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That afternoon, after training, Arthur asked me to accompany him to his room.
"There's something I want to show you," he said, with a tone of excitement in his voice that he rarely showed.
His room was spartan, as one would expect of the Grey King. A bed, a desk, shelves lined with books on magical theory. But on the nightstand there was something that hadn't been there before.
An egg.
It wasn't a normal egg. It was the size of my head, with a shell that shimmered with an iridescent pattern of colors that shifted with the light. I could feel the mana emanating from it, dense and powerful.
"What is that?" I asked, though I knew exactly what it was.
Sylvia's egg. The dragon who had given Arthur her will before dying.
"I'm not sure," Arthur said, approaching the egg with almost reverent care. "I've had it since… since the forest. Since I met Tessia."
He paused, choosing his words carefully.
"Someone gave it to me. Someone important. They told me to keep it safe, that one day something special would be born."
"Has it changed?" I asked, moving closer.
"Yes. In the last few weeks, it's been glowing more. And sometimes, I feel like there's something… conscious inside. Like it's watching me."
I extended my hand toward the egg, stopping just before touching it. "May I?"
Arthur hesitated, then nodded. "Go ahead."
The moment my fingers touched the shell, I felt a surge of mana run up my arm. It wasn't painful, but… curious. As if something inside the egg were testing me, evaluating me.
And then I heard something. Not with my ears, but with my mind.
Are you special too?
It was a young, childlike voice, full of innocent curiosity. The voice of something that hadn't been born yet, but was already conscious.
Yes, I replied mentally, not knowing if it would work. I'm special. Like you.
Are you a friend of the warm one?
The warm one. Then I understood. Arthur. His mana must have felt warm to the creature inside the egg.
Yes. I'm his friend. And I'll be your friend too.
I like the special one. The special one has many colors.
The Legacy. The creature could sense the Legacy in me, the way my mana contained all elements.
I'm going to come out soon, the voice continued. When I do, I want to meet the special and caring one. I want to play.
We'll be here, I promised. We'll both be here when you're born.
I pulled my hand away from the egg, and the connection was cut. Arthur was looking at me with a strange expression.
"What happened? For a moment, your hand was glowing."
"The… the egg spoke to me," I said honestly. There was no point hiding it. "There's something alive in there. Something conscious. And I think it's going to hatch soon."
Arthur's eyes widened. "It spoke to you? What did it say?"
"That it wants to meet us. Both of us. It called me 'the special one' and you 'the caring one.'"
Arthur fell silent for a long moment, staring at the egg with renewed reverence.
"The one who gave this to me," he finally said in a low voice, "told me it was a gift. That it would protect me. That it would be my companion."
He turned to me, his piercing blue eyes serious.
"Kael, whatever comes out of this egg, I think it's going to change everything. And for some reason, it wants to know you just as much as it knows me."
Because you can sense the Legacy, I thought. Because you're a dragon, Sylvie. And dragons recognize power when they see it.
"We should keep it secret," he suggested. "If others find out you have something like this—"
"I know," Arthur nodded. "Only you, me, and Virion know. Your grandfather sensed it months ago and asked me about it. I told him the truth—or at least part of it."
"What did he say?"
"That I should keep it hidden. That an egg with that much mana could attract unwanted attention." Arthur chuckled softly. "He also said that if something was born from it and caused trouble, it would be my responsibility."
We both laughed at that.
The Birth
Three days later, in the middle of the night, I was awakened by a jolt in my mind.
I'm coming out! I'm coming out!
It was the egg's voice, shouting with excitement and a bit of fear.
I jumped out of bed and ran to Arthur's room, not caring that I was barefoot and wearing only pajamas. The door to his room was ajar, and light was spilling out.
I went in and found Arthur standing beside his nightstand, staring at the egg, which was now glowing so intensely that it lit the entire room like a small sun.
"Kael," Arthur said, his eyes reflecting the light. "Something's happening."
"It's hatching," I said, moving closer. "I can feel it."
We stood together, watching the egg. Cracks began to appear in the shell, and lines of golden light spread like a web. The mana in the room became so dense I could see it without even trying—particles of light swirling around the egg like a storm.
And then, with one final crack, the egg opened.
What emerged took my breath away.
It was a dragon.
No bigger than a house cat, with scales that shimmered in shades of black and silver. It had small wings that were still wet, huge golden eyes that looked at the world with infinite curiosity, and tiny horns barely visible on its head.
"Papa?" The voice came from the dragon's mouth and echoed in our minds. It was the same voice I had heard from the egg, but now clearer, more real.
The little dragon looked at Arthur, then at me, then back at Arthur.
"Papa!" she cried joyfully, launching herself clumsily toward Arthur.
Arthur caught her by instinct, holding her against his chest. The little dragon immediately curled up, making a sound that could only be described as a purr.
"I… I'm not your papa," Arthur said weakly, clearly overwhelmed.