🌊 The Egg of Dreamtide · Dragon Village

Nov 6 • Nursery

🌊 The Egg of Dreamtide

The sea was quieter than usual that morning. I remember the hush of the waves — as if the ocean itself were holding its breath. I had wandered farther than planned, barefoot along a stretch of shoreline I hadn’t seen before, somewhere between waking and dreaming, my harp still humming from the night’s performance aboard the ship.

That’s when I saw it.

At first, I thought it was a boulder — smooth, glistening in shades of silver-green. But as the tide pulled back, light shimmered across it like moonlight caught beneath water. Scales. Perfect, overlapping scales. I knelt down, brushing the sand from its surface, and felt warmth beneath my fingers — steady, rhythmic, alive.

A faint glow pulsed from within, as if the sea itself had a heartbeat. The air around it thrummed softly, and I could almost hear music — distant, fluid, and impossibly ancient.

There was a whisper in the waves then, a voice that wasn’t quite sound:

> “Dreams birthed the tides, and tides birth the guardians.”

I didn’t know what it meant, but somehow, I knew this was no ordinary egg. Legends from coastal villages spoke of the Dreamtide Sentinel, a dragon born from forgotten dreams to protect the waters of the world. I had thought it only a tale told by sailors at dusk. Yet here it was — the egg, resting at my feet, wrapped in the hush of the sea.

I built a small shelter of driftwood and seashells around it, unsure whether to guard it or simply bear witness. Each night since, I’ve heard that same soft song echo through my dreams — a melody of waves, wind, and stars.

Maybe one day, when the time is right, it will hatch.

And when it does, I’ll be ready — the girl who found the egg of Dreamtide.

— Lydia Bandy

The Traveling Harpist

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