The Rogue Rider (An Inheritance Fanfiction)

Chapter 6: The Dilemma of a Dragon

Ragin woke up to a pleasant hum of thoughts in the back of his head. Like a cacophony of bright colours rolling over him in a constant motion. A small smile spread across his face, the emotions rolling around inside his head to pleasant and content it was like he didn't have anything to worry about. It took him a moment to realise that they were the thoughts of someone else, and in that instant he shot up, wide-eyed. An annoyed grumble to his side made him look down to find the dark blue dragon laying by his side.

She opened one eye and looked up at her, a faint twinge of annoyance running through her conscious. He blinked, not quite used to the intimacy in their thoughts. With a small grunt he carefully blocked himself off to the overwhelming run of emotions and stretched, yawning. He could still feel the general buzz of her thoughts, but it wasn't as strenuous as before.

A small frown touched his face. Now that he thought about it, he shouldn't be feeling her thoughts at all. Glancing down at his side he saw his ring, laying on the corner of the bed. His eyes narrowed and he quickly scooped it up, glaring down at the dragon beside him. She tilted her head and rumbled softly, though she could feel his anger.

"That was a very bad thing to do, Akaysha," he growled between his teeth.

The small dragoness let out a warble, sitting up and curling her tail around her hind legs, almost protectively. She lowered her head as the scowl on his face increased. He could tell she didn't quite understand what she had done to deserve his anger.

"Don't do that," he said as her emotions of content and happiness dimmed somewhat, "This if for our own protection. What if they found us?"

The dragoness didn't answer. He didn't expect her to. It would be another month or so until she could finally talk. He clenched his knuckles, before sighing and shaking his head. He swung his legs out over the bed and stood up. He bent down and drew a new black shirt from under his bed, not really wanting to wear the blood stained one he had left on the floor. That one he lit on fire with a spell.

Akaysha turned to watch him, not moving as she could sense he was still angry. He moved around the room, grabbing a sword from the wall as well as a dagger and an unstrung bow with a quiver of arrows. The bow wasn't quite the make of his previous one, which he had been quite annoyed to leave behind, but it would go a long way to keeping him fed and safe.

He then moved to the chest with the food inside. He took out two pieces. One he cooked with magic, and the other he left on the table for Akaysha. The young dragon tilted her head in interest, and leapt to the floor before climbing up a chair and then onto the table. She glanced at the meat, then at Ragin. When he gestured for her to go ahead she let out a squeak of excitement and bit down into the meat, tearing off pieces at a time with her teeth.

He watched her for a moment, before digging into his own meal. As they ate the only sound was Akaysha's grunts and snarls as she battled with her meal, occasionally tearing off a piece too large for her to swallow. It amused him slightly, and he couldn't help but smile at her ferocity. She looked up at him and his smile disappeared, though she could still sense his amusement.

"I'm still angry at you," he said.

She rumbled in answer, before digging into her meal again. He sighed and sat back in the chair, already finished with his piece. He let his thoughts wonder. It was going to be a difficult couple of months. The dragon riders would be after their thief, and Tharin would also be after him. And it would do no good to just stay where he was. Dragons grew very quickly, and in a month or so Akaysha would likely be too big to be able to fit in the cave comfortably. In two months she would barely be able to fit at all.