Molten Heart

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER TWO

“Let the hatching day celebration begin,” Dax shouted, as he entered into the temple cove.

Surrounded by steep rock walls, with a lagoon fed by underground springs, it was completely cut off from the outside. Drakes of all ages had gathered, a rainbow of colors from the deepest yellows to the brightest reds. His people were truly the most beautiful and majestic of all dragonkind.

On the longest day of the year, the entire colony came together to celebrate the hatching. This year held special importance: in a nest in the center of three large fires sat a small clutch of eggs. The dragons celebrated hatching day every year, but eggs had not been laid in nearly half a century.

The colony gathered around the nest, congratulating the three mother dragons who stood by, keeping close watch on their prize.

The eggs wouldn’t hatch for many years to come, but seeing them gave the colony hope for the next generation.

Dax joined the queue to pay his respects to the new mothers, not really looking at who they were. It wasn’t until he saw Ramos nuzzling the crimson beauty ahead of him that he realized who she was. Instantly his eyes lit with excitement.

“Ramos, you didn’t tell me...You and Charra? Why didn’t you say something?” He stepped forward and bowed his head to Ramos’s wife. Red as the hottest flame, with a pair of slender horns crowning her head, she was the most gorgeous of creatures, especially so with the added glow of motherhood settling on her. She and Ramos were truly lucky, and Dax couldn’t have been prouder of them.

Ramos chuckled. “You were getting all burned up over the Airforce One, I had no time to say anything. She just laid it this morning.”

“Congratulations, you two.” Dax butted heads with Ramos. “Now I see why you won’t be my wing man.”

“It’s time you settled down with someone too,” Charra said sternly. Twenty years younger, than either Dax or Ramos, the new mom-t-be, Charra was already an old soul, one to be listened to. “You’re not getting any younger.”

“I’ve got time on my side. I’m only a century.” Dax winked. “Besides, who’d have me? Ramos here already stole the best girl in the colony.”

Charra’s cheeks glowed orange. “You’ll meet your match soon enough. How about the little fireball checking you out by the water?”

Dax glanced sideways, spotting a slender Drake with orange and purple shimmering scales staring back at him. She winked as their eyes met and turned, letting her wings fan out as she walked away. She let her tail snake on the ground behind her, leaving a trail to follow. Her body language couldn’t have been clearer, practically demanding he join her, but his heart had not yet melted for the fairer s*x. Adventure alone held him captive; his interest in what lay beyond needed to be sated first. “Maybe when I return,” he mumbled to himself, as he turned back to face his friends.

An Elder dragon let loose a mighty roar as he entered the cove, his scales charred from centuries of an inner fire burning within. He shook the ground with each step, drawing attention and reverence from the assembled crowd. “It is on this day that we celebrate another year of life among our people. Our proud race has lived for centuries here, and though time passes in the blink of an eye, we must pause and pay it respect, acknowledging the gifts it bestows upon us. This year, as I understand it, we have some marking their first century. Please step forward.”

Dax and Ramos joined the Elder in front of the crowd.

“Hard to believe these two youths have grown so quickly. I remember when young Dax here took his first flight.”

The crowd cheered.

“But Ramos is master of the wing. You, my boy, have done us proud.” The Elder’s words earned a chorus of roars. “As have you, Dax, protector of our peace.”

His face burned red with embarrassment being the center of attention, but Dax owned it, lifting his face to the sky, and blew out a pillar of fire for all to see.

His display earned a round of stomping feet and more cheers.

Days like this were few and well worth attending. The feeling of pride within the community radiated through him.

“And as is our tradition, when one has come of age, you are granted the opportunity to learn what else resides beyond our borders, to understand beyond the window of human Teevee what savages are out there. This will help bring you clarity of reason and understanding why our people must remain apart from that world.”

As the Elder spoke, Dax became even more excited, but not Ramos. Smoke rose from his nostrils. His chest glowed red, as if he were ready to explode from the fire he was holding at bay.

“Are you two ready, my boys?” the Elder asked.

Ramos answered first. “I would like to respectfully decline my chance to visit the outer lands and people. I have a wife, an egg, and my colony to protect. I know from my time in the Air Guard what’s out there, and I need not see any more of it.”

This earned approving cheers. Dax had not expected his words to have such an effect on them. It seemed as though the response his brother had given was exactly what the gathered drakes wanted to hear. But that was impossible. Had none of them dreamed of seeing beyond the horizon? Had none of them questioned the truth of what they had been taught? Seeing was believing; Dax understood the teachings of his Elders, but he needed to experience them.

A quick glance at his brother confirmed his resolve. After Ramos had spoken his well-received words, his temper had cooled and a smile stretched across his scaly face.

Once the crowd had calmed, the Elder turned to Dax. “You, son, what will you do with your opportunity?”

Dax thought for a moment, trying to come up with words that would match the maturity of Ramos’s response yet say the opposite.

“I will accept my opportunity as it is offered, as a learning experience, so that I might truly understand the people we are protecting ourselves from.”

When the crowd cheered equally as loud for his response, Dax blew out a thick ring of smoke with relief.

“So be it. Tomorrow when the sun rises, Dax Hyland, you may go, with our blessing, and visit the human realms. May your experience impart the knowledge and understanding you seek. And may you return to our colony with pride that you are Dragonkin, set above and apart from the savages out there.”

The Elder’s words earned the loudest of all cheers from the crowd. Dax looked to Ramos, tilting his head sideways, and whispered, “You sure I can’t convince you to join me?”

Ramos shook his head. “No way in hell am I going near a human.”