2 Family?

When consciousness returned to the young dragon, it was not the loving embrace of her mother welcoming her home but rather the maddened screams of her brother. The wretches howls seemed half insane, his youthful voice was lifted, screaming in anger. She could hear him demanding her, his right to her. Her body curled up tighter on the cold slab of stone she awoke alone on. Her body flinching away from the source of the sound that seemed so close. Her young heart beat savagely in her chest as she could hear that mad brother trying to reach her but being held back by who knew what.

Slowing her breathing, she slowly stood on shaky legs and stepped off the slab, the chamber she was in looked roughly worked rather than natural. Her blood was telling her dragons often had servitors to tend them so the modifications to the stone work was likely the result of one such servant. Slowly she crept down the uneven hall, wincing as she felt the torn talon of one claw jolt sharply with her steps, she would not turn away but nor would she surrender herself to that maniac brother of hers.

Further down, around a bend another chamber became apparent. Lights flickered within illuminating two large ink black forms talking over a smaller body between, even at this distance the smaller forms head snapped to look at her. The gleam of greed, madness, lust... all swirled in that single gleaming evil eye. Acidic drool dripped from his ugly muzzle as his bound body tried to lurch towards the corridor she was in. The two larger beings turned their necks to regard her.

The one that had claimed motherhood chuckled, "Looks like the dead arose."

The other one snarled, its large yellow eyes narrowing, "This is the whelp that marked my son?"

"Our son, and yes that is your daughter as well. Looks like we have two acceptable kin rather than one."

The second dragon snorted in disgust, "Merely a female for breeding, but look what she has done to my son! Disfigured, raving... how will the whelp account for marring my heir?!"

Destorianaxe cringed hearing the discussion, her steps back pedalling slightly as she regarded her 'father' in the same light as her brother. Were all male dragons like this? Her mother chuckled glancing to her, "Come forward childe, we would inspect you."

Gingerly stepping forward she screamed as the large male grew tired of her timid approach and reached in, a taloned claw grabbing her stubby neck and yanking her into the larger chamber, throwing her forcefully against the slab upon which her brother writhed and screamed. Even bound down his body tried to get to hers, his one eye glazed as the object of his obsession accidentally brushed against his flank. Destorianaxe cringed away trying to escape the strange situation, but the large male who supposedly was her father unfurled his wings cutting off her retreat.

"Scared female? You dare wound my son and don't have the spine to face me?!" The large male roared his long neck bringing his own scarred visage closer to Destorianaxe. "Give me one good reason not to eat you whelp."

"How about I give you two?" Her mother answered in her place. "First off your heir is insane, still usable but undeniably broken, eating the only rational offspring leaves you with a problem down the line if he's incapable of breeding with any other than his focus. Second, she is my daughter, the first daughter to truly survive a birthing. She is my heir, try to eat her and the next time you share my lair you won't have to worry about future children."

The large male snarled at the female, his gaze turning to regard her, "You dare defy me sister?"

The female snarled back, "For my strong daughter, yes big brother, this time I will not submit."

Destorianaxe listened in horror, her brother writhed on the slab trying to cover her with himself. Her mother and father were siblings like he and herself? Then, like her brother, her father was a survivor, claiming the last surviving female as his mate much like her brother had tried... but failed. Slinking back fear clutched at her young mind, her blood assured her this was perfectly normal for black dragons but her soul screamed at her to run, to escape this cavern of insanity cause it wasn't only her brother crazy but likely her father and to a lesser extent her mother, to stay was to invite the madness upon herself!

"You cannot go anywhere my childe, the lair mouth is a good thousand feet from the ground, an excellent climber you may have become but until you can fly there is no leaving your home yet." Her mother stated simply turning from the father and son pair. "My childe Destorianaxe, come, sit by me and speak your mind. For a female to leave the birth chamber before her brother is very uncommon."

"Uncommon? Damn unnatural! This half wit lost to a female..." Her father snarled slamming his claw down atop her brothers head pinning the writing struggling young dragon down, "Freak of nature or more likely this isn't mine, his blood is too thin to have allowed a breeder to best him."

Destorianaxe cringed and slowly moved to sit by the the larger female, she glanced to her family with a shudder, one her mother took note of with interest before nodding, "Speak childe, let's see if there were any differences in your birthing from our own."

Destorianaxe swallowed hiding at the side of her mother who looked at the action with a tinge of amusement though most of her gaze was indifference, waiting for the childe to begin. As the tale unfolded, Destorianaxe's brother whimpered in pain, their father was looking livid, his claw pressing down on his sons neck even harder, "You went for the female before finishing off your second and rest of the meat? No son of mine could be so absurdly stupid! She beat you not in strength, but the fact you were a lust driven fool!"

The large female chuckled and shook her head, "Much too early for those thoughts, she needs centuries before her first eggs will be ready and already after her. Brother he is your son, thick and through. I seem to recall a certain sibling of mine visiting me nightly while we thinned our own 'herd'."

The large male snarled his head swinging to regard the younger dragons, "It seems my son got the strength but the breeder is the brains. This can work. Tomorrow your training begins, shush your mewlings my worthless son lest I rip the tongue from your muzzle. She is yours in due course, for now we train, you grow stronger and in due time you best her as you should have." Dragging her brother from the chamber by his throat their father stalked off leaving Destorianaxe with her mother who pushed her childe away.

"You should stop that childe, as I said you can consider me your mother but we do not cultivate such relationships like those man things do. He and I are your sires, we will train you and your future mate and the cycle will begin again. For now, we will train you how to survive in this world, we are the utmost predators, even the man things need armies to deal with us, but that is a distinction you will gain in time. For now you are a childe, you will listen or be discarded."

Destorianaxe cringed drawing away from the larger dragon, by title her mother but her words were as if they were strangers. To the older dragon the youngling was a tool to exploit, an oddity to use for her own agendas and even that young mind could realize this. Resisting the urge to weep before these cold hearted family members she held her peace, "What should I learn first?"

The larger dragoness nodded pleased with the youngers response as she inclined her head to the corridor where father and brother had vanished. Rising the large dragon lead the smaller off down the corridor, fresh air assailed their nostrils but rather than following the fresh breeze they took a side tunnel. After walking for several minutes the shouts of the father could be heard before a muffled thump and an agonized groan. Emerging from the tunnel a wide chamber opened before the females. The large male was frowning looking down over the edge of a ledge.

As the females approached he stalked off, taking a cut path down into the chasm with a growl. The large female sat on her haunches and motioned to the gap. "You are a dragon childe. For the moment you have wings, learn to use them. You must reach the opposite side without injury. See to it."

Destorianaxe walked to the edge and looked down, it was almost ten times the drop from the tunnel to the birthing nest, below their father was dragging her wounded brother up the passage, seems big brother forgot he could glide and crashed to the floor. Stepping back the larger female tsked, "No avoiding it childe, run out, leap, use your wings. I'll collect you from the bottom when you fail."

Destorianaxe frowned her yellow eyes narrowing, she could understand the mindset. She'd never used her wings, it stood to reason that without an example to go by her first 'flight' would be more akin to a fall. Still, she had been sort of praised for being the first to leave the pit, yet now she was being looked down on. Glaring at her mother she stalked back a bit then turned and ran for the ledge, her lopping strides ungainly at first as she got use to the uneven earthwork under her claws rushing for the ledge just as her father and battered brother crested the edge.

Her brother thrashed in their fathers grip, his sole eye snapped wide as he growled, "Mine!"

Ignoring the sudden scream Destorianaxe threw herself out from the ledge her half starved body stretched out reaching for the distant ledge before starting to fall, she flexed her front legs shifting her back trying to get that sensation of opening her small babyish wings. The ground rushing up towards her, she almost closed her eyes. Almost. No, she would deny her brother, she would deny her sires! Crying out in rage her body responded, her small wings snapping out as her deep dive suddenly pulled back with jarring force, her tail shifted as she pulled back, her nose dive to the ground below suddenly shifted as she swept up and away, her body dangling to avoid the jutting stones on the face of the opposite cliff face.

Her momentum carried her upwards her claws out stretched as she swept up and clambered onto the opposite ledge and collapsed weakly to the ground. Looking back father and brother seethed in anger, she had shown up her brother again. Looking to her mother a self satisfied look was in the older dragons eyes, this was no pride in an over achieving child, rather this was a cold calculating look. A thoughtful appearance of trying to determine just what value this smart little wyrm had for herself.

Destorianaxe slumped down, the thrill of her short flight could not douse the melancholy that came with watching her family across the way, the feeling of escaping a dangerous situation and landing into a cage was growing within her breast, she felt stifled by the expectations of her supposed kin. Laying her head on her front legs she closed her eyes ignoring the shouts for her to return, blocking out the vicious voices that held anything but celebration for accomplishing her first task on the first try...