Life Begins Anew

Deep inside the massive, ancient chamber, dragons stood guard.

They had done so for centuries, millennia even. Dragons were infamous across the world for their almost single-minded protectiveness of their hoards, and every dragon with a healthy amount of greed had a hoard to call their own. This chamber, however, held a hoard of something far more valuable; one that even the most selfish, greedy dragon in existence would lay down their life to protect.

For inside that chamber, the next generation lay dormant. Eggs of all shapes, sizes, colours, and patterns sat in neat, orderly rows and columns. The room itself was located deep below the surface, with a level of heat that would easily make any non-dragon black out. To a dragon, it was comfortably warm.

Standing over two eggs, one a sky blue and the other a bright orange, was a huge dragoness. She was known amongst others as the Caretaker, for she had lived for long enough that her true name was all but forgotten to time, and she didn’t care enough to be known by any other name.

In fact, the only thing she really, truly cared for were the eggs. They were her solemn duty, and she would stand for eons, protecting them.

The blue egg began to shake and tremble in its cradle. As the Caretaker watched the miracle of life unfold, the orange one began to shudder too, a small crack growing down the side. The Caretaker examined the shells more closely and documented them in her immense draconic memory.

The blue egg featured webs of colour, only visible under close scrutiny. The colours, unlike ordinary eggs, were a variety of shades, lending it a rainbow pattern. The orange egg, on the other hand, was far more traditional; its orange colouration was cut through with brilliant cobalt stripes, laced with a few other shades of iridescent blue.

The Caretaker snorted once, smoke blowing out her nostrils, before stomping over to a pile of meat and gems. The eggs continued to shake, getting more intense every passing second, with cracks webbing all over the shining surfaces.

The Caretaker returned, clutching two slabs of raw flesh in one claw. She leaned her head down and exhaled warm air onto the two eggs, hastening their hatching more and more until, with two snapping cracks...

Two new dragons entered the world.

Two bright blue eyelids slid open to reveal two slitted orbs, a deep rose in colour. They stared blankly at the towering form of the matriarch above, who gazed back with an unknowable expression.

Her rose coloured eyes flicked over to the right, and stared at the neighboring egg, still in the process of hatching. The youngling contained inside was visible through a large crack, but was clearly struggling to break the shell. The Caretaker watched as the blue dragon reached over and tried to help her friend. It was an unusual act, even for a hatchling.

After a few minutes of whining and struggling, the orange dragon tumbled out of the shell and smacked into the Caretaker’s foot. She looked down at the newborn, her muzzle peeled back into a faint look of displeasure.

Snorting again, the Caretaker picked up the tiny hatchling between two claws and deposited it back into its cradle. The runt squeaked in protest, but the Caretaker ignored it, dropping a slab of meat onto both of them to silence them. After watching them tuck into their food with gusto, the ancient dragon wandered off to check on the rest of the eggs.

The blue dragon crawled over to her orange companion, watching how he struggled to chew the bloody steak. She cocked her head slightly, before getting her neighbour’s attention with a series of squeaks. She pointed at the meat in his feeble claws, then tore off a smaller, more manageable chunk of flesh for him to eat.

The orange dragon stared at the meat in wonder. Tentatively, he reached out and took it into his claws, then looked at his newfound friend with innocent gratitude.

When the Caretaker returned hours later, the two dragons were curled up asleep in a crib, smiling. She watched as the cyan dragon wrinkled her snout as she slept, then sneezed a bright and beautiful rainbow flame.

The Caretaker chuckled in a way that shook the cavern ever-so-slightly, then returned to her eternal duty.

Many years later...

Prisma crouched down, her red eyes glittering through the tall grass. As her prey entered the clearing, she arched her back and tensed her lean leg muscles, preparing to pounce.

Just a little closer, she thought to herself as she watched the hapless morsel wander through the clearing. Closer... Now! She leapt at her target, both her claws and bared teeth gleaming in the midday sunshine. She landed on the orange dragon’s back and grabbed his wing and forearm, taking care to avoid her prey’s sharp cerulean spines.

The orange dragon yelled out as the predator grabbed his wing and forearm, sending him crashing into the dirt.

“Yes!” Prisma called out. “I got you again! Man, you suck, Firefly!” The orange dragon beneath her tried to shout something, but it got muffled by the mud.

“Mmmpf! Mmmpf-mmmpf!” Firefly cried out. Prisma guffawed loudly at her floundering friend, before getting off of him and helping him up. Once he had brushed off the dust and dirt, the two of them looked at each other and burst out laughing.

Unfolding her leathery wings, Prisma looked over at her childhood friend. “Come on Firefly, I’ll race you back to the Eyrie” she said, leaning forward and tensing up in preparation for take-off.

“That’s no fair, you’re sure to win. Besides, you know I have trouble flying.” Firefly unfolded his own wings and looked at his frail flight appendage with a scowl.

Prisma was undeterred. “Alright, how about a ground race than?” The cyan dragon jogged slightly on the spot. Firefly just stared at her, eyebrow raised.

Prisma stifled a sigh. “Fine, I guess we’ll just walk back home.” Ever since they were just hatchlings, the elders had always thought of them as an odd pair. One of them was fiercely competitive and prided herself on her speed, while the other avoided strenuous physical activity like the plague.

But, despite her occasional frustration with her friend, Prisma would sooner die than leave Firefly behind.

After a long trek, they finally made it back to the Eyrie, one of the largest dragon holds in existence. The entire settlement was a huge system of caves inside a mountain. The only entrance at ground level was a large opening in the rock. Two adult dragons stood guard at the mouth of the cave, assuring that no other living thing could get inside.

The two guards glared down at the adolescent dragons, saying nothing. Prisma always made a note to heckle the guards whenever she got the chance.

“Sup guys, just a pony in a dragon disguise wanting to get in!” One of the guards snorted in response, tired of the cyan dragon’s jokes. The other just glared at her. Firefly watched them warily, while Prisma just stuck out her forked tongue.

It didn’t take long for Prisma and Firefly to reach the center of the mountain, where a huge cave had been hollowed out. It was so large that even the biggest of their kind were able to fly freely inside. At the very top of the cave, the mountain opened up to the sky, allowing light inside.

As the two of them made it through the large chasm, a group of teenage dragons from their flight class dropped in front of them.

Crag, the unofficial leader of the group, stalked towards them with his typical brutish swagger. “Hey there, Prism and Firefall. You gonna fly up to class or are you going to climb like some namby, pamby pony?” The group of jerky dragons all laughed at Crag’s snide comment.

Prisma’s nostrils flared and a wisp of rainbow flame escaped from between her teeth. “Maybe you should try walking around for a bit Crag. Who knows, maybe you wouldn’t be such an airhead then!” Crag’s sly smirk disappeared as he gritted his teeth in anger.

“You want to start something, rainbow scales?”

“Anytime, anywhere!” Just before the two prideful dragons were about to tear each other limb from limb, Firefly stepped in.

“Stop you two! If you start fighting in here, you’ll both get in trouble with the elders!” This managed to calm the two down enough to prevent the fight, but both still held a lot of anger.

“This isn’t over Prism! We’ll settle this during flight school! Your weak boyfriend won’t be able to save you there!”

Prisma flinched visibly. “He’s not my boyfriend!” She cried, but her traitorous cheeks blushed a bright red.

Crag laughed, then turned and flew away, the rest of his group following right behind him. Prisma didn’t stop glaring at them until they had disappeared from sight.

“Ugh, I hate those guys! I am so going to destroy Crag on the flight track today.”

“Prisma, don’t let him get to you. You know he’s nothing but hot air.” Prisma knew this, but it didn’t calm her down. It wasn’t Crag’s name calling that had gotten to her; rather, it was the mental images that just wouldn’t get out of her head. Just the idea of Firefly and her, cuddling together, the sound of his heartbeat echoing in her ears...

Prisma shook away the daydream before it went any further. Firefly and her were just friends, nothing more. She had more important things to think about now, one of which was beating Crag.

“Come on, we don’t want to be late.” Prisma opened her wings and took off. As she flew toward the top of the mountain, she looked back to see Firefly having trouble getting into the air. Quickly flipping around, Prisma flew by Firefly and picked him up as she passed. Once airborne, Firefly opened his wings to catch the wind.

“Thanks Prisma, but I can take it from here.” Prisma looked at him skeptically, but let go of him, allowing him to flap his own wings. Although he was much slower than Prisma, he managed to keep a steady speed as they both headed for the top.

A few weeks later...

Prisma flew down into the mountain from above, a fresh kill hanging in her mouth. She had just returned from hunting and had only managed to catch a squirrel that hadn’t been quick enough. Though it wasn’t enough to satisfy her hunger, squirrel was one of Firefly’s favorite snacks.

Prisma angled her wings and flew into one of the many caves along the walls of the central chasm. As she turned the corner, she saw Crag and his gang standing around Firefly as he tried to stave them off. Prisma’s anger immediately flared up. The squirrel in Prisma’s mouth snapped in half as she gritted her teeth, crunching the morsel between her molars before she spat it on the ground.

“Back off, Crag!” Prisma yelled as she dropped between him and Firefly.

“Oh look Firefall, your girlfriend is here to save you! Ain’t that sweet?” As Crag and the other dragons laughed, Prisma could feel heat coming off of her face. She was certain it was anger that had caused this, but somewhere underneath it all, she knew she felt embarrassment as well.

Firefly spoke up in a meek voice. “Prisma, don’t worry about it.” Prisma didn’t hear him though. She had let Crag get away with bullying the two of them long enough. She knew that it was time to put him in his place once and for all.

She stomped up to Crag and looked him straight in the eye. “You and I are settling this right now!”

“Oh yeah?” Crag replied snidely. “And just how are we going to ‘settle this’?”

Prisma found herself without a clear course of action. She began to regret not having a plan. “A race.”

Crag looked at her with as much pride as his disgusting face could manage, and laughed out loud. “Hah! Nice try, Prism, but real dragons don’t race. That’s a pony sport.”

Prisma tried to think of some way to save the situation. She took one more look at Firefly and made a snap decision. “We’ll race through the Manticore’s Nest!

Crag’s companions muttered to one another at the mentioning of the dangerous race course. The Manticore’s Nest gained a place among the exaggerated tales of the young wyrms after ending the life of more than one dragon that got too curious.

Crag went wide-eyed for a moment, and his gaze shifted back and forth before he caught sight of one of his cronies, who had been waiting to see his decision. He puffed his chest out and tensed up his face before speaking. “Y-You’re on! Your little challenge doesn’t scare me!”” The brutish dragon motioned for his group to follow him and left, leaving Prisma and Firefly alone after glancing back once more.

After Firefly got up, he voiced his shock and displeasure about the situation. “Prisma, the Manticore’s Nest!? Are you crazy? You know how dangerous that is!”

Prisma knew Firefly was right, but she didn’t care.“I know! I just couldn’t take Crag walking around here like he’s a big shot anymore! It’s about time someone put him in his place!”

Firefly, occasionally dubbed Prisma’s moral compass by some of the elders, put an arm around Prisma, clearly trying to calm her. “I understand you’re angry, but you can’t let it get the better of you, otherwise you’ll end up getting yourself into horrible situations! You need to back out of this race before you get yourself hurt.”

“I can’t back down now! If I do, things will just get worse for us. I’m going to race him, and I’m going to win!” Prisma declared with a hard edge of determination in her voice.

Firefly sighed. “Alright, just be careful, will you?” Prisma turned to see her friend looking at her with the same caring blue eyes she had known since the day she hatched. She quickly looked away as she felt herself begin to blush.

“D-don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.” She quickly shrugged his hand off of her shoulders and took off after Crag, determined to put an end to their rivalry once and for all. Firefly flew after her, first having to drop down a couple feet off the lip of the cave to catch air in his weak wing.

Both dragons reached the top of the mountain. From their vantage point, they could see for miles in all directions. To the north the mountain range went on into the distance. In every other direction were the forests the dragon used to hunt. The border of Zebrica, could be seen on the southern horizon.

Both Prisma and Crag stood just behind a line etched into the dirt, wings ready to take flight, Both of them tensed their bodies as one of Crag’s so-called friends stood in front of them.

“Ready?” Prisma cleared her mind, awaiting the signal to start.

Just before the race was about to begin, Prisma felt a gust of wind strike her side as Crag took off toward the Manticore’s Nest.

“Hey, he’s cheating!” Firefly cried out. Prisma was surprised to hear him call out Crag, especially since he was against the race in the first place. Crag’s group simply snickered and did nothing as they watched the foul play.

Not wanting to give Crag more of a head start, Prisma took off after him. Although Crag had cheated, the air was Prisma’s domain, and she was determined to show Crag just that. Just as Crag was about to reach the Manticore’s Nest, Prisma caught up to him. the race was soon neck and neck.

The Manticore’s Nest had been named such due to it being an actual breeding place for the half lion, half scorpion beasts. The manticores had created large towers in which they laid their eggs, and it wasn’t strange to see a few of them clinging to the side of any one of them. The course that had been devised by Prisma and Crag required flying between the towers, bringing them dangerously close to the defensive parents that would undoubtedly try to strike the dragons out of the sky.

Both dragons were forced to slow down as they came up to the first tower. The manticores’ poisonous tails struck out like lightning, leaving little time for dodging. Although Prisma was without a doubt faster than Crag, there was no way she could go full speed while also avoiding all of the tails, and she had to bob, twist, and swivel to avoid them..

Prisma and Crag managed to pass between each set of towers unscathed. The end was in sight, and as they were about to pass through the final obstacle, Crag flew close to Prisma.

“Not bad, rainbow scales, but I ain’t going to lose this race, not to you!” As he said this, his face twisted into an evil grin, and Crag kicked out one of his hind legs, striking one of the joints on Prisma’s wings. The blow forced Prisma to close that wing, sending her on a course straight into the base of one of the towers. She hit the hard-as-stone nest head first. Prisma could see stars as she tried to get back up.

Prisma felt the ground shake, like a large boulder had fallen from a cliff. She looked up to see three manticores that had dropped down from their perches and were now slowly closing in on her. Prisma looked around for any way out, but found none. There was no way she would be able to take off fast enough to make it past the manticores.

As Prisma realized she was trapped, the manticore closest to her rose its tail, readying to strike. In an instant, Prisma realized of all things she would never get to do. She would never grow old, never lay eggs of her own, never tell Firefly...

...never tell Firefly that she loved him.

Prisma felt tears run down her cheeks as she finally came face to face with her own feelings. Despite Firefly’s weaknesses, he was still the nicest dragon she had ever met. She couldn’t outrun the fact anymore; all those years of trying to protect him weren’t just because they were friends, but because she loved him.

The manticore loomed over Prisma. She stood up and faced the creature, still dazed from the crash but prepared for the worst. She heard the manticore’s tail whistle through the air and pierce flesh, but she felt no pain. Confused, she took a moment to shake off her daze. Once her mind was clear, she looked up and gasped.

Firefly was standing between Prisma and the manticore, its tail embedded in Firefly’s weak wing. Even though it was obvious he was in extreme pain, he still managed to turn his head toward another approaching manticore and unleash a blazing torrent of cerulean and scarlet. After a brief respite, he turned back to Prisma.

“Prisma, are you alright?”

Prisma looked at him shocked. “I-I’m fine, but you-” Before she could finish, the manticore pulled his stinger from Firefly’s wing. Prisma watched as he wavered for a moment, nearly toppling over. He turned back toward her, and gave a weak smile.

“You should probably run.”

Firefly closed his eyes and fell to the ground. Prisma stared at his limp body, not wanting to believe what was before her. It was some horrible nightmare. It had to be. She would wake up from it any moment now.

When she finally realized the reality of her situation, she felt a fire start inside her. It filled her entire being with an uncontrollable rage like no other. A fire that had to be let out.

Prisma stood strong in front of the manticore and opened her jaws. Rainbow fire poured from her throat and engulfed the beast who had dared to harm Firefly. Before it could even react, the manticore’s hair and mane had caught on fire. The beast, now frightened and wounded by its former prey, ran off in search of a way to put out the flames.

Prisma did not stop at just one manticore, however. She turned her head toward the others, allowing the stream of rage to wash over the other beasts surrounding her. She wouldn’t let any of them hurt Firefly ever again. Not her Firefly.

Each one ran as she turned toward it, afraid to meet the same fate as their companion.

Prisma did not stop breathing fire until the last manticore had disappeared from sight. As soon as she was sure that she and Firefly were safe, she sprinted to his side. The manticore had struck right through the bone in his weaker wing and the end of it was now bent at a grotesque angle. The wound itself was bleeding profusely and the flesh surrounding it was beginning to grow puffier, evidence of the poison left by the creature’s tail.

Despite the severity of the wound, Firefly was alive. Prisma breathed a small sigh of relief, but knew that she would have to get him back to the Eyrie before the venom reached his vital organs. Prisma picked him up just as she did when he needed help taking off and flew toward home as fast as her wings could take her. Tears streamed down her face as she felt his shaky breaths. “You’re going to be okay, Firefly. I’m gonna get you home, and we’ll get you better.”