Ace

Ace’s egg was laid on a fresh, crisp spring morning, on a small bank of marsh grasses and moss. When his sibling’s egg was deposited next, Ace’s egg was bumped just enough to roll down the bank, into a narrow bubbling brook at the base of the slope. Ace’s egg was washed down the creek, bumping along the smooth, pebbled bottom.

His egg eventually wound up in a open area of leaves and grass, where it was snatched up by a mother crowned roc, mistaking it for a fallen egg from her own nest. Placing Ace’s egg alongside her own, she brought his egg to term alongside her babies. When the eggs hatched, she immediately started teaching them how to open their wings and begin flight. Roc growth is very fast, while imperials take several years to come to full maturity, so when the mother roc encouraged her babies to leave the nest and begin flying, Ace was left behind at first. The roc babies flew circles around Ace for several weeks before he finally stretched his wings and left the nest for the first time.

The air currents were strong, and supported his young body easily as he learned to use his wings. Once he mastered the operation of his wings, he hardly ever landed in the nest again. When Ace was taught to hunt along with the other rocs, he started feeding himself and growing to monstrous proportions. His length increased fivefold, and compared to his “mother,” Ace was massive. When the babies finally left the nest for good and the mother returned to her original, active lifestyle, Ace struck out on his own. Spending most of his time in flight, Ace’s skills developed further.