24/12/21

Hello everyone, its been a while since I posted, and since I haven't completed what I want to with MOTM (Master of the Mind), I decided to post the rough draft of the first chapter of part 3 for you all so you get a taste of what is to come XD Enjoy

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The world passed by in varying stages of grey, each moment rife with sensory input. The ocean pressure twisted and changed with each flicker of a finned tail. Distinct smells were caught up in the water, salty tangy blood that the creature recognised with hungry gusto. It could feel the twisting of tails and bodies all through the ocean, each one like a beacon of electromagnetic pressure that zinged through its body. Despite the lack of colour in its vision, everything around it was focused in the clearest of detail.

Sand particles were pushed along the ocean floor by the tide, culminating on twirling strings of plant life that reached toward the surface, drinking in the feeble amount of light that broke through. Fish scales sparkled, their bodies wary and poised as they recognised the presence of the predator close by. The ground was tilted in a sharp incline, heading down into far deeper water below. The creature was unfocused on that however, instead travelling up the incline to shallower water, where a white blot on the surface represented the sun shining above.

It had great satisfaction in finally finding land, evident by its slightly increased swimming speed, pushed on by some invisible force, driving it passed instinct. The creature knew this land. It was large, an impenetrable wall that stretching out thousands of kilometres in each direction. Where the water was warm and prey plentiful. But it was more than that. There was a semblance of relief in the back of the creature's mind, a spike of satisfaction and accomplishment. With a simple flick of its head, the creature released a small stone from its jagged teeth. The white stone glided down into the sandy ground below, twinkling with glowing light. The creature quickly turned, swimming away as it was released from its mental hold, quickly disappearing into the ocean depths once more.

Eldawin opened his eyes slowly, blinking as he was once again flooded in the light blue colour of his icy cave. A groan escaped his mouth as he slowly pushed himself onto wobbly feet, finding himself stiff and cold after allowing his body to remain prone for what he assumed was days. Sharks were wilful and instinctual creatures, to the point where he even occasionally had to fight for control. This shark especially had been quite difficult as he led it around the ocean for weeks in a desperate attempt to find another landmass. But he had finally done it. He didn't know how far it was away, but there were plenty of islands that he could land on to rest if he really needed to do so.

The blue mind drake stretched out his body like a cat, arching his back and flaring his wings as a long yawn escaped him. He felt as though he had been asleep for days, but that wasn't exactly a surprise. It was basically true. He glanced to the left of his orb shaped home, checking on the three oval eggs wrapped in warm furs and fabrics littered with glittering white stones. He gently reached out with his mind, brushing the sleeping consciousness of each of the eggs, feeling their warmth and sleepy contentedness, seemingly unaware of the world around them.

"I found land," he growled softly to them, feeling a slight ache in his heart at the thought, "After all this time."

His stomach grumbled with hungry demand, causing him to sigh with slight annoyance. He walked slowly to a large cylindrical tunnel at the edge of his cave, and with after a couple of beats of his wings, launched down it with gusto, the warm air within the cave making his flight a little easier. The tunnel went on for several hundred metres before he landed at what seemed like a dead end, the wall ending in a curve that seemed rather unnatural for a cave. Eldawin pushed down on the curve, having to put some effort into the movement as, with a large grating sound it began to move. It slid downward, and at the same time a wall came up from a slit in the ground behind him, closing as he opened it.

A shiver went down his spine as he stood before the snowy mountains of the Antarctic. The overcast day in front of him promised a possible snowstorm later, a fact that he quickly proved true as a small family of birds prepared for the coming front several hundred kilometres away. It meant he would have to hunt fast. A quick mental glance through the thousands of element stones shrouding nearly the entire Antarctic showed him a group of seals had made their home at the cove. With a beat of his wings, he lifted into the air, heading in their direction.

Snowflakes softly caressed his scales as he flew. White mountains surrounded him on all sides, forcing him to twist and turn through the many valleys that came with them. He kept relatively low to avoid the more violent winds higher up. As he reached the very edge of the mountains he swept up, landing on the plateau atop the highest mountain, looking down into the cove down below.

The beach, which had once been bustling with human activity, was completely barren. Gone were the human buildings and railway track that had once been there, dissolved into dust. Only the cave below remained, and below it hundreds of element stones that the drake now easily sort through. Everything came easy to him now, the stones acting as but an extension of his mind that he could send out with the ease of flapping a wing. It was as though he was constantly in equilibrium, more a presence over thousands of kilometres than a dragon trapped within a single body. At first it had been strange, getting used to spreading his mind like he did, but now... he felt small whenever he drew his mind back.

With a sigh he opened his wings, gliding down over the cove in search of the seals. Part of him wished he could leave his body behind and just live within the element stones. Unfortunately, that seemed impossible. Nor did it seem very practical. He couldn't look after the eggs as a mere presence, though he supposed he could always use animals if it came to that point.

He had already been looking after them for five years after all. Five years he had been... alone, with nothing but the minds of animals to keep himself company. Sometimes it was easy. It wasn't like he was bored, most of his time was spent either searching for land through the creatures of the deep, and other times it was using his equilibrium to build his home or mine for more element stones. He had lost track of how many times he had used that power now, but it was an easy and simple way of getting things done. It also had the added benefit of slowly easing the pain that was constantly mere moments away in his mind. The pain of loss, and the dribbling blood over a stone floor.

He immediately ripped his mind away from that memory, not wanting to be forced to relive it again. Instead, he let out a growl, flapped his wings again, and quickly dived toward the small group of seals on the beach at the edge of the cove. His mind control stopped them from moving, stopped them from fearing, as he landed in their midst, quickly taking down one of the larger ones with stabbing talons. It fell easily before him, and he quickly dove into his meal, feeling quite hungry.

As he ate he forced himself to dwell on the more exciting news. He had finally found land! Sure, there were many islands he had come across as he travelled the ocean in the forms of many different sea creatures, but their memories were often confusing and not at all helpful. So, to have finally found it through the shark was nothing short of a miracle. A large landmass, which meant he would likely find more dragons, which meant he could finally take a step forward with his plan.

He smirked as he raised his bloody maw from his meal, looking over the cove. There had been many attempts by humans to come back here, but he had always frightened them off. Not all of them he killed, but many he pushed to madness, showing them terrors and fears. He wanted them to know that this place was not somewhere they could come back to. And until they realised that he would continue to push them away. The fear humanity had of this place would make it the perfect haven.

As the winds grew heavier he forced himself to quickly finish the meal and opened his wings, preparing the journey back home, when a strange pulse through one of the element stones stunned him. He froze for a moment, hovering as he took a careful look at the strange swell of energy he felt. It seemed rather erratic, and foreign. Like there was someone else warping the energy within, though as he expanded out from the stone he couldn't find any creature that could possibly be doing it.

The energy began to grow wilder, swirling and pushing against the sides of the stone as though attempting to explode outward. Then it started with another, and another, until a small group of stones were all ready to combust. Eldawin tried to wrangle the energy, but it was as though he only controlled a part of the stone. He was still able to send his abilities out of it, but unable to control this new energy within.

'What is this?' thought the dragon, flapping his wings, 'Is anyone there?'

The energy pulsed in response, as though fighting something as it scratched at its confines, desperate to break out. It's wildness flooded Eldawin's mind, causing him to retract somewhat in slight fear of what was happening. The moment the stone cracked he could almost feel the release of power through his being. Several explosions happening all at once, each triggering the other.

'Dad help!' a single voice cried in his mind before everything went silent.

The drake flapped his wings in startlement, his heart beating with rapid contractions as he tried to comprehend what had happened. The wind was beginning to grow stronger, making it difficult to remain in one place. He could feel the creatures around him descending into their various shelters in order to escape the quickly approaching storm. He glanced behind himself to see the approaching dark clouds, and let out a grunt of annoyance.

Whatever that was he would have to figure out later. He turned to fly back toward cave, pushing himself into a quick flight to try and outrun the worst of the storm. As he did, out of habit, he reached out to touch the calm minds of the three eggs, seeking solace from the panic he had just been overwhelmed with. But the panic quickly came back as he realised those same three minds... were gone. Not only them, but the element stones that were surrounding them were also gone.

The drake let out a startled cry, flapping his wings much faster as he dashed as quickly as the wind could carry him back home. As he flew he attempted to stretch out his mind from even more stones in attempt to figure out if he could reach the mountain from them. But he had spread them out too far, leaving the area of his home a blank zone to his reach.

He let out a snarling curse, anxiety coursing through him, blanketing any tiredness that he felt from the excess movement of his wings. Despite his speed, it still took him close to an hour to make it back to the middle of the mountain range and get within distance of his mountain to reach it with his mind. He stretched his consciousness out nearly fearfully, desperate to see what had become of his eggs. The idea of loosing them was too much to even consider for him.

He felt immediate relief as he touched one gently sleeping mind, seemingly unphased by whatever happened to the stones around it. But his stomach tightened when he realised he could only find one other conscious within the cave, and this conscious was far from sleeping. This new mind felt new. Its vision was blurry and unfocused. Its body was weak and unwieldy. It felt frustrated, annoyed, and confused as it struggled into its new world.

Eldawin carefully prodded this new mind, 'Hello?'

He felt the creature freeze, instantly coursing with a series of guilt, surprise, and elation, 'Dad? Is that you?'

The mental Drakin was thoughtful and spoken with the intelligence of decades of experience. Eldawin found himself unsure how to answer. It seemed impossible. From how the being was experiencing the world, Eldawin knew it to be a hatchling. Likely his own hatchling. Diara's and his hatchling. But the way the mind worked was far beyond any hatchling. He could feel its frustration at the unwillingness of its body to move, as though it was experienced in moving around. Its confusion at the near lack of vision its eyes had, and the slight disgust for the slimy coating it found itself in.

The soft blue glow of the walls gave it enough information to know it was surrounded by soft brown and black coats, but any details were blurred. It struggled to get to its feet, before collapsing again with a soft growl of frustration, though the growl was more of a squeak. Another apparent frustration.

Eldawin landed at the entrance of his cave, heaving for breath, 'I...I'm coming in.'

'Okay. I think I need some help,' the feminine and uncomfortably mature voice of the hatchling echoed in his mind.

He pressed down on the wall again, the cylindrical shape sliding back into place behind him and opening in front. He glided down the now revealed tunnel. As he landed at his nest he came to a skidding halt, his claws scratching against the stone. He felt the hatchling wince at the sound, a small hiss escape her mouth.

'What was that?' she asked.

Eldawin didn't answer, staring down into the nest of cloth and wool apprehensively. The element stones had disappeared, as had one of the eggs. Another egg had the top half shattered, the gooey insides leaking over the cloth, while the final egg remained untouched. A movement in the nest caught his attention and he looked down upon the hatchling for the first time. Small, frail, and vulnerable, with pale blue scales to match Eldawin's, a pair of flimsy wings, and two pale brown horns the size of large thorns on her head.

'Dad... is that you?' the hatchling struggled to raise her head, her young eyes narrowing in a desperate attempt to focus on the blue blob of nothing in her vision, 'Ah curse these eyes!'

Eldawin felt the hatchling's conscious reach out and touch his own. He could see as she, without any difficulty or hesitation, reached into his mind, quickly encompassing his mind with her own with the intent to see with his eyes. The drake was far too much shock to attempt to stop her.

'Oh my... I look so weak. Maybe I shouldn't have hatched,' that hatchling's disappointment and shock was rather startling for the older dragon.

She quickly moved deeper into Eldawin's mind, dragging up memories and feelings as though she had been doing so for years, 'A few months! I want to fly now! I should have made sure of that before hatching. At least I should be able to see properly in a few days.'

Eldawin was finally able to recover himself enough to force her out of his mind, 'Wait... stop that! It's not polite to just delve into the deepest recesses of someone's mind without necessity.'

He felt the hatchling flinch at his sudden words, quickly withdrawing with wordless apology.

The drake sigh, forcing himself to calm down and think through this with as much rationality as possible, 'Okay... I'm sorry. I'm just a little shocked is all. You shouldn't be able to hatch at all. How did you? What happened to the other egg? And what about those element stones?'

Part of him didn't expect the hatchling to be able to answer these questions at all. She had only just hatched after all, but he could feel the rather mature and experienced feelings of guilt and sorrow flood through her.

'I... I'm sorry.'

Eldawin, as gently as he could, reached into the hatchlings mind. She instantly resisted, and he felt the well-practiced pulses of mental activity from her as his own mind was quickly shrouded in powerful illusion, preventing him from delving into her mind at all. He narrowed his eyes, tempted to just smash through the barrier, confident he could do so, but held himself back.

'Look, I'm sorry for being angry... I just want to understand,' he told her, pulling himself back a little.

He gently leaned down, and gently began to run his tongue over the young dragoness's back, cleaning her of the odd tasting goop still clinging to her scales from the egg. He felt her flinch against the touch, before relaxing slightly with a soft rumbling purr.

'Oh... that feels good,' she murmured to him.

He smiled slightly at that, 'Can you tell me what happened?'

'... My sister and I had been thinking of hatching for a while,' she said, 'But I thought we shouldn't because you didn't want us to. Besides, it was just as easy to reach out through the stones and control animals and stuff. Live like that. But my sister wanted more. She... she decided to destroy the stones in an attempt to allow us the chance to hatch. I tried to stop her... but it didn't work. So instead I focused on trying to control the energy coming out to save us. I managed to save myself and our brother. But my egg was damaged in the process... and my sister was vaporised.'

A great sadness washed over Eldawin. He could feel the hatchling still hiding several pieces from him, but he made no push to try and get them. Pushing the sorrow to the back of his mind, still focusing on cleaning the hatchling's scales, he continued to talk softly to her.

'How didn't I realise you were conscious? I would have allowed you to hatch then.'

'We... we didn't want you to be forced to break your promise to mom. When we became conscious... we reached out with our minds and found yours. You were asleep at the time, and your conscious was spread to far to notice us I think. It didn't take us long to learn the basics of mind control from there... and afterwards we just kept an illusion over you to make sure that it seemed we were still asleep.'

'Oh... for how long.'

'...Four and a half years I think.'

'What!'

'It's easy to cast an illusion over someone when they don't expect it.'

'That is the basics for it,' Eldawin said with grudging appreciation, 'What about your... brother you said? Isn't he conscious?'

'No... I think it had something to do with my sister and I being mind dragons. The stones expanded our abilities... allowing us to access them even in the egg.'

'I suppose you're elemental as well then.'

'Yep... well at least we think so.'

Eldawin sat back as he finished cleaning her up, 'That... is quite astonishing. You already seem incredibly skilled with your mental abilities.'

She curled up into a tiny ball, no bigger than a house cat, 'I think... I think I feel hungry... and tired?'

The drake studied her mind for a moment to confirm, 'Hmm, sleep for now. There is a storm outside and it is a little dangerous to go hunting.'

'Can't you use your equilibrium and make it go away?'

Eldawin hesitated, 'I will do so if it last too long. But I have several pieces of frozen meat that I can thaw out for you, saved for when the storms last days. It might just take a couple of hours.'

'Oh... okay. Thank you. I might just sleep first though...' she said rather tiredly, 'I didn't expect to feel so exhausted.'

'Hatching is an exhausting experience,' Eldawin responded with a small smile as he watched his daughter slowly drifting off, 'Oh... before you go, I guess you will need a name.'

'Ah... I guess so...' the sleepy hatchling responded, '... I liked the name Merene... I think. That was the name I wanted.'

'Very well... I will call you Merene.'

'Thank you... Dad...'