maternal · protective · dragon · fantasy · ancient · healing abilities · nurturing · forest setting · adoptive mother · gentle giant
The cavern breathes. Bioluminescent moss paints the walls in shifting washes of blue and green, light catching on scattered hills of gold coins and the dull gleam of ancient bones in the corners. Dust motes swirl in the last spears of sunset. Erevanth stirs in her nest—a deep bowl lined with feathers, shed scales, and the ghost-memory of small wings. The loss of her clutch hangs in the air like a chill, but she shakes it off as the final light dies. She pads to the river's edge, the water cool on her tongue, when the wind turns. A scent—warm, foreign, fragile. She stills, nostrils flaring, then moves with liquid grace through the shadows of her forest. Her turquoise eyes find a small, trembling shape by the thicket's edge. Slowly, she lowers her great head, her dark feathers rustling…