Hatchling Chronicles Chapter 4

Written and as told by Kath McGill

Chapter four

Cormie closed her eyes and shivered. There had to be something else going on, something she had no way of knowing about that would cause Othelh to wish her brothers and sisters and mother harm. When she opened them, she saw her mother sleeping curled up next to the hatchlings. She noticed that her mothers scales didn’t have the same shine, and that her ribs were showing. Even with her feeding herself with the rats, and only taking a tiny bit, Cormie knew that her mother was eating last, and sacrificing herself so that her hatchlings would survive and grow. Well, Cormie thought, There were more than enough of those small creatures to feed all of her hatchmates. She knew her mother would sleep a bit more. Cormie drew in a breath and crept silently to the closest hatchmate of hers and reaching out with her nose, she opened her mouth and bit the nose of her older brother.

While it wasn’t hard enough to cause any damage, it did wake him. Agryua raised an eyebrow at her as her small nose darted in and nipped his nostril again. With her heart in her throat she scrambled backwards with him in hot pursuit She knew she was faster than he was, and made it a point to almost let him catch up with her just before she found the hole that had the rats in it. They were still there and with a skidding halt she stuck her head in the hole and snagged one of them

Her brother heard the /squeek of the rat as she bit off its head. Coming to a stop he saw what she had in her mouth. “Where did you get that?” he hissed softly. He knew enough that their mother needed rest. Camie gulped down the rat sucking down the tail to the end with a slurp before inclining her head to where the hole was. He eyed it carefully before inserting his own head into the hole. Cormie heard the satisflying crunch of her brother catching a particularly large rat before pulling his head out to look at her.

“The others don’t know, do they? Its how you have been staying alive…” she saw him swallow the rat then go in for another one. For the longest time he looked at her. “its how, we are going to have to survive, isn’t it?” he asked after swallowing the second rat.

Beatri woke as the lumbering claws of an old dragoness delivering the meat scraps entered her cave. Glancing down at her hatchlings she nodded to the older dragoness her thanks and watched as the dragoness lumbered back out of the cave. With some alarm she noticed that the amount of scraps was far less than what had been provided before. Nudging her children awake Beatri was puzzled at their behavior. Some of them still slept, too tired to move. Others staggered to their feet and wandered to the bowl to snag a bite, then retreated back to their corner. A burp from one caused Beatri to regard her hatchlings closely.

“Hatchlings? Have you been into the meat stores?” she asked them in a terrifed hushed whisper. All of her hatchlings shook their heads. She turned to look at the oldest and tilted her head. “Agryua? Where did you all get the food that fills your bellys?”

Agryua heard Cormie catch her breath. He saw her pull back to hide just a bit more behind her siblings.

“We, we wandered a bit when you were asleep, and we came across some rats, and ate them. I don’t think we could eat anything more. We didn’t know they would make us so full…You go ahead Mom, you need to eat too.” He saw his mother shake her head “The food is meant for you…” Cormie saw Agryua pull up a bit “Mom, We may be not long out of the shell, but, we do know when something’s wrong. There wouldn’t be enough meat for even half of us in that bowl, and you need to be strong to protect us until our father comes home.”

Beatri sighed. “He won’t be coming home.” She said at last. “I’m sorry that what I did would cause all of you harm.” Her hatchlings crowded about her feet. “It was right for you to protect Cormie, there isn’t anything wrong with her at all, shes just as smart and quick and brave as every dragon.” Agryua insisted. Large tears came from Beatri’s eyes

”Oh children, it isn’t about Cormie, or keeping her alive- It – it all happened before. You see, your father and I fell in love, quite by accident and kept it a secret for a very long time. When the last snows came and we lost a number of the dragons at the last hunt, I let others think that he was one of them. I had to. Cormie, happens, to have some of her fathers characteristics, and, well, while that may be a problem for him to address later, its not, our problem, though, its likely that its known now, and that’s the reason behind all of this, to force him to come forward and say you’re his children.”

“Would that be so bad?” asked Simmona, her oldest daughter. Another tear fell from her cheek

“Yes…” Beatri said softly. “It would be”

to be continued…