Clutch:Hrw3/Eggs

As light from Rukbat diffuses throughout the hatching sands, your eyes fall upon the furthest edge of the mound of sand. There, delicately nestled between the forelegs of the queen and lovingly protected from all harm, lies an enormous golden egg. The light glimmers off its flawless metallic shell, the surface smooth and exhibiting no streaks or discolorations, and the sand about it has been very carefully arranged. Aurelinth's multifaceted eyes whirl under half closed lids as she surveys the entire cavern, ever watchful of any harm that may come to her eggs. She lies curled around another egg, a slightly smaller brownish egg which lies upon its side in a place of honour.

A small yellow egg hides between two larger eggs: one a nearly round speckled green, the other an oblong spotty blue. Perhaps the yellow egg will shell a blue, with two big brothers hatching next to it. Or maybe a trio of greens!.

The north side of the mound seems crowded with Aurelinth and Cyrseth's eggs: three separate groupings seem to be visible. The closest set has a very large blue-mottled egg, surrounded by four smaller eggs. One of the small eggs looks cracked, but actually isn't; it has an intricate network of lines upon it. Sometimes the egg looks yellowish, and other times it looks pink.

As your eyes adjust, you strain to focus them on a particularly large group of eggs along the side of the sands. It seems as if Aurelinth layed all the speckled eggs in just this one area: the shimmering of the light against the eggs' surfaces make your eyes open widely. All the colors of the rainbow are represented on the eggs. Muted shades of purple, red, and yellow stand out.

A lone egg lies silently on the front side of the sands, away from all the others. Dark grey and about medium-sized, it appears to have been neglected. But the carefully arranged sands about it speak a different story. A few meters away from it, a pair of eggs, almost identical, lie in a small depression in the sands.

Scanning the hatching sands, you quickly glance at the assembled eggs. A group of mostly speckled eggs catches your glance first, and you marvel at the myriad of colors. But your gaze turns to a group with two larger eggs displayed prominently: one, a half-light blue/green egg, and the other almost peach-colored. The sand covers almost half of them.

A group of about seven eggs lies nestled in part of the warm sands. Two of them, a little larger than the others in the group, are a soft mottled green and blue, respectively. Peering closer, you think you see another egg half-buried near the two, but its tan color camouflages it in the sand. A small, lone egg sits to the right of the collection - its light blue shell contrasting deeply with the darker patch of sand it lies in.

Your eyes focus slowly and strain to see the few eggs that Aurelinth has layed along the farthest wall of the cavern. A brilliant white ovoid gleams like a polished stone, drawing your gaze. Looking at it, you almost overlook a smaller light cream egg, with a spiderweb of bronze lace covering its surface.

Near the center of the mound of eggs lies a cluster of larger eggs arranged neatly in a shape reminiscent of a star. Most of the eggs display the typical marbled shadings of soft muted colors, but one smaller one of whispy lavender stands out distinctively among its siblings, suffused with a splattering of vivid burgundy over the entire surface.

Aurelinth folds her wings closed once again, revealing three dappled eggs in a small depression on the far side of the egg mound, which had been previously hidden from view. Each of the three eggs is uniquely different, one a pale seafoam green streaked with brilliant yellow, another a gentle peach with dapples of darker tangerine, and the last a somber woodsmoke blue, striated with tiny black lines. But together the three blend harmoniously in a myriad of colors.

Over near the entrance to the bowl lies an elongated egg of light brown. The egg is so close to the edge of the sands that it lies at an awkward angle, as if it were about to roll right out into the bowl, anxious to be closer to the source of food when it hatches. Its nearest neighbor lies regally in a small depression surrounded on all sides by a protective wall of sand. The blue and white egg has a near transparent quality to it, and as the shadows move across it, it almost appears as if you could see the dragonet moving inside.

Nearly hidden behind and between so many larger eggs on every side, an unusually small egg of watery silver grey peeks out. If not for the metallic sparkle of the veins covering the egg, you would hardly notice it was there, sitting unpretentiously in the shadow of its larger companions.

Off to the side of one group of eggs lies a curious looking egg: it appears to be a sort of tan-brownish that reminds you of the color of a tunnelsnake. The surface is mottled and it looks like Aurelinth has rolled it to and fro along the sands. Near it, a gentle peach egg, blended with a vibrant tangerine sits, with a soft seafoam green egg streaked with brilliant yellow.

A burnished silvery egg pokes up from the sand, a few meters from where the gold egg lies. It's an interesting view of the contrasting eggs: the larger gold in the foreground, with the small sliver beyond it. Between the two eggs lie a soft lilac colored egg: it's pink and purpleness looking quite muted among the sand.