afraid to do so. She quickly turned, went back up to the pedestal, dropped the bloodstone in, and rushed back to her master.
Bork leaned down to her and whispered, “Girl, did the elder catch you stealing?”
“No, master. I...”
“Quiet...” he ordered, then straightened, and said, “Blasted girl... I shall deal with you later.”
Syllabary, one of the Venetian Red Scribes, stepped forward and said, “Now that we have all gathered, please follow me. The queen is this way in the Quickening Chamber.”
He and the other scribes wore scarlet robes embroidered with gold. They held a Convey Scroll and Blazing Quill, and a leather satchel rested at their side. They walked up a ramp of rock to a raised area ten feet up from the ground called the Observers Dais just beside the Middle Ground. From this advantage point, they could see everything within the Ritual Room, the Quickening Chamber, and especially the Middle Ground. The Venetian Red Scribes went and stood on top where they could witness the Dragon Rite, but they were still out of the way. The dragon elders joined them on the Observers Dais and stood behind the Venetian Red Scribes near the back wall. The four Venetian Red Scribes formed a line close to the edge of the Observers Dais, facing the Middle Ground and once they were all in position, they began.
“Expositus!” the scribes shouted.
Each of their scrolls magically lifted from their hands, unrolled, and hovered in front of them. The Convey Scrolls were created from the bark of a Floating Tree of Amber and endowed with magic. Whatever the scribe wrote on it would be there one moment and then would be whisked away to their Chronicle Tome located in the Scribe Hall in the Capital of Athenia. Their accounts would remain in the Tome that even fire couldn't destroy. The Blazing Quill was also magical and never ran out of ink, and it was made from a sphinx feather and glowed when in use. They started writing their account of the first ceremonial act, and the blazing light from their quills lit their faces.
The area filled with the noise of the candidates and their patrons as they all walked to a connecting cavern called the Quickening Chamber. There, the dragon queen labored in the middle of laying her first egg. She grunted and growled with her pain-filled efforts. Her vocal exertion frightened a few of the candidates as they formed a line to watch. For most, this was their first time participating in the Dragon Rite. They quieted and watched the queen.
The Quickening Chamber was very warm as steam from small pools of hot springs mixed with the cold air of the caves. The queen continued to labor in the birthing and soon produced her first egg. The egg popped out covered in a yellowish-green substance that slid down its surface till it collected in a small pool surrounding the egg and seemed to keep it from rolling around. The first egg was massive as tall as a boy and murky-black. It was so black that it looked to Cara as if it consisted of the Void itself.
“Dragon Elder Duran–” Syllabary began as he stepped back from the line of scribes to the back wall where the dragons stood. His Convey Scroll followed him as he moved, and it floated behind him. Syllabary leaned to the yellow dragon and said, “–that egg is unusually large.”
“It is,” Dragon Elder Duran replied. “I have never seen one of its size before. Maybe it is a good sign. Let us hope our queen can lay a female egg among this clutch. We are in need of a young queen. As the smallest of all the dragon nests, we have only one queen, and she is nearing the time when she shall stop laying.”
“What about the other nests?” Syllabary inquired as he took up writing again with his Blazing Quill. “Can they give you one of their queens?”
“At the moment, they have none to spare. Perhaps when the beginning of this Dragon Rite is complete and there are no females among the hatchlings, you can go to the other nests and see if you can find a queen for us.”
“Maybe I shall. I could use a journey and see country that has some green in its hue. Though as much as I would like to go, let us pray your queen produces an heir.”
Next, the queen laid an egg that was half the size of the first and copper in color. The third egg was the same size as the second and purple. The fourth egg was the same and light blue. The queen paced the area as her labor pains increased.
“Maybe there is another large egg,” Syllabary stated.
“Perhaps,” Dragon Elder Duran said. “Or perhaps it is something else.”
With great difficulty, the queen finally laid the last egg. It was small, very small. The egg was the size of a mellon and pale in color.
“This is vexing,” Syllabary said as he stopped writing. “Is something wrong with the egg?” He moved, walked down the rocky ramp as his scroll followed, walked around the Middle Ground to the Quickening Chamber, and drew near the queen first and once there, he rubbed her nose. He did this to make sure she wouldn't act violently toward him when he approached her brood. Syllabary then examined each of the eggs and came to the smallest one. He spoke, “It has a crack. The small egg may never hatch.”
“Perhaps...” Dragon Elder Duran began. He had followed Syllabary and also looked over the clutch. Duran said, “There are no spots on any of the shells. The eggs are all male. Let us begin the first act of the Dragon Rite.” He turned to the boys gathered and commanded them, “Candidates select an egg.”
Bork leaned to his son and told him, “Remember the plan and act with your head. If you do this, then maybe at least one of you can become a dracoman.”
“Yes, father.”
The majority of the boys, including Turk, rushed to the large murky-black egg.
His two friends followed, and Turk turned to them and ordered them, “Choose a different egg. If we spread out, then maybe at least one of us shall bring honor to our tribe.”
They did as he told them. Barman went and stood by the purple egg, and Cyan went and stood by the light blue one. Out of the fifteen candidates, six stood around the large murky-black egg. Three candidates stood around the copper, three around the purple, and three around the light blue one. None stood by the small damaged pale egg. The boys started stroking their selected eggs and talking to them.
The girl asked Bork, “Master, what happens if no one chooses the small egg?”
“I do not know. Now be quiet, girl,” Bork snapped and then he stated in a low voice, “What a waist? One less egg for the Rite. What a useless thing?”
Cara stared up at him as she saw the disgusted look on Bork's face he had given her many times, but this time the look was directed at the egg.
Dragon Elder Duran heard her question and he answered her, “It shall be cast out, if it is not chosen. It is the rule of the Dragon Rite. It shall be abandoned to another fate.”
“Cast out?” she exclaimed under her breath. “Abandoned to another fate?”
Cara didn't understand why they would abandon a baby because it was too small and maybe damaged. She glanced at her stunted left arm and leg. Was the egg considered useless like her? Did the world also consider this tiny egg unworthy of care and love? She wondered if they would get rid of him because he was different just as her parents had gotten rid of her. Cara had been cast out from her family, and she had been abandoned to a horrible fate. No other living thing should have to go through what she had. Cara felt a twinge of compassion within her heart. All of her life she had been the abjected one. She never let it show, but Bork and his family's harsh words and cruel actions towards her hurt her deeply. Someone needed to protect the egg from the same kind of tormenting rejection.
“Are all candidates set on their choice?” Duran questioned.
“We are,” they all answered.
“It is a pity,” Duran stated as he looked over the small egg. “We have not had a rejected egg in nearly a hundred years. It shall need to be removed. Call forth the Relegator,” he ordered.
One of the dragons who stood guard within the Quickening Chamber walked to one of the connecting tunnels and screamed a dragon call and after some time, a large man
entered who wore a black leather mask to conceal his face. He was bare chested and larger than Bork. The Relegator wielded a large weapon. The weapon was made of steel, long, and had what looked like a mallet's head at one end and two spear-like projections at the other end.
“Which one?” the Relegator questioned.
“The small pale one,” Dragon Elder Duran answered.
The Relegator approached the egg, then paused, and glanced at the queen. The queen nodded to him, and the Relegator proceeded towards the egg as he gripped his weapon tightly. He had a wildness in his eyes as if he would break open the egg and eat it. The Relegator lifted the mallet end of the weapon as he drew closer to the egg.
Cara watched in horror. They were going to hurt the egg. She feared he was going to smash the baby dragon. Was the egg so worthless in the others eyes that they would allow it to be killed? She franticly glanced around at the boys, wondering if none of them would select it. She took a couple of steps forward. It might be small and appear to be damaged, but that didn't mean it was worthless or useless. Small didn't mean he couldn't fly.
She realized the boys were too busy cooing their eggs to notice the monster of a man who was going to destroy the rejected one. Cara took a few more steps forward. The Relegator was only a few paces away from the egg as he stomped across the ground in his slow but