It is a beautiful night, Akaith.

It is always beautiful here.

What do you mean, love?

Here, we are home. Here, we are whole. Here, we are never lost, forgotten, or neglected, for even as we walk in our solitude, the moon's rays bathe us in her ethereal glow, always.

Until morning, my love.

---

But the Moon didn't set that morning. Some how, I knew the passing of time had eventuated, I knew that it was long past the time in with the solar orb of the Sun should have risen on the eastern horizon, washing over the lands with his illustrious golden paintbrush. And yet, he did not rise. I can't say I missed him terribly - what I have missed for most of my life were these lands.

I see them now, so clear and perfect, pristine and whole before me. With curiosity I watch Akaith, her golden scales muted by the moonlight, but made all the beautiful for it, dancing on the delicate breeze that rustles the leaves around us. I laugh with her, my tones as musical as the notes she crafts with her draconic singsong voice. We dance together, in the moonlight.

And suddenly, there are more dancers, more laughter, more love. A fire alights beside me, one that reminds me so much of the sun that has not risen, and yet I know this being not to be of the sun, but of blood. My blood. Our blood.

Voraer.

He grins at me, the emotion streaking across his façade in a brilliant display of happiness and raw emotion. He is so full of life, I cannot help but feel his lifeforce pulsing within him, bursting at the seems. With a delicate stroke of my body, I lean against him, feeling the warmth, the flesh, the heartbeat that makes up half of who I am. My father laughs his deep, dangerous laughter, and dances a devilish dance with Akaith that only he could ever accomplish.

There is another, who moves silently, subtly, I do not sense her by my side until Voraer's display is complete. With surprise I look into eyes that match my own, a chiselled tiara that mimics the curves of my own dished face, a body sculpted from the very shadows with which she dances.

Anei.

Her eyes alight with the delight she holds, for she was forever the master of her emotions, she was as devious and crafty as they came, only allowing the emotion she chose to play upon her lips. It was her eyes I sought out, mesmerising as they were, and within them, I saw myself, my life, how it ran parallel to her, how I had travelled a full circle to come to this point.

Home, we are home, Akaith!

"No, my dear, you are not home here." Akaith's voice spoke, but it was not Akaith speaking - it was Anei.

"But this is my home! The Path of the Moon!"

"You have found your Path, and it is not here - not yet. My dear, it is time to awaken."

---

Real. It all had felt so real. Tremors shook the little mare's frame, sweat ran down her flanks, stained the area behind her ears. Akaith's mental pull upon her was slightly frantic.

What is it, dear one?

Before the dragon even replied, she knew.

The tremors that shook her body were not from the dream that had seemed so real. They were from the contractions that stretched and loosened her, that rippled through her in great waves of pain and agony.

The mare had been a recluse of late, hiding her condition from all aside from her family, and those close to her. She had not neglected her duties as leader, merely, conducted herself from afar - relied upon Thor, Hellena and Rishima to take most of the responsibility from her heavily burdened shoulders. Draped in her illusionary cloak, the little mare had not needed to try very hard to avoid contact with those around her, becoming the very shadows her mother had been born from. Mother..

The pain. It was comparable to the pain she suffered when she transformed into her other form - another thing she had avoided doing since that rendezvous at the beach. She didn't know if the life within her would survive such a transformation. She didn't even know if it would survive the birth.

Fear was not something that often trickled its way into the mare's emotional radar. But it had managed to get there this evening, even beneath the comforting rays of Luna's silver glow. But what did the mare fear?

Akaith sent out the alarm as her bonded fell to the ground, knees buckled and hocks folded beneath her. A deep groan rolled from her gut, as Mirage was vaguely aware of those around her - Vikram, Torasin, her brothers, her sister. And her bondmate, of course.

The little golden queen did her best to take the pain of her bonded away from her. Laying eggs certainly was not this painful, and it took her by as much surprise as it had taken Mirage.

The time had come.

Small hooves appeared first, before in a tangled, wet mess, a crumpled pile of leathery wings and champagne fur, the first daughter of the DragonHeart took her breath. It was not over yet, no, as within seconds the next was seen, similar hued but with subtle differences in the features decorating her.

Pain, the pain. There was blood, pooling around the mare's hocks. Too much blood. The fillies had many sharp edges, and more than one of them caught upon their mother as they made their way out. Hazily, she lifted her crown, blinked back the stinging tears, and saw her children with her golden eyes.

But it lasted only a second, before her tiara became too heavy to hold, and it slumped down in the turf unceremoniously - unconsciously.

Movement told of the living daughters, but very little movement was coming from the mare. One would hope a healer to see to her wounds before her life bled out just as her daughters' lives began.

Dragon sister! Hatching.

The painted healer was notified telepathically and his brown dragon, ever sensitive to the world around him, had sensed a miracle about to happen. Yet, miracles were never to be taken lightly and the way in which her majesty had rounded suggested she had been gifted twice. He had seen it in Brooke and in Solstice, their Queen carried a great burden indeed and it seemed she was about to lift it. Torasin galloped as hard as he could, weaving around trees and following Kiba until he found the labouring Mirage, bringing his pace to a halt beside her. He smiled gently for encouragement and watched as each was born, Kiba moving nearer to Akaith like a son defers to his mother. The first was a pale, amber colour with wings of leather and a beautiful filly at that. Torasin looked at the first daughter curiously, intrigued as to how the species of her parents had marked itself on her appearance. Yet, he could not look for long as his eyes snapped back to Mirage, who was pushing out another child of almost identical appearance. Twins, a double miracle. The Doctor himself had this blessing made upon him twice, two sons and two daughters. Four children from two births, but the moon healer was not allowed to marvel in the sight.

Panic swelled in his bones, there was more blood on the floor than their ought to be and the form of Mirage was very nearly motionless. The gentle Sir took two hurried steps forward and laid a muzzle on her shoulder, calming himself by repeating words before feeling his way into her body with his healing magic. He took hold of both powers, dark and light, stretching it into her bodice and examined her injuries where the two babes had unknowingly pierced their mother. Torasin was gentle, oh so very gentle, as he carefully laid the dark winds of his magic over the wounds and purged her of any infection before he took hold of his light healing and knitted the flesh back together. It was tiring work and it took some time, he handled the Queen like she was the most fragile thing in the world. His own heart pumping fast, but he was concentrating now, in his zone of healing and magic. Once he had finished his work on her birthing injuries he moved the dark winds over her heart to give it a little help, hoping to fill her body with some energy before finally the Moon Doctor sighed and withdrew his magic.

He looked at her form for a moment and then placed a soft, pink nose on her cheek. "Nay Milday DragonHeart, your time has not yet come. Awaken and look upon the beautiful miracles you have gifted to this world." He lifted his muzzle then and smiled a brilliant, dazzling smile as he turned to look at the two young fillies. The gentleman wondered what she would name them, twins like her own brothers Madryn and Maskan. Two Princesses. Silently, Torasin prayed to the heavens above to look over and watch the babes, to protect them from the worst evils and gift them a life of joy. He then turned his gaze back to Mirage, noting the weight upon his back as Kiba hopped on board. Watching them curiously through barely concealed excitement and a sense of wonder, they were part dragon, a part of them was exactly like himself and Akaith. It was a significant thing and it meant a lot, though when Torasin would ask him why later, the little brown could not explain the feeling. It was special and that was that.

Mirage is heavier than she should be. Her belly distends awkwardly, too full for her narrow frame, too much for my smaller sister - but so far she has been okay. I know that much from my cautious glances into her body, subtle inspections of biological workings that did not draw too much on the well of magic within me so as not to accidentally hurt her. Biologically she's sound, if strained. Tired. For a week I have scarcely left her side, and when I have been gone Kali maintained a constantly vigilant watch. But it is worth it, so worth it, to know that the life growing inside of her is vibrant and healthy.

Both of them.

Rishiiiii! Wake up!

"Hmm?" How long have I been asleep? Dead on my feet, I pry open heavy eyes, willing body and mind to respond to Kali's urgent calls. Her voice is concerned, an arcing whisper through a dense field of trees trying to drag me back to reality. "What is it, Brat?" I murmur affectionately, snorting to dislodge stray wisps of forelock from frail nostrils. For a moment I am lost in the contented realm of drowsy subconscious, mind falling back under a heavy wave of sleep. From a distant star on a far horizon I feel a tug, anxious and commanding, digging behind my eyes and urging me awake. Kali's mental voice penetrates my haze once more, and this time the words jolt me straight to wakefulness. Riiishi. Mirage is laying!

How long had I been asleep? Gold-dusted legs tingle as I spin my body around, suddenly aware that Mirage was not beside me. I couldn't have been out for long, but a glance at the sky betrays the truth, that the sky is falling and would soon give way to dawn. Under the anxious chattering of the pale gryphon I feel another call, a firm yet frightened voice that is easy to recognize by now. Kali senses it as well as I, and before I can respond she is in the air, crying out to Akaith as I follow from below, heart pounding faster than I would have dared to admit, fear for my sister and the life within her pushing adrenaline through wide veins.

Slender hocks push against soft grass, grinding my form to a halt as Mirage's figure falls, falls, slowly yet oh so fast. I watch with wide eyes, heart in my throat and body incapable of reacting, terrified for that split second as my little sister collapses beneath the weight of her children, the strain of their birth. It is the shock of her impact that stirs me at last, the sudden and unnatural jolt of flesh on floor; I stride forward, hurried steps lining me alongside the precious black bundle and lying me down, a long limbed moonbeam wrapped around the fragile shadow, supporting as much of her weight as I can, wishing against hope that I might take away her pain. "Hush, little sister, it will all be well. The Lady's watching from above, see? You just have to push, to bring your daughters out into the world - I've seen them, Miri. They're beautiful. Just like you." Deep whispers and caressing words, tones I would use when we traveled through unknown lands and I soothed my siblings into sleep, or told them stories of lands and magic far away. Does she remember, I wonder, as I look upon her laboring form. Can she even hear me?

From the depths of Mirage's womb does the first filly emerge, and I scarcely notice Torasin's arrival in the wonder of that moment. Dragon and equine, the mark of their parentage, she falls onto the ground in a mess of birthing fluids and blood. So much blood. Too much blood, I realize, even as the second child makes her descent. "Torasin," I call, and there is fear in my voice, fear in my eyes as I stare at the paint, all past grievances set aside in the wake of this impending disaster. I am unguarded. "Something is very wrong."

I can feel the magic tingling beneath inky hairs on the back of my neck, pressing forward and willing me to use it, calling for my consent. It does not need to ask twice. It's a feeling not unlike falling into water, the leap from my soul into hers; momentary weightlessness followed by a sudden descent, and at once we are one, and I can see her, all that she is and all she has been. Beautiful and strange, she stretches endlessly before me, the dark and glowing being that is my little sister; expansive, exquisite, pure. I can feel the life beside her, the children born into this world, Akaith's soul intertwined with Mirage's, Torasin as he waits nearby. I want to get lost in it, to fall away from reality and explore the endless realm of life.

Kali's claws bite into my back, an anchor and a sharp reminder of who I am, what I need to do. Gratitude rushes through me, love for the gryphon before I turn my attention to the biology that makes up my sweet little Mirage. Kali! I call, a mental cry that resounds in the sinews of my bones and the tissue of Mirage's delicate figure. Tell Kiba that the scales cut into her belly, that she's bleeding internally and it needs to be stopped. Silence, long, endless silence that leaves me breathless and tenderly hopeful, then Kali's soft purr. Torrrsin fixes.

Sure enough I can see the wounds beginning to knit, tissue weaving back together and blood cauterizing. I wish I could watch, to make sure that the wounds will mend and the bleeding stop, but I know that I must trust Torasin in this. There is nothing I can do for her physical being.

The return to my own body is a slamming, painful experience, and one I ignore for now. Blinking rapidly, shuddering against the feeling of physical sensation that floods through my entire body as though it has been asleep, I lift my head once more, peering over Mirage's body at the tiny children before her. "Look, Miri," I whisper into a flute-like ear. "Look at your little ones." Leaning over her petite body, I exhale softly onto the pair of fillies, eying them with onyx eyes and taking in their scent. My nieces, I realize, and the wave of love that encompasses me is magnified by Kali's exuberance, her untamed spirit reaching out to embrace the children into her flock. On soft paws she pads towards the twins, head lowered in curious amazement, a resonant purr seeping from her feline lungs. She watches them through eyes of blue and asks if she can keep the nestlings.

Laughing, I reply aloud, "Of course, little brat - they are our family." All of them are, really, everyone gathered here in this moment. Even Torasin. Even Vikram.

Something wet falls innocuously onto my chest, and for the first time, I realize that I am crying.

Darkness.

Abyss.

And then, suddenly, blinding, golden light. It was magnificent, the way it glowed, pulsed with a life far brighter than my own. It illuminated me, enhanced me, improved me far beyond what I could ever go alone.

It was not mine, and yet, without it, I would not be me.

Akaith stood physically by my head, her scaly skull pressed against my brow, her eyes shut tight just as mine were. The closeness was not needed, not necessarily, but it was a comfort to know that the keeper of my soul was so nearby, physically and ethereally.

She had plunged herself into me when the pain had swallowed me, when the blood had pooled too deep about my hocks, when I had but glanced at my daughters before falling down into the loamy earth. In an instant, she had removed me from my damaged body, encased me in her own, plucked me free from the frail, torn, broken body that had until recently, carried three heartbeats within it. I felt the love, the devotion, the complete dedication with which she conducted herself as it all occurred, myself all too far gone to fight it, to stop it.

Your eggs were too soft, she murmurs to me ,gently, soothingly. They are royal daughters, she adds, and I feel myself warm to the thought, I feel the pride churn within her breast and thus within my own.

I am not completely separated from my body, however well my beloved tries, I still feel the pain, the damage wrought. I feel the presence of others as they arrive, the caress of my beloved sister as she presses her own soul magic against me, the healing strokes of Torasin knitting the frayed parts of me together again. I feel the surge of energy encase my very heart, a heart that thrummed suddenly stronger, suddenly readying my body for action once more.

It was somewhat unceremonious, the way I returned to my own body, my own consciousness. Akaith was still there, of course, but like a mother delivering a child, she rebirthed me back into my body, and I took a deep, shaky breath in like it was the first I had ever taken.

---

And so it was, the DragonHeart was reborn, just as she delivered new life into this world. Bewilderment snapped her eyes open, and they stared straight into the golden depths of her own bonded, who held a knowing twinkle behind devious orbs that swirled a deep range of blues and indigoes of passion, of devotion, of love. Deep breaths were grabbed at, greedily she drank the oxygen as if she had never gained enough in all the years she had existed. Suddenly, all the words spoken to her while she was absent from her own body came ringing in her ears, and she forced her eyes to focus past Akaith, tilting her crown to view her sister and her avian bonded, turning again to see the golden steed with his little brown near Akaith - who happily groomed him with affection - up to Thor, who complimented her as he always did, then to Vikram, who stood as her protector always.

Daughters, she thought, before her gaze was drawn to the moving masses of scales and fur, folding her forelegs beneath her so that she was somewhat upright in her prone position, still breathing as if she had just exercised - she supposed she had - craning her neck to better see what it was she had delivered. Tears wet her eyes as she glanced once again at her sister, then back to the bundles who each tried to stand, the silver rising first. Akaith bounded across the earth towards her, wings clamped down upon her sides so that she moved like a reptilian feline, playfully dancing before the babes.

"I'm here." The voice that spoke was sweet and melodic, thick with emotion and curled with her warm accent. The little mare stretched her nose out to touch upon the delicate skin that was outlined by shimmering scales, wonderment glowing behind her golden eyes at the marvel of such a beautiful creature. Not long after the first, came the golden tinged one, who stood on wobbly legs and with Akaith's encouragement, wandered haphazardly between the limbs of random adults to eventually stand beside her sister. Mirage's muzzle ran along the cheekbone of each, outlining their matching, if opposing markings that proclaimed them dragonsisters.

"My beautiful girls," she whispered to them, as she smiled with sheer delight and happiness. Your turn to rise, came the comforting, if somewhat insistent voice of Akaith as she bounded alongside the foals to be alongside her bonded, gleeful in her motion. With another grunt the mare gathered herself, rising as gracefully as a horse can rise, testing her limbs before trusting herself fully. As she trusted that she was not about to topple over again, she reached out to all those near to her, in silent gratitude and thanks, blowing a gentle kiss upon Torasin's brow, embracing her sister in a firm hug, bumping her muzzle against Thor's own titanic one, and wandering into the warm contours of Vikram's body. It was there that the twins had wandered since, gravitating towards the figure so similar to their own, so domineering and tall, so strong and magnificent and great that he surely had to be their father.

Feeding time was simple enough, as the girls found their preferred side and gently nuzzled at the swollen teats, which willingly gave way to streams of nourishing milky liquid. "Semira, of silver, and Amaris, of gold." She said simply, quietly, knowing their names much the same way she had known Akaith's name was hers and hers alone.

I never thought I could be a mother, Akaith.

But you have always been a mother. You are mother to the Qian, and now, you are mother to the dragonsisters. The little dragon assured her with as much certainty as if she were telling her beloved that the sky was blue - there simply was no two ways about it.

Mirage was a mother, at last.

[ This thread is now open for anyone in the Edge to join C: ]

I remember it well, those first few breaths, the pressure of contractions squeezing them, and all the mucous that had settled there, out of my lungs. It was an ungraceful entrance into the world, but then, whoever did have an elegant fall from their mother's womb? The first thing I felt was that cold, that naked breeze stroking my hide, those shivers taking hold of my slim body and forcing me to quiver much like a leaf precariously perched upon the end of a thin branch in autumn. My eyelids flutter, once, twice, and the second thing I register is the brightness of the world surrounding me. Then, instead of just brightness, I see a dazzling array of colours, contrast, shades and lights, hues and saturations that all form this picturesque image of my birthplace. The third thing to settle upon my young, impressionable mind, is the smell of the world - the smell of my mother, who had surrounded me for so long, the smell of my sister, who was my nestmate forever more, the smell of my father, who was too alike me to be anything else, the smell of my family, who all smelt so unique and yet all held that salty, timbered air about them.

It was overwhelming, to say the least.

I bleated a tune, my chest vibrating with a curious warmth as a golden one danced before me. I look to spy the silver one rise next to me, and I mimic her, rocking my form until the limbs that have sprawled all around me gathered some semblance of order beneath me. There was a swift motion and suddenly, behind me, I felt a counterweight swing. Turning my small tiara, I notice protrusions jutting out from my sides, offering me more (or was that less?) balance. I snort and as I look to my sister, who stands at my height. She walks, albeit with some hesitance at first, and I follow, though my path takes me on a longer trip, my feet apparently keen to let my senses taste just about everyone who was present before finally settling upon the gold and black form of my mother. Mother, I think as I touch her warm flesh, oblivious to the hardship she endured, blissfully unaware of the near death experience our birth had been for her. We stand as she stands, and we find comfort in the closeness of her body, in the nourishment of her milk. I drink deeply, and then I lean my shoulder gently against her leg, I have lost track of which one. I doze upon my feet, the first few minutes of my life peaceful and calm, welcoming and wonderful.