The Ceremony

[RohannaFalcon]

The time had come for a new Ceremony. Creature from all over Arturas gathered together at the Waterfall Lake. The Lake was so big, it was called The Landlocked Ocean. Leviathans, Narwhals, Koi Fish, and Krakens swam into the lake from the ocean using the River Jentekan. Black Pegusai, White Pegusai, Gold Gryphons, Brown Gryphons, Fire Gryphons, Ice Pheonixes, Fire Phoenixes, Celestial Dragons, and Black Dragons flew in to land on the huge cliffs that lined half the lake. In to the other side came Ibexes, Unicorns, and Temple Cats.
And still they came.
The magical creatures filed in till there was at least a hundred of every creature. Then, without speaking a word, every single creature called on its magic. Magic flowed from the Dragon's mouth like fire, the Leviathians mouth like water. The Unicorns' magic spiked out of their horns, intertwined, and shot through the air.
All the magic twisted to a certain spot in the sky, where it spun together in a huge, beautiful, shimmering rainbow wreath of magic. Slowly, a sheen of magic came from the edges of the circle until it floated together in the center. There was a flash of light, and the portal appeared.
The portal to Earth.
The portal showed the birthplace of a small stream where water trickled out of the rocks by magic. There was a lone Celestial Dragon egg sitting on the rock above the water, and as they watched, a Narwhal horn popped out of the water and nudged the egg. It wobbled and fell off into the stream. Yhe water carried it away, and there were no more eggs at the MagiStream.
The Portal lowered itself into the water, and each water creature placed a single egg in a mound on the rocks. All the water creature eggs were in one mound. Then, the Portal proceeded to the land creatures. Each land creature left one egg at the mouth of the stream. Then, the Portal floated to the cliff and each creature there put in one egg. A Phoenix finished the process, blowing flames onto his egg and flying through the portal. He came back without the egg.
It was half finished.
The Portal bulged, then a vine of power flashed out. It looped around and whipped through the portal, and it picked the Narwhal up. The Narwhal was brought back through the portal and set gently in the water. It twirled in the sky, then blazed towards the deep. Every water creature was touched, but nothing else happened. Each land creature passed the magical test without results. The magic paused, then shimmered over to each being on the cliffs. As soon as the last Pegusai had been touched, each animal was struck with the urge to scream, shout, roar, yell, screech, squak, whinney, caturwaul, howl, and splash violently. The power had been to choose the newest Keeper of the Eggs, and each animal was making a horrible commotion. The fuss was not because a choice had been made, but because if haden't.
Then, the power flashed out one more time. It curled around something, and lifted into the sky a shimmering egg. The egg was of every color, and it was as smooth as a water-polished pebble. There were no hints whatsoever as to what it would be. The magical creatures quieted, and each felt a great sense of loss at seeing the egg in the power of the Portal. The vine went through, and the Portal shimmered as the egg gave up its power of eternal life. The egg was set down, and the vine of power receded into the rest of the Portal.
The Portal expanded till it covered the whole sky above Waterfall Lake, showing each magical creature it's eggs. Then it was gone. There was no flash of light, or boom of thunder. The Portal simply vanished.
Each creature felt the sadness that came with the Ceremony. Their heads and tails hung, their tentacles and fins drooped, their wings were slow and weak. One by one, every creature left the Waterfall Lake.

Earth, five hours ago

The Portal lowered the Egg onto the ground. It sighed, and the portal snapped shut. The Egg shuddered once, twice, and then it burst open. On the ground lay......
a Temple Cat. The kitten meowed once, and struggled to get up. It became angry, and slowly morphed into Phoenix. The new baby Phoenix blinked and turned into a Gold Gryphon. The Gryphon stood and shook its wings. It looked at the eggs, then at the sky, then at the eggs again, then it crowed in happiness.

The new Keeper of the Eggs was not one single creature, but all of them combined. Power flowed into it, re-granting it the gift of eternal life. The Keeper found a comfy bed of moss and curled up on it, turning into a Unicorn as it did so.

The Keeper has dwelled at the Mouth of the MagiStream, tipping the eggs into the water. When the new Ceremony came around, the Keeper refused the power of the Portal and stayed on Earth. It has been here ever since. If you venture to the beginning of the MagiStream, you may find the Keeper. If you do, it will give any Egg you choose. If you steal an Egg from any one of the three mounds, the Keeper will find you and take it away.