14. Trespass
A eden took a few steps inside the entrance to the cave before the pain became almost unbearable.
He knew what he needed to do, he just knew it was going to hurt a lot.
There was a large rock protruding out of the ground, perfect to lean against. He hobbled over and perched himself against it, angling his foot so he could get a better look.
From what he could tell, it appeared to be dislocated. As much as he tried, he could not move his foot in any direction, and he was greeted with a searing pain whenever he tried.
Aeden let out a frustrated cry. He had ruined his chances at the academy. He had almost certainly failed the test, and that meant that his time at the academy was going to come to a close. He would never find out what really happened to his parents.
He scanned the ground for a few moments until he found a small branch, which he tested the durability of before placing it in his mouth. Raising his leg, he psyched himself up for a few seconds, placing his hands on either side of his foot. He hoped this worked.
The pain that followed as Aeden set his ankle back into position was excruciating, and Aeden went dizzy as he nearly passed out from the pain.
When he heard a pop and a crunching sound, he knew he had his ankle in the right position as he bit down hard on the branch in his mouth, crying out in agonising pain.
If he thought the nausea was bad before, it paled in comparison to what he was feeling now. His cry of pain turned into a scream of frustration as he spat the branch onto the floor and slumped down on the ground, his back against the cold rock.
Panting, he waited for his breathing to slow and the echoes of his screams to die down before starting to contemplate his next move. If he was going to make it back, he was going to need some kind of splint for his foot.
He could already picture Master Storme’s reaction when he returned to the field. With luck, maybe they wouldn’t even notice he was missing.
But of course they would. Master Storme wanted him to fail, and Aeden’s frustration grew again as he ran scenarios through his head of the current situation, most of which ended with his being kicked out of the academy. He hadn’t even made it to the end of the first week.
Why hadn’t he just remained on the track?
Why couldn’t he follow simple commands? But the defiance hadn’t been coming from him.
He had wanted to do those things. He had wanted to keep up with Kael and make it around the course without any issues.
But here he was, leaning against a rock with a freshly reset ankle and no way of knowing how he would get back.
He wondered if Master Storme would come and search for him, or if they would just leave him out here to die.
After all, the academy was known for being deadly.
Would they treat him as going missing like any student who perished in one of the trials?
Like just another number that could be replaced with someone stronger, more willing, more determined, and most importantly, able to bond with one of the academy’s hatchlings?
Aeden’s thoughts continued to race. More than anything, he was disappointed with himself and the situation he had put himself in.
If only he hadn’t pushed himself so hard.
How was he going to find out the truth of what happened to his mother and father now?
Simply put, it would be a miracle if he could get back to the academy given that he had no clue as to where he actually was, not to mention his injured ankle.
Then the feeling of helplessness and intense loneliness threatened to drown him as Aeden thought on everything that had happened since he got here.
He started to cry, and a single tear traced his dirtied cheek until it dropped off his face into the dirt. He couldn’t remember the last time he had cried, but he feared now that the dam was broken, he might not be able to stop himself.
“Fuck!” The word echoed in the mouth of the cave just as heavy rain started falling outside, lashing against the ground with purpose.
As things went, today could not have gone any worse for Aeden. He let out a large, rasping sigh and leaned back against the rock, tilting his head back slightly and resting it against the stone .
It was only after a few moments of silence that he realised something was off. Something didn’t feel right. And then a moment later, he realised why. When he turned to face the rock he was leaning against, it dawned on him that it wasn’t cold like stone should be.
It was warm.
Using the cave wall for support, he climbed back up onto his feet before turning to inspect the rock closer.
He gasped.
It wasn’t a rock. It was an egg.
At least, it looked like an egg. A little shorter than Aeden, it was certainly egg-shaped, but it had the texture of rough stone, despite the scaled pattern on the exterior.
Was it calcification? Was this a consecrated egg?
Master Ember had discussed this with him the night prior, and Aeden could distinctly remember him saying that unbonded or consecrated eggs were known to harden and effectively turn to stone.
He had referred to them as decorations and said that some of the richer families would have these on display in their mansions and manor houses.
That kings and queens would showcase them like prized trophies.
But these were rare, and extremely valuable.
For a second, he wondered if he would be allowed to sell the egg at the academy, but he quickly banished the thought.
He had no chance of getting it out of the cave or finding his way here again.
After all, how can you return to something when you had to be lost to find it in the first place?
But it was warm. Tentatively, Aeden reached out and placed an open hand on the surface just to double-check.
The surface was damp and coarse, almost jagged in places; if Aeden were to rub his hand over its surface, it would cut him.
Perhaps it was just a rock that happened to be shaped like an egg.
But the warmth he felt under his hand quickly banished these thoughts.
Rocks were not warm.
When he felt a pulsating beat, he quickly pulled his hand away. Had he just imagined that?
Slowly, he placed his hand against the surface once again, this time holding his breath. He didn’t want to confuse his own breathing and beating heart with what he had just felt. He was acting out of pure instinct.
Perhaps he had knocked his head harder than he thought, and all this was a vivid hallucination.
But then he felt another pulse under the surface of the rock, which vibrated intensely in his hand.
This time he kept his hand in place, and he soon felt another vibration, and then another.
The fourth time it was like something had charged up inside of him as his own heart beat so loudly that Aeden worried it would rip straight from his chest.
When the rock shook, it all but confirmed what it was he was dealing with. This was an Aer-Kin egg.
And it was hatching. He was sure of it.
He found himself transfixed as his hand remained planted on the surface of the giant egg. Then he realised something: every time a vibration emitted from the egg, it was in time with his own thunderous heartbeat. As if the two were beating in tandem.
Aeden kept his hand in place. The warmth from beneath his hand transferred around his body, and for a moment, his body stopped aching. Then the egg shook slightly, and Aeden staggered backwards with a wince as he planted his injured foot on the ground .
He tried to remain standing, but it was no use; his leg crumpled underneath him as he let out another agonising cry of pain, amplified even more by the cave.
Dropping to his knees, Aeden slammed his fist into the ground in frustration, over and over again, his temper spilling over. It was the only way he could think of coping with the pain.
When he looked back at the egg, it shook again. He still couldn’t determine if he was imagining this or not.
Another shake, this time more vigorous. The egg started picking up momentum as it rocked from side to side.
The whole situation looked bizarre, like a strangely shaped boulder trying to move itself.
Aeden thought about the hatchery, about how the academy cultivated all of their own eggs.
Were they even aware that this egg made of stone existed?
Panic consumed him when he wondered if the academy would blame him for an unsanctioned egg hatching outside of their grounds.
When it cracked on one side, Aeden’s attention piqued.
He contemplated dragging himself towards the egg to try and help it hatch, but he decided against it.
He was certain he had read somewhere about how that could be damaging for a hatchling and could potentially cause sudden death in them.
Instead, he sat back, fighting hard to ignore the throbbing pain that was climbing up his leg as he took in the spectacle of an Aer-Kin egg hatching right in front of him.
The crack grew bigger as the egg continued to rumble, now reaching halfway across the centre from the righthand side at a slight angle. The egg shook again and the crack continued even further across, until it reached nearly all the way .
Then it stopped moving just as fast as it had started. Aeden’s heart sank. Had it not survived the process?
With a grinding noise, the last of the crack reached the other side, and the egg vibrated again. And then, with a pop, the crack splintered upwards and spread out in all directions.
This was it.
Aeden didn’t know what to expect. He had only seen an Aer-Kin up close and personal for the first time recently; otherwise all he had to go off were diagrams and illustrations.