He wasn't sure what to expect when he made his try for the nymph, but feeling her hand in his took his breath away and he looked up sharply at her tinkling laugh. As the cavern started to crack and crumble around them he stood and moved to pull her into the faint protection of his arms, instinctively trying to shelter her from the collapsing cavern but--
There was no cavern. No falling blocks of ice. No nymph at all, in point of fact. Cradled in his arms was an egg of breathtaking beauty and a size no normal bird or snake could boast. For long moments he stared down at it in shock, eyes following the intricate patterns of ice and snow that seemed to shift across its surface as the little life within moved, warm and helpless in his arms. And... just barely, just a tickle... in his mind? At long last, when his chest began to hurt, he remembered to breathe. He quickly shifted his cloak over the egg, as much to keep it warm as to hide it from view, and he glanced up to make sure everyone who had been below was back.
He counted off familiar faces first, of course, then the unfamiliar ones, breathing a sigh of relief when the numbers matched up. For a moment his gaze returned to Isla, Bastien, and Remi but... they were safe and unharmed... give or take the fresh wounds the nymph's words had opened on some of their hearts.
He wasn't ready to face any of them yet, neither strangers nor friends, with the raw feelings still lingering. Instead he ducked his head and turned away, retreating back into the trees and heading for his den to think about what he should do next... and to keep the egg warm.
There was no cavern. No falling blocks of ice. No nymph at all, in point of fact. Cradled in his arms was an egg of breathtaking beauty and a size no normal bird or snake could boast. For long moments he stared down at it in shock, eyes following the intricate patterns of ice and snow that seemed to shift across its surface as the little life within moved, warm and helpless in his arms. And... just barely, just a tickle... in his mind? At long last, when his chest began to hurt, he remembered to breathe. He quickly shifted his cloak over the egg, as much to keep it warm as to hide it from view, and he glanced up to make sure everyone who had been below was back.
He counted off familiar faces first, of course, then the unfamiliar ones, breathing a sigh of relief when the numbers matched up. For a moment his gaze returned to Isla, Bastien, and Remi but... they were safe and unharmed... give or take the fresh wounds the nymph's words had opened on some of their hearts.
He wasn't ready to face any of them yet, neither strangers nor friends, with the raw feelings still lingering. Instead he ducked his head and turned away, retreating back into the trees and heading for his den to think about what he should do next... and to keep the egg warm.
