Dragon's Baby

by Ella Hart

  “Only Cobalt will have an answer to that question. Any idea if you’ll stay a dragon long after the egg hatches?” This time, the question came to him, via his wife. He shrugged. It honestly could be weeks before he was able to change back. He might not change back for years. There was no telling how long he’d be like that.

  “Huh. Can he talk as a dragon?” Rani continued to grill Paulina at this point. There wasn’t much he really could say. Or that he wanted to say at this point. He’d rather let Paulina answer as he slept. He wasn’t doing much, but he was using a lot of body heat to keep the egg warm.

  “Not the first day, usually.” She smiled a little. “It may take a day or two, but he’ll be able to speak English again soon. Although, since this wasn’t because of a full moon, I’m actually not all that sure when he’ll be able to speak again. He might be making bean words for a few days.” Her smile widened a little more.

  “When did you first learn he’s a dragon?” Rani asked a question that struck him odd. Why would she want to know that? Paulina, however, didn’t find it too strange that she had asked that question. Then again, she knew her friend better than he did.

  “I first learned a few days after I arrived in the small town my grandparents live in. We met the first day I was there, and then I wanted to invite him to dinner, so I asked around to find out where he lived.” This was new to him. He still hadn’t heard the full story of how she had finally gotten someone to give her his address. Her excuse had been to see if he wanted company the night before. The sneaky woman.

  “So, how did you find out? Just because you visited his house doesn’t mean you found out that night.” Rani pressed for more details. She didn’t think it was possible to find out just by visiting his house. Usually, she would’ve been right. However, that night that she had come, he had been in dragon form. He remembered his surprise clearly.

  “I actually saw him the week of a full moon. That’s how I found out. I walked into the cave, and there’s this beautiful, deep blue dragon not far from the mouth of the cave. When he responded to his name, I immediately knew that this was Cobalt.” Here, she looked to him. “And it was then that I began to fall in love with you.” He could feel heat in his cheeks.

  Paulina laughed. Rani looked shocked.

  “I didn’t think a dragon could blush, yet here is a blushing dragon right in front of me.” She laughed a little. “It’s the cutest thing ever.” She smiled at him. His blush deepened, evident by the way his cheeks got hotter.

  “Aww. Who’s my blushing beauty?” Paulina teased him lightly. He laughed a little, resulting in a deep, chestly sound coming from his mouth. It wasn’t quite a laugh, but it wasn’t quite a growl, either. Rani raised an eyebrow at this. Paulina smiled at him, because she knew what he was doing.

  “He’s laughing, Rani.” Once it had been explained, her friend didn’t seem too scared by it. Then again, he wasn’t sure if she had been scared at all, or just perplexed. Both feelings were expressed in her face until Paulina began to explain what he was doing.

  The conversation stalled, and he put his head back on the carpet. The egg would hopefully hatch tomorrow. He wanted to change back; it was strange how he missed having two legs instead of four and opposable thumbs instead of claws.

  The feeling went both ways, actually. There were days he wished he could change into a dragon on command, and others when he wished he could turn back into a human on command. It all depended on what was going on around him and in his life at that moment in time.

  Lately, he had wanted to be human more often. Not having to change every full moon would be helpful in so many ways. He’d be able to take on a full-time job. He’d be able to provide for his family. There were so many things he felt he was failing at. He hadn’t voiced any of it to Paulina. She did so much for him, and he didn’t feel it fair that he just sat at home. Granted, he got odd jobs when he could, but he still didn’t consider himself an equal contributor to the household.

  Either way, he knew that now he could do more now. They’d have a child. He could take care of the child and teach him or her not to burn the house down. Parenting came so much more naturally to him than any of the skills he’d learnt for the various odd jobs he’d taken. He wasn’t sure why that was, but that’s how he felt.

  Slowly, he closed his eyes. He wanted to sleep, which would allow him to stay curled around the egg for as long as he needed to. No one would give him any odd looks for that if he were asleep. And so his breathing evened out. The last thing he heard as he drifted off was Paulina wishing him a happy nap.

  Chapter Nine: Panic Attack

  He slept fitfully. The remains of the memory he had recollected earlier – the parts he hated to remember – crept into his dreams. The hand of that first female human he ever saw trailed down his scales. He scratched softly behind his ears in his sleep.

  A hand on his shoulder startled him awake. His eyes quickly trailed up the arm to find out who had touched him. The person spoke first, instantly calming him down.

  “Whoa, Cobalt. Easy. Easy. It’s just me.” Paulina’s voice filled his ears. “You’re bleeding.” In her other hand, she held a piece of gauze and a roll of medical tape. He looked down at his claw. There was blood on it. “Here. Let me.” She knelt beside him.

  He tried to say something to her. To ask where he was bleeding. But no sounds came out of his mouth except for an inquisitive growl.

  “Well, that’s a new sound.” She smiled a little, laughing at the noise. “You’re bleeding right behind your ear. I think you’ve been scratching at that spot quite fiercely lately.” She didn’t speak for a few moments. He watched her hands move swiftly across his head. The tape felt odd back there, as if it wouldn’t adhere well.

  To his surprise, it stuck with minimal fuss.

  “Don’t scratch at it again, please. I don’t want to have to call an ambulance and spill your secret to more people.” She smiled at him, and then pet his head gently. Her hand trailed over his spine, in the same way that the woman’s had. He pulled away abruptly without meaning to.

  He whimpered at her. Why was he suddenly so on edge around her? There wasn’t any reason for him to be like that! He began to wonder if he was doing this because of the memory.

  “Are you okay, Cobalt?” Paulina sat down beside him. He shook his head. There was something that he wasn’t sure about, but there was something in his heart that was not making sense. “Can you give me an idea of what is going on in your head then?”

  He shook his head again. He didn’t even know what was going on in his head. He closed his eyes, and managed to keep from completely breaking down. When he opened his eyes again, Paulina was stroking his cheek. Somehow, it didn’t set his nerves off. There was something different about this kind of touch. It made it different from the stroking of his back.

  “It’s okay if you can’t tell me now.” She reassured him that she wouldn’t press for details. “Just give me a signal when you feel uncomfortable with what I’m doing. I’m sorry if I make you uncomfortable again, by the way.” She gave him a soft smile.

  He took a deep breath, and closed his eyes again. Try as hard as he could, he was unable to keep the rest of that horrible memory from coming to mind.

  It was a mistake to trust her. He continued to chant that to himself as he was paraded through the streets of some odd little city. Maybe it wasn’t a city. Maybe it was a town. He wasn’t quite sure how to describe the place he was in. She smiled cruelly as she continued to take him around the place.

  His family was behind him, but being the one that had trusted her, Cobalt was in the front of the line. The friendly dragon, they called him. He wasn’t sure what they were trying to show by doing this. Why would they call him a ‘friendly’ dragon if they had plans to treat him as a prisoner?

  Eventually, someone spoke something that he understood. He didn’t look so friendly. That worked. He didn’t want that title. He didn’t want to be here. He wanted to be back in the mount
ains. With his family. That did not seem like it was going to happen at this point.

  He felt a jerk on the rope around his neck and it jerked him forward. There was something odd about this. Why yank the rope around his neck to keep him walking? It was unfairly brutal as he was still walking. He wasn’t sure if it was to show that they were in control, or to show that he was becoming submissive. Whatever the case, the end goal would be the same. He would not be in control of his own destiny here.

  The woman took him away from his family at some point. He shot a sad glance over his shoulder. His mother looked back at him. Their eyes met for just a moment, and he could see the tears in her eyes.

  Another jerk on the rope made him trip. The woman laughed. She forced him to get up, and forced him to continue walking. There had to be something better than this.

  He was roughly shoved into a cell. Then the man leading his mother came into the room. His mother’s tears had begun to flow by now. The man tied her rope to a small stake. She struggled, but there was nothing that she could do to stop him. He watched as she struggled helplessly. She attempted to free herself, but nothing changed. He hadn’t known it was possible to feel this powerless.

  His mother growled softly at him. ‘Stay strong.’ It echoed softly around the room, ‘Stay strong.’ He wondered why she was saying this. Without warning, the man struck her over the head with a branch. He struck her many times over. She sobbed softly in the quiet room.

  Her sobs gradually began to die off. They became softer and softer, until they stopped completely. Her chest moved up and down slowly for one last time, and then she was still. He growled, nuzzling at the cage door. There was no reassuring growl. No response that she was there for him. He growled again, tears in his eyes at this point. She didn’t answer.

  The tears began to run.

  But that wasn’t the last of it. His dad was pulled in, and the process began again. And again and again as the rest of his family was killed right in front of his eyes. Tears fell from his eyes freely as he watched. When he would try to look away, the woman would force his face back to the horrible scene. His brothers and sisters all died the same horrible death his mother and father had.

  He was hit with the shocking realization that the last of his family was dead. They’d been a small family for dragons. Only six children. Many broods had as many as a few thousand children. This made them an easy target for hunters because of their low numbers in comparison to the other broods in the area.

  If he could get away from the humans, another brood would take him in. That’s how dragons worked in society. If one’s family passed away, there was always another family that could take one in.

  However, he highly doubted he’d get away easily. The cage, though rudimentary, was constructed with the best materials the humans had – wood. He was surprised they expected him not to burn it down.

  That was the first thing he tried to do when he realized that it would be his turn soon. But the woman struck him hard for it.

  “Cobalt... oh...” Paulina’s voice interrupted the memory. He was thankful for it. He looked up at her. “I didn’t realize... oh my...” The look on her face conveyed distress. Had she seen the memory?

  He couldn’t ask, but he nuzzled her softly. His new, inquisitive growl escaped his mouth softly. He managed to somehow ask the question on his mind.

  “Yes. I saw the memory, Cobalt. I’m so sorry you had to go through that.” She hugged him softly, lovingly, around the neck. This time, it didn’t make him flinch. He nuzzled his head into her stomach as tears began to flow freely from his eyes again. He didn’t like that memory, yet it was the one memory he could never seem to forget.

  The silence of a crying dragon was interrupted by a cracking noise. They turned their attention towards the egg. Cobalt sniffled slowly. The last thing he wanted his new child to see was that he was crying. That he was upset.

  “Cobalt. Our child...” Paulina smiled widely. The egg continued to crack. He unwrapped his tail from the egg, and pulled his wings away too. The egg shards could be sharp if the child knew how to crack it in that way.

  Their child did not seem to realize he or she could crack it like that. Many of the edges of the egg shards were sharp, but not sharp enough to puncture anything. A beautifully scaled dragon clumsily rolled out of the egg. Like father, like son. Or like father, like daughter. One of the two.

  Cobalt lowered his head, and nuzzled against the young one’s head. The baby dragon returned the gesture. Family. Oh, how he’d longed to have a family of his own again.

  “Oh. That’s so precious...” Paulina’s voice interrupted the moment. He let a laugh escape his lips. The child looked up to him, confused. He nudged the child softly towards his mother, and let out a specific growl. Mother. The word “mother.” Oh, how he missed his own mother.

  But he didn’t dwell on that.

  The child walked over to Paulina clumsily. Then climbed up onto her lap, and Cobalt got a good look at his child’s belly. Females had a lighter belly than their scales, while male dragons had the same color throughout their body. Neither had scales on their belly, though. It was a dragon’s only weak spot.

  The belly of his child was lighter. They had a daughter. He growled the word at her. Daughter. Daughter. Daughter. The child laughed a little, nodding.

  “What are you saying, Cobalt?” Paulina cocked her head to him. He took a deep breath. He hoped this would come out right.

  “Daughter.” The singular word came out. His voice was deep, raspy, and almost not his own, but the word made her face light up. He’d never seen her so happy. “Daughter.”

  Paulina laughed a little as the girl nuzzled up to her neck and head, rubbing her head against her mother’s. She managed to catch on, and nuzzled her daughter’s head with her own. She seemed to feel odd about it, but that was normal for someone who wasn’t used to that.

  Their daughter licked her face. Paulina laughed.

  “So, do you have a name in that head of yours, Cobalt?” She turned to him. “Or is there something about the scales that you name from?” She raised an eyebrow.

  “Typically scale color.” He smiled a little. His words were starting to come out easier. They looked at their child’s body a little closer.

  Her scales were a light, aquamarine-like color. Her belly was almost white. He wasn’t quite sure what they could name her.

  Then he noticed a small patch of scales on her tail that was a deep red color, like the roses that had grown around the caves he grew up in.

  “Rose.” He said the name softly. “Rose. That is her name.”

  “Rose... I like it.” Paulina smiled. “And it’s a name that wouldn’t be off by any standards in a human’s eyes.” She petted the little female dragon softly as she spoke. Rose began to purr in her mother’s arms. It was a soft, sweet kind of purr. A contented purr.

  Rani came in at that moment, and the girl looked up from her mother’s lap. As the newcomer looked at the little girl, Cobalt felt funny. Anxious, actually. It only took a deep breath to calm him down. New parent anxieties were beginning to set in. Well, that’s what he thought it was.

  “Did your egg hatch?” Rani’s voice was the one to interrupt his thoughts this time. He nodded.

  “Rose.” He repeated her name, and this time, she responded. She ran over to him clumsily, tripping over her own four legs, and nuzzled his chest. He curled his wings around her softly. He’d missed being able to snuggle another dragon.

  He pulled his wing up. The young dragon hid in his chest, giggling as he nuzzled her softly. Paulina giggled at some aspect of what was going on.

  “This is a very rare sight...” She puzzled at what she was seeing. “How often do you get to be part of a dragon’s family, and watch them do their thing?”

  “Not often at all.” Rani speculated on the subject. “I think they’re the last two of their kind. And technically, your daughter is half human.”

  He looked up to see what his wife woul
d think.

  “I thought Cobalt was half human, too. He can shift, you know.” She didn’t seem too surprised by the speculation.

  “Dragon shifter. We are all dragon, and all human. It is an odd thing of our race,” he managed to say. “So Rose is all dragon, and all human. She will be as unique in her expression of her dragon side as I am. And as unique in expressing her human side as I am.” He gently picked up the little one in his palm. She giggled. Dragon children were much different to human children.

  For one thing, it didn’t take all that long for dragons to learn how to walk. Another difference between them was the fact that dragon children loved to be tickled, and enjoyed rough play not long after they hatched. He wasn’t sure how, exactly, that differed from human children. He’d seen many human children learn to rough-house as easily as he had as a youngling.

  “Well, whatever proportions her genes are in, she is absolutely adorable. Though I am surprised she’s not a darker hue of blue.” Rani sat down beside Paulina. This drew Rose’s attention, and she walked over to the new comer. She had small wings, not able to fly at the moment. But in a few years, she’d be able to fly all over the place.

  Like a toddler who has just learned to walk, she’d be getting into everything she could get her little claws on.

  “So am I, to be honest.” Paulina looked to him now. “What determines a dragon’s scale colors, anyway?” He simply shrugged.

  “I do not know. I am dark blue, but my mother was jade green, and my father black and grey like granite.” He did have a twin brother, though, that had been just as blue as he had been.

  He was still a little hopeful that his twin was alive. He hadn’t seen him be killed that day.

  He shook his head softly. There was no reason to think of that right now. Though he often did, he had something else to be happy about at the moment.