38. Hatchlings
A eden ran all the way from his class to the hatchery, barging through anyone who got in his way.
His heart surged as he entered in a panicked state.
No sooner had Nyra reached out to him than she had vanished again.
He was curious as to what Lyric urgently needed his help with given that he had his own mini army of hatchery hands that supported with the upkeep of the hatchery.
After all, there would be far too much work for one man to maintain everything as well as tending to the eggs and hatchlings.
The Sable twins had only just left, so they couldn’t be responsible for whatever chaos that Nyra was referring too.
He didn’t care that he could hardly breathe, he just wanted to reach Nyra as soon as he could, to make sure she was okay and help her in whatever way he could.
He tried again to contact her through the Weave, but all he found was a black void, like a hollow shadow, cold and empty .
When he reached the hatchery entrance, the two guards on duty let him past. They certainly did not appear to be on high alert. They nodded towards him, as they were becoming more and more familiar with Aeden with his daily visits to see Nyra.
Aeden burst through the door ready for a fight, his lungs heaving, his clothes sodden with sweat. He felt ready to vomit with the stress of it all.
What he was greeted with was not what he had expected. The noise was unlike anything he had heard before. Loud chirping slapped Aeden in the face like a wet fish as he skidded to a stop.
His first instinct was to find Nyra. She was in her pen, staring intently at the opposite side of the room.
Aeden had never seen a grumpy Aer-Kin before, but Nyra had a face like thunder, and her body language matched.
The ridge of dark scales ran down the spine of her back, her head was lowered, and she was letting out a low grumbling noise.
Combined with the wave of frustration that greeted Aeden through the Weave, it didn’t take a genius to realise that Nyra was far from happy.
“ What is it, Nyra? ” Aeden asked, rushing over to her.
“ Them ,” she said. “They have kept me awake all through the night with their noises.”
Aeden couldn’t help but laugh. “ You’re angry at the hatchlings? ” he said. “ Is that all? ”
“ Aeden, this isn’t a good thing. Lyric has told you how important my rest is .” It was the first time Aeden had heard Nyra snap back at him, a far cry from her usual innocent, playful nature .
Aeden stroked her head. “ They’re just hatchlings, the same as you were not that long ago .”
“Ah, you’re here,” Lyric said.
Aeden hadn’t even noticed him in the large pen that sat opposite Nyra.
The last time he had been here, there had been row upon row of eggs of various sizes and colours.
This time, there were only half-intact eggs; the rest were broken shells and husks, which was where the noise was also coming from.
Lyric looked harassed and happy at the same time. His eyes were tired, with large purple circles surrounding them. The wrinkles around them were more distinguishable than usual. He was exhausted.
“As you can imagine, I’ve had next to no sleep,” Lyric said. “First one started to hatch late last night. It’s been a while since I had so many hatch at the same time.” He waved Aeden over before pulling what looked like a large piece of shell out of his beard. “Want to come and see?”
Aeden didn’t need asking more than once. He shot over to the pen.
“Now, if you can give me a hand, this one has just hatched,” Lyric said, pointing down at the ground.
“We need to move her over to the whelping pen, I think it’s clear where that is.
” He nodded to the pen next to them, which was where all the noise was coming from.
“We can’t leave them in here or they’ll damage the other eggs, and we really don’t want that. ”
When Aeden reached the gate of the pen, he could see a small Aer-Kin curled up into a tight ball, about the size of a goat.
It was a deep blue colour, as dark as a clear sky at night, much smaller than Nyra had been when she hatched.
It was a different shape to Nyra, too, with a thicker body and a longer neck, along with a flurry of scales on the top of its head.
It was licking the gunk and mucus from her egg sac.
It knocked Aeden a little bit sick at the mere sight.
“Don’t worry,” Lyric laughed, “it’s perfectly natural, they all do it.”
Aeden thought back to when Nyra had hatched, but he didn’t recall her being coated in a layer of slime. Come to think of it, he didn’t know how long he had been unconscious when they bonded, so perhaps she had cleaned herself off then.
“She’s a beauty, isn’t she?” Lyric beamed like a proud parent.
“Aren’t you?” he said in a cooing voice.
The Aer-Kin twisted its head and hissed at Lyric, which fetched a deep chuckle from him as he slapped his leg with delight.
“Oh, I like her, she’s got spunk.” He watched her for a few moments.
“I think I’ll call her Midnight.” He smiled a soft smile as he reached down to pet her.
Midnight snapped at Lyric’s fingers, which he promptly pulled away and let out another chortle of laughter.
“I think that name suits her,” Aeden said. The new hatchling was more than a little hostile. When its attention turned to Aeden, it lowered itself and let out a grumbling warning noise that was as intimidating as it was cute.
“Be careful, even at this size they could still remove a finger, if they manage to catch you.”
“Duly noted,” Aeden said, deciding not to climb in the pen with Lyric.
Lyric removed something that was tucked into the back of his pants and waved it in the air. It was a scarf.
“It’s dipped in fiyora juice.” He smiled. “Aer-Kin love the smell, yet to find any that don’t like it. ”
Midnight’s focus shifted to the scarf as her head followed the motion that Lyric made with it.
“I’d take a few steps back if I was you,” he said.
Aeden did as he was advised, and Lyric opened the gate of the pen, keeping the scarf in the air in front of him.
Midnight scurried forward. She was faster than she looked, but Lyric kept moving backwards until he reached the next pen.
He opened the gate and lowered the scarf ever so slightly, just so it was close enough for Midnight to reach it.
When she leaped forward, he lifted up the scarf, and she darted through the air, flying through the gate and into the pen.
He quickly shut the gate and clicked the lock shut.
“There we go,” Lyric said. “Want to have a look at the rest of them?”
Aeden felt excited at the prospect, and he shot forward to take a look inside the pen himself, just as a small pang of anxiety reached him from Nyra.
“ Be careful ,” she said.
“They’re just hatchlings,” Aeden laughed. He didn’t understand why she was so concerned. His eyes lit up when he looked over the gate of the pen.
Leaning over the weathered gate of the whelping pen, he caught his breath at the sight before him. Six young Aer-Kin huddled together in a nest of coarse straw and wool, their scales glistening under the rays of sunlight that pierced through gaps in the hatchery roof.
A copper-red one, clearly the boldest of the clutch, raised its head at Aeden’s approach, amber eyes locking with his own in a moment of startling intelligence.
It was the biggest of the hatchlings, its wings still soft and not yet ready for flight, unfurled slightly in a display that seemed half-warning, half-greeting.
Beside it, a turquoise Aer-Kin with bright gold eyes remained perfectly still, watching him with calculated patience.
Aeden noticed a golden hatchling curled around a hot stone that Lyric or one of the hatchery hands must have placed.
Its scales caught the light like rusting metal, creating the illusion of movement even as it dozed.
A deep green one, partially hidden in shadow, tracked his every movement with unwavering focus, its posture suggesting it would protect its nest-mates without hesitation, a darker ridge forming on its back, just like Nyra’s except thicker.
An azure Aer-Kin with elegant, swept-back horns seemed the most curious, stretching its longer neck towards him as though trying to catch his scent. Its scales shifted between blue and green as it moved, giving it a pearlescent glisten that made it look like it was made of gemstones.
At the centre of the group, a crimson hatchling let out a sound somewhere between a chirp and a chitter.
Its ruby scales and intense orange eyes drew intrigue from Aeden.
It may have been the smallest, but compared to the others, it had a more rounded body and barely a neck.
It yawned and snuggled up into the largest copper Aer-Kin and slowly closed its eyes.
Midnight was initially hesitant as she sniffed the air of her brothers and sisters.
That caused Aeden to worry if they were in fact brothers and sisters.
Each of the Aer-Kin had different features and were different shapes and size.
Even at a quick glance, they all had a varied range of temperaments.
The azure Aer-Kin moved slowly towards Midnight, crouching down to the floor before pouncing at her. Midnight pounced back, and at first Aeden was concerned, but he quickly realised the two hatchlings were play-fighting. “Sky loves a tussle,” Lyric said. “She’s the most playful of the lot.”
“You’ve named them all?”