A Strange Gift From the Stars

The shadows were unusually still this evening, which was Aether’s first clue that something was amiss. Usually the Nightmare would be lumbering about somewhere, doing whatever pleased him most at the moment, and Phantom would be nearby at the very least. The clouds of night sky that clung to both of them had faded into white noise for her these days, but as she finished sorting her herbs, it occurred to her that she hadn’t recalled seeing a hint of either in the past few hours. This wasn’t an entirely rare occurrence for the Nightmare, but Phantom was practically her shadow. And with Fade in one of his quieter moods, it was oddly discomforting to be left feeling so alone. She wasn't really used to hearing her own thoughts so clearly.

She reached out to Phantom, tugging on the connection between them as rider and dragon with a wordless concern. In reply, she received what felt like a faint physical pull towards the door to the conservatory accompanied by faint confusion. She rose from her work station and made her way through the overgrowth in the conservatory proper. The twinkling of the stars in the night sky above her provided more than enough light for her eyes to comfortably navigate the mess, an ability that few but her dragons could claim to share. What could possibly have bothered Phantom at this hour?

Certainly she had not expected to find the rounded stone that appeared to be made of pure marble, and she was as confused as Phantom was as to how it had found itself in her makeshift mailbox. It hardly fit, and some part of her was indignant that someone might have risked damaging so fine a thing. It seemed almost to shimmer in the starlight as the pair carefully extricated it and checked it over. It was unnaturally round and rather heavy, but somehow lighter than she’d expected for a rock like this.

“Who do you think would leave this here?” She mumbled to herself as she held it aloft. Phantom twisted in the air to face her and simply responded by impressing an even deeper confusion upon her— she nodded. If he knew, he probably would have done something about it. Even touching the strange rock left a strange impression upon her, like there was some palpable tension building in the air. If she hadn’t known better, she’d have suspected some kind of trap— but Phantom’s drifting form and steady mind seemed unbothered by the rock other than his confusion about its origins, and so she trusted him.

“Well, I suppose I best take it inside then, and at the very least make sure I put it somewhere it won’t chip or something. You’re welcome to bring things in yourself next time, if you were just trying not to bother me.” She turned to the wyrm. His plumed ears flattened against his head slightly in embarrassment. She leaned over to press her weight against his side and rubbed his neck with one arm as his spacedust swirled around her. “You’re never a bother, you know.”  He rubbed back against her much smaller figure gently in reply, pushing a sense of warm comfort to her through their bond. With a soft swish of his tail, he broke their brief embrace and swam through the air towards the door to the conservatory, holding it open so she could focus on keeping the little treasure safe.

After she was through the doorway, she glanced back at Phantom as she wound through the dark gardens. She couldn’t shake a feeling she’d had when she had first touched the stone, a rather familiar sensation. “So, Phantom, do you think this is—“

“An egg?” Purred an all-too familiar voice as small stars flickered into view around Aether and hung in the air amidst the leaves. Phantom turned his head to face his uncle as he floated past Aether in the air. For a dragon of the Nightmare’s size, it always astonished her how stealthy he was when he cared to be. “How very observant of you.” He smiled with every one of his mouths as he inclined both of his heads toward her. To anyone else this might have been a threatening gesture, or a terrifying one at the very least— it caused the sides of his body to split open and reveal massive fangs— but Aether was more than accustomed to the Nightmare and his games.

“Well, I suppose that does answer that. Don’t tell me you have something to do with this one as well?” She stared up at the larger dragon, meeting his eyes without reaction.

He almost seemed a bit disappointed as he replied, “No, I haven’t got anything to do with this one. But I’m not foolish enough to mistake an egg for a petty trinket.” He lifted up one of his great legs to examine his talons. “So, where did you find such a thing?” His head shifts briefly from looking towards his talons to the elf, then to his much smaller nephew.

“It was left in the mailbox, for some reason.” Aether halfway frowned as she looked the thing over. “Seems really irresponsible.” She shifted the egg in her grasp to hold it more firmly.

“Irresponsible, or perfectly responsible? It all depends on perspective. A mailbox personally wouldn’t have been my first choice, but that’s not my egg.” The Nightmare sat back and leaned further towards the egg. He cocked his heads as he stared at it, as if he could somehow see through the shell to whatever lay within. “It seems healthy enough. I suspect the egg’s guardians knew what they were doing. Or didn’t, but thought they did. In either case, I would see it as left for you.” He draws back from his scrutiny and waves it off. Phantom’s gaze turned lazily back to the pair at the mention of this.

“I guess you would see it that way. Is it-“ Aether stops herself mid-sentence, shifts, and then continues, “Do dragons normally have a habit of just leaving eggs with random people?” She glances once more to the strange marbled egg with its strange glimmer. “Because this is twice now. And one of them was from you.”

He laughs, a horrible sound spilling from all of his many maws in discordant harmony. “Only sometimes. Some for different reasons than others. Most are not like me, capable of going without— and as such, it is an art to match an egg with a rider. I was simply feeling proactive, and I have a habit of being right.” Even under his teasing, she could feel the faintest hint of affection that trickled towards her from their bond. It was barely noticeable underneath Phantom’s, though, as he nuzzled into her like a cat.

'Yes, yes. I’m glad he did that too'. She couldn’t help but laugh a bit as she leaned into Phantom in reply. “Well, I guess we’ll have to see if this little fella agrees with whoever left them here, then. Before either of you get any more sappy on me, let me put the egg somewhere warm and safe.” She smiled as she adjusted her grip and then headed deeper, through the conservatory and towards the attached abandoned manor she’d fixed up as a home. Phantom kept close pace with her, but the Nightmare trailed further behind.

She made her way to her personal quarters and placed the egg atop her work desk, nestling it into the spare blanket she kept for the especially cold day. She could have sworn she felt it shifting in her hands as she finally withdrew from it. She couldn’t help the soft smile that formed on her face. Phantom hung in the air, drifting in lazy spirals around the egg and steeping it in his cosmic miasma. His many eyes were practically affixed to it. It was a very mesmerizing looking egg, she had to admit.

She turned back to the Nightmare looming in her doorway. She felt his presence more than she actually saw him. “Well, I suppose that’s that for now, then. Any idea who might have decided to take a page out of your book? I don’t think I’ve seen any eggs that look like this before.”

The Nightmare leered at her with his many eyes. “I’m not some kind of dragon encyclopedia, neither am I omniscient. And if I were to have further knowledge on the matter, I would be more inclined to share it if you had something to offer me in return.” He grinned, with only the mouths on his faces this time.

Aether sighed and rested a hand on her hip. “What do you want?”

The edges of the mouth on the Nightmare’s great sides quirked into a smug grin. “You see, I’ve been really thinking about how my scales could use some extra polishing— oh, and some of my nails could use filing, and my teeth could use brushing…”

“You can ask normally, you know. I’d have helped with that anyway. I can’t imagine what happens if you get food stuck between some of those back teeth.” She frowned and crossed her arms, shifting her weight to the balls of her feet.

“I could. This is more fun, though. Come. Grab your supplies and I can tell you my theories while you polish.” He waved a claw dismissively and ducked back out of the doorway. Aether turned back towards Phantom, who had laid down around the blanket, another layer surrounding the egg.

“I’m going to go help him out— I take it I can trust you to keep an eye on the egg?” She asked Phantom, rubbing a hand down his side before transitioning to give him a few small scratches behind his feathered ears. He leaned into the scratches, conveying his affirmation through their mental link wordlessly, as he preferred. “Thank you, Phantom. I’ll be back, just let me know if you need anything.”

The Nightmare’s tail thumped impatiently outside the doorway. She spared one last glance back to the strange egg and Phantom before grabbing her dragon husbandry supplies and going out to join the Nightmare.