Who knew what would happen after stealing some bread from a street stall? Certainly not Nagan. Nothing out of the ordinary should have happened, considering stealing food to survive was the norm. But fate, destiny, karma, whatever you wanted to call...
"How are you settling, Nagan?" Master Dagmire began once his apprentice had sat across from him. Nearly a week and a half had passed before the headmaster and his apprentice could sit and talk. Both had been busy after the Dragon Choosing Ceremony, and Nagan was now proudly sporting his new red uniform.
Nagan shrugged. "I'm doing alright. I don't mind a few extra classes, and Az won't stop praising the elva teaching method. Figures he'd prefer twice the amount of books and diagrams. But who knew an egg had so much maintenance! At least, mine requires a lot of maintenance. She's much more finicky than Az's egg."
"How are you so sure yours is female?" Master Dagmire asked with a raised brow. He was a dragon expert. As far as he knew, there was no way to tell a dragon's gender until it hatched. He watched as Nagan's expression shifted from sure, hesitant, to confused.
"The dragon said so," he said but spoke with little confidence.
It happened again, Master Dagmire noted to himself. The moment Nagan tried to recall what had happened, it was as if something had blocked the connection between him and those specific memories. Unfortunately, the boy was no stranger to being the victim of malicious magic. At first, Master Dagmire thought it to be exactly that. Yet when he had sent the boy to Marvi for a check-up, the report returned normal. If dark magic wasn't to blame, then that left only light magic and the boy himself.
"Tell me what you remember then. Even the vaguest detail." Master Dagmire leaned forward in his seat, intent on absorbing every word.
Nagan pressed his lips together in concentration, trying to gather his thoughts, before starting carefully. "I was taken to two locations. One was dark, and the other was...endless? Well, both felt endless. I was floating in the dark, and the other had a ground. That was where the stone...silver? Dragon was. Her eyes were stone. She talked to me and said my core was resilience. She was also the one who said my dragon was calling to me, and that she soared above the rest. After that, I was sent to the chamber where you get your dragon egg, and all that was there was the one egg."
Nagan stopped and gazed absently at the dip pen that was always on Master Dagmire's desk. Master Dagmire drew him out of his thoughts. "Is there more about the dark location?"
"Yes. Something was with me, and it was a bit eerie, but nothing felt evil." Nagan suddenly locked his gaze with Master Dagmire's in absolute clarity. "There was a scream. It wasn't human, it was an emotion. Pain. Something was screaming in pain. I was taken to the other place after I heard it."
It was several moments of silence before Master Dagmire sighed heavily. "Why does everything strange happen to you?"
Nagan laughed dryly. "You tell me."
"But you're sure it was nothing malicious or dark magic?" Master Dagmire asked in concern.
"I'm sure," Nagan nodded. "It didn't feel heavy or oppressing at all. In fact, it felt nearly pure."
"How odd..." Master Dagmire mentally ran through what he was told. The scream still concerned him, but Nagan seemed otherwise unharmed by this. For now, he would assume everything was alright.
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