It started with a rattling sound, and then with a crack that grew wider and wider across the shell of the egg. Squeaks and high-pitched cries began to be heard through the egg. The little dragon inside it stirred intensely, driven by the instinct to get out of the hard shell that contained him. He slammed his head hard against the wall and scratched it with his paws. After a few minutes, the shell finally cracked and a massive horned head emerged from it.
The baby dragon let out a cry as the air entered his lungs for the first time. His eyes slowly opened, peeling away the yolk and albumen that clung to his lids, finally allowing him to see the outside world. Different colors and shapes appeared in his field of vision, as an infinity of new smells penetrated his nostrils and several sounds that he had never heard made their way into his ears. The little dragon also tried to get the rest of the body out of the egg, but he was struggling to emerge from the shell. The hard, smooth walls made difficult for him to push through. He began pounding with his head and paws to widen the opening, using his teeth and claws to crack open the shell. Initially he managed to break only small fragments, but then the gap slowly began to widen, allowing him to let his shoulders and part of his torso come out.
He wasn't alone. The other eggs had also opened and many dragon heads were emerging from them. And soon the crying began. Many little dragons let out high-pitched screeches, so loud they could almost be called ultrasounds. The baby dragon that emerged first narrowed his eyes in annoyance as the sounds penetrated his ears. He wanted to plug them, but his paws were still stuck under the shell.
But soon a shadow darkened the cave. The cubs saw a huge dragon approaching with red and sometimes blue scales. Their little heads started moving towards her; by instinct, they knew that that was their mother and they didn't feel the slightest fear towards her. In fact, they started making even louder screeches in an attempt to get her attention.
"You are born, finally!" the great dragon exclaimed happily, then she approached and used her claws very gently to help them emerge from the eggs. As soon as they were out, the little dragons ran under the enormous paws of their mother, who looked like a giant compared to them.
The baby dragon, the one that was born first, looked at his siblings. Unlike their mother, who had hard and colorful scales, they had silver and very soft scales. Also, they didn't have wings. And apparently the horns were also absent, except for him and two of his other siblings: all the others didn't have them. He didn't know why and he was curious to know about it, but he didn't know how to ask such question. In fact, he didn't even know how to talk.
"Let's see... three males and fourteen females. A good number" the great dragon murmured looking at them one by one. "Well... then, let's introduce ourselves. I'm Neytiri and I'm your mom. You'll have to obey me no matter what, okay?"
The little dragons squealed in agreement. The great dragon looked pleased. "So, now I should give you some names... let's start with you"
The baby dragon looked up feeling called by her, mirroring himself in his mother's huge eyes. Neytiri seemed to be mulling over what name give him, then she seemed to have the epiphany: "You are... Haku"
"Haku" the baby dragon repeated, telling a word for the first time in his life. He made sure to imprint those four letters in his mind: now they were his name, the way he would have always identified himself in his life, and he couldn't forget them for any reason. They were his identity, his very self. They were him.
The mother looked satisfied, then she turned to his two horned siblings. "Since we started with one of the males, let's finish you boys first" she said, to then she pointed one of her claws towards one of the two little dragons: "You are Rhaegal instead" she said, and then she pointed the other little dragon: "And you are Darbi"
The two little dragons repeated the name and hopped happily. Even Haku repeated them in his mind, since they were the names of his brothers. So, he thought, did the three of them have horns because they were male? So all of his other siblings weren't brothers, but sisters?
Apparently that was exactly the case. "Let's focus on the females now" Neytiri said looking at the small hornless dragons. In little more than a minute she gave to each one of them a name: Sisna, Keita, Maldor, Finiar, Teramon, Glausar, Kialandì, Maleficial, Corgorin, Tikka, Kotaru, Serengal, Malchia, and finally Jatara. All the little dragons repeated their names and made sure they memorized them. Haku had some difficulty remembering all those names, but he couldn't afford to forget even one: after all, that was his family.
Neytiri gave a half smile. "Good. Now listen carefully: you mustn't leave the cave without my permission, understood? If you are in danger, shout my name, but never leave the cave. Only here you are safe, out there you could get very hurt"
The little dragons screeched in agreement. Even with their young minds they were able to understand that simple command. The mother was satisfied and flew out of the cave.
The little dragons spent the next few hours exploring the cave. This was their first day in the outside world and it was full of new things to discover, very different from the placid yolk and hard walls of eggs. Haku, in particular, studied the cave in all its details, from the rocks to the mighty ceiling. He didn't know why, it was like an instinct, an instinct to want to learn as much as possible about the world around him, as if he had to rush to figure out what was this and that or how to use this and that.
Unfortunately, however, there wasn't much to learn in a cave. Or better, that was what a narrow-minded creature would have thought. But Haku certainly didn't stop at appearances and he had the opportunity to have different experiences. For example, he realized that he could use his claws to climb smooth walls, but that they would have collapsed under his weight. However there were parts of the cave that instead could hold him and didn't break. Why? What was different? Was it the material, or the structure? His young mind seemed to mature every second more, creating questions after questions, and every time he discovered something new he only got more questions. He would have liked to ask for answers, but he still didn't know how to speak and even if he had known there was no one there that could answer him.
Haku was also able to learn more about his brothers. He discovered that even though they all looked the same at first glance, they were actually all different. There were substantial differences in appearance and character. His brother Darbi, for example, had slightly longer horns than his and was very hyperactive. His sister Malchia, on the other hand, had a shorter tail than the others and had a rather haughty demeanor: she wandered around the whole cave with her head held high, as if she expected to be admired. For what? Haku couldn't understand it. Maybe when they learned to talk he could ask her.
And it wasn't just Malchia: Haku would have liked to know what all his siblings thought, but for this he would have had to wait to know how to speak. He hoped that moment wasn't too far away and that his young mind would have rushed to understand how to articulate sounds and words like their mother did. At the moment he and his brothers could only look into each other's eyes and try to guess what each other was thinking. A fallacious and inefficient communication, but unfortunately they had no alternative.
Luckily, for that day there was no danger, probably because all of them had respected the rules given by their mother and all had remained safe within the huge walls of the cave that protected them from the dangers of the outside world. Haku wondered what was outside the cave, beyond that opening from which a strong light penetrated, but he didn't dare to venture through it. If their mother forbade them to go out, there had to be a reason.
Neytiri returned very late. Haku had noticed that the light coming from outside had dimmed, but he didn't know why. However, he didn't worry too much: his instinct told him that it was time for eat. He could feel a new sensation inside his stomach, a sensation he soon realized was hunger. Like his siblings he got under their mother and started screaming as his instincts dictated. Neytiri opened her mouth and let out a regurgitation; an abnormal amount of red meat emerged from her throat and fell in front of the pups, kicking up some dust from the cave floor. The meat was already half digested, so the cubs would have had no problem eating it even if their teeth were still brittle.
Neytiri waited patiently for the little dragons to finish eating. Even though there was a gigantic amount of food, absolutely nothing was left. In fact, even if they were just born, the little dragons were already quite large, even if they appeared tiny in comparison to the colossus their mother was, and therefore they had a big appetite and big stomachs to satiate.
When the meal was finished, the little dragons crowded around their mother and rubbed against her belly. Neytiri drew on her mana reserves and caused her scales to radiate heat, making the little dragons even more comfortable to touch. Haku flattened himself against one of his mother's paws, basking in that pleasant warmth. Although the cave wasn't cold, in fact, it could not even be said that it was very hot.
Neytiri let out a cry and began to duck; the little dragons moved away, and after a while they heard a thud. Their mother had just laid down on the floor of the cave. Once that was done, Neytiri signaled to the little dragons that they could return, and they didn't let her repeat it and gathered near her hips. When they were all gathered around her, Neytiri laid her head on the ground and closed her eyes. The little dragons imitated her, all except Haku.
Instinct advised him to do as his mother was doing, but he didn't understand why he had to do it. Soon, however, darkness began to fall. The little light that still penetrated through the opening of the cave vanished and darkness fell. The shadows lengthened and the cave grew dark.
Haku hastily lowered his head and closed his eyes. He didn't know what had happened, but it was clear that not imitating his mother's actions had done something; therefore it was better to remedy immediately. Even with his eyes closed he could rely on his other senses and thanks to them he felt that his mother was calm, so probably the threat had subsided; however, to be sure, he remained motionless and he didn't open his eyes, to avoid to disturb again that strange entity that had made the light disappear.
*************
Kalos flew near the nest, taking advantage of the darkness of the night to peer inside. He'd noticed that Neytiri had hunted more that day, and he figured he knew why. Moving as silently as possible, he approached the cave and peered inside, where he saw the female dragon sleeping peacefully surrounded by seventeen small baby dragons.
"They are born! Finally!" the male dragon whispered triumphantly, unable to contain his delight. "I can't see how many there are, but clearly most of them are female. There must be no more than three or four males. Good!"
Kalos moved away and perched on a high ground. His goal now was only to eliminate the male baby dragons, so as to avoid any future competition; after which he could finally leave. He'd had enough of standing there, constantly risking Neytiri finding him and consequently killing him.
At first he thought about raiding the cave while Neytiri was away, but soon he changed his mind. The baby dragons weren't like the eggs, which kept quiet; they had voices and could squeal very, very loud. Their cries would have summoned their mother. And the cave was a narrow space: it would have been difficult for him to move around, while it would have been easy for the babies to disperse and confuse him. Even more problematic, the limited space would have prevented him from escaping if Neytiri arrived earlier than he expected. To kill the baby dragons he had to be quick and accurate, or the female dragon would have found him and kill him.
"It's not so bad" he said to himself. "I'll just have to wait for the dear mother to get the babies out of the cave. It won't take more than two or three weeks, four at the most. Once out, I'll be able to attack from above. At that point they won't be able to escape me!"