-Chapter 2-

“What you suggest is a very serious crime." Stated a bronze dragon that stood within the large chamber. He was surrounded by two others of his kin who now had their full attention on the red dragon. The room was built entirely of a single slab of marble stone, hollowed out by expert craftsmen that allowed the natural beauty of the pure white stone to shine. This was only accented by the black bolts that twisted and churned throughout. There was not so much as a single pillar offering support for the nearly one hundred foot ceiling, it's dome structure somehow managing to keep it's own weight in ways beyond the dragon's understanding.

There were four dragons in total, the three wise ones whom seemed to govern their species, and then Omar. Omar was the red dragon's name, given to him by his rider whom was currently absent from this meeting.

“If what you say is found to be false, or even just bad speculation, the repercussions could be severe." Continued the bronze dragon standing twice the size of his red counterpart.  White horns adorned the bronze one's head, their sheen dulled with age.

“I am telling you, it could be nothing else!" Omar snapped, gnashing his teeth in anger.

“Calm yourself." A soothing elderly voice quickly slipped in, curving Omar's anger. This came from the largest of the three dragons that now lay behind her two brethren. Her bronze colored scales held a shine with a noticeable hint of green, which would catch the eye when the light hit at just the right angles. Her one sparkling blue eye, which was larger than a human was tall, seemed to hold a deep set knowledge that betrayed her age. Her body, though curled, was too big to see past and blocked the far wall from view. “There is no need to shout. We are old, not dull." She continued, her voice holding a grandmotherly tone that lulled many into a sense of security. “Now, tell it to us once more."

“I've already explained this twice!" Omar nearly yelled. “She had a dead egg after laying and now it is perfectly fine. The healers say it is healthy even! This can only be necromancery and I will not have any baring my name be some twisted creature of dark magic. What more do I need to tell you?"

“What makes you think she did not steal it? Or maybe had more than one?" This time it was a blue dragon asking the questions. He was much smaller than the other two, only about half the size of Omar in both height and weight. An aquatic race if the red one had to guess, for there were a distinct lack of wings and a set of fins where spines should have been. He was also much younger than the other two, but his extensive knowledge of other lands, gained from his travels, had earned him such a position among them.

“Thievery is not in her nature. As pained as she may have been, she would not force another to carry that burden in her place. As for laying a second egg, that is not possible either, I was there when she laid the first and there were no others to speak of."
The largest one spoke again, though with an obvious sigh. “We will need to inspect both her and the egg then." She said with a hint of frustration. “We will worry about possible punishment after we determine if what you claim is true."

Omar nearly roared in outrage that they were being so slow about this. “I am telling you the truth, what more do you want!"

“Evidence." The blue one said flatly. “Though what you say may be true to you, without proof we cannot pass judgement."

“But-"

“What if someone were to walk up and say you killed their mate? Any dragon with your size and color could be mistaken for you at a distance. You are a rare breed after all, though not uncommon enough to be unheard of. They may have seen what they thought was you, their perception could be flawed and as such facts are needed. Lest we accidentally punish the innocent."

“We are not talking about murder though."

“It matters not what we're talking about." The blue one continued with obvious annoyance. “No matter the crime, it must all be taken into account. Now go, we will summon you when you're needed."

---

The sound of nails clicking upon stone echoed within the stone walls. Janeal slowly stirred awake, lifting her head and expecting the red dragon to be there with the intent to pester her once more. Instead she was surprised to find a human woman standing there, bowing to the dragon. She wore shoes made of wood, oddly shaped, and what Janeal could only assume to be uncomfortable. If it had not been for those, she probably wouldn't have heard the girl at all.

“The wise ones have requested you to their chamber." The human said as she straightened once more, though her eyes never turned up to look at the dragon..

“I am busy tending to my nest. They will have to simply wait." Janeal replied with a huff.

“I'm afraid that is why they summoned you and seek to speak to you now." The woman said in reply. “They wish you to bring both yourself and the unhatched."

“What for?"

“I know not. I am not privileged to that information." With that she began walking away.

“Not even the courtesy of asking for a reply?" Janeal asked with obvious annoyance.

The girl paused before turning to face the dragon once more.

“They used request as a formality only. You cannot refuse this summons." With that she turned once more, leaving the dragon.

Janeal gave a heavy sigh of annoyance as anxiety pulled at the back of her mind. “Well this hasn't gone to plan at all, now has it?" She asked as if speaking to the egg. There was obviously no response, but she had honestly not expected one. “You're right, let's go see what they have to say."

----

Movement, he was sure that's what he felt as he suddenly jolted awake. The warmth was gone, though he still felt no chill. He should have, the prison had gone cool and he was sure he should feel somewhat uncomfortable, yet he wasn't. As he began to ponder this, he felt a jolt of movement once again. Shifting within his confines he had half a mind to break free and figure out what was going on, however the soft sway that soon followed lulled him enough to forget such things.

His confines had been placed in some sort of sack and was now being carried, this much he was sure of. Some sort of treated leather was rubbing against the smooth outer wall. It would produce an occasional squeak that he found both odd and annoying, one he wished would stop and, to his delight, soon did as he came to a halt.

He heard voices once more, strange voices, but ones that did not instill the same aggression as the first one had. He could hear her voice as well, speaking to them in a respectful tone.

----

It wasn't long before Janeal was within the halls of the wise ones. She half expected Omar to be there, but thankfully he had been asked to remove himself as to not taint their opinions. The red dragon had reluctantly done so, but only after voicing his concerns to them one last time.

“You summoned me?" Janeal asked, looking at the three. Around her neck was a simple leather strap, commonly found on females with nest eggs. This one had been slightly modified with an extra strap that wrapped around her left shoulder, allowing flight without fear of losing the egg.

It was not unusual for new mothers to dislike leaving their unhatched young behind, thus the surprisingly clever humans had been kind enough to invent such a sling at a price. She could not complain, they got their gold and she got her peace of mind and that was more than enough for the dragon.

“Yes," spoke the oldest one, her blue eye turning to face the white dragon. “How are you this evening dear?" Janeal seemed surprised by this question. The older one had noticed Janeal's demeanor, and like most dragons, the new mother felt uncomfortable being summoned to this chamber.

These were powerful figures to her kind, the few who could pass judgement on any of them at any time. For the most part the race was self governed, each to their own and handling their own situations. The wise ones only stepped in with issues beyond normal means, like the one she was now accused of.

“Well enough, I suppose." Janeal finally responded as she gathered her nerves. “I was just planning a hunt when you summoned me."

“Ah, well then we will try not to keep you long. One as young as yourself must keep up her strength for the upcoming trials." Janeal seemed confused and even a bit concerned by this, electing a chuckle from the old bronze female. “A hatchling dear. They can be troublesome at times and, if yours are anything like mine where, you will have nearly no time at all to yourself until they can leave the nest."

“It's not all that bad.." The bronze male said, almost as if he had been insulted by the larger female.

“That's because you did not have to deal with them all the time like we do. You're a male, your job is simply to make sure your mate is well fed and nothing more. That's assuming she even settles down with you. Otherwise, you just get to have all the fun and move on."

The youngest of the three seemed a bit embarrassed by this conversation, and cleared his throat to try and get their attention. This worked, but not in the way he had intended.

The bronze female gave a soft smile as her eye fell upon the blue dragon. “Didn't you become of mating age just last year?" The aquatic dragon's cheeks took on a noticeable shade of purple as he felt a blush starting. “I was honestly hoping to see what kind of female you might be interested in."

“I don't have time for that." He quickly snapped, trying to remain calm, though the flicking of his tail said he was failing miserably. “Besides, we have a more pressing matter here."

“What you mean," the bronze male began, “is that you didn't find one suitable to your tastes. I'm sure if we had a few visitors from the eastern shores come by, you would have been too busy for our meetings." This caused the flush that had been dwindling away on the blue dragon's cheeks to suddenly flare up once more.

Janeal seemed to relax at this. Though the elders held great power, it seemed they were like everyone else, with lives and needs of their own. Yes, she had known they were dragons, like all the others, but to actually see them acting like normal commoners instead of pompous royals had helped ease the tension in her muscles.

“I don't mean to be rude," Janeal finally spoke up after realizing their bantering wasn't going to end anytime soon, “but may I ask what this has to do with you summoning me?"
The three of them stopped and looked at her, causing the white dragon to regret saying anything.

“I'm sorry dear," the large female finally said, “we've been at this all day. I was just trying to add some ease to everything, but we took it just a little too far."  Slowly the large dragon lifted her head, turning to look upon the new mother with her good eye. “Now, back to business, hm? We don't want to keep this going longer than it has to."

'It already has,' Janeal thought to herself, but dared not say it aloud.

After a long moment, the bronze male finally spoke. “Now then, it has been brought to our attention that you may have possibly been involved with some unsavory magics." At this the other two took a more serious tone, matching the older male's. Their earlier banter all but forgotten as they focused on the subject at hand.

“As much as I would like to simply dismiss these claims, this is a serious one and one we cannot turn a blind eye." The male let his words hang in the air for a moment. “However," he began again, “considering the circumstances we may be willing to show some leniency. All that we ask is that you are honest with us and cooperate with whatever we choose."

“And what are these claims?" Janeal asked, feigning ignorance.

“A previous mate of yours has stated that he believes you have involved yourself with magics we have deemed unfit for practice. Necromancery to be precise. As such you have been summoned here to prove your innocence."

“And how am I to do that?"

The female spoke up this time, “by letting us see your egg and examine it for any possible traces of said magics, dear." Janeal became visibly off put by this idea, though it seemed the elders took no offense. “No harm will come to you or your unhatched child. Once we have concluded that there has been no tampering, we'll return it and you may be on your way. This won't take but a few moments."

“Don't bother." Janeal interrupted. Though she did not stutter, the white dragon was unable to look any of them in the eyes.  “All of what he has been saying is true." She paused, but seeing as they did not interject, she continued. “I tampered with the egg once I knew that it was void of life.

After a moment, the bronze female finally asked one simple question.“Why?" The question surprised the white dragoness, but the lack of anger in the older one's eye when she looked up was even more of a shock. None of them seemed upset by this, in fact it was almost as if they had been expecting it.

The eldest asked again, pulling Janeal back to her senses. “I... I've been trying for years now." She began explaining, somehow keeping her composure. “The past five mating seasons have all been for nothing. I had many males, yet not one could give me what I sought. Finally, this year, I got what I was looking for. I nearly passed out with excitement when I found out that I was going to be a mother..." She paused, but the wise ones said nothing as they waited for her to continue.

“I spent the first few months just making sure everything was perfect. After laying I took it to the healers. This was going to be my first and I wanted to leave nothing to chance... but they told me what had happened. The coupling had failed and I was once again left with nothing."

“So you turned to things best left forgotten." This time it was the younger male. Though he did not seem to relate like the two older ones, there was an unmistakable level of understanding. Janeal simply nodded in reply.

“Well then," began the bronze female, her grandmotherly charm never wavering “I'm assuming you were successful then, considering you still carry it. Let us see what you have done."

Janeal hesitated, fearing they would simply crush her child and be done with it.

“Come now." The bronze male nearly snapped. “If we are going to settle this we must see the egg. Besides, if we wished to harm you or the egg we would have simply called the guards. Let us see what you have managed to accomplish, then we can pass judgement."

After just a moment longer, Janeal finally stepped forward then removed the egg using one of her claws. With obvious reluctance she handed over it to the bronze male, allowing him to grasp it with his claws. The shell was perfectly polished and not so much as a scratch dulled its surface, despite the claws it had been passed between.

The other two elders gathered closer as Janeal backed away, though never too far out of reach of the unhatched child.

The three of them mumbled to themselves, glancing between her and the egg occasionally as it was passed between the two males. The female was much too large to handle such a tiny thing, fearing she may crush it by mistake if she was not careful. As such she simply let the males pass it between the two of them, asking now and then for them to show it to her when she washed to see something.

They continued like this for some time and though Janeal tried her best to listen, she could not make out so much as a word between the three of them. They were arguing, harsh whispered easily noticeable between the two males. They seemed to be on opposite sides of the discussion, though Janeal was unsure who was speaking in her favor. The largest of the three seemed to be quietly watching them, adding comments here and there as needed.

Finally the older male huffed, handing the egg to his aquatic counterpart. “It seems the Omar was right." The older one began. “You have played with some very untasteful magics." He turned to look at Janeal, his gaze much more stern now. The white dragon's heart raced for a moment as she began to fear the worst.

“Relax," this time it was the older female, her charm never wavering. “You haven't done anything wrong yet. Questionable, yes, but so far we have seen nothing worth taking action on."

Janeal blinked in obvious confusion.

“You played with magics you apparently knew nothing about." The bronze male spoke up. “We can see why Omar would claim such things. You have done exactly as he said, you put new life into what was once lost. However, this is not necromancery."
“As such," the blue dragon began, “this does not fall under that law. In fact, we have no law for this at all. Yes, you infused something into this egg and yes, it was dead before you began. But it never had life to begin with and whatever you have managed to obtain was not living either."

“But I saw him when I opened the doorway, a child, my child." Janeal said, still very confused.

“You saw someone, or something," the bronze male responded, “but what exactly even we cannot be sure. The arts you used are magics often found in the more questionable lands, even humans dare not travel there. If it were not for him," he gestured at the aquatic male, “we wouldn't have even known what you had done."

The younger male began speaking “You didn't manage to manipulate a soul, you summoned something far greater from realms we dare not walk. Exactly how this works or why is beyond us, and the fact you confined it into an egg is a miracle in and of itself. Had you failed, you most likely would not be standing here today."

Janeal sat there for a moment, contemplating what they had said. “If it wasn't a soul, what was it?"