Mordecai
the traitorous queen
His eyes darted up to her as she got up and huffed away, and he let her go without any complaint. For a long time, he had adored Winnie. They were friends and had been for many years, but he was too tired to argue semantics with her right now. What more could she ask of him? He had already sacrificed the ability to ever have a normal life again simply by stealing what they had just stole. Taking the dragon’s eggs, in his mind, had been the ultimate gesture of devotion to dragons, but he didn’t feel compelled to discuss it at every opportunity. So, with those thoughts floating in his head, he let her storm off, mumbling something inaudibly about finding water. Settling into the peace and quiet, Grayson expelled a deep sigh, tracing his fingers over the ridges and valleys of the egg, which sat in his lap and was about the size of dinner plate in circumference. It was still warm to the touch and every time he placed his finger down on it, dragging his nail lightly across the surface, a small twinkle of light followed.
After a few moments of watching the light dart to and fro in response to his touch, he got sleepy and reclined his shoulders and head back in the mossy earth. He didn’t care whether or not dead leaves and twigs got tangled up in his hair once his eyes closed and the sweet sounds of nature closed in on him from all around. The raindrops from earlier in the day dripped off crisp, green leaves and made a pleasant pitter-patter white noise. Crickets and birds chimed in too, as well as the sound of underbrush crunching under something a bit larger, perhaps a rabbit or a fox. These sounds circulated in his brain for a while until, bit-by-bit, every muscle in him relaxed and his slipped into sleep that was heavy enough to draw blood from a stone. It wasn’t a long nap, but it was dreamless and immensely satisfying. It was only about a half an hour, but Grayson awoke feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. The sky overhead was still blanketed with a thick cloud cover, though the clouds were now breaking a little, allowing streaks of light to burst between the cracks and touch down across the forest canopy overhead.
Sitting up, he began to shake the debris from his hair, running his fingers through the knotty locks before scrambling up to his feet. Next, he moved to brush the dirt from the legs of his trousers, having set the glossy white egg on the ground near his feet for just a moment. The fire had begun to die during his little snooze, so he poked it for a while, tossing some more kindling on the hungry flames to build it back up. With the fire crackling, Grayson began to clean up the clearing as best as he could. He moved large rocks out of the way and broke down old, fallen branches into more manageable chunks to be used on the fire.
Once he was happy with everything, he came to the conclusion it would probably be wise to seek out Winnie again. Settling his egg into a small half-burrow, the young man turned to venture in the general direction he had seen her storm off in about an hour prior.
“Winnie?” he called out for her, resting his hands up on his sides expectantly, “C’mon, Win. Don’t be like this. You’ve gotta be getting hungry by now anyways, right? Just come back here, will you?” Though, he also hoped she had found some water. He could seriously use with a head dunk. The day’s temperature had continued to climb and was growing warmer by the minute.
After a few moments of watching the light dart to and fro in response to his touch, he got sleepy and reclined his shoulders and head back in the mossy earth. He didn’t care whether or not dead leaves and twigs got tangled up in his hair once his eyes closed and the sweet sounds of nature closed in on him from all around. The raindrops from earlier in the day dripped off crisp, green leaves and made a pleasant pitter-patter white noise. Crickets and birds chimed in too, as well as the sound of underbrush crunching under something a bit larger, perhaps a rabbit or a fox. These sounds circulated in his brain for a while until, bit-by-bit, every muscle in him relaxed and his slipped into sleep that was heavy enough to draw blood from a stone. It wasn’t a long nap, but it was dreamless and immensely satisfying. It was only about a half an hour, but Grayson awoke feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. The sky overhead was still blanketed with a thick cloud cover, though the clouds were now breaking a little, allowing streaks of light to burst between the cracks and touch down across the forest canopy overhead.
Sitting up, he began to shake the debris from his hair, running his fingers through the knotty locks before scrambling up to his feet. Next, he moved to brush the dirt from the legs of his trousers, having set the glossy white egg on the ground near his feet for just a moment. The fire had begun to die during his little snooze, so he poked it for a while, tossing some more kindling on the hungry flames to build it back up. With the fire crackling, Grayson began to clean up the clearing as best as he could. He moved large rocks out of the way and broke down old, fallen branches into more manageable chunks to be used on the fire.
Once he was happy with everything, he came to the conclusion it would probably be wise to seek out Winnie again. Settling his egg into a small half-burrow, the young man turned to venture in the general direction he had seen her storm off in about an hour prior.
“Winnie?” he called out for her, resting his hands up on his sides expectantly, “C’mon, Win. Don’t be like this. You’ve gotta be getting hungry by now anyways, right? Just come back here, will you?” Though, he also hoped she had found some water. He could seriously use with a head dunk. The day’s temperature had continued to climb and was growing warmer by the minute.
