it was rising to some kind of crescendo, yet I barely heard it.
“Watch out!” Ryse exclaimed. “It’s going to blow!”
Just as he spoke, the rest of the shell practically exploded with chunks of it going everywhere!
And there, sitting in my lap, was a perfect miniature Pure Gold dragon no bigger than a large puppy.
47
AURORA
“God and Goddess—she’s as golden as her egg!” Ryse exclaimed in my ear.
“Yes, she is. She’s perfect,” I breathed.
And then L’eesha blinked and looked up at me and I was lost in her rainbow eyes.
Because her eyes were the one thing about her that wasn’t gold—they were swirling bands of pale, shiny color—the most beautiful sight I had ever seen.
As I looked into my drakeling’s eyes and she looked into mine, I felt her love for me filling me up like a cup as the soul-bond formed between us and I knew neither of us would ever be alone again.
I was everything to her—her mother and father, her best friend, her sister, the one person she wanted to be with forever and always. She would be with me until the day I died and on that day, she would die too. We would never be parted, and she would be a part of my heart forever.
“my Auri,” I heard her whisper in my mind. And then I felt a rush of starving hunger—she needed more meat! She needed it now!
“Here you go,” I said, laughing with joy as I pushed another bloody chunk of goat meat into her mouth.
