A Hearthful of Hatchlings (Healer of Dragons #1)

1. Celia

Chapter one

Celia

What was the point of having baby fire dragons if they couldn’t even keep your house warm?

Frost nipped at Celia’s nose, even in her bed, and she burrowed deeper under the covers as she noticed the weight sitting on her chest.

“Would one of you go start the fire?” she asked, sticking her head out, pulling the covers under her chin to glare at the three orange dragons perched on her.

Sizzle squeaked and hopped down onto the floor. Her wings weren’t working well yet, which was one of her reasons for still being here.

The main reason was that the three of them had hatched far too early for fire dragons, and the early spring chill was still too cold for them.

Most of the fire dragon eggs were still in their nests, with plenty of dirt insulating them.

Why these three had hatched early, she wasn’t sure, but she was glad for the opportunity to take care of them—especially if it meant she was able to have them here to keep her fire going as the remnants of winter ravaged the foothills of the Gloaming Mountains.

Spark and Flame readjusted themselves, their weight comforting.

“Are you two gonna let her do all the work?” Celia asked, looking down at them as best as she could.

They squeaked and muttered something quietly, and Celia turned her head to watch as Sizzle coughed up a tiny flame toward the fireplace. There were still enough charred sticks that should have caught easily, but Sizzle’s little sparks weren’t quite enough.

“Spark, go help her out,” Celia said, nodding toward the fire.

Spark sighed and got to his feet, using his wings to help carry himself over. One of his legs didn’t work as well as the other. Celia was doing her best to strengthen it and hoped that, as it grew warmer, the fire dragon would grow stronger.

“Should I let you be lazy?” Celia asked Flame, the runt of the three.

Flame chirped, nestled, and rubbed her head against the quilt covering Celia.

She laughed and reached down to pet the tiny fire dragon, whose warmth could be felt even through the quilt.

“Slide up here,” she said. “My nose is cold.”

Flame scooted her way up Celia’s chest before nestling into her neck.

Celia turned her head, burying her nose into the spot where Flame’s neck met her scaly shoulder.

“Thank you,” she said, lifting her head slightly to watch as Sizzle and Spark worked together to light the logs.

“Nice work, you two,” she said as they made their way back to the bed with their task accomplished, the spicy smoke smell of dragon fire accompanying them.

Spark used his wings to get himself back on the bed while Sizzle paused at the edge until Celia reached down and scooped her up.

“Thank you for helping,” she said, rubbing her finger along the hatchling’s neck.

Sizzle let out a noise that Celia could only describe as a dragon’s best attempt at purring.

Spark chirped and made his way closer, as if to ask if he had done a good job too. Celia smiled and rubbed her finger down his face, along the bridge of his nose. He seemed to like his attention a little rougher than his sisters.

“You all did well,” she said.

The three hatchlings curled up on her neck, and Celia let them for a moment before she felt as if she was being smothered.

“All right, that’s enough,” she said. “Time to get up, you three.”

Her nose had almost thawed out, and it was promising to be a warmer day than the one before. That meant the earth dragon nest she’d been watching might be almost ready to hatch. She’d noted some shifting in the mound, which was a good sign that the eggs were starting to move.

“You three can help me make breakfast,” she said. “And then we’re going to go check on that nest. Hopefully they’ll be hatching today.”

She slid out of bed, her feet hitting the cold floor. She ought to have stayed in bed a little longer. Hastily, she reached for her socks and pulled them on, slipped her feet into her boots, pulled on her overdress, and tied her apron around herself.

Flame chirped at her until she reached down to pick her up and settle her in the apron pocket, where she curled up into a ball and sighed happily.

“You are spoiled rotten,” Celia said, reaching into her pocket to give the little dragon a pat. “Now, we should go see if the chickens have any eggs for us this morning.”

The dragons all chirped happily. Spark and Sizzle followed her on foot as they made their way out the door to the enclosure Celia had built for her chickens. With baby dragons running around, it was best to keep the chickens penned up.

And while these three were the size of her fists at the moment, they would not stay that size for long, and she didn’t trust them not to see the chickens as a snack.

“I hope you have some eggs for me this morning, girls,” Celia said to the chickens as she unlatched the cage and reached into the nest box. The dragons were hungry. Her fingers found three eggs and Celia hummed in satisfaction, slipping them into the apron pocket that was not holding a baby dragon.

Before shutting the enclosure, she carefully dragged it to a new patch of grass so the chickens could find more bugs.

Their fertilized dirt made for a great garden bed a year later.

She looked over at the tiny beds she’d built for herself with satisfaction.

The ground was not frozen this morning—soon, it would be time to plant.

She’d have to go into town for more seeds; the ones she’d kept from last year had been burned by an overzealous Spark.

“You three sure do keep me on my toes,” she whispered to herself as she made her way back into the house, Spark flying at knee height and Sizzle following along with clumsy hops.

“I don’t suppose any of you want vegetables in your omelet?” she asked, grinning wryly at the thought of dragons eating an omelet.

She reached for a bowl and scrambled all three eggs into it, pouring just enough for herself into a heated pan and placing the bowl on the floor. The baby dragons pounced, and she took Flame out of her apron pocket and set her down next to the bowl.

Flame chirped happily and began slurping up the food with her brother and sister while Celia gathered her dried peppers, onions, and spinach.

She sprinkled them into her pan, watching them puff back up as the moisture soaked into them and the eggs cooked.

She hummed to herself as she reached for a fork, took the pan off the fire, and put it onto the quilted pad she’d made to protect herself from the heat.

Settling at the table, she enjoyed her meal.

Hopefully, she would find the earth dragon nest hatching today.

Earth dragons handled the cold better than fire dragons did, and unless there was an injured one, she rarely had to help an earth dragon.

They were hardy little things, in gorgeous shades of green and brown, and she loved watching them come out of the ground.

She finished her food, though not before the hatchlings. Bringing the dishes to the basin she used to wash them, she peered at her water bucket, which was mostly empty. She would have to fill it later today or early tomorrow, depending on how long she spent at the hatching grounds.

“Are you ready?” she asked the hatchlings.

They chirped eagerly, and Celia reached for the basket she always brought when checking a nest, in case of an injured baby, and her walking stick, which she mostly used to gently push away any baby dragons who thought she was a threat to them and their nestmates.

It didn’t happen often, but when it did, it was usually a fire or earth dragon.

Fire dragons were feisty, and earth dragons were determined and protective.

She opened the door and let all three hatchlings make their way out on their own. Flame followed after her brother and sister, chirping up at Celia.

“You can use your muscles for a bit,” Celia told her. “We’ll go slow.”

The hatchling chirped her discontent, and Celia shook her head. “That’s not going to work on me, little miss. You’re not going to get stronger if you don’t practice.”

As much as she loved having them here, they had to leave eventually, and her job was to heal them.

Flame grumbled but made her way after her siblings while Celia followed behind. Spark kept leaping into the air every few steps instead of walking on his leg, and Sizzle walked steadily, letting little spurts of flame fly free occasionally.

Celia walked slowly. It wasn’t far to the nesting grounds, and there was no rush.

She let Flame walk most of the way before picking her up when she noticed the baby dragon’s wings beginning to droop more than normal, tucking her into her apron pocket with a pat on the head.

“Good job, sweet girl. You’re doing great, and you’ll get stronger every day. I promise.”

Flame chirped a little.

When they reached the nesting grounds, the earth dragon nest she had suspected was indeed hatching. There were four dragons already out, and a fifth beginning to poke its way through the ground. The four that had hatched were unfurling their wings and testing them, flapping awkwardly.

Celia smiled as she watched one of them reach out to nudge its sibling with its nose, knocking the sibling off its feet completely. It scrabbled back up, looking indignant, and let out a squawk.

“Well, you should have stayed away,” Celia said.

The dragons startled, all of them looking up at her and skittering backward. One of them flopped back into the loose dirt on top of the nest and landed on its sibling, who had nearly freed itself. That sibling squawked in frustration, and Celia laughed.

“I’m here to help,” she said, kneeling down and picking up the dragon as it pulled its last leg out. “I’m sorry I made him land on you.”

She set him down and looked over at the rest of them. They were a beautiful group—squat and roly-poly, unlike some of the other types of earth dragons. She loved this kind. They were always adorable.