Tears of pearl gathered in the corners of the dragoness' eyes, then slowly trickled down her face, to meet below her chin and form one large, shining, glistening pearl. Slowly, it grew larger until, with a final last hesitance, it fell through the air, a pearl of hopes and wishes and dreams, a precious pearl... a dragon's tear.
With a soft splash it landed on the rocky ground, shattering into a million glistening fragments that sank away out of sight, shattered hopes, shattered wishes, shattered dreams.
The great dragoness lowered her head, her massive sapphire and emerald wings drooping with sadness, her head hanging low with immeasurable grief. One fewer of her kind existed, one fewer of the jeweled ones, the mighty guardians of hope, the protectors of all.
Another slain at the hands of an almost invincible seeming mortal man, that same man who would be coming after her soon enough.
Weary with grief for her slaughtered children, she turned and dragged herself back into her cave home, her barbed tail leaving a deep rut in the rocky soil, for she had not the energy to lift it and walk with the pride of her race.
Once, when all the land was young, her kind was revered as the chosen of the gods, they were honored and protected, called upon to lend their mighty aid in fighting against tyrannical lords. Once... once she had been the mightiest of all, her emerald and sapphire wings beating their strong rhythm and causing armies to retreat, lords bent on destruction to rethink their actions, wizards of the cruel nature to back down into obscurity once more. Her children had been the glory of the land, their scales shining like jewels, their minds clear with their purpose, their talons sharp and ever ready to protect the boarder against invasions.
They were the glory of the gods now, their slain bodies lying in the pools of their own blood, not even granted the final release of burning by dragon's fyre.
She curled up in the back of her den, pale, coppery eyes closing against the soft, silent torrent of pearly tears, which slid down her cheeks and shattered on the hard rock of the cave floor. More hopes shattered, more dreams broken beyond repair, more wishes lost eternally.
Silently she let them fall, remembering her children as she had last seen them, alive, full of the happy energy of youth, with a boundless joy in their eyes. All had welcomed their playfulness with open arms, children had rushed to them, begging for the treat of flying adragonback, squealing with joyous fear as the young dragons had accepted and let them climb on, then leapt into the air and rose quickly, performing midair acrobatics with the little human children clinging to their backs and laughing.
None would have been so cruel as to silence those voices, dragon or human. But a mortal had killed them, all of them. A mortal who had taken no injuries in the battles, nor apparently even grieved at their passing.
A mortal who was coming her way, to finish off her family tree, and rid the land of the greatest protectors of truth and justice there were.
She didn't even lift her head as the hoof beats of a horse echoed into her den from farther down the path. As the rider dismounted and entered, she only barely stirred her wings.
She felt him pause at the opening to her cave, apparently looking for her bulk, or maybe a treasure of some sort. His heavy steps continued on, deeper into the massive cave, pausing every now again.
Finally, with a low, weak, grief filled growl she lifted herself up off of the cave floor and moved like a bolt of lightning, slamming her paw down over him, trapping him firmly within her grasp. Narrowed copper eyes peered down at him, and her other paw swiped his magical sword out of his grasp.
Suddenly her eyes grew wide, as the sword clanged against the wall and fell, shattered into small slivers of crystal, instantly forgotten, suddenly his mind was opened to hers, and suddenly she knew the full torture that someone had planned for her and her kin.
Her massive head shot back, tears suddenly streaming down her draconic face once more, and she screamed in her rage and grief, a grief that no mother should have to endure, human, dragon, griffon, elf, or otherwise.
The humans who lived around her den straightened from their work and stared off in her direction, mothers instantly breaking into tears despite their husbands' attempts to comfort them.
"Someone... cursed her... last child.... She has to kill him herself... or be killed by him..."
Men and children paled as they heard this, and all turned to stare with grief filled eyes at the den of their protector, but none dared to visit the dragoness, for fear that her pain and sorrow would cloud her vision and send her into a killing spree.
Within the confines of her den, the formerly great dragoness arched her mighty neck and opened her mouth, letting loose a fearsome blast of dragon's fyre upon her cursed child, pulling her paw back before it was burned.
She let out another grief and pain filled howl as her last child burned, his spirit set free by his mother's purifying flames.
With that she retreated to the back of her den, and curled up, intending to sleep away the rest of her existence.
Days past, weeks past, months past, and through all that time she was left to her own devices by her human neighbors. All were saddened by the loss of their spectacular jeweled dragons. The children too small to understand what had happened tugged on their mother's apron and asked where the dragon children were, not comprehending the sadness that crossed their parents faces when the dragons were mentioned.
She, though, was finally awoken from her nightmare filled sleep by the soft tread of booted feet combined with the padding paws of a dragon, although a rather small dragon by the sound.
A low, weak rumble started in her chest, as she glanced up at the intruders.
"Who're you, dragoness?" the human looking woman asked, her voice just as soft as her footsteps.
She growled at the human and the dragon, what right did they have in den anyway?!
Selena, she's... I think she can talk, but I don't think she wants to, do you, golden one?
"I can talk," she hissed, "and I'm not 'golden one'"
::Then tell us what to call you,:: the smaller, blue white dragon replied as he settled down near her, spreading a wing over her protectively and nuzzling her neck, apparently trying to make her feel better.
She hissed, glaring at him, then sent him everything that had happened to her before she had retreated to her sleep, everything from the slow killing of her other children, to the discovery that their killer was her last child, who was cursed so fully that nothing could remove the curse without killing him anyway.
The blue white's head drooped at what he saw, but still he managed not to give into his grief. ::Sassivrey, please, come with us away from this place, even if only for a while.::
"Do you have something in mind, Saath?" the blue-white's rider asked.
The blue-white nodded, ::Ryslen, to bond a dragon. Maybe it will help her get over this, although, faced with that loss... maybe it won't. We have to try though.::
The woman nodded, "Let's go then, there's no time like the present."
Sassivrey rose slowly as the blue-white flipped his wing back and rose as well. Slowly, her head still lowered and her wings still drooping, she made her way out of her den.
The blue-white's rider mounted up, then held tight as he leaped into the air, followed a bit later by the dragoness. Carefully, Saath gave Sassivrey mental directions to Ryslen, and both disappeared from the sky soon after, leaving not a trace of Sassivrey's jeweled heritage left on the planet.
The first egg split, and Damselth grew quiet. Her first child was a deep sapphire blue overlain with silver, just like his sire. Nobly, he raised his head and spread his shining wings. ::Do not be blue, my lady. Leave that to me. The pain need not linger.::
He was larger than the average blue, and would probably be the size of a medium ot large brown when he was fully grown.
The greeny-blue jeweled dragoness raised her head. "What did you say, Yonaleith?"
::I said the pain need not linger, Lady Sassivrey.:: the silver-blue said, and walked to her, laying a newly hatched paw on hers. Tears of heartfelt joy rolled from her eyes.
((Written by Ty of the Nexus))