Chapter 562: Ascala

Arc bit back tears as she withdrew her touch. She couldn’t blame the dragon, but the rejection still stung the worst so far. She had no idea how much time she had left, but it couldn’t be much.

Standing still, she was trying to reason through how she should approach her next few attempts when she suddenly felt a jolt of intent from one of the guards. An intent to call out her name...

She knew this was it, her last chance.

In that split second, Arc had two choices. She could step to the left and try one of the heavensred eggs, or she could step to the right and try the other nightshadow egg, the one that, now that she was quite close, she could tell had some damage.

"Ar-" As the Knight began to speak her name, Arc hurriedly reached out, her fingers touching the warm surface of the egg as she desperately willed her threads to connect with the ones circling the egg...

Mother?

The question/concept flooded into her, a sense of longing that came from a place of loss. A warm sadness permeated Arc’s perceptions, and she saw for the first time that this egg had no string leading upward. No attachment to an adult dragon from whom they could learn while unhatched.

A realization struck her that this dragon didn’t know what they were supposed to do or be. The magic that connected parent and child, that allowed each dragon to learn far more in the egg than they could in the wild, was either broken or had nothing to connect this egg to...

It was the saddest thing Arc could think of, and her heart immediately went out to it with a desire born of wanting to give the nightshadow a chance.

I can be your mother...

Excitement, joy, and, most importantly, connection flooded through the threads, wrapping themselves around Arc in a way that filled her with warmth and happiness. She started to laugh and cry as she went forward and hugged the egg, her perceptions normalizing just in time to feel the hand of the Knight on her shoulder.

"Did you really form a bond just now?" The Knight asked, her voice a little incredulous.

"Yes!" Arc declared. The next few moments were a happy blur as the egg was readied. Even though Arc said she could carry it, which she could if she reached both arms around it, the Knights insisted that for any large egg, two carriers were mandatory.

She was led up the stairwell and to a small office, one where a Knight sat at one of the two desks, which were side by side. For a moment, Arc was distracted by the massive lines of what was clearly an adult dragon behind the wall, but as soon as she peeled her eyes away from the mass of threads, she saw that the waiting Knight wasn’t just any knight...

It was Knight Johan, and he sat in the shadow of his black, angelic wings.

Arc’s jaw dropped. She hadn’t known. All the years he’d appeared in public, and he’d kept them hidden.

"Please, sit," he invited her with a smile as his fellow Knights gently rested Arc’s egg on a pedestal.

"You’re an angel," Arc said as she took the seat in front of his desk.

"So are you," he replied. "I figured I’d do this angel-to-angel for once. I’d tell you my old angelic name, but that doesn’t really matter. Not a lot of ours come looking to be Knights."

"Why?" Arc asked.

"The shortest version is that the Loyalists consider us traitors to Heaven for siding with the city. We can talk about the rest later. Aiden’s better at history lessons than I," he lightly gestured to the empty desk beside his, where a nameplate announced its absent owner. "Ready to hatch your egg?"

"Absolutely!" Arc replied, almost jumping from her seat.

"First things first," he gestured, and the stones separating the room from the dragon on the other side withdrew, taking the door with them. The room grew a bit warmer, both in temperature and color, as Johan’s dragon, Vareta, raised his sleek, aerodynamic head. "We need a witness."

The sight of a fully-grown nightshadow, towering two stories tall and regarding her with dark purple eyes like darkness given life, filled Arc with a joy and anticipation that she’d waited most of her life for. It’s finally happening... I’ll finally be able to fly!

Johan gestured for her to stand and came around the desk. "Before we begin... how did you do it?"

"How did I do what?" Arc asked.

"Vareta’s egg. His first mate died shortly after delivering. That egg is - was - the oldest one we had. It’s gone unhatched for almost twenty years."

Arc opened and closed her mouth as she thought, before deciding that the truth was the best option. "I just sort of... reached out. I could feel they wanted a mother, and I thought, maybe I could be..."

Johan nodded. "You must be something special then. Considering your parents, I’m glad to have you join us."

Arc flinched, but Johan didn’t comment on it. Instead he asked Arc to raise her hand, and she spoke the Oath she’d memorized for almost as long as she’d loved dragons.

"In unity, strength,

Rider and Dragon.

We are as one beneath the sky.

In discipline, honor,

We shall defend our people,

before ourselves.

In truth, rightness,

We shall make real a world

Where all may fly to their greatest heights."

As soon as Arc said the Oath, she felt a surge of magic behind her as the magic containing her egg began to dissipate.

"Now, repeat after me," Johan said, surprising Arc as she learned there was more to the Oath. "I, Arcine Gale, of the House of Stars... Do swear by Oath to hold the secrets of the Dragon Knights as my own, to uphold the values of Unity, Discipline, and Truth... and to defend the nation of Norneau and its people from all threats as my duty demands... from this day until my dying day... Though it may cost my life, and the life of my dragon. So help me..." Arc responded in kind, repeating his words in every pause... except...

"...Though it may cost my life and..." Arc faltered. It didn’t feel right, deciding for her dragon. "Though it may cost my life," Arc repeated, "Stars help me."

If Johan disapproved, he didn’t indicate it. Rather, he drew a badge from his pocket and held it out to Arc. "By this badge, I bind your Oath." Arc felt a sudden draw on her magic the moment it touched her hand. Complex threads wove between her and the badge before new threads shot out through the walls towards unknown destinations. And strangely, some of the threads that led from her also thickened. But the closest, thickest strands connected her to her dragon, and she suddenly felt far more than their initial bonding had allowed. She could feel that they were ready. The egg around them was no longer an unbreakable barrier to the world. "Now, Squire, go greet your dragon, and grant them a name."

Arc turned and saw that her dragon had already made a sizeable hole in the egg, and was clawing their way out in her direction, a hopeful purple eye staring out before its struggle resumed. She approached, intent on helping, but two steps in, the egg practically exploded as the dragon broke through in every direction, unfurling quickly to about Arc’s size as they tackled her to the ground and started nuzzling her face.

This is the best day of my life! Arc thought as she hugged the dragon, excited by the feeling of its heartbeat.

"Oh, it’s a female," Johan noted.

Arc managed to calm her dragon with a few pets, pulling herself back up enough to get a full view of her. Nightshadows weren’t flashy dragons, even as adults. They evolved for long, cruising flights, superior nightvision, and, a rarity amongst dragons, had no ability to breathe magic into fire or lightning, no poison or venom glands, and few horns or spiked surfaces. Instead, as Vareta demonstrated, Arc’s dragon would grow aerodynamic scutes and wicked talons that were perfect for ambush strikes and quick kills.

What set Arc’s dragon apart, and perhaps might have been a reflection of the damage her egg had sustained, was a scalloped, pinkish band that ran at an odd angle along her back. The scales there didn’t seem to be growing in right, and hopefully it wouldn’t affect her ability to fly. But even if she couldn’t fly, Arc knew that she would love her and care for her.

"What are you going to name her?" Johan asked. "It’s all right if you haven’t thought of it, but it’s better she has it sooner rather than later."

Arc let out a confident two-toned hum. "I’ve had a name picked for every kind of dragon just in case, since I was thirteen." She looked into the eyes of her dragon and said, "Your name is Ascala."