The Phoenix Eggs
Christina stared at the cracked eggshell and the chick inside, then let out a strange sound.
'No way... a phoenix egg...?'
She carefully reached out near the sleeping bird.
A faint, pure fire mana permeated the air, mixed with a dark force.
At that exact moment, the newly hatched chick's eyes snapped open.
*Fwoosh.*
A slender black-legged white bird stood on the pillow, flames flickering around its body, its golden eyes blazing with clear hostility.
The innocent baby bird Rune had seen earlier had vanished completely.
The phoenix raised its feathers as if spotting an intruder and glared at Christina with sharp, alert eyes.
“Piiiii…!”
Hot heat and light began radiating from its white body.
'It’s quite the fighter.'
Christina pulled her hand back slightly and watched him.
'I can’t believe a newborn phoenix hatchling can stand up to me like this, even though it should know the aura of dragons.'
The judgment of the gods.
The flames of divine punishment.
The sacred fire bird called the one who flies through the garden of the gods.
The phoenix, rarer than a dragon and only one existing per generation.
'But this generation’s phoenix carries darkness, not pure fire.'
She looked at the black hatchling sleeping unaware of the world.
'Without a doubt, this child’s influence.'
The image of the black dragon’s child born in this world and a phoenix hatchling raised by him flashed in her mind.
It felt like glimpsing a piece of fate.
'It’s a strange feeling… like watching the flow of a predetermined path.'
Lost in that mysterious wonder, the hatchling opened its sleepy eyes with a hum.
He glanced between Christina and the white bird blazing with light, then poked it with his hand.
“Quy.”
'Noisy.'
“Piya! Pirururu.”
The phoenix hatchling, rolling limply to the side and crying pitifully, reverted to a plain white fluffy mass.
“Quy. Kyuu.”
'Don’t roll around with Christina like that. You’re my benefactor.'
“Ppepppp… ppeaa.”
Hearing the words spoken with breath, the white chick stiffened its black feather antenna on its head once, then relaxed after glancing at the imugi’s eyes.
Imugi nodded once at the quietly sparkling eyes.
“Quyquy.”
'Good boy.'
Justice and reward must be clear.
Imugi nodded and gently stroked the white chick’s head.
“Ppepppe! Ppepppeee-!”
The now cheerful chick rubbed its head against him.
Then it quickly climbed onto the imugi’s lap and settled down.
As if asking for more praise.
“Fuhuh.”
Christina covered her mouth with a slightly clenched hand and laughed softly.
'The child is holding another child. How adorable.'
Imugi guessed what his own reaction would have been but decided to hold back so he wouldn’t accidentally push the chick away and make it cry.
Suddenly, Imugi relaxed his guard and pointed at the phoenix with his index finger to ask.
“Quy. Kyukyu?”
'What is this bird? How did it pop out of the “baked egg”?'
Although they couldn’t speak, Christina nodded at the gesture and gaze.
“If you’re asking me… it looks like this child is the new phoenix of this generation.”
The black hatchling tilted its head and changed expression.
Christina said,
“Phonix are so rare they’re called the gods’ bird. Only one exists per generation. When an existing phoenix dies, another appears within a hundred years.”
Imugi nodded, having understood the reasoning about the phoenix.
But then Christina stopped speaking, sensing something odd.
“……Strange. The phoenix of this generation should still be alive.”
Her mutter was very soft, but Imugi heard it clearly.
While he blinked and looked at Christina, she fell into thought.
'Has the world changed? Or is it a sign the world is shifting?'
She didn’t know if it was good or bad.
The phoenix protected by darkness.
She could only guess this first encounter was no ordinary matter.
'Although it’s still a young phoenix and hatchling… I still can’t just let this go.'
While pondering, she thought of someone who could help with this matter.
“Rai.”
At Christina’s gesture, the white-light spirit Rai appeared.
[Oooo!]
Rai, happy to be called, scattered small light orbs and circled around Christina. Then it gently settled on the hand she offered.
Christina smiled softly at Rai and explained her task.
“I need to meet the elder of the Red Dragons, Pasiyas.”
Pasiyas.
The father of the Red Dragon hatchlings, and the current elder of the Red Dragons.
Imugi’s excitement rose at the thought of Christina leaving, and Rai shook its body lightly, sparkling its light orbs.
“I’ll go discuss it with the Red Dragon elder who possesses fire power and is currently raising a hatchling.”
Rai’s light sphere displayed an expression after hearing Christina’s words.
[( *｀ω´)ゞ]
“Thank you, Rai.”
Christina’s lair was an inviolable zone even the Dragon Lord could not casually touch.
In other words, there was no possibility of an accident from external invasion.
“Aya, be good and stay well, okay?”
“Quy!”
Looking at the spirited reply, Christina smiled faintly.
'I’m worried about leaving the child with Rai and me, but… why? I feel this child will be fine.'
Even as a hatchling, the child she had raised had a certain maturity in him.
'Was a black dragon hatchling always like this?'
Christina herself had been a gifted child who listened well and matured earlier than her peers.
But that was largely due to the influence of the parents and master who taught her.
Natural talent and mindset.
Experiences from the environment.
The fruits of thinking.
'This child had no such experiences, yet he seemed to have his own values.'
After hatching from the egg, the child didn’t act on instinct by crying, fussing, or throwing tantrums.
Communication was quite complex, and he had clear standards for when to act and when not.
Because of that, he had subtly given her a mysterious trust she wouldn’t have expected from an ordinary child.
'When the young phoenix showed hostility toward me, I immediately stopped him. And managing mana… how did he do that?'
The mana surrounding the child changed every day, becoming more stable.
Watching him handle mana with such skill was astonishing.
'Even though dragons are born with magic, a hatchling level shouldn’t be this skillful.'
The relationship between mana and dragons was like giving a child toys or clay.
The young hatchling, given free rein, handled mana as he pleased.
Thus, simply swinging his power as he liked caused explosions or wind blades according to his talent, leading to various accidents.
Even for protecting a hatchling like this, having an adult dragon protector or master was only natural.
Yet the hatchling before her was different.
He used and managed things neatly and complicatedly.
'I thought my child couldn’t be an ordinary genius.'
A talented, kind, and adorable child.
And far too outstanding for an ordinary hatchling.
She sighed, recalling her absent master from the distant past.
'Did you do something to this child before leaving him with me, Master?'
Thinking of someone she could no longer ask for an answer, she briefly looked at the sky.
Her master, who had become the Gold Dragon elder.
But now she herself was filling that role.
When she reached that thought, Christina smiled faintly.
'Yes. Now I’m his protector and, in a way, his master.'
She brushed Rai’s light with her other hand as Rai looked at her with a puzzled expression.
“Speaking of which, since Pasiyas’s child is said to be a highly capable genius, he might even be useful.”
Pulling her hand back lightly, she whispered to Rai.
“Please take care of the children until I return. I think nothing will happen, but if anything does, tell me immediately.”
[٩(•̀ᴗ•́ )و]
Receiving the pure spirit’s encouragement, Christina smiled gently.
Christina also warned Imugi.
“It won’t take long. Stay with Rai.”
“Quy.”
Imugi, blinking strangely, nodded.
She lightly kissed the forehead of the gleaming hatchling and prayed for a blessing.
“Quyuk!?”
*Paba-babam!*
“Ppe! Ppeaat!”
The cute sight of the suddenly startled hatchling quickly rubbing his forehead melted her heart.
“I’ll return as quickly as possible.”
After gently tucking him back into the cradle, Christina watched with a regretful gaze, then left.
'He went…?'
Imugi jumped up and clenched both hands, then raised one hand toward the ceiling.
'Finally free!'
It was similar to children breaking free from parental supervision, but for someone who had been in the egg for nearly a thousand years, being trapped in it for a whole day was torment.
'How much I’ve wanted these times! Without Christina, even leaving this room would be hard. I was suffocating.'
It would have been fine if he could train freely.
He recalled the recent days of suffocation.
'I could train quietly without being noticed, but the restrictions were too many.'
To him, Rai was a spirit given as a protector by Christina, but to him, it was an annoying watcher.
'Now, wandering around the cradle isn’t strange.'
He spread his wings and carefully descended under the cradle, standing on all fours.
Glancing sideways, Rai simply followed silently without comment.
'Good. Luck is on my side.'
He cheered inwardly.
“Ppe?”
The white baby bird left footprints on the bedcover and ran after him urgently, as if he might lose him.
“Piyak!”
*Plop!*
“Quyuk.”
The baby bird, whether flying or rolling, jumped down and landed neatly on Imugi’s head.
He shook his head to shake it off, but since the weight was very light, he decided to ignore it.
Carrying the bird while walking, Rai flew in the air following them.
At the door, Imugi looked at the handle above his head.
'I could grab it if I jumped. Should I try if it opens?'
Staring at the pole handle, he took a deep breath and lifted his front leg.
Then, with strength in his short back legs, he leaped powerfully.
*Thud*
'Caught.'
As the weight settled on the caught door handle, the ring tilted downward.
*Click*
The sound of the lock releasing accompanied Imugi’s release of his hand.