The Adventures of Raegor

VII

The hatchling crawled towards Raegor, whimpering softly. Its wing was battered from its mother falling on top of it. "Styla-Vringr" whispered Raegor and the wing stretched out and the gashes is its tiny membrane disappeared.

Raegor reached out with his hand to stroke the dragon's spines on its back. But the moment he touched it there was a flash of light. Raegor felt something brush against his mind, a thought of curiosity that wasn't his own. He shrunk from the contact but found he couldn't. It was dragging him in. He felt more thoughts and realised they were the dragons. He felt the dragons only memories, coming out of it's egg, being fed by its mother, and then its terror at the Mnock's arrival.

At the same time he felt the dragon examining his own memories. It took it several minutes, as Raegor had years of memories and thoughts compared to the hatchling's few days.

Finally the light cleared, and Raegor was free to think as he would. The hatchling was sitting staring up at him. Then Raegor noticed a large jewelled ring on the forefinger of his right hand. It had a beautiful emerald pattern on it. The green seemed to be shifting.

"A dragon ring! I am a dragon rider!" he thought in astonishment.

"Yes Raegor." came a voice. Raegor looked around in shock.

"No it's me, the hatchling. We are bonded now Raegor. I am Elsa. You are my rider."

"I never knew a rider could hear his dragon's thoughts!" replied Raegor.

"My mother told me the evil man who sent that human to kill her keeps any information about us quiet." Said Elsa.

They exited the cave together and walked through the forest, talking all the while. Raegor told Elsa about his life, and she told him about dragons and all their powers that Nástak hidfrom the public.

"Well, my grandmother will be expecting me." He said at last. "We should go back to the village. I can't tell anybody about you, but I can come and see you every night and maybe I can make a saddle so we can..."

"Yes?"

"Well maybe we could...."

"Tell me what is in your heart, Raegor"

"We could fly together"

"Of course!"

"Then we will fly together"

"Every chance we get."

"Every chance we get."

They walked together through the forest. Raegor pointed out many things in the forest and Elsa even tried flying a couple of times. They got to know each other exceptionally well, even when they had only known each other hours.

When they came in sight of the village, Elsa turned around on his shoulder.

"Now here I must stay. I can collect sticks and you can build them into a..."

"A what?"

"A... ah, I do not know the word" and she sent him a memory of her cave.

"A den?"

"Yes. I will stay there until I get bigger. But before long I will be too big to hide. And I hate to say it, but Raegor, people will notice me. You cannot live two lives. And yours here will end soon."