Page 44 of The Emerald Dragon Prince
“They’re really hatching now?” Rufus asked, looking more than a little nervous as he and the rest of the dragons came over to join us at the nest.
“They really are,” Tovey said, reaching for Rufus’s hand. “We’re about to be parents.”
I shared my brothers’ excitement as we watched our babies fight to break through their shells, but along with my excitement, I was worried. What if the pausing spell Emmerich had cast on me when our baby was conceived had hurt it in some way? By all normal standards, it was far too soon for our egg to hatch. What if all our good intentions had somehow damaged the tiny life that was about to come into the world?
“Oh! Look!” Obi called out as Leo’s diamond egg cracked loudly.
As seemed entirely fitting for any egg ofLeo’s, ahead of all the others, the diamond egg split apart and the most adorable, sleek, glittering white-blue baby dragon burst from its shell and rolled sideways in the nest. A moment later, though it was a bit shaky, the baby pushed itself to its feet, spread its leathery wings, and made a sound that was probably supposed to be a ferocious roar, but that actually turned into the most adorable hiss.
“Baby!” Leo shouted, reaching for the newly hatched dragon.
The diamond baby knew its papa at once, and with an endearing screech, it bounced toward Leo and Diamant, then leapt into Leo’s arms.
“It’s a boy,” Leo said, cuddling his baby as the baby dragon nuzzled him frantically in return. “Just like I knew he would be.”
“I name you Ferox,” Diamant said, reaching around Leo to stroke his son’s head.
I was so happy for my brother, but I quickly returned my attention to my own egg.
“Look at them!” Tovey gasped a moment later as his and Rufus’s twin eggs burst open at the same time.
Their two baby ruby dragons tumbled together, falling over each other as they shook off the last pieces of their shells. They quickly noticed their parents, then scampered over to Tovey and Rufus, who met them with happy, tearful embraces.
“They’re amazing,” Tovey gasped through his emotional tears. “Both boys, I see.”
“I name you Ignus and Pyram,” Rufus said in a proud voice, then laughed as little Pyram snuggled up under his chin, then sneezed as his beard tickled his nose.
A moment later, Selle gasped, “Isn’t she beautiful?” as a lithe, golden baby dragon rolled out of her shell then stoodup proudly. “I don’t think I’ve seen anything so beautiful in my life.”
The baby gold dragon danced happily to the edge of the nest then leapt into Selle’s arms, pressing herself into him with a purr. She reached one graceful foot toward her daddy as well, and Gildur made a perfectly indignant sound of adoration as he leaned forward to nuzzle her head.
“I name you Gilda,” he said with a teasing grin. “After your father, of course.” He winked at Selle.
I was incredibly happy for my brothers and their offspring, but still deeply anxious about my own egg. Everyone seemed to be holding their breaths and waiting for our emerald egg to hatch. Even the silver and sapphire eggs still in the nest, who weren’t due to hatch for several more months, held still and waited to see what would happen with our baby.
I reached for Emmerich’s hand and clutched it nervously as we waited for more cracks to form on the emerald surface of our egg. Why was it taking so long? Was something wrong with my baby? I’d asked myself that same question a hundred times over already, but it kept coming back to me. I prayed that the delay in hatching was just my sweet baby taking their own time making their way into this world.
“If worse comes to worst,” Emmerich said quietly, “we can call for Mother to help.”
I nodded, but prayed it wouldn’t come to that.
A minute later, I was ready to cry out to the right blue sky above for Queen Gaia to come to our aid. My baby seemed to be struggling. It stopped for a few seconds now and then as if catching their breath and building up their strength again.
“Can we help them?” I asked, glancing over my shoulder to Emmerich. “Can we pry the shell away?”
“We could,” Emmerich said with a wince, “but dragon eggshells are incredibly sharp. We’re as likely to hurt them as help them.”
“All will be well,” Argus insisted as he and Obi looked on. “Nature has given hatchlings every skill and strength they need to make it into the world.”
“Are you certain?” I asked, glancing at Argus.
A moment later, I snapped my eyes back to my hatching baby at the sound of a loud crack.
“Here we go,” Emmerich said, tightening his grip on my hand.
I watched in awe as pieces of the shell fell away and a bright green baby dragon foot kicked through the shell. A moment later, another large piece of the shell fell off and a glittering, green eye peeked out. That eye blinked, and a moment later, the rest of the shell fell apart as the most astounding baby girl pushed her wings open and stood up in triumph.
“Sweetheart!” I gasped, holding my arms out to her.
