Hatching (Posted for a friend) :)

I woke with a start; my cheek really was burning up. Sitting up quickly I threw my pillow onto the ground to avoid starting a fire. The pouch underneath was steaming through the skin. I called my magic and opening the bag, dumped the rock onto my bed.

The veins of copper that had criss-crossed the rock were now a blazing red color, and the rock was hot to the touch. Then it started rocking back and forth, at first not very much, but then it started rocking violently back and forth.

Little cracks started to appear on the sides, and I backed away to the end of the bed, away from the strange rock that was perched on my bed.

Then it stopped moving, slowly I crept closer to the rock. I tapped the rock with my knuckle, and to my horror something tapped back. Intrigued, I picked up the rock. It was mildly warm, but nothing compared to how it had felt only moments before.

I traced the cracks with my finger, trailing them around the center circle that had been formed. Nothing had marred its surface, and now there were dozens of cracks running across the rock. I was ready to believe that I had imagined the rocking and shaking, when a small wet head with tiny horns appeared out of the rock, the shell balanced on its head.

I would have screamed had I been able to find my voice. Instead I opted for dropping the newly found egg onto my bed, and backing up frantically. I was so focused on the little creature that was emerging from the egg, that I didn’t realize I was nearing the end of my bed until I fell off.

“Oww.” I groaned, not wanting my mother to come investigate what was going on. I stayed with my back and head on the floor, and my feet and legs draped up the side of the bed.

Then the head appeared again, this time it was looking down at me, the tiny horns casting an eerie silhouette from the window. Getting slowly to my feet, I watched as the little creature cleaned himself. He stretched his neck so that his head was near my left hand. Reaching I touched his head, petting the still soft scales.

And then the pain started. It started in my fingers and hand, but traveled up and around the rest of my body. My mouth flew open to scream, but I couldn’t for fear of waking mother. I cradled my hand against my chest, still watching the creature watching me with curious interest.

‘I’m sorry.’ A small voice squeaked, ‘I didn’t mean to hurt you.’

I looked wildly around, but no one else was there expect the small creature, that I realized with a start, was a dragonette. I looked down at my hand, there in the middle of the palm was a small teardrop shaped burn, still red.

‘It doesn’t hurt too much, does it?’ the voice asked again.

“Who said that?” I whispered out loud this time, I was starting to become upset that I couldn’t find the speaker that belonged with the voice.

‘It’s me, you don’t have to talk out loud, I can hear your thoughts just fine without you yelling like that.’ I stared down at the little dragon on my bed, his baby scales gleaming in the moonlight.

‘How can you hear my thoughts, and why can I hear you?’ I thought, at the dragon, not sure if this would work.

‘I don’t know why you can, but I’m really hungry. Is there anything to eat in here?’ the dragon asked. Looking around my room I managed to come up with a little beef and venison jerky, and tearing them apart, left them on the bed in front of the dragon.

‘Thank you’ the dragon said before tearing into the jerky, which was soon gone from the bed. Looking up at me, the dragon asked ‘Is there any more, I’m still terribly hungry.’ His brown eyes had little streaks of red through them, making them quite beautiful.

‘I think we have more in the kitchen. Stay here, I’ll be right back.’ I thought back to him, still not used to the idea of thinking to hold a conversation. The dragon nodded his understanding and continued to clean his wings, spreading them to their full length, which was quite wide, about 3 times the length of his body.

I tip-toed down the stairs, and went straight for the jerky, then thinking quickly also grabbed some fresh meat. Since my sheets were dirty from the dragon, I also brought a new set, and tip-toeing up the stairs found the dragon staring up at the sky.

Smiling to myself, I changed the bed first, leaving the dirty sheets on the ground across the room. I took what was left of the egg, and placed it under the bed frame; I would deal with that later. The dragon, done watching the window for now, made his way over to where I was sitting on the bed.

He blinked a few times at me, then said ‘I’m sorry if I hurt you. Can I see?’ I held out my hand to him, the burn still was red, and stood out against my pale skin. He cocked his head, and a tear fell from his eye, landing on the burn. Instant relief flooded my skin, like a soothing balm, it cooled the skin.

‘How did you do that?’ I asked astonished. Looking up at me the dragon was slightly confused, but answered.

‘I don’t know, but I wanted you to not hurt.’ I passed him a piece of meat, and he tore into it with tenacity.

I leaned back against the wall and studied him in the moonlight. He was the size of a large cat, when his wings were tucked against his side, when they weren’t he seemed bigger. His scales sparkled in the light, a dull coppery red. But his underbelly was more of a light copper, in some places almost yellow. His neck wasn’t too long; it seemed a good length. Each of his four legs ended in a small claw, each with little white talons, seemingly harmless. His horns were also white, which stood out from the rest of him. They were small, but already looked like they could cause pain.

He must have discerned my thoughts, because he turned his head and said, ‘You can pet me if you like? I won’t be this small forever you know.’ Then he turned back to the food. Laughing at his statement, I let my hand trail over his body, his scales still soft. When I reached behind his horns, he stopped eating and said lazily:

‘That feels good.’ I couldn’t help but laugh at how he looked, stretching into my hand like a cat does. I stopped petting him, and he looked upset, but when I said it was time for bed, he seemed to accept it.

I slid under the covers, leaving the dragonette at the end of the bed. It wasn’t long before I could feel him watching me from the other side of my legs.

‘Can I come sleep with you?’ his small voice echoed in my head. Looking over my feet and legs, I nodded, and I felt him climbing, not so gracefully, over me. His expedition ended when he curled up against my chest, his tiny head the size of my palm lay carefully on my outstretched arm.

He sighed with contentment, and his body went limp. Smiling to myself, I relaxed, letting my body melt into the bed. I hoped this time my dreams would not be plagued by shadow dragons, I much preferred the little one sleeping against me.