Dragon Born: Book I of the Tendaaren Chronicles
Chapter 29: Dragon Heart

“We are all connected in the great circle of life.“--The Lion King

The warm gentle light grew brighter, its song was overpowering, Aly felt her legs swing with purpose towards the heart of the sound. She felt something, or someone beckoning her forward. Her ears were numb to the racket of her friends calling for her through the woods. Nothing seemed more important to her than moving forward. Her soul was being pulled by an invisible leash. Her own song growing louder and louder as she shambled closer to the sickening sweet call of the stranger in the woods.

Alyenna heart leaped when she finally found the heart of the celestial sound. The ground beneath her feet was iridescent. Bioluminescent particles intertwined in a complex and mesmerizing mosaic of gold and emerald lights. She outstretched her fingers to touch the earth beneath her. She relished its warmth so out of place in this frozen wonderland. As her fingers grazed the tiny glowing particles, the song hidden beneath her grew ever louder. It was jubilant in nature. Her other palm reached for the light. The warmth of the glow surrounded her fingers and playfully tinted the angles of her face.

Mindlessly she began to dig. Tossing the shimmering particles recklessly behind her. She dug relentlessly, creating a deep and radiant crevasse. Strands of magic began steaming up from the ground circling her arms and caressing her face. she felt her nails tear through the earth. She felt an unnaturally smooth surface. She knew it instantly. She found her treasure. Her hands desperately clutched her prize releasing it from its earthen tomb. “Precious,” Aly whispered cradling the object close to her as she lifted it into the air.

She stared in awe at the shining object in her hands. It was warm and smooth and looked to be made of golden tinted crystals. She held it to her chest and felt the gentle beating of a tiny heart. Tears cascaded down her face. An unconscious realization of the great power and responsibility that was tenderly cradled between her fingers. The object was born out of time and out of magic. In her hands was the egg of a golden dragon.

She heard her name chorused through the branches of the surrounding trees. Several worried voices bringing forced her mind to descend back into reality. As they drew closer the light from the egg and it’s song faded into a silent whisper that hummed gently to her in her mind. This tiny life had called to her soul. It knew her and she knew it.She was connected to this life in a deep and powerful way.

A hand touched her shoulder. Still dazed she glanced up her eyes meeting two crystalline sapphire spheres. “Aly?” Came a voice that reverberated in the distance of her trance.

A pair of aquamarine eyes appeared before her. “How did you replace her?”

“Hmm,” she answered him gazing lovingly at her treasure.

“Aly,” Cameron gasped. “How did you replace the egg of Eleanor’s dragon? I have been searching these mountains endlessly for her offspring for over thirty years.”

“What do you mean her offspring?” Baellnar asked gently. He had been there for the aftermath of the war. He had tended to both Cameron and Eleanor’s dragon. He believed that they were all mostly recovered before he returned to the resistance.

“Thirty years ago she passed on, Cameron sighed. Shortly after you left.” Her heartbreak was too great.“Cameron’s eyes never left the glowing egg protectively cradled in Alyenna’s grasp.

Alyenna looked between them with ardent confusion scrawled on her face. Her eyes wide trying to understand what it all meant. It was Cameron who explained. “When a dragon passes on its soul is reborn somewhere new. To protect the offspring the egg wherever it appears is hidden. It is disguised as a smooth rock.”

Cameron gestured toward the luminescent crystalline treasure cradled in Alyenna’s hands. “I must have come to this grove a hundred times.” He shook his head and continued. “The eggs will remain dormant for centuries. It is impossibly rare for a human to replace an egg.”

Celeste piped in. “Actually according to Elven lore, it is impossible. The egg only reveals itself to its own kind.”

“How did you replace it?” Baellnar said kneeling carefully next to Aly. The alarm on her face was causing the eggs song to take on a rather damaging pitch. He rested a gentle hand on her shoulder and started to hum. The strands of his magic winding around them.

Aly blinked rapidly her mind slowly coming back to the moment

“How did you replace it?” He repeated.

“I do not know.” She held the egg protectively. “But, it is mine now.”

Baellnar opened his mouth to respond but instantly froze. The wind picked up around them. His ears began twitching rapidly. His eyes widening in alarm. When the wind settled he looked at them all with fear in his eyes.

Aagi groaned. “What does his highness want now!”

Baellnar did not answer for a long time. His face became more and more stern. He was deeply pensive. Alyenna knew that face. He was forming a battle strategy. Finally, he spoke. “Celeste, they need someone with your talents at the keep.”

Celeste looked at him with wild eyes. “I am not ready yet, I have not taken the oath.”

“You and I both know tha the oath is for is ceremony only. There is no one in this entire kingdom as talented as you. Right now, you are needed.” He paused controlling his frustration. “We are at war Celeste, there is no time for Ceremony.” Baellnar turned to Cameron. “Go with her.” He said

“No.” He replied bluntly.

“It was not a request. On order of Allabandar, you are to return.”

“Again, no,” Cameron said crossing his arms. “I left all those bloody politics behind decades ago. You could not make me return then, and I will not return now. I have learned not to be involved in the petty squabbles of men.”

“Need I point out Cameron, That you are in fact a man.” Baellnar seethed.

“In genetics alone brother,” his steel blue eyes were defiant.

“You will go for nothing else to protect our sister.”

“Hold up, do not get me involved in your ‘man’ squabbles, I do not need protecting, certainly not from a crazy mountain hermit.” She said defensively her legs unconsciously widening into a fighting stance.

“I am not a hermit!” Cameron shouted.

Aly cut in unable to resist a little jab to lighten the mood. ” Cameron, You live alone in a secluded place with no human contact. Sounds like a hermit to me. Seems like you need to go collect your Dragonballz” She smiled at her own joke. When she saw the blank looks of her companions she tightened her lips and remained silent.

Cameron ignored Alyenna’s comment, “Say one thing that will motivate me to go.” He dared Baellnar with a ferocious glare.

Baellnar balled his hands into fists; but, took a deep breath. Ever the diplomat he controlled his tone and uttered his response irrefutably, “It could lead to Scelestra’s undoing.” Despite the force of his words, his eyes were pleading with Cameron.

Cameron was unmoved, “So did the last battle I participated in and we saw how well that turned out.” He sneered.

“This is different,” Baellnar tried to reassure him. “We have Celeste.”

“We had a lot of people.” Cameron groaned “where are they now? Where is Eleanor?”

Alyenna stood forward. “It is the words of a coward to assume that failure once means failure forever. If you have the chance to do the right thing even if the odds are not in your favor you should do it without question. You will never regret trying. you will only regret standing idle while the world burns.”

Cameron looked at her mouth agape. Finally, he caved. “I have your word that if I escort Celeste back to the keep you will leave me alone, forever, in these Gaia forsaken mountains. You will never to bother me again. You or your knock off of Queen Eleanor.”

“Hey!” Alyenna protested vehemently. “I am not, Eleanor.” She growled, “I am pretty positive I would remember being an entirely different perosn.”

Baellnar whispered to Alyenna, so Cameron would not hear it. “Alyenna, You do.”