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Chapter 2:

Two for One

Twelve years have passed since Michael's departure and the Coronation of King Zallerferd. Over the years, King Zallerferd worked hard to live up to Michael's expectations. Despite his nervousness, he did a tremendous job, and, as a result, the race of Dragons prospered.

Today was the annual holiday, Michael's Day, set in place by King Zallerferd, and everyone was coming from all over to celebrate. As before, the Pearl Tower's grounds were packed with Dragons, exceeding into the tens of thousands. King Zallerferd was high up on his balcony, overlooking the crowd below. Even though Zallerferd was this high up and the Dragons looked tiny, their sheer numbers made the ground look like moving water.

Zallerferd just smiled as he closed his yellow-golden eyes. He let the populace's joyful noise wash over him like the warm ocean waves of his island home in the Water Region. It was so surreal that he could almost smell the ocean on the wind and inhaled deeply to capture the moment. Zallerferd missed being near the sea and longed to return to it. Ever since he became King, his duties have limited his time alone, and even these were interrupted. However, he by no means regretted being crowned King. Quite to the contrary, he enjoyed it much and loved to help where he could. Thus far, the Dragons all over Dragos loved their new King almost as much as Michael himself.

The light blue shirt he wore flapped loosely in the light breeze as he felt the warm summer air splash over his scales. Zallerferd could feel the change in the air and know that the cold season will start in a few short weeks, lasting two months. He could feel it in his two seashell-like horns sitting on top of his head. He opened his eyes with a broad smile as his tail swished mindlessly back and forth, thinking, "Today is the day Michael told me about. I can feel it in my very soul. My successor will be hatched today, and I feel it'll be something that none of us will expect."

Zallerferd flexed his fin-like wings and bent the tip of his tail with a fin up to scratch an itch. He walked back inside the throne room and thought, "Gailwind is going to have her hands full today, I expect."

While Zallerferd attended to things in the Pearl Tower, another Dragon over in the Wind Region's Cumulus City sat high on the valley peak was getting ready for the day. It wasn't hard to tell who lived in this little cottage or what her favorite color was. Aside from the yellow hay thatched roof, the gray stones that made up the chimney and the house's main structure were painted pink. Around the house, a flower bed was full of different blooms, with a vegetable garden full of half-grown produce in the back.

A light musical humming was coming from a dragon standing in front of the mirror-straightening the pink bow in her long brown hair pulled back into a French braid. As she finished this, she looked over her pink uniform consisting of a long-sleeved, ankle-length dress. It flared out at her hips a little and helped to accentuate the long curves of her body. The white apron had a red eight-pointed star to represent the medical staff of the Pearl Tower. She donned a pink hat that was no bigger than a bagel but just as round. Finally, she slipped on pink loafers and made one final check in the mirror. Her sky-blue back scales and silver front scales matched perfectly with her outfit. The two jet-black horns upon her head stood straight up.

"Perfect!" She said aloud as she grabbed her side bag and walked out her front door. The fresh morning air felt fantastic against her scales as she spread her wings and kicked off from the ground with her tail. Within seconds, she flew high over the clouds as the two moons started to set over the horizon behind her. She was heading southeast to the Supreme Region, making pretty good time.

Notwithstanding, the flight still took a bit of time, so while she flew, thoughts played through her head about King Zallerferd's announcement yesterday. Something extraordinary was going to happen today, and it would involve the Hatching. Of course, she trusted the King, but it was still somewhat curious why the King had not given any details to her or any of the other staff members.

She pushed these thoughts aside because that didn't sit well with her. She always liked to remain on the optimistic side of things. She knew in her heart that King Zallerferd would not stir his people into anything dangerous. However, that thought still didn't stop her from wondering sometimes.

She was brought out of her reverie by a flash of light in the distance. She smiled as the two suns in front of her came up over the horizon to be reflected off the Pearl Tower's white surface.

High in the Northern Gate guard tower, two guards were chatting with a Wind and a Fire Dragon. Both were wearing a standard suit of armor for the Supreme Region, a golden helmet, breastplate, shoulder pads, greaves, and boots over a white shirt, brown leather pants, and a black leather belt.

The Fire Dragon looked up from their conversations to see a figure flying towards them. He pulled out a golden scope and looked to see who it was. He cracked a broad smile as he said, "Hey, Hector! Look who's coming in."

Hector took the scope and peered through it.

"It's Nurse Gailwind! How do I look?" Hector exclaimed as he started to adjust his uniform. Sweat formed on the ridge of his brow, and his sky-blue scales began to reflect the light. His tail swished mindlessly back and forth as he straightened his wings.

"Will you relax? You look fine. Now go greet her... And this time, do not forget to ask her to dinner." Said the Fire Dragon.

Hector nodded and jumped out of the Tower. He flew carefully down to the ground. This proved to be difficult due to the fields being packed with Dragons. However, he and Gailwind were able to land close enough together to talk.

"Morning, Hector. How are you today?" Gailwind said in a cheerful voice.

"Morning, Nurse Gailwind. I was wondering if... if by chance you would...." Hector stumbled over his words and cursed himself for not being more articulate.

"Are you asking me about the festival, Hector?" Gailwind giggled and thought, "He is so adorably bashful. What the hell. I will give him a chance."

Hector was nodding as Nurse Gailwind continued, "Hmm, maybe. If everything goes well, I might go with you to the festival. And Hector, I hope everything does go well."

A smile spread across Hector's snout as Gailwind disappeared into the crowd. He was so excited that he felt his jaw horns tingle with anticipation. Suddenly, a voice called out from above him.

"Hector! What are you doing down there for?! Get back to your post!"

Hector looked up to find an enormous Terrain Dragon looking down at him with a half stern--half-smile on his snout.

"Yes, sir! Coming!" Hector said as he spread his wings for flight.

Gailwind made her way up the stone path as she thought about her potential date with Hector. She had noticed he was attracted to her several years ago, and when she looked back on it, today was when they met. She laughed at herself as she remembered replacing the other guard who grew too old to attend his duties. Gailwind had already been working for two years in the Pearl Tower's medical wing and carried the title of Assistant Head Nurse.

Hector had just started that morning with the same Fire Dragon she saw today. Hector, who was supposed to be keeping watch, was awestruck by the first sight of her. In fact, he was so taken aback that he fell out of the guard tower and landed with a THUD along with a loud CRACK, causing Hector to shout in pain.

Nurse Gailwind rushed over immediately to see Hector holding his right arm and looked up to see her standing over him. "Are you okay?" Gailwind asked but already knew the answer.

"Who, me... I'm... I'm fine." Hector grunted through the pain as Gailwind rolled her eyes.

_"Males and their pride." _Gailwind thought as she pulled her side bag around and produced a tiny vial of purple liquid. "Here! Drink this, and let me see that arm."

Hector obeyed and drank down the liquid and felt his whole body go numb within seconds. "What... was di' 'ou do to...." Hector tried to speak but found his entire mouth numb from the purple liquid.

"I have numbed the feeling in your body. Your shoulder is dislocated and needs to be set. On three, I want you to bite down on this wooden beg." Gailwind said, holding out one foot by three-inch peg to Hector, who slowly and clumsily put it in his maw.

"Ready?" Gailwind asked in an almost a songful way.

Hector nodded as she said, "Three!" Pushing suddenly on his arm as a wave of what felt like fire pierced through the numbness as the bone slid back into place. Hector yelled out through the peg as it fell out of his maw with teeth marks in it.

Gailwind produced a splint and a sling from her bag that she fitted to his arm. Next, she produced a bigger bottle of red liquid and said, "Drink a little bit of this for a week and check in with me."

"Thank you," Hector said, still lost in her glacier pink eyes, and flew back to the guard tower.

Gailwind didn't know it then, but a spark had happened between them that grew consistently over the years, and now it blossomed like a beautiful array of flowers. She held a hand over her heart while entering the Pearl Tower's main entrance and leaned against the mahogany doors, shutting them behind her. She took a deep breath and steadied herself as she looked around the vast circular entrance hall.

Gailwind spotted the golden spiral staircase sitting on the opposite side of the hall, leading to the rest of the Tower. It was grand with high ceilings, and great width as Gailwind walked over and started climbing down to the medical wing, which included a Nursery where most Dragons all over Dragos sent their eggs to be hatched. This was done to give the eggs a better place to be hatched and adequately incubated. Some Dragons had their own Nurseries, but none had the flawless record of hatching eggs like the Pearl Tower did.

Gailwind, finally, reached the bottom of the stairs and walked along a corridor towards a door at the end-labeled Medical Staff. As she entered, her attention was drawn to a blue Water Dragon with long brown hair tied back into a ponytail sitting at a polished oak desk. This Dragon was filling out a scroll with a long list of dates, times, and temperatures of the incubated eggs in the next room.

"Good morning, Misty!" Said Gailwind politely as Misty quickly looked up and smiled.

"Good morning, Cary! I see you are in a delightful mood. Let me guess, Hector, asked you to the festival, didn't he?" Misty said as Gailwind's smile widened.

"Yes, he did," Gailwind said with a giggle.

Misty stood up and asked, "Well, what'd you say?"

Gailwind looked a little sheepishly at her and said, "I told him maybe, provided everything goes right."

"Aw! Come on, Cary! You can't lead the poor guy forever. Besides, everything seems to be fine, and we've never had a problem before." Misty said.

Gailwind looked a little taken aback and said, "I'm not going to lead him forever. I am going to meet him tonight at the festival. I only said maybe just to keep him guessing. Anyway, how are the eggs?"

Misty looked a little deflated as she picked up the scroll from the desk and handed it to Gailwind. "The eggs are perfectly incubated, including the four in the Royal Nursery," Misty said as Gailwind looked over the scroll.

The Royal Nursery was reserved for each region's governors along with any egg the King's wife produced. However, the King's wife had not made any this year, and only four eggs sat within that room.

"Very well. You may go take a nap if you wish. We are on egg watch today, and I trust we have everything ready." Said Gailwind thoughtfully.

Misty nodded and said, "Of course. Everything is ready to go. Call me when they start to hatch."

Misty walked out the same door that Gailwind came through earlier; it amazed Cary how long they worked together. Both started at the same time almost twelve years ago, and she remembered it well.

They both were fresh out of medical training when they were hired at the Pearl Tower. They sat and listened to the Head Nurse's speech about how it was a privilege that few ever got the chance to do and how it could be taken away at a moment's notice. Notwithstanding, Gailwind remembered the most from that speech as they were here to provide an excellent service to Dragos. This was the very reason both Gailwind and Misty River had studied hard, so they could be here helping to save lives.

Their first day was a Hatching Day, and they proved themselves more than capable. They were everywhere at once, it seemed as they helped hatch over half of the eggs. When the orientation was done, the two gained the respect of most, if not all, of the medical staff. They received rewards from King Zallerferd, and as the years progressed--they began moving up to the latter of command.

Finally, one day the Head Nurse announced her plans to retire and conduct interviews with those wishing to become Head Nurse. Gailwind felt she didn't deserve it at first but was encouraged by Misty and the staff. Reluctantly, she agreed and, as a result, was promoted. Since then, Gailwind had not regretted taking the job and learned a great deal about herself and her career.

Eventually, Misty was put in charge of the overnight watch, and the two have been there ever since. Gailwind was truly happy and glad that Hector had asked her to the festival; things were looking brighter than ever.

Gailwind walked over to a door with the word _Nursery _written in golden lettering across the oak-stained wood at eye level. As she opened the door, Gailwind was immediately met with intense heat coming from inside. She quickly entered and shut the door as not to let too much heat escape. Gailwind knew that the room needed to stay adequately heated to give the eggs the best Hatching.

She looked around as the room was a small warehouse with four rows representing their own region. Each row had, on average, a hundred to a hundred twenty eggs. The floor was laid with sand that covered large metal pipes for sending fire through them. This was done by Fire Dragons sending their Element Workings to an exceptional partner to which the flame trusted on the opposite side.

Each egg sat upon a satin pillow, the color of their region, and was the size of an oval boulder. Also, each egg was unique, with different markings. Fire eggs had smooth shells with light sandy specks that danced across the surface. Water eggs were the same texture as a seashell, and the cover was decorated with tiny water droplets. Wind eggs were almost a pearly white with a slight shade of sky-blue. Finally, Terrain was the size of a small boulder and resembled them in appearance and texture.

As Gailwind walked across the sand, she noticed the heat coming up through her pink loafers. She walked over to the door with the name _The Royal Nursery _across its face and went inside.

The Royal Nursery was quite a bit smaller than the previous room. Just inside the door sat a beautiful oak desk that was reminiscent of Earth's medieval ages. A thin but tall Terrain Dragon sat at it, going over a few scrolls as her shoulder-length ginger hair glimmered in the light of the fire lamps around the walls. She looked up from the parchment and stood up immediately.

"Oh! Nurse Gailwind! I didn't hear you come in." She said as she towered over Gailwind by two to three feet easily.

"You're fine, Ivy. How are the eggs in here?" Gailwind asked and noticed Ivy relaxed a bit.

"They are perfectly warm and toasty. I did my last check about half an hour ago. I didn't see any signs of Hatching just yet, but I do have the carts on standby just to be ready." Nurse Ivy said confidently.

Magnificent, Ivy. Please go check on the other eggs for me while I check these in here." Gailwind said as Nurse Ivy nodded and went out of the room.

Gailwind smiled as she thought, "I was in her place so long ago, and she is right in line to take over for me when I retire. Hopefully not for a few years, yet."

Gailwind grabbed a writing board and a scroll as she walked over to the four eggs sitting on the opposite wall from the desk. The first egg she came to lay upon a sky-blue pillow with golden tassels and spoke out loud to herself while inspecting.

"Okay... Viento and Aira Whirlwind's egg is... find and no signs of Hatching...."

She went to the next egg that sat on an emerald-green pillow with silver tassels.

"Reed and Rita Earthbond's egg is... looking great, as always, and no signs of hatching...."

Next, she went to an egg that sat on a deep ocean blue pillow with sand-colored tassels and looked it over.

Breeze and Syron Stillwater's egg is looking quite perfect and no signs of Hatching...."

Gailwind moved to the last egg that sat on a crimson red pillow with white tassels and looked it over.

"Okay, Miles and Sarah Drakken's egg looks fine, and no...."

Gailwind stopped talking for a moment as she looked at the egg closely and found a tiny hairline crack at the top. Then it started moving and shaking, forming more cracks in the process. Gailwind turned to the other three eggs and noticed they were hatching too.

"NURSE IVY! GET IN HERE, NOW!" Gailwind roared as the nursery door banged open as Nurse Ivy ran into the room.

"Yes, ma'am! Ivy said as Gailwind looked up at her with a smile.

"Summon all the medical staff. The Hatching has begun." Gailwind said as Ivy nodded and ran out of the room only to return a moment later with a hatching cart, accompanied by other nurses.

Gailwind started on Drakken's egg first as it was already laced with several cracks in the shell. Suddenly, with a loud CRACK, the top of the egg blasted off and smoked as it hit the floor. Gailwind looked inside and let out a small gasp, almost dropping her delivery blanket.

Ivy looked up and came over to her, saying, "Ma'am? Are you all right?"

Gailwind looked up at her, quickly collected herself, and said, "Yes, yes, of course. But take a look for yourself."

Ivy looked inside the egg and found not one but two baby Fire Dragons looking up at her. Ivy turned slowly to Gailwind with an expression of puzzlement. Gailwind just shook her head, taking the twins out and setting them side by side in the same basket.

"Twins?" Ivy asked as Gailwind looked just as perplexed.

"It would seem so. However, highly rare." Gailwind said as Ivy noticed something on one of the twin's left feet. Both looked the same, except for the coloration on their fronts. One had yellow while the other had black. The one with yellow had a Dragon's Head birthmark on his left foot, and Ivy showed this to Gailwind, whose face lit up with excitement.

"Do you have any idea what this means?" Gailwind asked a perplexed Nurse Ivy. Gailwind's head was spinning. "Nurse Ivy! Takeover, I need to go see the King!"

"Yes, Ma'am!" Ivy said as she watched Nurse Gailwind leave and went back to work.

King Zallerferd was sitting at the long council table, going over reports from the five Regions and his morning tea. He hummed a tune in his rich baritone voice and had one long scroll out in front of him, half-finished. The summer air wafted in from outside, and he longed to be outside with the rest of his people. However, he knew he had duties here to perform before entertaining himself. It was Zallerferd's thought that, with any luck, he would be done by the time afternoon came around, getting a chance to enjoy the festivities.

Be that as it may, his thoughts were interrupted by the main doors, and he noticed Nurse Gailwind slip in quietly. She made a bow of her head and said, "My King. I come with great news. Your..."

"...heir has hatched. Yes, this was the reason for the announcement yesterday. Michael told me just before my Coronation to look for a sign on the left foot. That is why I told you and Nurse River because I did not want anyone to slack in their obligations." Zallerferd said as Gailwind looked a little guilty.

"I'm sorry, Milord. I just thought to let you know." Gailwind said as King Zallerferd chuckled, standing up and coming around to her.

"No, you were right to come to me now. I am absolutely thrilled that my heir hatched. What family does the little guy belong to?' Zallerferd chirped.

Gailwind smiled widely and said, "Well, funny you should mention that because he belongs to the Drakken family. His papa is the current governor if I remember right."

"Yes, he is. So, the little guy is a Fire Dragon, and no doubt Miles will be proud."

"Yes, sir. However, there is more. He has a twin."

King Zallerferd stopped dead in his tracks and looked at Gailwind with a brief moment of shock on his face and thought, "It happened so soon. I thought we had a while before we had to worry about that. It looks like the prophecy is being fulfilled faster than I thought."

Zallerferd looked up to find Gailwind watching him with a look of concern on her face. He smiled and said, "That's extremely rare, but I am sure they are healthy, right?"

Gailwind returned the smile and replied, "Of course, and they appear to be happy. Now, I think we should let their parents know."

"Yes, I agree. I think Miles and Sarah are here enjoying the festival. I shall have someone fetch them." Zallerferd said as he sent one of his servants down to the festival. Fifteen minutes later, Miles and Sarah Drakken came in laughing and chatting with each other.

Miles back scales were the darkest red that Gailwind had ever seen, and she noticed they were matched by black front scales. However, his eyes were the most distinguishable feature, standing out in bright orange. He wore a bright crimson red shirt with black leather pants. Sarah looked beautiful, with her golden hair dangling down to her waist. This accented her shiny red back scales and yellow front while wearing a light blue summer dress with a sunflower pattern. Her eyes were a dazzling hazel green, and Gailwind couldn't help but notice the life that radiated off of them. Like her husband's, her horns zig-zagged back. Both Sarah and Miles turned their attention towards Nurse Gailwind and King Zallerferd, bowing to both.

"You summoned us, my King?" Miles said as King Zallerferd nodded.

"Yes, we wanted to be the first to congratulate you on your twin baby boys," said King Zallerferd.

Miles and Sarah looked at each other in confusion before Miles turned back to King Zallerferd and said, "There must be some mistake. We only had one egg. How can we have twins?"

"There is no mistake, Governor Drakken. I was the one who helped them out of the egg." Gailwind said as the shock hit Miles hard and looked at Sarah.

Sarah looked just as stunned but smiled and said, "We have nothing to worry about, love. If anything, it is a blessing in of itself."

"I'm not unhappy, Sarah. I just wasn't expecting to be blessed this much." Miles said as King Zallerferd held up his hand to grab their attention.

"There is one more thing you should know. One of your boys has a mark on his left foot and has been chosen to be my successor after I retire." Said King Zallerferd.

Miles and Sarah looked utterly blown away by this as Miles said, "How do you know this?"

Michael informed me of it just before my Coronation. He told me to look for a mark on the left foot of every Dragon hatched twelve years from that point, and here we are." King Zallerferd said. Miles and Sarah exploded with excitement at this news and kissed each other before turning slowly back to King Zallerferd.

"Yes, this is a joyous occasion indeed, and when he is old enough, he will start his apprenticeship with me. I believe five should do well." King Zallerferd said as Miles's face grew serious.

"My Lord, I would make one request," Miles said evenly.

"Yes, and what would that be?"

"I would request that while he is training under you, he will be allowed to attend Michael's Academy here in the Tower. The reason is I think he could benefit greatly from the interactions of his peers around him. Not only that, but Michael's Academy is top-notch, and it would only help him become a great King like yourself."

King Zallerferd thought this over for a moment and finally said, "I do not see any reason why not. His brother can attend, too. I would not want to split them up from one another."

A wave of relief washed over Miles like a cool breeze on a hot summer day and hugged Sarah tightly. Suddenly, a knock on the door as Nurse Ivy came in, rolling a single carriage.

"I have two little bundles of joy for a Mister and Misses Drakken," Ivy said in a singsong-like fashion, motioning everyone to see them.

The two babes were smiling up at all of them as Nurse Ivy picked up the one with yellow. Suddenly, he hiccupped and blew out flames that caught Nurse Ivy's hat on fire. She quickly handed Sarah her baby, taking off her hat and patting out the blaze.

Oh, yes, they certainly are Fire Dragons," King Zallerferd commented, causing everyone to chuckle a little.

Nurse Gailwind pulled out the one with black and handed it to Miles, who carefully took him in his arms.

"Which one has the mark?" Sarah asked.

"The one you are holding." Nurse Gailwind said thoughtfully.

Sarah nodded as she looked down into the happy face of her child and said, "I think I'll name him Razial."

"Razial Drakken..." Miles tested. "Sounds good to me, and I think this little guy should be named Mazial. Yes, Mazial Drakken."

"It sounds wonderful to me," King Zallerferd said as Ivy excused herself and went back down to the Medical Wing.

"Well, I have to return to my duties, as well. We have many hatchlings to deliver to their respective families, so I must oversee that. Good day to you three." Gailwind said as she walked out of the room.

Gailwind was always happy to deliver hatchlings to their families, but this one would stay lodged in her memory for decades. She put a hand over her heart and smiled because she sensed the hope to fill her that things would be all right.

She finally arrived down at the Nursery and started sorting out which hatchlings were to which families. This took the better part of the morning and into the early afternoon. By the time all the hatchlings were delivered, the afternoon ran late into the early evening.

Gailwind was the last one left in the Nursery that evening, finishing up some paperwork. Her date with Hector was just moments away, and she could feel her heart beating within her chest. All and all, Gailwind thought it was an incredible day and hoped with all of her heart that her date would go even better.

Gailwind finished the last scroll and blew out the lamp on her desk. She walked out the door and ascended the golden spiral staircase. Even though her body was tired of the hard work, she still felt energized for the festival's prospect.

Hector was waiting for her at the bottom of the steps in his white shirt and brown leather pants. A black leather belt hugged his waist over the shirt. As their eyes met, they both smiled, and Gailwind notices the large wicker basket in his hands.

"Hello, Nurse Gailwind. Care to join me?" Hector asked as Gailwind smiled.

"Gladly, and please, call me Cary," Gailwind said as she took his arm and walked to an empty grassy spot far outside the Tower walls.

Hector spread out a blanket from the basket, and the two sat down on it. Gailwind wondered what was going on until Hector produced a small rectangular box with a diamond necklace in it and looked directly into her eyes.

"Cary, I better say this before I lose my nerve. You've been my greatest friend and always been there for me, and I wish to be there for you. Cary Gailwind, will you be hand-fasted to me and me to you?" Hector said as Gailwind saw he was trembling with nerves.

Gailwind was stunned by this sudden move on his part, and it took a moment before she realized that was indeed her heart's desire. To be with Hector for the rest of her life.

She smiled and said, "Yes, a thousand times, yes!"

They both kissed as multicolored fireballs exploded high above them. They laid back on the blanket and made love under the starry, starry night.