A Labour of Love
Drake trudged along the oldest path on Craggy Mountain, muzzle down, paws in pockets. He sighed heavily, ruffling the white fluff on his chest, and sending out a plume of fog into the freezing wintery night air. The nippy atmosphere roiled around him, poking through the holes in his threadbare windbreaker. Only his thick black pelt repelled them. The despondent young wolf kicked a rock and snarled, his sorrow burning into rage for just a moment. Then, the brief burst of anger fell, and the cloak of gloom swirled over him once again. He sighed once more, and tried to get a handle on what he was going to do.
He was, in a word, fucked. He'd just been evicted from his tenement in the slums, he'd lost his minimum-wage job a week ago, and been kicked out of college the week before that. He had nowhere to go, not even a place to sleep, as his car had been totaled by a drunken rich prick with enough lawyers to physically bury him. He'd disputed his insurance claim in court, but his court-appointed lawyer had bungled the case spectacularly, and he got nothing. All he owned he carried in a backpack; a few changes of clothes, all the food he could buy, a sleeping back, and a lantern. He had come to Craggy Mountain to camp out for a while. He had also come to die.
Again he felt that cold brush against his heart, and dismissed it yet again. His mind was made up; if society wanted no part of him, he would do away with himself in a dignified way. He was going to sleep under the stars until he was at peace, and then throw himself from the peak. He found his old clearing, and spread his possessions. He sparked a fire, and sat staring into its depths. As the flames danced in his deep green eyes, he wondered how his life might have turned out otherwise.
Maybe his dickhead buddy would have had the presence of mind not to hide his pot in Drake's locker. Maybe his boss might have understood that the shipment of pickles really was labeled 2012, when it instead was really 1998. Maybe his landlord wouldn't have thrown his stuff from a fifth story window. Drake sighed, and put his paw against his forehead. Maybe... He would have known his parents.
Drake whined, and pounded his head with his paw. He always came back to that! How, maybe, if he hadn't been abandoned as a puppy, his life wouldn't have turned into shit! He leaned heavily onto his palm, and wept openly. He. Had. Tried. His. Best. He'd gotten a job, gotten a place to stay, gotten into college. And all of it fell apart. Maybe life wanted him to hate himself. Well, it was working. He'd considered several methods for doing away with himself; getting a gun and shooting up that loaded prick, and letting himself die in the police standoff. He'd rejected that. Although the selfish jaguar had hurt him, he couldn't hurt him back. It just wasn't in his nature. He thought about throwing himself in front of a truck or a bus or something. He rejected that too. These days, he might survive, and he didn't want to stick around as a vegetable until some merciful nurse pulled the plug. He thought about throwing himself from a building. That was out, too. He might hurt someone, and he'd certainly traumatize innocent people. Taking himself out in the peaceful air of the Mountain, however, appealed to him.
He threw off his thoughts, and stood up. He wanted to go for a walk. He started off into the woods, making notches with his trail knife as he went. He went further and further, following a stream that babbled over small round rocks. Suddenly, he narrowed his eyes. He knelt, and examined the ground. He found... Holes? There were holes in the ground. He felt around, and saw holes about the same size as his fist all around him. He put his paw over one, and felt warm, moist air roiling up from within. He snorted, and started digging. He wondered what kind of creature had a burrow like this. He half hoped it was a snake; getting bitten would save him the trouble. He went deeper and deeper, the hole getting bigger and bigger. All of a sudden, he dug too far. The ground just collapsed. The network of holes had been over a huge opening in the ground, and Drake's meddling had collapsed it.
Drake fell with a mournful wail. He finally hit the pile of loose Earth perhaps 15 feet below. He sat up groggily, and yelled as his lantern knocked him square in the head. Mumbling vile imprecations, he grabbed, and looked around at where he was. The cave opening above his head allowed moonlight to illuminate the rocky walls, and his lantern did the rest. He was standing in a tunnel, that stretched off in opposite directions. He scrabbled at the walls for a moment, but couldn't get up to the opening. As he massaged his aggrieved pads, he muttered "Well, if you can't go up, go forward." He began to explore the cave.
Well, Drake thought much later, it wasn't a cave. It was a cave system. He wandered among huge tunnels and outcroppings, through endless capillaries in the rock. His heart began to beat faster. These caverns were artificial. He could clearly see marks on the stone. He wandered into another chamber, and gasped. In the center of the circular room was a bed, of sorts. Straw, hay, pelts, feathers, clothing, anything soft was piled in a deep indentation in the floor. Drake paled, pivoted on his feet, and ran. He didn't know what was down here, but he didn't want to find out.
He ran faster and faster, just barely staying within the jouncing circle of light provided by his lantern. Finally, he stumbled into the biggest room he'd seen yet in the labyrinth. It was huge, and almost perfectly square. Tunnel mouths gaped all around it, and Drake's lantern was beginning to dim. He whined mournfully. He wanted to die with dignity, not perish in feral panic, starving in the dead dark. He sat down, and covered his face with his palm.
"Goddamn it. I can't even kill myself right."
"Why would you want to do that?"
Drake threw himself forward, and scrambled around onto his rear in the dirt of the cave. He looked up and gasped. He was silent for a second, and then opened his jaws wide, and screamed. Looking at him from less than five feet away, illuminated by the glow of the lantern, was a huge reptilian head, easily five times bigger than his. It winced and shrunk back. Drake started hyperventilating, remembering all the things he had seen in what must have been the thing's den. He knew he was going to die here. Oddly, that thought stilled his terror and quieted his heart. He studied the creature. It was obviously a dragon; tiny emerald scales covered it, and as it crouched on all fours, it shuffled its wings awkwardly. The thing's face was not unlike his own; a muzzle, a ruff around the neck... Only this creature had no ears, and it's ruff was a membrane of flesh held up by bony spikes. It's eyes were a deep, sparkling blue. Drake closed his eyes, and breathed deeply for a few seconds. He put his hands down, and leaned his head forward. "Go ahead."
There was silence for a second. Then... "Go ahead and what?"
Drake looked up. "Go ahead and eat me. I won't fight you."
The dragon reeled its head back a little. "Eat... You? How barbaric!" Drake was a little unnerved. Although he heard plain English, the only sign the dragon was talking was that its lower jaw opened a little. Furthermore, the dragon had a woman's voice. It was quite disconcerting.
He frowned up at the dragon. "That's what you're supposed to do, right? Eat people? Well, go ahead. I've got nothing better to do."
The dragon blinked huge sapphire eyes at him, and then said "I think we got off on the wrong foot." It reared back onto its hind legs, and exhaled a small streamer of fire into a nook carved into a wall. The fire spread around the walls, until a ring of illumination had formed. The dragon sat back, using its... Drake's eyes nearly exploded out of his head. Using her tail to balance herself. There could be no question as to the dragon's gender. Her body, slenderer than it looked, was adorned with unquestionably feminine mammalian breasts, and a small slit between her legs. Drake remembered his etiquette, and dragged his eyes up to the head perched atop the long neck. The dragon put a paw to her chest, and closed her eyes. "My name is Livera. I heard your running, and came to see what was going on. Who are you?"
Drake gaped. He shook his head, and remembered himself. "I'm... I'm Drake. I was out camping, and I saw these weird holes, and I... I'm sorry, but are you really a dragon? Flap, flap, kidnaps princesses, breathes fire?"
Livera raised an... Eyebrow?! No, Drake realized, not an eyebrow, but a row of calcified scales above her eye. In response, she flapped her wings, blew a smoke ring, and said "Does that answer your question, princess?"
Drake blinked at the jest. "And... You're real? I didn't eat a mushroom and hallucinate this, did I?"
Livera shook her head. "No, I'm real. We were always real. But a long time ago, your kind killed us off slowly. That's why I'm hiding in here."
Drake looked around. "Ah. So that's why these caves are so big. So how many others are squirreled in here? Fifty? A hundred?"
Drake could have sworn that he saw liquid in Livera's sapphire eyes. "No... There are no others. I built this den for me and me alone." She pushed her face forward. "But the real question is, why are you here?" A forked tongue flickered out of her mouth, and she frowned. "You smell... Sad. Plus, even I think it's freezing out there. Are you trying to catch your death of cold?"
Drake ran his hand over his nose, and laughed bitterly. "Yeah, something like that. Okay, Livera, you seem like a nice per... Dragon, so I'll tell you. Yeah, I am trying to kill myself."
Livera cocked her head to one side. "Why?"
Drake threw back his head and laughed. "W-why? I'll tell you why!"
And he did. He knew he would never talk to another fur again, so why not a gigantic lizard? He told her everything; his expulsion, his downsizing, his eviction. He told her how he had wanted to study biology and become an ecologist, and how he paid for it by flipping thin burgers at a run-down old place in the red-light district. He told her how the only girlfriend he ever had ran off with a doctor. He told her how his buddies would get high and then hide their stuff in his locker. He told her how his landlord had forced him to slowly pawn off everything he owned, until he threw what we rest into the street. He told her how he had decided to off himself, and when he was done, he panted for air for a minute as Livera looked on, and a single diamond-like tear dripped off her face. When Drake caught his breath, he said "So, THAT'S why I want to kill myself. Is that reason enough for you?"
Livera didn't speak. She went back down on all fours again, and approached Drake. His heart beat a little faster. She wasn't a behemoth, but she was roughly five times his size, and could swallow him easily if she choose to. Instead, she settled near him, and curled her neck around him. He nearly squeaked as the powerful muscle nearly swept him off his feet. Finally, she spoke. She sounded husky. "Life has dealt you a terrible hand, Drake."
He steadied himself on her head. "I've noticed."
"Since you have told me your story, I wish to tell you mine. Will you hear it?"
Drake thought for a second. "On one condition; if you promise to kill me. And quickly; like tear my head off or squish me into jelly. Promise?"
Livera was quiet. "I... I promise."
Drake settled into the curve of her neck. "Alright. Tell me."
And so she did. Livera had hatched from an egg deep in the Rockies, completely alone. She had learned to fight, how to fly, how to survive, all on her own. However, she was seen by some people and she had to leave. She found refuge in the Andes, and dug a burrow. She emerged only occasionally to hunt. However, even that didn't last. She woke one morning to find a tribe of primitives sneaking into her cave. She had to slaughter them all, and moved again. She made her way to the Alps, and there found another member of her rare race; a huge, red male dragon by the name of Kosimo. Kosimo had taken her as his mate, and for several years they lived in his burrow. However, one day, Kosimo kicked her out.
Drake blinked. "Why'd he do that?"
Livera pushed her massive head against his hand, and didn't speak for a moment. When she did, Drake could taste the sadness in her voice. "I am barren, Drake. Many times did we mate, and not once did I produce any eggs. He told me to go, so he could find someone else to continue the race with."
Drake winced. "Ouch." He sank into her a little more. "I don't think I mentioned it before, actually but... I didn't know my parents either. I grew up in an orphanage. I always kind of hoped that they knew they just couldn't take care of me, but a lot of people told me that they just didn't care."
Livera curled around him, and brushed her head against his. "I hope it is the former. You have a kind heart."
Drake sniffed. "Yeah, and a fat lot of good it's done me. I know they really didn't. I went looking for them, once..."
"Did you find them?"
Drake didn't answer for a moment. "Yeah. I did. It was the latter."
Livera sniffled. "Life has been unkind to the both of us."
She continued her story. After Kosimo had evicted her, she flew in grief until she fell from the sky. She had fallen close to Drake's town, and had crawled to Craggy Mountain. She spent the next twenty years hollowing out her cave system. She had placed hundreds of old dragon markers on the mountain, to attract others of her kind. She had never seen so much as a single wingtip.
Drake absentmindedly rubbed her head with his pads. "That's a rough deal, I gotta say. That's why you're desperate enough to talk to a fur, right?"
Livera shook her head, and awkwardly shuffled her hind feet. One of her large hands self-consciously rubbed her belly.
Drake saw that, and steeled himself. "Well? You promised to kill me. Are you gonna do it?"
Livera didn't answer. She uncoiled herself from him, and shuffled off into a corner. She seemed to be thinking, and Drake heard stone shifting. After a moment, he called out. "Hey, if it bothers you, just let me out and I'll do it myself."
Livera walked back over to him, and put her face right in front of his. "Drake, could I possibly convince you to stay in this world?"
Drake half laughed, half howled. "HAH! Yeah, if you can give me a purpose in life and give me some caring parents. If you can do that, I'll happily go back to town."
Livera bumped his muzzle with her nose. "I can."
Drake raised an eyebrow. "I'm all ears, honey."
Livera tilted her face so that their eyes were almost touching. "It is called the Rite of Rebirth. It comes from a time long past in both of our histories, when we were much harder to tell apart. In those days, we traded species with reckless abandon, choosing that which suited us best. Anyone who undergoes the rite is transformed forever. You could become... Like me."
Drake blinked. The weird thing was, he was actually considering it! "Uh-huh. Okay, I kind of get how that would give one a new purpose." He put his hands on his hips. "But how's that going to get me a new set of parents?"
Livera just stared at him. She glanced down at herself once, and then back up at him. He looked down too, and his eyes fell upon her slit. His jaw popped open. He raised a finger and said "Ah. That's completely crazy."
Livera coiled herself about him with serpentine quickness. Drake found himself enfolded in oddly warm arms, and yelped. Livera hugged him tightly. Livera spoke. "Is it crazy, Drake? It has been done, many times, by both your kind and mine. Besides, isn't it just what you wanted? Purpose, and a parent?"
Drake shivered. "That's all fine and good for me, but what about you? Surely you can't want to shove some fuzzy guy into your muff, right? I mean, what do you get out of it?"
Livera began to hum in her chest. It was... Beautiful. Drake closed his eyes. The simple melody seemed... Familiar? How could that be? He was sure he'd never heard it before, but it seemed like he had... Back before he was alone, back before he lived in misery. As she hummed, she spoke. "What do I get, Drake?" She brought her paw up, and ran a huge talon with infinite gentleness over his cheek. "I get a child, Drake. A little baby boy to call my own. Do you object?"
Drake opened his mouth to object... And found no words. Livera continued. "I... I always wanted a child, Drake. Kosimo was nice, at first, but I couldn't live on that alone. I wanted something to accomplish, something to look at and say 'I made that'. I want to hold a tiny, innocent creature, and watch as it grows strong and wise. I want to have some impact on the world. I want to have something that ensures that my race shall not perish from the Earth. I want to have a child."
She was silent for another moment, and dipped the bottom of her head to the top of his. "Would you be that child, Drake?"
Drake felt his thoughts slip away, shaken loose by her gentle humming. He wanted to find some way to object, some way to express just how crazy he thought the idea was... But none came. Why not? What did he have left to live for? Isn't this what he had always wanted? Who cared how he got it, he would have love, and something to strive for in his life; something that others couldn't tear away, something others couldn't strip from him because they didn't think he deserved it. And this poor creature, perhaps alone in the world, could have something to give her pent-up love to.
He pushed his back against Livera's soft hide. His words stuck in his throat. "Y... Yes, Livera. I will be your child."
Livera's eyes widened, and she rolled around the cavern squealing in joy. She hugged Drake to her face, and hummed even louder. She finally got back her voice. "Thank you Drake... You have no idea how happy you've made me."
Drake hugged her face back, smiling... He opened his eyes. He was... Smiling? This was working faster than he thought. He said "So, how is this going to work?"
Livera set him down, and slithered off into a corner, retrieving a worn stone tablet. She read it a few times, and then spoke. "I am to guide you into my womb, where you'll stay for a few months. A shell will form around you, and you shall be reborn as a dragon, and my child."
Drake thought. "And I'll be able to breathe in there?"
Livera re-read a section. "You won't have to. We retain enough mammalian traits that we support our young with umbilical cords until the shell forms."
Drake took a breath, held it for a moment, and broached the question that had been on his mind. "So... Will my mind be gone? Everything I learned and saw?"
Livera's eyes grew sad. "You shall retain your knowledge, but otherwise your mind shall be wiped clean. Your memories will fade. I'm sorry."
Drake smiled. "Why are you sorry? I'll be glad to get rid of that baggage. I just didn't want to lose all the knowledge I crammed in here."
Livera put aside the stone tablet, and put her face close to his again. "Are you ready, Drake?"
Drake held his nose with one hand, and made the SCUBA 'ok' sign. Livera laughed, and picked him up. "No, no, that's not how it goes."
Livera leaned back, back, back, until she tipped over the rest of the way, and came to rest on her back. She lowered him down with one hand, and spread her nether lips with her other. She said "I'm afraid that I'm not going to able to help you. This is going to feel very good to me, and I'm not going to have the greatest control of myself. I do not want to hurt my child."
Drake gulped. This was the hard part. "Alright. How will I know when I hit your womb?"
His feet touched the slippery insides of her tunnel, and she shivered, and moaned. Her eyes snapped open, and she placed him back on the ground. "I almost forgot, you'll have to disrobe."
Drake shrugged. "Makes sense." He quickly shucked his clothes, until he stood naked before her. She smiled. "That's better. Alright, you'll feel something very tight. That shall be my cervix. If you can't get in, just poke it a little. That should do the trick."
She reached to pick him up again, but Drake waved her off. "If I've got to navigate myself, I should go headfirst." She nodded. He crawled up between her legs, using the scales as handholds. He stood atop her mound, and she spread herself again. His shaking paws touched her inner regions, and Livera threw her head back. She whined, low and long, as Drake inserted his head into the damp depths. He had to gasp for air, and when he did he inhaled some kind of thick, buttery fluid. He gagged at first, but then he licked his lips. Not bad... He brought his paws inside her, and used them to haul himself further inside. Outside he could Livera moan, and her depths contracted around him, pulling him deeper inside. He kicked his legs spasmodically as he was momentarily disorientated. Suddenly, his legs were pinched in a stunning grip, and he sucked in air to yell, but instead got a faceful of cum. What came out was sort of a wet gulping sound. Livera gasped, and said "I'm sorry! That is what I was speaking of."
He swallowed, hard, and yelled back. "'S alright, just keep your hands to yourself."
He heard Livera giggle, and rolled his eyes. "Like that's a problem." He hauled himself another arm length inside, and twisted, bringing his legs inside. Livera screamed, and he felt her entire body rock. Her birth canal gripped him harder this time, and he slurped in another foot. He put out his hands to steady himself, and felt a small irregularity inside her.
Outside him, Livera gasped faintly, and repeatedly. She clenched her legs together, hard, and bit her lip. Oh, but she wanted to scream! She almost asked if he would stay there, and simply wriggle around in her depths until he was exhausted and full with her juice. But she ignored that voice, and instead felt for the small bulge that had started to form in her tummy, and concentrated on the different kind of warmth she felt from it. Drake gasped, and swallowed another liter of fluid as she clenched, and felt himself wetly move another few inches. Only his feet and part of his tail stuck outside Livera. He pulled his feet inside, and pushed off her lips, sliding further inside. He felt Livera toss and turn, and called out "Almost there!"
From all around him, over the pulsing of the walls and the rush of her blood, he heard "Take your time!" He smirked, and pushed his head forward. However, he smacked his head into a rather squishy obstruction. In the dark tunnel, he had to bring his hands up to feel at what was there. Judging by the sounds Livera made, it must have been her cervix. Nearly there... He pushed against it, and felt the small hole in the center. He poked it, prodded it, and rimmed it with his finger until he felt it dilate. So focused was he on his task that he shifted his feet to get some better leverage, and gently kicked the small bump in Livera's depths.
Livera howled, and Drake felt an impossibly strong hand push him a little farther. He yelped, and stuck his head into her womb. He snorted, and muttered "No womb at the inn..." He struggled a bit, trying to get his paws inside. As soon as his shoulders popped through, there was an earsplitting roar, and Livera's vagina clenched totally. His feet nearly shot past his head as he was flung into her womb. It was a tight fit, and Drake curled up into the fetal position. He smiled, and closed his eyes. He'd made it.
Outside, Livera closed her eyes as well. Still lying on her back, she gently placed a hand atop her heavily gravid womb. Livera may have been bigger than Drake, but she was just big enough so that he fit like another dragon, fully grown and ready to drop. She smiled serenely as she petted her bump. She spoke softly, knowing that Drake could hear every word. "Thank you, my son. I never thought I would know what it is like to carry a child... It's beautiful. I can feel your heart beat, and your paws trailing along my walls... I can feel your tail lashing, and your breathing... You're so heavy... It's incredible. You're going to want to go to sleep in a little while. Don't resist it. Again, thank you so very much. You... You saved me."
Drake smiled broader, and wiggled a bit. "No," he whispered. "You saved me." He felt something slimy press at his folded arms, and he lifted them. The umbilical cord pressed wetly into his stomach, and bonded there. He fingered it gently, and chuckled. He felt warmth spread from his stomach and the lingering want for air he had felt left him. He sighed. Livera's womb was immensely comfortable. He could feel her mighty heart beating like a huge clock, and felt her gentle hand rub across his back through her stretched abdomen. He felt something very wet soak his back, and he turned as best he could to get a look. Of course, it was completely black, so he reached a hand around, and felt the substance. It was very warm, and thick, too, like fine syrup. The level slowly rose, and Drake laughed, releasing bubbles, as it closed over his head. The amniotic fluid was so warm and soft, he felt as if he was floating in a particularly lovely cloud. He wriggled a little, and felt a velvet weight press against his eyes. "You saved me," he whispered.
Livera groaned as Drake relaxed, and settled against her womb. She stroked her round dome, and smiled. She settled on all fours, and waddled to her den, extinguishing the ring of fire. Her keen eyes guided her to her bed, and she curled around the fur in her womb. She closed her eyes, and nosed her belly. She fell asleep to the gentle rhythms of their hearts, synchronized.
The next morning, Livera blinked her eyes open slowly, and smiled when all she saw was the emerald dome of her abdomen. She rolled her hips from side to side, and giggled to herself. She unsteadily got to her feet, and steadied herself. She had work to do. First, she had to get a huge supply of food. Hunting wasn't going to be easy for her in the coming months, but she'd been very careful in her planning. She laboriously walked to the mouth of her den, and stretched under the warm sun. Her den had been built deep into the guts of the mountain, and the entrance had been cleverly concealed behind a waterfall. Livera took a few steps forward, and rolled on her back, letting the cool water wash the dried remnants of last night's ritual from her sex. She luxuriated under the flow, but forced herself to her feet with a growl.
She flexed her wings experimentally; it'd been so long since she'd flown, and she'd never done it with something so heavy inside her. But still, she got a decent rhythm going, and jumped into the air. She flapped as hard as she could, and ascended. She flew languorously to a spot she'd glimpsed some years earlier. She smiled when she saw it; a free-range cattle farm. Landing unsteadily, she quietly and stealthily snapped the necks of perhaps fifty cows, and took a few trips to transport them back to her den. She then flew to an old depot on the outskirts of the city. She landed in the forest, and watched as three furs drove a large truck into the depot, and got out. They went into a warehouse, and Livera took her shot. She clomped forward, and fastened her claws around the eighteen-wheeler. With a long grunt of exertion, she lifted herself, her womb, and the truck into the air. She flew it back to her mountain, settled the truck next to the cattle, and sliced it open with a single claw. She sighed in relief as a curtain of white spilled out; the truck really had been carrying salt.
She used the salt, which had been slated for road use, to cure the meat. She placed the tack in a dry, cold cave; it'd last longer that way. There was no creature on Earth that could take a dragon, even a gravid one, but once her child was born, she refused to leave him alone for even a second to hunt. At the thought of Drake being born, she stroked her stomach for a moment, and then set off on another task. She walked through tunnels and cavities, until she came to what looked like a cave blocked by a rockslide. She stared at the wall, and a tear of joy swelled in her eye. Many years ago, she had dug this cave to use as a nursery. When she had dug it, she worked with hope; when she had sealed it, it had been with bitter sorrow. But her hope had been answered, and she nearly wept as she tore the rocks from their barrier.
She padded into the long-sealed room, and looked around. She brushed some gravel out of the egg-pit. She made it smooth and oval again, and blew heavily on it, to remove any obstruction at all. She wanted Drake to rest as easy as he could when he was born. She raised herself up to her full height, and inhaled deeply. She exhaled a burning jet of fire against the ceiling. She breathed out again and again, and when the wall glowed cherry red, she reached forward and pushed her claw into the substance. It bent and curved, and she twirled her finger around, creating a borehole to the surface. She did it again and again; she wanted her nursery to be bright and airy, so that even underground, the new Drake would understand that he was a creature of the air. She leaned back down; there was further work to do, but not today. She brushed her stomach, and sighed. She could not be too careful with him.
She gasped, and then purred as Drake kicked reflexively in her stomach. She waddled into the main room, and rolled onto her side, letting Drake kick to his heart's content. She put a hand on her belly, and traced the outline of his limbs inside her. She closed her eyes, and her purring shook her entire body. The lullaby-like rhythm must have soothed Drake, as his movement soon stilled. Livera thought for a moment, and decided to stretch out for a nap herself. Being pregnant was taking a lot out of her.
She woke much later, and yawned widely. She glanced at one of the boreholes she'd carved, and was mildly surprised to see that afternoon light was slanting through them. She laid her head back down, and patted her stomach. "Goodness, child, are you in such a hurry to be out that you have to take up all my energy?" She rolled to her feet, and checked on the meat. Still cool. She made a note to redirect a snow drift into this cave. If she ventilated it a little better, it could be a most effective food storage area. She lifted herself up on her hind legs, and extended her claws. She started carving the stone walls. She scratched over and over again at the walls, pushing away dirt, rocks, and boulders, until she felt a cool breeze on her paw. She extended the slit in the rock, flicked away the gravel, and kicked the wall, hard. The mountain's bedrock shook. She did it again and again, but stopped when Drake wriggled.
She bent her neck to her distended abdomen. She whispered. "Forgive me, Drake. I'm just trying to preserve meat for us. After all, what kind of mother would I be if I couldn't provide for you?" After a moment, her belly quieted. She gave the wall one last fierce kick, and heard a huge rumble from outside. She stepped aside as quickly as her bulge allowed, just barely avoiding an avalanche of white. She primly covered the mound of meat with the refrigerant, and waddled out of the room. She panted as she navigated her cave network; the day's exertion, combined with her new-found weight, was taxing even her considerable strength. As she entered into the main burrow, she saw that night had fallen. She moaned as she felt a motion from her belly. "You're right, little one; it is time to sleep." She retired once more to her bed, and stretched herself as long as she could, before curling up with a smile.
The next month passed quickly for the pregnant dragon and her unborn child. She made significant improvements to her cave; rerouted a fresh river to flow through it, expanded the borehole system, assembled a simply huge meat surplus, and cleaned up and expanded the nursery. As she worked, she was very pleased to notice the subtle changes in her belly. Drake slowly stopped his kicking, she was disappointed to see, but she soon noticed that her belly, which had been defined by the fur inside, was slowly becoming rounder, more curved. She knew that was the shell developing around him, and when it was finished, he would be born. The eggshell was bigger than Drake, and her belly started scraping on the ground whenever she walked. She didn't mind, however. If it meant he would be born healthy and happy, she would do it.
One morning, she awoke, and she just knew. She got up on all fours, shook herself, and smiled. "It's time, little one," she said, and left her bedcave. She waddled with great effort out of her cave, and caught a passing deer for breakfast. She'd need the energy later. After she ate, she buried the remains, and went back inside. She dragged herself into the nursery, and laid down, the junction of her legs just above the egg-pit. She waited there, for perhaps an hour. Just as she was beginning to think her instincts had misled her, she felt a ripple move down from about her breasts all the way down to her tail-base. She moaned, and raised her hind legs. Another ripple passed through her, and she felt the egg in her womb shift a little, pressing against the cervix. For about thirty minutes she let her body ready itself, and when the tip of the egg passed through, she closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. "Almost, son..."
She began to push. It was like no other action she had ever performed before. It wasn't like killing prey, carving stone, or flying; it was something deeper, something built into the very foundation of her mind. She pressed down hard, and gasped as the egg leaped forward a little. She was surprised by how pleasurable it was; wasn't egg-laying supposed to hurt? She cried out as another contraction took her, and she pressed with it. Her cervix widened to admit the escaping egg, and Livera whined, panting a little at the waves of ecstasy washing over her from her slit. Had she not been engaged in a matter of life, she might have toyed with herself. She pushed again, and screamed when her cervix passed over the widest point of the egg, and she felt the first and last real inkling of pain. From then on, it was strictly pleasure that roiled in her loins as her egg passed through her tunnel. She yelped and moaned as its smooth walls slid along her g-spot. The egg pit was starting to fill with her joyous secretions; a gooey, sloppy pool for the egg to rest in.
She reached around, and crowed in exultation as her fingers felt the very tip of the egg sprout into the world from her depths. She rubbed it gently, and then placed her hand upon her rapidly deflating stomach. She clenched her tunnel one last time, while also pushing upon the last bulge of the egg inside her. The feeling of the thick oval sliding smoothly through her pushed Livera over the final edge, and she screamed in delight and success as her vagina clenched fully, and the egg slipped out of her and into its damp space in the floor.
Livera's rear trembled unsteadily in the air. Her nether lips drooled, and her eyes wavered open and closed. After a while, she got herself together, and turned to look at her egg. A beatific smile spread across her face, and she hummed deep in her chest. The egg was pure white, but speckled black like Drake's pelt. It was a little bigger than Drake had been, and rested in the pit snugly. Livera coiled herself around the egg, unmindful of the fluids, and began to lick it clean. When she was done, she curled her long neck around the egg, and hummed herself to sleep.
In all the next month, Livera left her egg only to eat from her store, relieve herself, and shoo away the occasional animal that ventured inside. All the rest of the time she spent wrapped around her egg, holding it close to the fire in her heart. She snuggled around it with a sleepy smile on her face whenever she was awake, thinking of how best to pass on what she knew to her child, and humming a lilting, ever-changing lullaby to him. When she was asleep, she pressed her ear to the side of the egg, and always fancied that she heard a faint scratching sound.
Finally, in the dead of night, Livera was wakened from her sleep. She looked around drowsily, wondering what had disturbed her. She pressed her head back to her egg, and was rewarded a second later with a dull thump. She leapt back with a cry of joy and surprise. She watched as the egg trembled, a faint cracking sound coming from within. Her eyes lit hungrily on a fracture in the white surface, and watched as the line spider-webbed across the surface of the egg. She gasped in wonder as a tiny, black egg tooth chiseled through, pushing away a piece of eggshell. A small black head freed itself from its prison, and wriggling gently, hopped out of the egg.
With tear-filled eyes, Livera studied her newborn. The little drake (Author's Note: A drake is also the technical term for a male dragon, so snigger all you want at that coincidence) was black almost all over, like his previous form, and his underbelly was scaled white, as were his folded wings. Oddly enough, he also had a shock of brown hair, and a line of the same stuff that ran all the way to the tip of his tail. His wobbly hind legs strained themselves trying to keep the dragon upright, and he fell over with a squeak. Livera could not restrain herself any longer, and slowly walked over to the new-born Drake. She gently rolled him onto his back, and nuzzled him. He chirped in pleasure, and then opened his eyes and stared deeply into his mother's. Livera thought her heart would melt. His eyes were just like they had been before; a beautiful deep shade of forest green. But now, they were unburdened by a lifetime of sorrow and glinted instead with the light of innocence. Livera fell onto her side, and softly pulled Drake into her bosom. The new dragon, still unsteady on his feet, contented himself with flopping against her side.
Livera hugged him close, and sighed, softly. Tomorrow, she would celebrate, but tonight was a time to simply snuggle and sleep. She gasped softly as she felt Drake's toothless muzzle fasten on her teat, and begin to suckle. She rested a paw lightly on his head, and simply squeezed her eyes shut and smiled at the feeling of the little mouth milking her. She leaned her neck down to Drake's ear, and whispered "Drake, one day you shall accomplish great things; things that will imprint your name forever into the memory of our races'. But do not forget, never forget, how much I love you." Drake released her breast for a moment, and -Livera has always maintained- that he winked at her; innocence and experience mingling into something incredible in his eyes. Livera hugged her son tightly, and felt consciousness leave her.
Motherhood suited her, she decided. It suited her well.