Chapter 1304 Hatchling
The Red Dragons started to explore the rooms, ensuring that the second floor suites were all the same. There were some small differences, based on where they were, but only the four corner units were larger than the others. That let the red dragons choose quickly, and write their names on their chosen doors.
But they didn't get long to settle in before an emergency message from Cara interrupted them.
[One of the Swamp Dragon Eggs is hatching.]
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have our first arrival ready to appear. In the swamp section, we have an imminent hatching." Karl announced.
That got all of the dragons running for the door.
If the swamp dragon was allowed to hatch in the wild, it would take extra time to tame them again, and even longer to convince them that someone would be taking care of their needs in the future.
If they didn't want a rampaging baby dragon attacking people and livestock for food, they needed to move quickly.
Everyone transformed to fly over, just in case there were other eggs about to hatch that nobody had noticed yet, and a few of the red dragons broke off to go check on the regions that were out of sight, like the underground nest in the mountains.
Karl mentally checked the Tiny World and saw that it was just the one, but he decided not to mess with their system, in case his interference caused future issues.
{The egg isn't alone, is it?} One of the dragons asked as they raced toward the swamp.
{Of course not. There is a caretaker there, an Orcish Druid. Plus Cara and Button, who you met earlier.} Karl explained, using the draconic language while he was transformed.
That was a good start. At the very least, it was unlikely to go feral if it hatched with a caretaker around. How it would react to meeting a random Orc the moment that it woke up was a different issue.
[Ooh, I see an eye. It's almost out.] Cara narrated as Karl approached.
Dana hopped off his back, and Karl transformed back in midair, letting himself fly down to the ground level as the dragons landed all around them.
Most transformed, but a few remained in the scaled forms. To Karl, it looked like an intimidation tactic, a silent way to encourage a newborn dragon to behave and not bite anyone.
The single yellow eye was examining its surroundings through the crack in the egg, and then two small claws pulled more of the shell apart, and the whole head poked out.
The Swamp Dragon's head looked a lot like a Crocolisk, Karl thought. It was wider and longer than most dragons, with a double ridge of short spikes down the top of the snout.
Karl smiled, and Patron Axel gave him a raised eyebrow curious look.
"I was just thinking of something that the Church once told me. It turns out that they were wrong, but not in the way that they expected." Karl joked.
Cara nodded eagerly. [Nacht was wrong. We do have a baby dragon.]
The tiny creature, not much larger than Tian at less than five kilos, broke free of its containment and launched straight at Cara. It had its teeth bared, as if it had found prey, but the Badger was not concerned.
The tiny dragon crashed into her upraised paw, and then flailed helplessly as she blocked it by the nose.
The scene was comical, with a tiny dragon helplessly trying to determine how to use its body, and one amused Chaos Badger letting it run in circles, trying to escape a paw that was simply blocking the front of its nose, not even holding it.
After a few moments, Bertie took pity on the little dragon and stepped forward to pick it up.
"Calm down, little one. You can't eat her, she's too tough. Why don't you try this instead?" She cooed, then began dropping small bits of meat into the swamp dragon's mouth.
That calmed it down immediately, and the small creature quickly fell asleep once it was full.
"Hey, it sleeps like me." Button laughed as the dragon passed out in Bertie's arms with its head lolling to the side.
"Do we know when these eggs were all laid?" Axel asked.
Karl shook his head. "No, the mothers were captured by dragon hunters, and they were raising them to attack locals. These eggs were the ones that were left behind when the camp was abandoned. The mothers either didn't want them, or were already dead by the time that we arrived." "So, we need to keep a close eye on all of the locations until they do hatch. I will cast spells to determine their maturity later. However, we need to let the others know that our job has already started, and get them to pick all their training locations.
Dragons aren't like most species, training starts right away because he will be able to speak by tomorrow." Axel explained.
Karl chuckled. "If he wasn't so frustrated by Cara blocking his nose, he would be able to talk already. I met a newly hatched white dragon once, and it could speak a little right at hatching."
The dragons laughed. "I never thought about just putting a hand over their nose to keep them from charging. It's diabolical, but so effective against young dragons who haven't learned to strategize."
Cara smirked, and Bertie gave her a suspicious look.
"That badger is planning ways to steal and corrupt the baby dragons." She insisted.
Cara made a dramatic wounded gesture, standing on her hind legs to cross her paws over her heart.
"Yep, she's definitely scheming. However, 'steal' might be overstated. I don't think that she wants to take them out of the Tiny World, just recruit more troublemakers." Axel noted.
"That's the same thing, isn't it? If I have to search every tiny hiding space for a baby dragon who has had his tracking spell nullified, it might as well be stolen." Bertie complained.
Cara laughed. The young red dragon had no sense of imagination. It was much funnier to leave the tracking spell intact, then play hide and seek.