Zenora, The Dragon's Fury
52. Cracking Final

Brock came running in, together with Cirilya, at the same time that the builders and Rebecca carried me inside the shelter as well.

The egg was humming with the vibration of cracks, that were slowly forming between each separate purple scale. The golden edges of each scale were shining brightly as if they stood on fire. I wanted to touch the egg, but the heat that radiated from it, kept me at a safe distance.

I could feel another crack coming soon, as my stomach began showing signs of another contraction. As if my daughter was still inside my whom, my stomach began to cramp and tried to get the egg out again. But the egg was right in front of me, not inside of my body!

Screams left my throat and just as I expected, another crack suddenly makes its way down, from the top.

Ayinthur had left the egg, but was still close by, waiting silently for her to get out. I could hear his heartbeat raging like a thunderstorm on a dark day, explaining to me that his silence was only to keep his emotions in check. As he was anything but calm right now.

He had been wrong about the birthing day, as his calculations was off by at least two weeks. Yet I wasn’t angry at him, as no one could have predicted how long it would take for her to get to us, as she is the first Human and Dragon hybrid.

Another contraction came and Brock took me down on the ground, making me sit in between his legs, while he rubbed my stomach.

Another loud crack came down from the top of the egg, and one of the scales broke off and fell on the ground. I tried to look inside the egg, but there was still a layer of slimy tissue that surrounded our Princess.

More cramps and more cracks made its way during the next two hours, exhausting me and making me sweat. Giving birth to a dragon is not like a walk in the park! I have to get through labour twice, as if she was part of a twin!

“No Mommy, she is alone in there.” Kaden suddenly said, with Tyler next to him.

“I had told you guys to stay inside the castle!” Brock said.

“Sorry Daddy, but we wanted to see our baby sister too!” Tyler said.

I laid my hand on Brock’s thigh and when he looked at me, I whispered to him to let them stay. They have just as much right to be here, as we do.

Tyler walked over to the egg, and before I could tell him to watch out for the heat, he had put his hands on the egg. He had instant burns and blisters on his small hands and cried out in pain. Cirilya immediately took him away from the egg, at a safe distance, and casted her druid healing spell, to take away the pain and wounds.

After that, the boys came sitting next to us and Ayinthur started an ember around the egg, to keep it warm until Iris was ready to be born.

The name that the boys had come up with, was growing on me and Brock. We hardly spoke of our daughter as ‘the egg’ but instead we just said her name, like she was with us already.

Another painful contraction came up and I wanted to scream in agony, but I didn’t want our boys to be worried, so I grabbed Brock’s hands and squeezed them until I could hear one of the bones in his hands break.

Now it was his turn to scream, but just like me, he held in his volume and cursed some words in my ear with a low whisper.

“You’re doing great love.” He said, while moaning and gnashing his teeth because of the pain in his hand.

I apologized to him when the contraction subsided. But only to be surprised by another massive crack in the egg.

We all sat there, around Iris, watching the cracks and waiting in anticipation for her to finally get through it.

After several more contractions and a few more scales that dropped on the floor, we could see the sack that was still around her, getting thinner by the minute. It was now almost thin enough, for us to see the contours of her body.

She was swimming around her egg, and every now and then she bummed her head along the sides. Sometimes it would hit the scales, which would crack further, and sometimes she would hit the thin layer which would bounce back and forth.

Her movements became stronger, and then something sharp cut through the flimsy tissue, and time stood still. I watched how the thin veil shot away, while for a split second the fluid that was stored within, stayed in formation. Then, all the fluid flowed out of the egg, over the edge of the remaining scales and slipping through the cracks at the bottom. The thin flesh, together with the fluid, laid over the sides as well, forming a little cradle for our precious girl.

The pain in my stomach was instantly gone, but due to my exhaustion I couldn’t stand up. So, I crawled. I crawled towards the egg, forcing my knees to get to her as fast as I could. And when I got there I smiled.

Her body, part Human, part Dragon, was beautiful. Her pink human belly and the purple scaled back, flowed into each other so naturally, so stunning. A tiny, pink scaled tail, wriggled on the side of one of her legs. Her sweet little feet and hands were half way covered in purple scales as well. She sat there on her butt, waving her hands wildly, screaming loudly to get rid of one of the scales of her egg.

The last dark purple scale, was stuck on her head, and it couldn’t look more cuter than this. The slime and fluid of the egg, made the scale stuck like glue. The big scale was covering her face and the top of her head, making me impossible to see what she looked like from underneath. Yet her screaming and frustration, made her even cuter.

I giggled and took the scale away from her, by lifting the front side first, while I looked underneath it.

My eyes instantly turned purple, tears started running. Her face and head looks like the most magnificent thing I have ever seen!

Her purple and pinkish irises glowing bright, her cheeks blushing red, with her lips trembling to almost start an all raging cry. So, I picked her up and cradled her in my arms. And while she laid there, silently watching me, I could see tiny scales on the sides of her face, grown around her cute little ears, and forming a path towards the smallest, twirling set of horns on the top of her head.

I swiped away some of the grime and fluid from her face, and I could see some blond hair sprouting out between the white little horns.

Her skin was flawless, and she looks perfect.

Brock and our boys came sitting next to us, looking at her and touching her scales. Her scales felt soft, which would turn tougher the older she gets, I suppose. But now she was soft and warm, and calmly looking at us.

This moment where we all sat there, the five of us, looking at each other and crying out of sheer happiness, was the most wonderful moment in my imagination. The looks of them, being so happy and loveable towards their daughter and sister, made me cry even more.

Cirilya gave me a blanket to wrap around her, and while her tail was wiggling, I managed to wrap it in the towel as well. I turned around so Ayinthur could see her too. I was so grateful for him, to be here all this time, to have kept her save from the moment that the egg was born.

“Thank you Ayinthur…” I started to say.

“MINE!” He roared, the moment he locked eyes with her.