Eternal bond

Journey to Nartheim

He was still amazed by the actions that had just occurred moments ago, never had he expected such a wild thing to happen to him. His eyes stared at the egg, he wondered whether the egg would hatch. It struck him how foolish a thought that was, as it had never before hatched for a human so why should it now. Although, given the unprecedented events of today, it gave Athan a sliver of hope that another unprecedented miracle might occur. The shadows of the surrounding trees were becoming longer and longer. Alerting him to the fact that soon it would be nightfall and he had yet to find shelter. 

He collected the satchel and placed the egg back inside it. Before he departed he looked at the body of the elf wondering if he should carry the body with him, but dismissed it instantaneously. It would be far to cumbersome to carry, so he opted instead to mark the location on a map to guide a recovery party. 

Scanning the trees for a suitable place to shelter proved fruitless, as he was too distracted by the days events. Every so often he would mull back through all that had happened, even a few times Athan checked the bag to ensure that there was indeed an egg in there. It was near sunset when he  found a grove that seemed suitable to his needs. Despite the days events, he couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed that he wouldn't be able to catch any elk for his family. He knew that in the coming weeks he would have to double his efforts if they intended to have enough for winter. It was fairly easy to set up camp despite the fading sunlight, as this routine had been drilled into him over the years. When he finally prepared to lie down, he realized that his body was indeed exhausted. Yet his mind still raced over the events of today, it wasn't until the forest was bathed in twinkling starlight did he finally fall asleep.

Waking up the next morning was an odd sensation, as everything felt ordinary. Athan half expected everything to have been merely a dream. That was quickly falsified when he checked the satchel to find the egg gleaming back at him. He couldn't help but stare at the egg and he resolved that whilst he traveled back to his village of Nartheim, he would carry the egg in his arms. It was not evident what persuaded him into this course of action, he thought it was perhaps to remind him that he was not hallucinating. 

He studied the map, looking for the best paths to take and promptly concluded that it would take 2 days if all went well. The trees in this part of the forest were much closer together and he had to be careful not to trip over a gnarled root. Even though he tried to concentrate on the track before him, he found his thoughts were plagued with images of riding. Pictures of swooping through the air and performing graceful maneuvers filtered through his head. Thump. Athan went hurtling towards the ground his foot caught in a gnarled root. It was evident the wood was punishing him for his lack of concentration. The egg rolled out of his hand, he let out an angry sigh. Then preceded to try to grab the egg, but the root kept him in place and his fingertips barely touched the egg. Craning his head past his body, he could see that his ankle was sprained, his day was just getting better and better. 

He carefully removed his foot from between the root. If he was being honest the shape of the root reminded him of these creatures called alaphents that he had seen in the old texts. An inspection of his ankle showed that no lasting damage had been caused. Although, it was surely going to slow down his journey home.  He hobbled trying to find a comfortable angle to walk at, whilst simultaneously trying to retrieve the egg. He clicked his teeth at the egg and with a hint of a playful tone said "Look at all the trouble you have caused me."

A tremor passed through his fingers, but it was too faint to discern whether it had actually come from the egg.  He stood transfixed staring at the egg not knowing if the fall had concussed him as well. Yet he felt it again, although this time it was noticeably stronger. A fissure appeared in the egg, it ran along the indents in the pattern that coated the egg. For a second he stared in horror wondering if the fall had cracked the egg. Then another fissure appeared in the egg, soon it was joined by many many more, creating a hole inside the egg. Athan peered into the hole and reared back when a tiny head popped out to look at him. 

He looked at the tiny head and the tiny head looked back at him. They were locked in a staring contest both transfixed by the other. The tiny dragon had small pointed ears that gave slight wiggles as he watched. Instinctively his hand reached forward to touch the tiny dragon, who eyed his fingers with delight. The dragon's tiny tongue darted forward to lick his fingers, tickling him and causing him to giggle. He eyed the dragon suspiciously, wondering how it had elicited such a response from him.  The tiny dragon bobbed up and down clearly impatient at being trapped by the remaining piece of the egg. Athan preceded to try to ply the the remaining parts of the egg away, but the small dragon took it as an opportunity to continue licking his fingers. It took a while to carefully remove the egg pieces, for the dragon's movements didn't provide him much space to work. Finally when most of the uppermost part of the shell was removed, Athan could see the tiny body and tiny wings of the dragon. 

The wings appeared velvety and beside them lay strong packs of muscles, that allowed it to take flight. The body was the same strong golden hue as the rest of the dragon noticeably different from the patch-worked bluey-green of Elasdir. In one swift motion it opened its wings, and... nothing happened. 

He stared at the dragon, truthfully disappointed for he had been expecting the dragon to start flying. Yet it merely looked at him and then back at its wings, as if trying to send him a non-verbal message. Carefully he placed his hands on either side of the dragon and lifted it from its egg, at which point the dragon made a look that indicated that it was extremely pleased with itself.  He couldn't help but think that this dragon was far to clever for its own good. 

Like yesterday he had completely lost track of time whilst admiring the dragon, he quickly looked up at the sky and it was evident that they needed to get going. After preparing his pack, in which much hobbling ensued the dragon and Athan were ready to head out. Soon the pair of them found a suitable place for the night. Carefully he made a make shift shelter for the dragon and shared some of his food with it, before promptly falling asleep.