As I lowered my hindquarters to the cool stone of the ledge, mahogany eyes turned back towards my children as they moved to join me. Kalseru stepped out after me, coming to the very lip of the rock and staring out at the shadowed predawn world. There was a slight rapidity to her breathing, and as I looked back to the boys I noticed the way their chests expanded and contracted at a higher rate than normal. I was not truly concerned, only worried in the quiet way a mother does no matter what her children were doing. Even my heart beat a few paces faster than normal, for the climb to this place was not an easy one even for an adult in her prime. Rhaegal followed his sister out onto the rock, moving to stand beside her, and seeing her lean her shoulder against his for a moment. The barest hint of a small brought tiny crinkles to the corners of my eyes, for the special bond between the two had always warmed my heart. All four of them were close, and the synchrony between the boys was evident in the way they moved almost as a small pack. Any worries that Kal would be left out were quelled whenever I saw the way that she and Rhaegal responded to one another. She seemed to be one of the only wolves capable of drawing a more serious side of our her adventuresome brother.
Viserion's creamy blonde form passed his brother and sister, and I reached out to touch my nose against his shoulder as he circled behind me to come and sit on my far side. Rather than looking out into the shadows of Moladion like his siblings, he looked down at the slopes of our home. I glanced back to Drogon then as he was the last to make his way out onto the shelf of rock. I had known of his attempts to find this place on his own, unwilling to wait for me to guide him here. His quiet defiance of my promise to someday bring them here gave me the slightest reminder of his father, and I wasn't sure exactly how to feel about that. No matter what, I loved my son, and a sly, knowing smirk replaced the perceptive look I had given him that had caused him to pause. Then and there I could see the regret and guilt in his garnet eyes, and while I was glad that he had learned a lesson in this, I did not want to rob him of the important experience that this was meant to be. I was glad to notice the slight look of relief cross his features just before he turned to stand side by side with Rhaegal. My mahogany pools drifted down the line, looking at each of my children in turn and the way they silently appreciated this moment. Finally I came to Viserion, and then I looked back out into the darkness of Moladion.
I kept quiet as the sun began to peak over the horizon, shedding the first light of day across the land and casting long shadows that distorted the countryside. The sky was painted a mural of colors, reds and oranges joining the purple that slowly transitioning to a lighter shade with each passing minute. When half of the burning sphere was visible above the horizon, I took a deep breath and spoke to my children. My voice was soft but strong, for in the quietness of morning I need not speak loudly to get my message across to them. "
Our family's legacy began eighteen years ago, when Boneclaw claimed the mountains of Solevion as her own, and her imprint Thunderbone followed her there and soon became her mate," I started; my children had long since been educated on their family history, but I did not think they would deny hearing of it again. "
Together they created one of the greatest empires in Moladion's history, and stood forever as undefeated alphas. In that first year, as they built their kingdom, they brought two children into the world - a boy, Silvertongue, and a girl, Moonglow." The history of Solevion and Spirane were perhaps somewhat common knowledge, as much of Moladion's saga was. But there was another set of alphas that we descended from, and they would not be forgotten. "
Four years prior to that day, another pair of alphas in a land distant from Moladion's borders gave birth to a son. Even from the time he was born Jackson and Grace could tell that they had brought a son to be proud of into the world, for he was strong and handsome, yet respectful even in those earliest hours - everything a parent could hope for in a son. And they named him Alcide."
The sun was almost fully free of the horizon now, steadily creeping higher into the sky with each word that I spoke. It grew brighter, and I could no longer fixate upon it, so my eyes looked to the north, where Moladion's borders gave way to the great beyond - the world I had never ventured to, never seen reason to explore except on one occasion when I had chased Purge from these lands. "
The spring of his sixth year, Alcide felt an uncontrollable urge to leave the lands of his birth. Against the protestations of his mother and father, he set out on his own, unsure what it was that he was looking for. He only knew that he had to find it. For a year he wandered, a lone wolf in search of something he could not name. Finally, in his seventh year, he grew tired of living a solitary existence, and found the lands often spoken of by the vagabonds that wander the world - Moladion. It did not take him long to settle his mind upon which pack he wished to join - the mountains of Solevion seemed to call to him, and Boneclaw received him as a member of her pack." I smiled at the thought, wondering if he'd known then that he was meeting his mother-in-law for the first time.
"
He took time to familiarize himself with the landscape of his new home before making a point of meeting the other residents. But when he did, he approached a small group of females lounging in the warm spring sunlight. And that was the day that he found what he had set out searching for almost two years prior - Moonglow, the completion of his heart and soul, his imprint." My mother and father had known a love greater than any other, and my heart ached whenever I spoke of them, for I missed Alcide so greatly and wished that I had been given the chance to get to know Moonglow better. "
Their love was boundless, and even when the sky fell and seperated Alcide from his mate and three children, he never stopped searching for them." My children had heard the tales of the skyfall before, and I did not wish to touch upon them so much as I wanted to flash forward to the history that was more relevant to them - the information they did not yet have.
"
When they were reunited upon the mountains of Spirane two years later, it was as if they had never spent a day apart. Together they reestablished the kingdom of the mountains, for Boneclaw had perished with the lands she had loved most. And the following spring they gave birth to the First Hope of New Moladion, the first child born in this country since the sky had fallen. And they called her Daenerys." I was odd to speak of myself in the third person, something I did not practice often, but I felt it worked for the story that I wanted to tell my children. From here, new information would begin to trickle into the tale. My eyes drifted back over my children, hoping they had not lost interest, for soon they would learn something that only Viserion had been bold enough to ask about in the past. "
She grew up on the mountain as a princess, destined to someday take the place of her parents as leader of the pack. Because she had no littermates, she grew close with the other children born that year, in particular two young boys from different families who had been orphaned. One was named Taliesin, and the other, Leonidas." All four of them knew that Taliesin had been adopted by Moonglow and Alcide, but only Viserion had ever heard the name Leonidas before this day.
"
Over the years Taliesin became the littermate she had never had, but Leonidas was something else. He intrigued her, challenged her, pushed her to become more daring than she imagined possible. But he would often disappear from her life for months at a time, with no warning. Each time he came back she forgave him and they grew closer. When MoonGlow and Alcide passed away, Leonidas was not there for the girl, and it was from that point that she began to resent him. The next time he returned her heart was torn between loving him and hating him. Somehow, he won his place back in her heart, and when she challenged for the throne that was rightfully hers in her fifth spring, he was there to congratulate her on her victory. But that night, when a friend most dear to her heart came to heal her wounds, it was revealed to Leonidas that this male - Meryl - was Daenerys' imprint. In a fit of jealousy, he disappeared once more." I took a breath, pausing and giving them a moment to absorb this new part of the story, the part of the story that would ultimately lead to their introduction.
My nostrils flared as the tale began to come to its conclusion. "
It was over a year until she saw him again, and the Queen chased him from her lands when he tried to return. She was furious with him, heartbroken over his abandonment of her. That winter she ventured beyond the mountain's borders and saw him once more along the banks of the Aplos. He sprinted towards her, attempting to cross the frozen river, but the ice gave way and he nearly drowned. Despite everything that had happened, the Queen saved his life. But in saving him, she only lost him again as he fled Moladion for perhaps the last time. But this time he left her with something, a parting gift of sorts. Life stirred within her, and the following spring she was blessed with four young dragons." Them, my children, the greatest gift that Leonidas ever could have given me. I fell silent then, looking to each of them in turn and wondering what they thought of all that I had told them. I felt in my heart that they were old enough to know these things, that they deserved to know where they came from and who their father was. That they were not the offspring of some random Casanova or that their father was someone inconsequential. For all the ways Leonidas had hurt me, I had loved him. But any love I had once harbored for him was now given only to the children that stood with me as the sun truly rose above Moladion, the skies becoming blue as another summer day began.
daenerys