"Oh, how adorable!" A feminine draconic voice echoed off the cave walls.
Startled awake, Karltin jumped up from the nest, unwittingly taking on a defensive stance against the intruder, wings half unfurled, legs crouched and ready to leap, and head low to the ground ready to lunge for someone's throat. Suddenly, she stopped.
There before her was a dragoness nearly twice her own length. She was intensely beautiful with her ruby red scales and broad burgundy stripes down her back. Four horns formed a solid crest on her head, and a row of spikes adorned her spine from the base of her serpentine neck to the tip of her tail where it merged with a wide formation of flat bony plates resembling a fish's fin. Automatically, Karltin recognized the feature as a flying rudder of sorts to be used when gliding. She also felt an overwhelming magical aura coming off the dragoness despite her gentle expression. This was no ordinary dragoness but a member of the Noble breed.
"Now, now, little one, be at ease," the dragoness soothed, her dulcet tones causing the smaller dragon's body to relax against her will. By now, Karltin had noticed that the newcomer spoke the dragon tongue which humans could never decipher but dragons understood by nature. "I mean no harm. Rather, I was quite taken with your clear motherly instincts, rare in one so young. And for someone else's egg, no less."
Finally, Karltin found her voice, instinctively answering in the same language. "This IS my egg. I am an adult."
The dragoness's large jewel-like eyes twinkled with amusement. "Of course, my sweet. You are a big girl, indeed. But you must not lie to a Noble. Your scent does not match that egg, and you are too young to be laying. Where is your mother?"
Karltin bristled at being spoken to like a child but found herself unable to act on her outrage. Puffing out her petite chest, she hissed, "I need no mother. Again, I am an adult!"
This answer did not have the desired effect, as the dragoness suddenly blinked in sympathy. "Oh my! Orphans in my territory? And one not yet hatched? You poor things! Worry not, I, Pyrona of the Southern Wilds, shall be your mother from now on. You two are now my daughters."
"No!" Karltin growled in frustration. Regardless, Pyrona's declaration was reverberating through her body, causing her to imprint on her as her mother. A Noble's word was law, after all, and she could feel a wave of affection filling her heart for this dragoness she had only just met. Gritting her teeth, she tried to resist. "I am n-NOT your daughter! Leave us alone!"
Pyrona tilted her head, obviously puzzled at this reaction. Lesser breed dragons were unable to disobey a Noble, especially in her own territory. Perhaps this child had some magical talent herself.