[Primus]
I collapse as much of the tunnel as I feel safe to crush. She needs to be safe, she needs a safe place to lay her clutch. She needs her nest, but it is on the other side of the continent, across the sea, and no longer safe even if we could get there in time.
Someone is trying to tell me something. An old drake is tugging on my tunic as I sweep down to pick up my mate from the ground, her body convulsing. I cannot hear him through the sound of the blood in my ears, my fear for Carnelia is too strong.
Her body sounds like it is trying to rip itself apart.
The old man is insistent. He points up several times
[Maximus] [Earlier that afternoon] My eyes are heavy but I cannot sleep, even though the sun is glowing so bright that my eyes burn. I can smell them. My heirs. They are close, to the castle walls. One of my children has produced a brood, but which one? Ona didn’t smell broody the last time I saw her. Segundus, perhaps. He has been spending a lot of time with Eleanora, the lady from the borderlands. Maybe that is why he was trying to marry her off to his brother, as a way to secure that his heirs would take the throne. Clever. Maybe a bit too clever for Segundus.
[Carnelia] I wake to the sound of gentle snoring. The air is dry and crisp, but I am warm. Wrapped around me, Primus is in dragon form, his body protecting me from all sides, secure within a nest of pillows that he must have created while I was asleep. I don’t know how long I rested, but my body feels heavy with the ache of my struggle and the exhaustion of deep sleep. If I close my eyes, I can almost imagine that we are home in Ridgewood Keep, but then I remember the day before, and I know that we are far from home and far from true safety. There is a faint smell of dust and disuse that crinkles the edges of my nose as I inhale deeply. Sneezing, I feel a small shuffle to my right as my dragon protector opens a single eye. Smiling, I place a reassuring hand on his side, smooth
[Ona] When we finally breathed in the fresh salt air of the West Coast, those of us who remained were tired and famished. Without sustenance, there would be no way for any of them to regain enough strength to transform or even create basic clothing. Nude and starving, they huddled together in the opening of the tunnel. When we left the laboratory three days ago, we had 7 severely injured and about 5 dozen mostly healthy drakes and drakainas. After three days of traveling through the tunnels, we have 42 survivors. We lost 20 souls on the way to freedom. As they dropped, we would say some words and, as the only dragon in full control of her powers, I would incinerate them, leaving behind no trace that they were ever in the tunnel except for a pile of ash.
[Eleanora] Primus has disappeared. The rumor is that he has gone insane with the news of the death of his human pet. The one he dared make a princess. When his sister not only shared the news of his beloved's demise, she poisoned his mind, if not his body, with insanity. In a fit of rage, he created his own tomb, one where he now lies trapped somewhere between the surface and eternity. Without a body, I find myself weeping over an empty grave, surrounded by the lovely courtiers who would have made up my queen's court when I officially took my place by his side as his wife. I had declared him mine before the high council, so even though our wedding had not been consummated, the bans have been read, and my body bears the marks of what should have been our wedding tattoos, a mixture of
[Carnelia] [Dream] I am lying on a large stone terrace in a proper aerie in the top spire of a beautiful castle. It is warm here, the air smelling of tropical flowers. Between the stone pillars, beautiful birds fly within the canopy of a lush, green forest. “They are so beautiful,” a young woman with dark brown skin and a large smile looks down at me and my clutch. I am in dragon form, my body still wrapped tightly around them providing my babies with warmth as they grow a little bit larger. “Eight eggs, such a blessing!” You were one of eight too, you know.”
[Segundus] “My Liege,” two knights bow before me. The one speaking is quivering with fear while the second knight remains prostrated before the throne, his head arms and chest flat against the cold, hard, slate floor.The first knight hesitates. He knows he has to deliver bad news, I can tell by the stink of fear emanating off of him and how his body collapses when he kneels before me, his head tapping the floor. “Report,” my voice is neutral, my face is blank, but I’m already seething. I am glad my queen is not here to see what will happen next, because I cannot promise I can contain my anger once whatever this worm has to say has come spilling from his lips like rancid food.
[Ona] “You cannot kill him yet,” Daax reminds me as he holds me to his chest. His scent is returning to its familiar mix of burnt caramel and sand, and I feel myself easing into his embrace. I had just seen him walk around one of our survivors as if he was a trinket on the ground and I wanted to throttle him so badly that I found it hard to force a smile onto my face as he led me to the captain’s quarters. “I can’t do this, Aegir. I want to see him twitching on the ground.” “I’ll hold him down for you,” Daax agrees. “But we need to know what he is planning. We need to know to keep our people safe.”
[Primus] No matter what I try, I cannot keep her warm. Carnelia is shivering, her whole body shaking, and I’m not sure what I can do, other than hold her, to help calm her body. She needs food, water, and rest, things she cannot get while we are trapped inside of this secret cavern waiting for the Imperium forces to forget us. Which of course they never will. I send out a thread of thought to my mother through our bands. Through her I get a sense that our babies are safe, which is a relief, but that she is also worried about us, unable to get to us as she is. If Carnelia were just able to transform into her