The Hidden Glen

Chuckling at the strange fate being rather adorable lapses inbetween talk like a child and talk like a spirit, she pondered as she listened with absolute rapt attention finding their philosophies though she explained it more in layman style was not that different. It was comforting that the purity of a children could win out even when the person no longer lived. In fact due to her station, she had witnessed many still births and such come through her halls. This was a secret, for Hel though lonely had a rather maternal side, although she never knew she could bear her own, she still let them sleep comfortable in her palace in Helheim. Of course she would never utter this to anyone, because there were already stories about her. if people ever found out... They may start to make up stories like she intentionally killed the child to take as her own, but she had not that power, she merely acted as figurehead to this realm, mantaining and making sure order was kept.

She finally spoke though, "Okay, lead the way, although let's not talk about Nosferatu, he and all his ideas turned out ultimately wrong. The prophecy of Ragnarok is believed by deities, but I suppose even they can be wrong, lead the way young one... and I shall follow, let us see what prophecies have turned out to be utter to borrow a phrase of mankind, bull." with that she carefully followed maintaining the even pace despite the fact most could not walk this fast.

Causing the air to whirl, Okina floats across the swamp water.
Though it felt disrespectful to call it that way, as the water was as pure as the moon; reflecting the trees perfectly and without ripples. She felt a sense of serenity and calmness in the atmosphere. She glided letting her feet cause ripples in the water. There was almost no sound apart from the water. Beams of the rising sun shined through the partings of the tree leaves, revealing fish and wildlife in the swamp.

The glen was well hidden, out of sight from the ruins. Although it didn't matter to her due to her abilities. She knew that this leads her to her destination, so it wasn't all pointless. She could have just used a backdoor to get straight to their positions, but it would have been boring for her. She savoured the scenery while gliding the surface.

Eventually, she came to a stop after a few minutes of wandering.
Looking around once more, she looks at her reflection on the water. Seeing the leaves in the background.
It was refreshing seeing some new places. It wasn't like she was tired of Gensokyo's sights. But it nice to see some variety.
The morning birds were starting to chirp cheerily, in response to the rising sun. The cricket chirps had faded also away with the darkness. The trees seemed to part to welcome the new day.

She eventually decided to leave and go somewhere else. Only just to explore more.
Perhaps she could talk to the locals or something. She could out her task for later.
So with a snap, a door opened, creak, a whoosh, and a shut.

Michael Redway slowly entered the Hidden Glen, entering from the Dark Woods. His silver hair shone in the dark as the moon shone through the trees. He wore a black cloak with the hood down and his hand rested against the hilt of his sword as he looked around cautiously, seeing if anyone was around.

The Hidden Glen was peaceful and quiet. It was near the midnight hour and the moon was full, its bright white haze illuminating the otherwise dark forest. The moon seemed massive as it hung in the night sky, its large round form being mirrored and reflected off the surface of completely calm, still black waters. Being farther out away from the nearest cities, away from all the dust and light pollution, here the stars twinkled and shined ever so brightly like tiny little blue shimmering diamonds in the sky. There were no clouds to be seen, and peering up from the large clearing in the trees, this was the perfect time and place to go stargazing. Although it was very late, the moonlight made it somewhat more possible to see in the dark by casting a dark blue silhouette over the forest, making the treeline more visible for anyone who might not have a lamp to see. Of course, many nocturnal critters happened to be active in the forest at this time, and occasionally their eyes would reflect the moonlight also which caused their eyes to glow in the dark. Raccoons, foxes, possums, deer and other creatures roamed around quietly at night as green lightning bugs hovered around and flickered magically in the dark with the serene and natural sounds of croaking frogs and toads, and chirping crickets.

The Hidden Glen seemed like the perfect place to go camping as a single shooting star fell over the night sky, adding a more surreal view to the already peaceful and dreamy setting. But the dark forest, despite its appearance and stillness, was a place that never truly slept, as many animals were just now starting to hunt. From tiny black ants to hungry fish, winged bats and grub eating hogs, the forest may have seemed quiet, but it was actually teaming with life. If someone was quiet and still for long enough, they might even be able to hear cracking sticks and swaying branches moving in the dark forest from the many stealthy animals that passed through the area on a regular basis. There were snakes slithering about in search of nesting birds, which had settled in for the night. A wood turtle was drifting afloat in the middle of a large pond, as water beetles waded along the surface, causing little V-shaped ripples in the water. A spider was busy spinning its web between two trees, and the dew which had collected on its silky strings began to shine in the moonlight. A wolf's long-winded howl could be heard in the far distance, followed by what sounded like a great horned owl as it called out to other owls using a series of hoots.

Despite its tranquility and peacefulness, The Hidden Glen was a very dangerous place for the unwary and unprepared. Bears and panthers or wildcats lived in the forest, along with coyotes, large alligators and other predators. While most of these animals were very skittish and usually afraid of humans, incidents have been known to happen, and it wasn't uncommon for tragic deaths to occur in the woods, especially at night during a full-sized moon like tonight. Everything was on guard in the dark forest. That is, everything except for a single large egg which suddenly fell from the sky, as if it had been dropped from the air by a large night bird, slipping from its talons in mid-flight or perhaps dropped on purpose due to its weight. The large egg fell through the trees, bouncing and rolling over several branches as it tumbled to the ground. The egg rolled along the grassy leafbed before hitting the trunk of a huge willow tree and coming to a dead stop, nestled within its thick winding roots among the foliage. Miraculously, the egg didn't even crack or break, and apart from three parallel scratches along its surface caused by the talons of whatever had dropped it, the egg appeared to be unscathed.

As the moonlight hit the egg's surface, it quickly became apparent that this was no ordinary egg. The most noticeable thing about it was its size. The egg, although having a typical oblong round shape like most common birds and reptiles, was about the same size as a 60 gallon wine barrel and weighed nearly 600 pounds. It had a very thick, dark grey plated surface covered in diamond-shaped rocky scales which overlapped similar to fishes scales and helped it to blend in with the rocks and foliage. An egg which had scales, now that wasn't something associated with most reptiles and birds, especially among the species which lived in the surrounding forest. This could only mean one thing. The egg must have come from somewhere else. But from where? And how did it get here? Was it still alive? And if so, what kind of embryo was it carrying inside? Was it a bird, a snake, or maybe a large crocodile? Could it even be a fish of some kind? Or perhaps the creature that dropped it did so after realizing that it wasn't an egg at all, but just a very large rock. Only, if that were the case, then it certainly did look like an egg of some kind. Rocks don't usually look egg-shaped or have thick scaley armor around them. Nope. This was almost certainly a dragon egg. But where did it come from? And what kind of dragon laid it? With nobody around to hear it fall, see it land, or stumble upon its well hidden roost in the dark forest, the perfectly quiet little egg kept its secrets. At least for the time being as it sat completely motionless between the tree roots, resembling a fallen seed pod or dark fossilized fern on the leafbed...

One year later...

If one could fast-forward the clock, they could watch the seasons change over and over again. Nighttime turned into twilight, which turned into dawn, which turned into midday, which turned into dusk before turning into night again. The luscious green summer forest soon turned over to the dead brown leaves of autumn which whitened during the winter, blossoming with fruits and flowers during the springtime, only to return again back to summer. A full cycle, a flashing glimpse of one whole year focused on the same spot throughout each and every image, showing what was to become of the large black egg, still nestled cozily against the base of the aging willow tree, protected and hidden by its tangling roots in the soft rotting foliage.

Although it was large enough to see plain as day, it resembled a rock or ancient plant fossil, and blended in beautifully with its surroundings, at least during the summertime. The four changing seasons had effected the egg somewhat. It had rolled slightly from its original position during a small flash flood caused by a mildly terrible lightning storm. The egg had been subjected to a small forest fire as the willow tree it was hidden under was struck by lightning. Even though the egg sat dormant on top of a natural nest of red hot burning coals covered in flames, it did not cook the fetus inside. The egg appeared to be fire resistant, or perhaps even fire activated as the fetus began to twitch and show signs of life like a flapping shrimp. At that point in time, the as yet unhatched baby dragon was actually the same size as a shrimp, swimming inside a large eggy fishbowl of nutrients, proteins and vitamins. It didn't even know where it was, and experienced no effect from the waking storms.

As winter came, it had snowed for two days straight during a nasty blizzard which killed most of the trees and covered the ground with a blanket of heavy snow. The egg was camouflaged naturally by the sheet of snow which had collected on top of the egg shell, but the fetus inside the egg did not freeze. Instead, the colder temperatures triggered another genetic process in the creature's body. It started to change genders, just like some reptile fetuses had a tendency to do. As spring came, many rodents, snakes, frogs, insects, squirrels and raccoons would find the large egg and use it as a stepping stone, jumping on top of it in order to run up the willow tree, which was already growing back strong. But even the pressure from the weight of a mountain lion still wasn't enough to crush the lifeform inside.

After a whole year of these exciting changes and events had passed, the egg never moved or changed size. But the little baby dragon inside the egg kept growing bigger and bigger. Now it wasn't a tiny little shrimp anymore. The leech-like embryo had developed into a large wyrm or serpent, which continued to grow with each passing moon until finally it grew two eyes and four legs and started to resemble a soft-bodied salamander. Our unhatched infant was now over 3 feet long from head to tail, roughly the same size as a small monitor lizard. Slowly but surely, its skin began to toughen and soon the baby dragon inside the egg started to develop its first boney scales, taking on more of a reptillian appearance that wasn't so soft or slimey.

It grew its first tiny little baby teeth that were as sharp as a needle, and tiny little claws the size of hawk talons and as sharp as cat claws. Soon, fleshy flabs would appear under the armpits of each forelimb, connecting the animal's elbows to its body like a small pair of sails or fins. They were far too small to enable the baby dragon to do anything but swim around faster, but these small flappy membranes were actually the first makings of tiny little bat-like wings. Right now, however, they just looked like lizard gills, and were not nearly developed enough to enable the dog-sized dragon to glide through the air, let alone fly.

They did help with one thing though besides swimming. These gills acted like little bags or kites for catching wind and providing enough lift that, if the hatchling was to run at full speed, it could potentially achieve a sense of temporary bipedalism before landing on all fours. This would help the defenseless little tetrapod to run even faster for small distances on its two hindlegs, giving it a darting edge over much larger predators. It was a useful evolutionary advantage, and a necessary one, for it was possibly the only defense the poor little creature had. The dragon's internal oil sacks helped it to navigate underwater to such a point that even inside its dark gooey shell, the tiny little larval dragon was already smart enough to determine up from down as it swam around in circles, slowly feeding on its own yoke while continuing to grow bigger over time.

Finally the summer had returned, along with the heat and rain. The rising temperatures caused the unhatched baby dragon to mutate and change genders once again in direct sunlight, only this would be the last time it did this, as the dragon slowly evolved to another stage of development which no longer enabled the gender changing process. Finally, the dragon's sex had been determined. It was to become a male dragon, and this would determine the rest of the animal's life as it continued to mature. The egg was getting soft now and ready to hatch as the outer shell began to change colors like a fruit that's been ripened.

The dragon's small, fragile body was now strong enough to meet the new world. It would finally stand a fighting chance, albeit a very small chance of survival in the wilderness, but a small chance nonetheless. However, it did not hatch. Although it had been a year since the egg was incubated, and it was now time to hatch, it had received no care. It had been neglected to the forces of nature, and while the baby dragon inside was very much alive and healthy, it was becoming a late bloomer. The temperature of the egg had not been carefully regulated like it should have been, and the four-legged beast inside was still underweight. So it continued to hibernate under the weeping willow, lest it become a dwarf dragon and too small to fulfill its intended purpose. Rather than hatching which would risk stunting its own growth, the baby dragon instead lay dormant inside its egg and did nothing, allowing the time to pass.

As the time passed and days began to change, so too did the unhatched infant dragon. It had slowly evolved and developed nicely into something which looked very similar to a gliding lizard, only much larger. It's oil bladders started to mutate and become gas bladders, while it's gills became gliding membranes. It's lungs grew bigger while it's toes and claws grew longer. Finally, the tiny dracodylidae was ready to hatch. It wiggled around and twitched quietly, pushing its slightly curved elongated snout against the egg shell from inside its pink, gooey veined center.

At first there was a crack, and soon the egg shell began to break away as the tiny forelimb of a dog-sized reptiloid reached out from between the cracks, curling its talons and hooking on to the edge of the busted shell. Then another hooked claw appeared, gripping the egg's outer shell as the scaley dragon lifted itself up. The egg's lid rested on the creature's head as it poked its face out, it's large round golden snake-like eyes simply menacing and frightening to behold with their diamond-shaped black pupils and slanted, scaley brow ridges. If ever a slimey salamander could look evil or dangerous, it was now, as it tested the air by tasting it with its forked snake-like tongue. It was obvious just from its appearance that this animal was a carnivore.

But even predators have to partake in the race for survival at some point. The infant dragon's natural borne instincts took over, and within moments, it managed to break free from its heavily armored egg shell. It didn't seem like much, but the struggle to get free had left the little baby dragon exhausted and tired. It crawled out into the world for the first time since its conception, and proceeded to rest between the protruding roots of the old willow tree. Although its scales were harder now, its flesh was still soft and slimey, covered in a protective layer of mucus which gave off a pheromone that would temporarily ward off predators. However, the baby dragon was still brittle and weak with soft skin and cartlidge-like hollow bones. Breaking free and hatching from the egg was tiring and the baby dragon had no choice but to rest afterwards. It would bask in the sun and dry out, allowing its body to absorb the sunlight and warm up, giving its heart and lungs the boost needed in order to get its blood pumping. The dragon's skin was sandy in color and semi-transparent like a newborn gecko. Although it had claws, its talons were still soft and very small, more useful for climbing and digging than for hunting or fighting off hungry wildcats.

After a few minutes, the newborn's claws and skin had dried out and hardened wonderfully. The large lizard reared its head up for the first time, and like a frog or gecko, would almost comically lick its large round golden croc-like eyes with its blackish purple, forked snake-like tongue. It was tasting the air, and becoming more familiar with its surroundings. The baby dragon could already smell other animals from over a mile away. It could hear their footsteps with its false ear lobes, located behind its eyes where it still had gills. It had a rounded snout and looked almost cute, if only for its small size and disproportionately big eyes, tiny cat-like claws and itty bitty webbed toes. It croaked its throat, or tried to, but no sound was presented by the creature's tiny call to its mother. It couldn't even chirp, for its body was still developing and the baby dragon had not yet learned to use its vocal abilities. It tried again as it's neck bulged, but again to no avail. Soon, it began to crawl or slither on all fours, taking its very first baby steps. It started to crawl along the forest floor, leaving the natural nest it had been in between the roots of the still burnt but partially green, old thriving willow tree for the first time in its entire life.

The baby dragon dwelled peacefully and quietly in the Hidden Glen for quite some time, undisturbed and undiscovered. Although there were many natural predators in the forest, the baby dragon was already adept at surviving on its own. It had inherited cleverness and cunning, and its smaller size enabled the dragon to serpentine and run very fast on its belly like a large monitor lizard. When it couldn't outrun its enemies on land, the baby dragon ran into the lake and hid in the water. It sometimes crawled into tree hollows and rock crevices to escape from much larger predators in the forest. There was no shortage of places for our young fledgling to run and hide, and yet it very seldom found any danger that could threaten its growth or progress in such a remote environment.

As time went on, the Hidden Glen became even less dangerous, for the baby dragon had started to grow. At the size of a large dog, there were many predators that had tried to hunt it down from time to time. But as it grew to the size of a large horse, those same predators that used to hunt the baby dragon were now its prey. The scaley beast had developed sharp boney horns and long raptor-like claws. Its eyesight improved along with its taste, hearing and sense of smell. Its brain developed and it grew in intellect, acquiring rationalization and keen instincts. But that's not all. As the beast's muscles, body and bones continued to grow, it developed the ability to use its gas bladders to mimic the different sounds and noises it could hear in the forest. Soon, the baby dragon had become the ultimate hunter and top predator in the Hidden Glen, and all the other animals in the area fell silent and went into hiding whenever the horse-sized reptilavian monster came strolling through the trees.

Five more years went by, and not a whole lot had changed. The baby dragon hadn't grown much bigger in all that time, and it still couldn't fly yet, but its two bat-like wings had developed wonderfully, long colorful fleshy semi-transparent membranes attached to its forelimbs enabling it to climb or glide from branch to branch. The dragon had all the right parts and pieces now, carefully crafted into its genetic design by way of natural selection and millions of years of evolution, a nearly sentient species that had survived numerous mass extinction events and was now the perfect predator. The horse-sized reptilavian monster was large enough and powerful enough to become the king of the lake, as it now hunted lions and tigers, bears and even small crocodiles, anything in the Hidden Glen that used to pose a threat to the dragon's survival was now the dragon's food.

But the dragon wasn't ready to venture out into the world or leave the natural sanctuary of the forest just yet. Life in the Hidden Glen was perfect for the baby monster. There were no humans or other sentient creatures around to pester the growing majestic beast or threaten its security. The Hidden Glen provided plenty of food, shelter and water for the dragon to sustain itself and live on. It was the perfect habitat to raise a dragon in, and the monster felt very safe for the time being, progressing slowly as it continued to feed and grow. After a while, the dragon grew to be twice the size of the egg shell it had once hatched from. By now that egg shell had all but disappeared from weather and decay, so that the seasons of change over the years had erased any evidence that the dragon had been born in the forest at all. The new creature had achieved a huge bit of secrecy as it remained hidden and undiscovered in all that time, continuing to develop and grow very slowly both in size and intelligence.

Dracosuchus has left the area, heading north towards Dark Woods.