Chapter 4

Chapter 4

“Your name…” Amelia paused, her gaze drifting out toward the endless, clouded horizon. She took a breath and spoke the word firmly.“Storm.”

Almost the moment the name left her lips, the egg began to heat up. It grew warm, then hot, until the shell felt nearly scalding against her palms. Fearing she might drop it and damage whatever was inside—or worse, that it might be about to detonate—she carefully set it down and scrambled back.

One might have called her a coward, but Amelia preferred the term ‘survivor.’ If the egg was going to explode, she didn’t want to be anywhere near the blast zone.

A few seconds after she retreated, the egg began to wiggle. It started with a slow, rhythmic tilt, but quickly escalated into a frantic shimmy that nearly sent it toppling over. Then came the sound: a sharp, brittle crack.

Amelia held her breath, her heart hammering against her ribs. Time seemed to slow to a crawl. She watched, mesmerized, as the spiderweb of fractures grew wider and longer, snaking across the shell until the first piece of the casing finally fell away.

A small, blunt snout poked through the largest crack, followed by the sharp, rhythmic sound of more breaking shell. Amelia leaned in, catching a glimpse of pale, leathery skin.