Page 1 of Alpha Dragon's Ferret (The Dragonfate Games Book 4)
On a rainy day,the golden egg suddenly appeared.
Five young, curious dragons gathered in a circle around a makeshift nest. Upon finding the egg, the oldest of them hurried to find sticks and feathers to support it. But they were inexperienced and immature. The nest wasn’t perfect. As usual, they were on their own.
Rain drenched the dragons. The sky over the island had been overcast and storming for the past week. Today was no different.
The youngest, a light purple dragon, blinked the rain from his eyes. “When’s it gonna hatch already?”
The oldest, a large dragon the color of the sea, extended his wing over the younger one. “Be patient, Thystle. You can’t rush it.”
“Hmph. I bet I didn’t take this long,” Thystle grumbled. “Did I, Cobalt?”
At any other time, Cobalt would’ve been amused at the youngest’s sass. But now, he was concerned about the mystery egg. It had been years since the last time an egg appeared on the island. Who laid it? Who brought it here?
“We don’t know if it’s ready to hatch,” the jade-scaled dragon explained to Thystle.
A deeper purple dragon let out a raspy laugh. “Yeah, it might be fresh out of a dragon’s butt.”
“We don’t even know if it is a dragon,” the red dragon pointed out. “It could be a bird egg, or a lizard egg.”
“Yeah, Crimson’s right.” The dark purple dragon leapt up to his paws, grinning. “Let’s eat it.”
Cobalt growled in warning. “No, Violet. I sense a dragon in there.”
“Boo,” Violet complained, sitting on his rump.
“Does that mean I won’t be the youngest anymore?” Thystle asked, his voice torn between eagerness and disappointment.
Crimson smirked. “Not if Violet eats the hatchling.”
“I am getting hungry,” Violet joked.
The eldest dragon had enough of their callous comments. He rose to all fours, snapping his tail and snarling at them.
“Enough,” Cobalt said. “This is a dragon egg. That makes it our sibling.”
He knew the others didn’t remember, but he did. He remembered being utterly alone on the island—until one day, from out of nowhere, a dark purple egg showed up. That was Violet. Then came a jade egg, followed by a crimson one, and finally, an amethyst.
Cobalt was present for each hatching. He felt a responsibility to protect and raise the dragonets. And he certainly did not raise a cannibal.
But Violet wasn’t serious. He nuzzled Cobalt in deference to show his playful nature.
Cobalt’s anger deflated. He licked Violet’s head. Despite being the second oldest, he’d always liked receiving affection the most.
Thystle sniffed the egg. “Where do the eggs come from?” he asked.
Violet flashed a toothy grin. “When two dragons love each other very much—”
“I know that,” Thystle grumbled. Dragons were not shy about the knowledge of biological facts. “I meant, why did it randomly show up today?”
“I don’t know,” Cobalt admitted.
He raised his head to stare at the gray sky. Had it come down from there? Did it wash up from the ocean? Had some creature dug it up from the sand? Even after five eggs, Cobalt was clueless about where they came from. He just knew that they felt like home.
Jade gasped. “Cobalt. Look.”
All dragons snapped to attention.
The golden egg wriggled.
It was hatching.
“It’s coming out!” Thystle cried. It was his first time witnessing an egg hatch, but Cobalt knew the magical feeling never got old.
A chip flew off the shell. An egg tooth stuck out, followed by a big, angry peep.
Cobalt was relieved. Good lungs meant a healthy dragonet. It was also heartening that the baby hatched on its own. Instinctively, he knew it was a bad sign when a dragonet was stuck. He was grateful none of his brothers had needed help.
A scaly arm exploded from the shell. Two horns popped out, then a goldenrod head. The dragonet was slimy and loud, but it was alive.
Yet something bothered Cobalt. The hatchling was tiny—half the size of his brothers when they hatched.
“It’s so cute and small,” Violet said. Noticing Cobalt’s worried expression, he asked, “Is it supposed to be that small?”
Cobalt didn’t answer.
“Yes, it’s small. But it looks healthy,” Jade said, trying to ease everyone’s worries.
Then the golden dragonet shocked everyone.
It attacked its own egg.
“Whoa,” Crimson blurted. “What’s it doing?”
A pit opened in Cobalt’s stomach. The hatchling was free. It should’ve left the egg by now. Normally, the hatchlings tumbled out of the shell and abandoned it. This was abnormal. Combined with the baby’s unusual size, it flooded him with concern.
The golden hatchling snarled as loud as its little lungs could muster. It clawed and bit at the other half of the shell.
“Should we stop it?” Thystle asked.
Everyone turned to Cobalt for the final decision, but he didn’t know what to do. He had never seen anything like this before.
The golden hatchling didn’t care for Cobalt’s opinion, either. It ignored the bigger dragons. All it wanted was to destroy the egg.
Cobalt began slowly. “I think we should—”
A second voice, muffled and weak, was just loud enough to be heard over the rain.
The older dragons froze.
The golden hatchling grew frantic. It raked at the shell desperately, calling out like a parent searching for its missing cub.
Cobalt’s heart reached his throat. He understood now.
There was a second dragonet inside the egg.
He reached out a claw to help free it. Whipping its neck as fast as a snake, the golden dragonet bit him.
“Ow,” Cobalt said, more surprised than hurt.
Normally, hatchlings didn’t have fangs except an egg tooth. Why did this baby already possess teeth, especially when its growth seemed stunted?
“Maybe it thinks you’re trying to hurt the other one,” Jade remarked.
Cobalt’s stomach flipped. Of course, he was only trying to help, but the hatchling didn’t know that. It was just born—it acted on pure instinct.
Finally, the golden dragonet broke through the other half of the shell. It snapped off with a crack.
A second golden head popped out, gasping for air. The first dragonet shoved its head beneath the second’s chin, offering support while it filled its lungs.
Mesmerized, the older dragons watched in stunned silence.
“They’re twins,” Jade murmured. “It saved its twin before it suffocated in the egg.”
“Phew. I’m glad they both got out safe,” Violet said. His voice shook like he was on the verge of tears.
Cobalt glanced at his bitten paw. He understood now. The hatchling had fangs to help its twin.
Once the second dragonet was free, they both tumbled easily out of the shell. Now they acted like normal hatchlings—except there were two of them.
“Aww. They’re so cute... Wait.” Thystle frowned, glancing back and forth between the twins. “They look exactly the same. How are we supposed to tell them apart?”
“Let’s put clothes on one of them,” Crimson suggested. “Ooh, can I make the outfit?”
Violet snorted. “You saw their fangs. They’ll rip apart your precious clothes.”
Crimson looked horrified. “Never mind.”
Cobalt scooped the twins up, extending his wings to protect them from the rain.
Thystle bounced closer. The other dragons weren’t far behind. They were all curious about the new hatchlings.
“What will their names be?” Jade asked. “If I may make a suggestion, how about Austen and Bront??”
Crimson gasped. “Satin and Silk!”
“Rock and Roll!” Thystle countered.
Violet called out next. “Faith and Destiny!”
Cobalt was glad for the heavy rain. It drowned out half of their suggestions.
He glanced at the two identical dragons. Even in the overcast light, their scales gleamed like gold. An idea sprang to his mind.
“Aurum and Saffron,” he stated. “Those will be their names.”
“Those are okay, I guess,” Thystle grumbled. “But I still can’t tell them apart. Which one is which?”
Cobalt hadn’t thought that far ahead. He didn’t want to admit it, but he couldn’t differentiate them, either.
“We’ll think of something,” he promised. “For now, let’s get these little ones to shelter in the castle.”
The twin dragonets sat side by side, happily squeaking at one another, oblivious to everything else. Now that all the stress was over, Cobalt was hopeful for them.
No matter what, they would always have each other.