Chapter Text
Lilia’s tears spilled from her cheeks, and the desolate soldier’s sobs echoed in the room as his arms desperately clasped the creature in his arms.
The little dragon fairy stood still like a silly cat, blinking and unconsciously igniting the entire room with its green flames, sending wild sparks flying across the glass and marble floor, only to extinguish them as easily as breathing.
The loyal, crimson-eyed, strong-willed bat fairy hiccuped, pressing her wet face against the hatchling’s soft scales, feeling its slow, steady breathing.
Holding back his feelings for so long had broken him when he saw the birth of his precious queen and friend Maleanor’s son.
The helplessness of his losses fell upon his chest, and the sight of the familiar, uncontrolled green flames the baby released didn’t help.
Malleus writhed in the embrace, his scaly neck twisting from side to side as if he heard something that caught his attention.
Lilia hadn’t noticed the strange behavior of Maleanor’s son with all the commotion going on.
It was the movement that caught his attention, and the sound of small claws scraping the walls of the shattered egg from which the dragon fairy had previously emerged caused all his senses to be alert, and he turned his head, forcing a crack in his neck.
Lilia didn’t have time to process anything, Malleus escaped from her arms and flew towards the crib, falling onto the blankets and staring with all the intensity that his sharp greenish eyes could towards the broken egg.
The fairy experiment’s eyes widened as she slowly approached the cradle, unable to believe what she was seeing.
“This is…impossible…” Lilia Vanrouge, an experiment soldier who has survived the worst wars in history, lost loved ones, witnessed unthinkable crimes, and murdered with her bare hands, was shocked and gasped at the revelation she was witnessing.
There, buried at the bottom of the black egg among small pieces of shell that the largest hatchling had created after emerging from its egg, was another hatchling, a much smaller one, probably half the size of a dragon fairy. Its small claws desperately scraped the walls of the egg, trying to climb out and escape without success.
It let out small moans and anguished sounds, keeping its eyes closed, unable to open them on its own.
Maleanor’s second baby was not ready to hatch unlike his brother, his body was too small, his chest moved too fast and his body trembled weakly, he couldn’t even stand or raise his wings properly.
The red and pink haired fairy moved her trembling hands. She had never felt her palms sweat so much, not even when fighting a powerful enemy. It was unthinkable: two hatchlings in a single egg, something never seen before in the history of the mighty Draconia race.
All the eggs created by the union of this powerful lineage create a single being. This creature needed all the nutrients and magic for itself, and that was why it was only one.
It couldn’t share. And that seemed to be what Malleus had done, creating a powerful fire. Under other circumstances, that would be a sign of strength and pride. Lilia affirmed and accepted it, but in this case…
The curious green eyes of the larger dragon fairy watched closely the smaller figure that had accompanied it until now inside the egg. Lilia had finished removing the weight of the broken shells that covered it and crushed its body, freeing it, giving it the opportunity to move and fly. But that wasn’t what the small hatchling attempted.
The first thing Maleanor’s little son decided to do was try to stand on his fours. Lilia watched intently, as did Malleus, as his younger brother fell again and again to the bottom of the egg, his legs unable to support his body.
The older fairy could have helped him, but honestly, he looked too adorable trying. That’s when the smallest hatchling fell for the sixth time and Malleus pressed his snout against his brother’s weak back, causing him to let out a terrified squeal.
Lilia flinched and decided to take him in her arms. She had never felt so terrified when taking something in her arms, never held anything with more gentleness.
Her hands cupped the weak hatchling before her brother’s watchful gaze. She heard his squeals calm down and the beating of his tiny heart slow down at the warm touch that enveloped him.
Lilia felt her body sweat, and all the anxiety and despair course through her as she felt the little boy’s breaths becoming weaker and weaker. “…Shit!” she cursed as she flew out of there to find help, with a lively, much larger and healthier fairy dragon clinging to her shoulders. Malleus Draconia was born, flying through the skies, breathing out furious green flames while her brother struggled to breathe.