Recap: The new batch of rescued eggs hatched. Now there is only one left; the blue egg that covered everything around it in frost. Alec is eager to meet the new draeling.

ALSO: I don't know if its an error or I just neglected to mention it (probably an error, my stupid brain is jumbled). Bonds between a Draeyer and Drae consists permanent exchange of feelings and emotions too, along with power of Flames. Cutting it off will cause immense pain and injury.

There is no emphatic thread like with Alec and can only happen between the Bonded.

Alec's power includes all draes and is a temporary thing that can be cut off by other draes without any damage.

ALSO: Changed the names of the draelings from Book 1.

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The blue egg that had been trying to freeze the surroundings calmed under the touch of his fingers. Alec got a vague feeling of fear, and anger...then surprise and eagerness. He then got the sense that the little one inside was trying to decide on the surroundings. However...he felt three distinct feelings sent to him, causing him to tilt his head.

Three draelings? He wondered.

The egg stilled for a brief moment before it shook. Cracks quickly began to form on the egg and were forming faster than on all the previous eggs. A few minutes later, there was a distinct crack as the silver top of the egg was kicked to the side by a small midnight blue paw.

A male draeling with deep midnight blue scales peaked out over the shell with his alert gold eyes. He glared at the surroundings like he was surveying it for any threat.

Before he got to fully appreciate the little one, another head popped up. Another male draeling with scales resembling the sky looked at the surrounding with a rather sleepy look in its similarly gold eyes. He blinked, gave a wide yawn, then proceeded to nod off like a sleep-deprived human would.

All of a sudden, the egg tipped over as a blur dashed out from the shell. The first two draelings made noises of annoyance as they fell onto the frost-covered hay and blankets.

Said blur turned out to be a third draeling, this time female. Her scales were an icy shade of blue and were similar to Alec's own. She gave off the feeling of purity, innocence, and clarity. She had stopped before Alec's feet, gold eyes bright with joy.

All around him, Alec heard people's quiet gasps and suppressed squealing regarding how cute they were. He couldn't blame them. He was having trouble resisting the urge to scoop them all up in his arms.

They were...small, smaller than most draelings. Probably because they shared nutrients within the egg, their bodies were as long as his shoe, and their tails extended past just a bit.

Before Alec could think further, the female draeling pounced his pants and climbed up his form. He remained still, not minding the stains she caused on his clothes. The two male draelings followed close behind. Alec raised an arm when all three decided to line up on his sleeves. With his strength and small size, he did not strain himself.

Alec stared into their eyes, watching as three emphatic bonds reached out towards him.

He felt...warmth, safety, and...attachment.

Before he could process it further, a new thread appeared. His eyes widened when he noticed how a familiar silver thread appeared from all three. Slowly, he watched as the threads of Bonding...approached him.

Silver color covered his entire vision. A feeling of power coursed through his body before it receded towards the back of his hand. When he blinked, the silver was gone and familiar star-shaped markings appeared on his hand. From his hand, he could feel a new kind of power. He instinctively knew that it was the Flame of his draelings and he could call on it once he learned how to.

He felt it too. Three new presences on the back of his mind. The awareness he had for his draelings.

He paused.

His draelings.

The onlooker's surprise and cheers pulled him out of his reverie.

With his free arm shaking a bit, he reached up towards the triplets' heads. His forefinger ran a light touch over their snouts towards their brows. They all purred at his touch. He let out a shaky breathy chuckle.

They were Bonded.

After meeting Crimson, he had planned to ask for a Bond from the adult drae but fate had cruelly taken away that chance. When he learned he could form emphatic bonds with other draes, he decided that he was content with that.

Now...he was Bonded to three draelings.

His chest felt tight as intense emotions threatened to overwhelm him. He blinked away the liquid building up on the corners of his eyes and hugged the triplets. A wide smile formed on his lips and he chuckled as the three nuzzled his face.

In the background, he vaguely heard a click and Gael's voice saying "Give me a copy...frame it...desk."

His sole focus was on the draelings, pulling on the three new presence he felt in the back of his mind. With his experience with the emphatic threads, he easily connected with triplet draelings feelings. Unlike with emphatic threads, there was no sign of a thread at all. He also felt that the connection was more private, and could not be intruded upon by other draes like emphatic threads would.

He reached out, feeling their joy from the new Bond.

Coziness and warmth.

Protection and safety.

Freedom.

Love.

The emotions were so overwhelming that he nearly missed some.

Sorrow. Pain. Longing. A little anger.

He tried to prod at the feelings, but a strong force pushed him back. All three draelings had pushed him away from those feelings and felt them lock those away.

Protectiveness came from the dark blue draeling.

A calm and resolute feeling came from the sky-blue one. Gone was his sleepiness.

From the female draeling, Alec felt...pleading not to look at it.

Alec blinked and his focus returned to reality. He looked at his draelings, amazement growing in his gaze.

Among the draelings that had hatched today, they had very clumsy control of sending their feelings. But the triplets were very good at it to a point like they had experience. Alec knew that it had nothing to do with his sentiral powers. If his powers could help improve a draeling's control on a Bond, then the slow draeling, Blip, would have immediately become skilled with emphatic bonds when he Bonded with Rei.

Were they already communicating with each other while in the egg? Most likely.

Seeing as the little ones did not want him to go exploring that set of emotions, he turned his attention to the first one.

He blinked.

"What's wrong?" Gael asked as he moved to his side.

"These...draelings think of me as their parent."

His older brother looked shocked for a brief moment before a bitter smile formed on his face. He reached up and ruffled Alec's hair. "That's a good thing, I suppose," he said. "I believe you know what happened to their parents."

Alec held the triplets tightly to his chest. Their parents had been targeted by drae poachers. The people from the Environmental Bureau had found the egg near a bloody area filled with "useless" remains of a drae that poachers had discarded.

A cold fire of anger burned in his chest as he resisted the urge to go look for those bastards and hunt them down, one by one.

He suppressed it and cuddled the baby draes. A small wish formed in his head, that the little ones did not know about their parents' deaths, so they will be spared from the pain. But judging from the emotions they were guarding; the small wish might be hopeless.

"Nice to meet you, little ones," he whispered to their heads. "Welcome to the family."

Gael tried to reach his hand out. The dark blue draeling growled and tried to bite his fingers with his gummy mouth.

"Feisty and protective little one," he said as he shook his head. "When are you going to name them?"

"Now."

"So fast?"

Alec looked down, gently rubbing the triplets' heads. "The last time I delayed giving a drae a name...I only got to call him by that name three times."

Gael fell silent at his words, before giving a small sigh with a bittersweet smile. "Then, why don't you make it a tradition and name them after the color of their scales? I believe Crimson would like that."

A little joy pushed itself past his melancholy. "Sure."

He looked at the babies, trying to find suitable names. It wasn't very difficult.

He looked at the dark blue draeling. He reminded him of a night sky, not just for its color. He also seemed to be a protective little one. "Your name...is Midnight."

The sky blue draeling was next. It had gone back to being sleepy again. His scales remind him of the day, and he seemed to be the calmest so far. You are...Cerulian."

Finally, the draeling whose scales are similar to his eyes. She reminded him of the large glaciers in the mountain ranges of Arktis. The sight had given him the feeling of purity and freshness and was similar to the feeling the female draeling gave off. "You will be called Glacia."

He kissed all three of their little heads. "Midnight. Cerulian. Glacia."

Through their Bond, he felt their joy and love for their new names.

Alec smiled.

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I AM BACK! I COULD CRY FROM BEING RELIEVED FROM THE GRUADATION WORK. (I still had a lot of things to do as part of the student committee AND processing my own documents.)

Anyway. I'll be uploading everyday until Saturday to make up for time. Look forward to it.

IMPORTANT: Can't post on weekends anymore as I'm reviewing for board exams. Updates would be on weekdays.

Next chapter: Alec goes on a trip. The draelings will be choosing favorite uncles.

Kreis: Come to me! Come to me! I HAVE TOYS!

Gael: *side eyeing Kreis* *pulls out treats*

Alec: *a look of resignation*

Midnight. Cerulian. Glacia: ???