Heterosexual
✧☽ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏᴇʀ ☾✧
"You never have to prove yourself to anyone who doesn't accept you for who you are."
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Post by ✧☽ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴏᴇʀ ☾✧ on Aug 23, 2019 22:20:31 GMT -5
You're the One
The day has finally come: the prospect Riders are going to discover if they are the chosen one of a dragon. The kids:
- Seth Accio ;; 16 years. Dark blond hair. Sea-green eyes. 5'8.
- Silas Jorgenson ;; 16 years. Brown hair. Blue eyes. 6'.
- Morgan Reilly ;; 16 years. Blond hair. Hazel eyes. 5'10.
- Thomas Stacher ;; 16 years. Strawberry-blond hair. Green eyes. 5'11.
- Roland Kerch ;; 16 years. Red hair. Green eyes. 5’9.
- Arianna LaFaux ;; 16 years. Long auburn hair. Deep brown eyes. 5’6.
~ • ~ • ~
She remembered a voice, soft and kind, telling her about a bond. A connection so strong, two minds became one, and two hearts beat in sync. She remembered thinking that sounded silly. How could two become one if they weren’t even the same species?
They just do, the voice had told her. And when you find the soul that reflects your own, you will understand.
She doubted there was anyone out there with a soul like hers. She was wild and free, and one day she would be mighty and powerful, untouchable by any mortal creature. How could any creature bound by the earth be anything like her, a creature destined for the sky?
~ • ~ • ~ Seth didn’t believe in fate. He believed in choice, and as far as he was concerned, no intelligent creature in their right mind would chose to be bound to him for all eternity.
Morgan stared at him, blank-faced and silent, for a full thirty seconds. Seth thought that had to be a new record. “Are you out of your mind, amigo? We’ve been training our whole lives for this, and now that the day has finally come… You don’t want to?!”
Seth sighed. He sat back until he felt the bark of the tree behind him and propped his sketchbook on his bent knee. He was quiet for a moment, thinking over his answer. It wasn’t that he didn’t want a dragon. He just wasn’t sure he wanted to be a Rider. Unlike the other trainees in the YRP, Seth knew more about what they would be getting into if they hatched an egg. And he didn’t know if he wanted anything to do with it.
“I don’t know, man,” he said at last. “It’s just… Aren’t you a little… weirded out by the idea of having someone else in your head, privy to all your thoughts?” Seth certainly wasn’t pleased with that idea, though it wasn't his biggest reason for being hesitant about bonding to a dragon.
Morgan shook his head. “No way. I think that would be awesome. Being able to talk to your best friend without even leaving your room? Heaven.”
Seth didn't bother to mention that he could do that anyway, since he and Seth shared a room. He rolled his eyes. “Of course you’d think that, you lazy galoot.”
Morgan frowned. “What’s a galout?”
“Galoot,” Seth corrected. “And it means you have a clumsy personality.”
“Ahh… Wait. How can you have a clumsy personality?”
Seth just sighed and slid down until he was lying on his back, his sketchbook facedown on his chest. He tucked one arm behind his head and stared up at the sky. That was one thing he would enjoy about having a dragon: being able to soar up there, wild and free. No one could touch him then.
~ • ~ • ~
“No luck, huh?”
Morgan shook his head, looking disappointed. “None of them even twitched.”
Thomas and Roland had had similar luck. Now it was just Seth, Arianna, and…
“Silas,” Nick called, standing in the open doorway of the hatchery. He gestured with a jerk of his head. “Your turn.”
Silas pushed off the wall and ambled by. He went to shoulder-smack Seth as he passed, but Seth simply side-stepped at the last second and watched with a smirk as Silas stumbled and tripped as he hastily righted himself. He shot Seth a glare, to which Seth just shrugged innocently back. As soon as Silas’s back was turned again, a smile broke out, and he had to bite his lip to keep from laughing.
“The guy just doesn’t learn, does he?” Thomas commented mildly from his spot just behind Seth.
“Clearly not,” Roland agreed.
“I don’t know why you put up with him, Seth,” Morgan said, frowning at the door Silas had disappeared behind.
Seth shrugged. “He’s not worth my time. He may be bigger and stronger, but I still beat him last year, didn’t I?” A feat that everyone in the YRP still spoke about with shock and awe, even a year later. Seth couldn't blame them; the scar he had received during that fight still ached with phantom pain every time he picked up a sword.
Morgan grinned. “Damn straight you did. And can I just say, that was a beautiful sight?”
Seth smirked. “You can, but I’m pretty sure you already said that.”
“Well, I’ll say it again: That. Was. Beautiful.”
Seth chuckled softly and didn’t respond. The others fell quiet too. Seth could feel their disappointment returning now that there was nothing to laugh about. They had all gone into the hatchery, hoping to hatch a dragon egg. So far, none had succeeded. They’d been warned that dragons rarely hatched right after finding their chosen Rider, but one couldn’t help but hope it would happen that fast. The waiting was torture.
They all felt a small measure of relief when Silas exited the hatchery, sans dragon. Without meeting anyone's gaze, he slid by and marched down the hall, his stormy expression ill concealed.
"Somebody's going to be a grumpy goose the rest of the weekend," Morgan muttered. He looked both amused and apprehensive at the thought. Silas could be a scary guy when he was grumpy.
Nick reappeared in the doorway and looked over the young men lingering in the hallway. For a second, Seth thought Nick was going to tell them all to scatter. Instead, he just asked, "Have any of you seen Arianna?"
Thomas and Roland exchanged a look and shook their heads. Morgan said "nope." Seth shrugged one shoulder. They all looked at him, unconvinced.
Seth frowned. "What?"
Morgan hid a smile. "Are you sure you don't know where she is?"
Seth gave him a bland stare. "Yes, I'm sure." His relationship with Arianna was no secret, but that didn't mean he knew where she was every second of the day.
Nick sighed. "Morgan, go find her. Seth, get in here."
Morgan gave Seth's shoulder a pat as they passed each other. "Good luck, bro."
"Thanks." Seth had a feeling he was going to need it.
~ • ~ • ~
Arianna found him that night after dinner, her arrival announced by her huffing and puffing as she climbed the large tree to join him near the top.
The sound made Seth chuckle. They both knew she wasn't nearly as out of breath as she liked to pretend. She only did that to garner his attention and solicit his help. Even though he knew what she was doing, her little act worked every time.
He stuck his pencil between the pages and closed his sketchbook, then placed it on a thick branch that came out of the tree beside and a little behind his head. He leaned to the other side, perfectly at ease in the bowl made by three large branches, all coming out of the tree from almost the same spot. He propped one elbow on a smaller branch that jutted out a little above the jumble of larger branches and looked down at his girlfriend. "Your damsel act isn't fooling anyone, you know," he said casually.
She looked up at him with a huff, sending the shorter strands of her auburn hair fluttering about her face. The rest was pinned back in a braid that hung almost to her waist. "Yes, well, I wouldn't need to put on the act if you would just find somewhere more sensible for your man cave. Somewhere, I don't know, on the ground."
Seth could only shrug. He was an archer; a risk-taker; an adrenaline junkie. All worked together to make him very fond of heights. Arianna wasn't afraid of heights, but she certainly didn't share Seth's appreciation of them. No one did, not even Morgan, who was an even bigger risk-taker and adrenaline junkie than Seth.
"Quit watching me with that amused little smirk and come help me!"
Seth's amused little smirk only got bigger, but without a word he swung down off his branch and landed lightly on the one below it. He sat down, putting one leg on either side, and reached down to Arianna. She clasped his forearm, and he hers, and then he hauled her up. She helped, of course. Seth had started growing quicker in recent years (finally!) but he was still slimmer than most of the other kids in the YRP. That didn't mean he was weak — far from it, as he had proved many times before — but he still didn't have the weight necessary to pull Arianna up alone. It was proving to be very good exercise, though.
Once she was steady on his branch, he gave her a leg-up to the bowl, and then pulled himself up after her. There was more than enough room up there for the two of them — they had even fit Morgan up there several times before — but Arianna sat close to Seth anyway, snuggled into his side. Then she grabbed his sketchbook and started flipping through the pages, as she was wont to do.
That habit of hers was the reason Seth only ever drew in his "public" sketchbook whenever he climbed his tree. He wasn't nearly as self-conscious about people seeing his sketches as he was when he was younger, but there were still some creations he wanted to keep to himself.
Arianna stopped flipping when the pencil came rolling out. She tried to catch it with a muttered curse but missed. Seth slapped his hand down on it just before it could tumble out of the tree.
She grinned sheepishly. "Sorry." That was another habit of hers: losing his pencils.
Seth tucked the pencil above his ear. "Don't worry about it. No pencil has been harmed on this day." He paused. "Yet."
She elbowed him. He grunted out a chuckle. She held up the sketchbook to the half finished project he had been working on before she arrived. "This is the hatchery," she said.
"Yes," Seth answered simply.
Arianna had arrived there earlier just as Seth had been leaving. They hadn't had a chance to speak then, and she hadn't been at dinner. Still, it didn't take a genius to know she hadn't hatched an egg yet either. She would have found him to tell him if she had.
Arianna studied the drawing a moment more before returning it to the branch by their heads. She shifted, turning her body so she was facing him. Seth tilted his chin down and met her deep brown eyes. For a minute, neither of them spoke.
She was the one who finally broke the silence. "Do you think you met your dragon today?"
Seth didn't even have to think about it. "No," he said. "I don't."
She canted her head. Seth pushed back the hair that fell forward with the movement. "How can you be so sure?" she asked.
He shrugged. "I don't know. I just… am."
"Hm," she grunted, unimpressed with that answer. She turned again so her back was to his chest and stared out the opening in the branches in front of them. It was the second reason Seth had chosen this spot, in this tree, as his "man cave": it had a spectacular view.
The sun was setting, bathing the forest and meadows lining the rear of the House grounds in orange, lavender, and rose pink. Seth had drawn so many sketches of that sunset he had lost count, but it still managed to awe him, every single day. Most days it had the same effect on Arianna, but today he could tell her mind was elsewhere. She probably wasn't even seeing what was directly in front of her.
Finally, Seth couldn't stand the silence anymore. It wasn't their usual comfortable silence, and he didn't like it. "You're worried you didn't meet your dragon today, aren't you?"
She shrugged one shoulder and didn't respond right away. "There are six of us," she said at last. "What are the odds we'll all become Riders? What are the odds of even half of us being chosen? What decides who does and who doesn't get chosen?"
Seth smiled. "Well that's easy: the dragons do."
She shot him a glare. "That's not what I meant. I meant —"
"I know what you meant," Seth said. He rubbed her arms reassuringly. "But you shouldn't worry too much about it. You'll either be chosen or you won't. Your odds are already better than most, too. You wouldn't be in this program otherwise. Right? And besides —"
Arianna sat up and spun around to face him again. "How are you so blasé about this? It's like you don't even care if you're chosen or not! Don't you want to be a Rider?"
Seth sighed. "I don't know, Ari. There are some things about being a Rider I know I would love." Flying. Magic. Respect. "But there are just as many I'm not so sure about." Sharing his head space. Being responsible for another's life. Joining his mother's Order.
Ari stared at him like he had sprouted a second head. She snorted, the sound very unladylike. "Figures. The one person with the greatest chance of being chosen is the only one who's not sure he wants it."
Seth looked away, jaw clenched. "Having two powerful Riders as parents does not guarantee I will be the chosen one of a dragon."
Ari rolled her eyes. "And yet everyone and their mother has placed bets that you'll not only hatch a dragon, but follow in your parents' footsteps and grow to be a very powerful Rider like they are." She paused. "And was," she finished quieter.
But Seth didn't notice her correction. He'd had plenty of time to come to terms with the fact that his father, despite being the most powerful Rider of his generation, had been dead and gone since before Seth was even born. No, he was more interested in her first comment.
"Please tell me you're kidding," he said.
She frowned. "Kidding about what?"
"People haven't actually placed bets about this. Right?"
Arianna shrugged nonchalantly. "Sure. Morgan started the betting pool the moment we all graduated. He—"
She paused to give a small, amused smile as Seth dropped his head back against the tree with a groan. "I'm gonna kill him," he muttered.
"Hm, cute. If it happens, I want to be present. Anyway… yeah. Nine out of ten people bet you would become a Rider. Six out of ten think you will be at least as powerful as your parents. And four out of ten believe you will be even more powerful than them." She smiled, looking very pleased with herself.
Seth eyed her. "Only ten people placed bets?" That wasn't too bad. Maybe he could just give Morgan a stern talking to, no killing required.
She chuckled. "No. Morgan has approached every Rider who has been through the house in the last three months. He managed to convince every single one of them to place a bet.."
Aaaand he was back to planning Morgan's death.
Seth muttered a string of curses. He sat up, ready to bolt down that tree, track down his best friend, and strangle the little bugger.
Arianna placed a hand on his chest, freezing him in place. His glare turned into a suspicious frown when he saw the coy smile on her face.
His eyes narrowed. "What are you up to?" he murmured.
She applied a bit of pressure to his chest. He resisted for only a second before letting her push him back so his back was against the trunk again.
Her smile widened as she inched closer. "I think…" she started. Her gaze dropped to his mouth. "That we need to practice Distraction Technique number thirteen."
Seth's lashes lowered, hiding the amusement sparkling in his eyes. "Do you now." He matched her tone, and let the direction of his gaze imitate hers.
"Yes," she said simply. She leaned closer, her intentions abundantly clear. Seth almost let her pull it off.
Instead, he put one finger against her lips.
Her eyes shot open, startled. Seth smirked. "I just wanted you to know: your plan will only prolong his suffering, not stop it. Also, you're right. Distraction Technique number thirteen really does need wor—"
Her mouth crashed down on his. He didn't even try to stop her a second time.
~ • ~ • ~
Hatching a dragon wasn't an exact science. Every dragon was a unique being, with a personality and character all their own. Some dragons made decisions quickly; others took their time. However, in most cases it had shown that a dragon would choose his or her Rider within three to seven days of meeting them.
The six prospective Riders knew this, but it didn't stop any of them, not even Seth, from feeling a mounting sense of impatience and anxiousness with each passing day. Tensions were high between the prospects, the six friends constantly snapping and arguing with each other. Even calm and steady Thomas, and the easy-going Morgan weren't unaffected.
Things reached a head on day three when the first dragon hatched.
As was procedure, the moment the egg started exhibiting signs of hatching, the prospects were called and brought into the hatchery one at a time, to see who would speed along the process and prove the chosen one of the baby dragon.
That person proved to be Morgan. And no one was more surprised than Morgan himself.
He came out of the hatchery with a small, golden dragon on his shoulder and a stunned look on his face. The other prospects were silent for several seconds, until Seth put his hands in the air and let out a "WOOP!"
"Way to go, Morgan," he cheered, effectively breaking the spell.
Thomas, Roland, and Arianna crowded Morgan and his new dragon. Morgan introduced the golden dragon to each of them, and showed off his gedwëy ignasia. Seth hung back; he shared a room with Morgan, so he would have plenty of time to get to know Morgan's dragon. Silas didn't bother sticking around at all.
Over the next four days, three more dragons hatched. Thomas hatched a lime green dragon on day four; Silas a storm-grey dragon on day five; and on day six, Arianna's worries melted away when she hatched a ruby red dragon.
No dragons hatched on day seven.
Nick took Seth and Rolland aside on the morning of day eight and told them he was going to give it one more week, to see if either of them were the chosen one of an indecisive or overthinking dragon. If still no dragon hatched for them, they would only be allowed to remain with the program until December. If they were lucky, a Searcher would return with a dragon egg or two with which they could test their luck between now and then.
Roland was clearly disappointed with the news and secluded himself in his room the rest of the morning. Seth would be lying if he said he wasn't a little disappointed too, but he also felt an equal measure of relief. He wasn't sure what the rest of his emotions consisted of; they were too jumbled to even begin making sense of.
~ • ~ • ~
During that next week, Seth spent a lot of time practicing his archery. His training was pretty much on hold until he hatched an egg, so he had lots of extra time for it. Plus, shooting targets always helped clear his mind, and he could definitely use some clarity about now.
It was nearing the two week deadline when Nick found him on his way to the archery range.
"Come with me," he said. "I want to show you something."
Seth hesitated for only a second before following his mentor. "Where are we going?" he asked.
"Front gate."
Seth frowned. "Why?"
"Henry has returned." He met Seth's eyes. "Sans new Riders."
It took Seth only a moment to realize what that meant. Henry was a Searcher, a retired Rider tasked with travelling Alagaësia in search of potential Riders. Each Searcher carried two or three dragon eggs with him (or her) and travelled from town to town, staying only long enough for any who were willing to try hatching a dragon. If a lucky soul succeeded, the new Rider was brought to Iliera and the House for training. If no one proved the chosen one of any of the unmatched dragons — as was often the case — then the Searcher returned them to the Circle at the end of their tour. After a short hiatus, they left again with a different clutch of eggs to try again.
There were only half a dozen Searchers currently employed, and all but one were out in the world, searching. Well, all but two, now that Henry was back. And if Henry was back, that meant he had a couple of dragon eggs still in search of a Rider.
"What about Roland?" Seth asked.
"I'll bring him to see the eggs later," Nick replied. "I wanted to start with you."
"How come?"
Nick shot him a dark look. "Because I have a lot of money riding on you becoming a Rider."
Seth's jaw dropped. "No way. You actually bet on that? On me?"
"Of course," Nick said, like that should have been obvious.
Seth was still stunned silent when they reached the front gate. Henry's wagon was off to the left, and he was halfway through unloading it. Seth hardly noticed that, though. His attention was snagged by the four foot tall wooden pedestal, topped with a nest of hay, downy feathers, and wool. Inside the nest were three dragon eggs, each one gleaming brightly in the sunlight.
While Nick and Henry exchanged greetings and pleasantries, Seth approached the pedestal. His eyes skated over the three eggs nestled there: sparkling sapphire, gleaming amethyst, and pearlescent silver. Each egg shone like a jewel, beautiful and eye-catching, but there was something about the silver egg that really drew his attention.
It was slightly smaller than the other two eggs, and from different angles, it gleamed with more than one colour. It was still silver, but like a moonstone it also flashed with hints of sky blue, rose pink, and violet. You didn't really see the array of colour when you looked right at it, but with a tilt of the head, or a glance from your periphery, they flashed like a rainbow across the surface of the egg.
Seth had never seen anything like it.
Nick let out a low whistle as he came up behind Seth. "Damn. That is one pretty egg." He looked at Henry. "How many people tried to hatch that one?"
Henry grunted. "Every single one. I even had a couple offer to buy it, just so they could put it on a shelf to admire day in and day out."
Nick tsked and shook his head. "Some people," he muttered.
Henry chuckled. "My thoughts exactly." He nudged Seth with his elbow. "Caught you in its trance too, eh lad?"
Seth blinked. He pulled his gaze from the egg to Henry. "Huh? Oh. Yeah, I guess." He tried not to look at the egg again, but it was like fighting a strong magnetic pull. He didn't stand a chance of resisting.
Nick chuckled. "Alright. Come on, Seth. Let's go track down Roland. See you in a bit, Henry."
Seth didn't argue, but he turned away from the silver egg with more reluctance than he wanted to feel. As soon as his back was to the egg, however, he had to resist the urge to run and put as much distance between him and it as he could, as fast as he could. He forced himself to walk Nick's pace.
They hadn't gone more than a dozen feet when a loud CRACK made them stop in their tracks. Nick turned around first, his brows furrowed in confusion. Seth turned halfway, hands in his pockets. Nick looked from the eggs to Henry and back. "Did you hear that?"
Henry, who had been in the process of pulling a box from his wagon, slowly put the box down and nodded. He too was watching the eggs. "Aye. You don't think…" He didn't finish, for another CRACK split the quiet. His gaze shot momentarily to Seth.
Noticing the look, Nick glanced at Seth and waved him closer. "I believe it's for you," he said, a touch of amusement in his voice.
Seth frowned, but he walked slowly back to the nest. As soon as he got close, the small silver egg started rolling gently from side to side, right before a third loud CRACK sent an actual crack across the surface of the egg.
Seth watched, entranced, as the egg continued to shake and the crack spread farther across its smooth surface. Then, with no warning, the two halves split wide. Little egg fragments flew out in every direction; Seth ducked when one went right for his eye. When he straightened, his wide gaze found and locked on the tiny dragon trying to climb to his feet.
Her, he corrected himself almost immediately. He wasn't really sure how, but he knew the little silver dragon was female. Might have had something to do with the attitude-infuzed glare she sent his way, a feat only a feisty female could manage.
"Well I'll be damned." Henry eased closer, his eyes on the dragon. He looked at Seth when he felt the boy's curious gaze. "He hatched for ya. I have never seen a dragon hatch that fast for his Rider, not in all my years as a Searcher." He patted Seth on the back. "Way to go!"
Seth focused on not flinching under the force of the 'pat.' "She," he said, after unclenching his jaw. "I'm pretty sure he is a she."
Henry squinted and leaned closer to see better. Evidently, he got a little too close. The little dragon spun toward him and snapped at his nose like a crocodile trying to snatch her prey. She may have been a fifth of the size of a croc, but the audible snap of her jaw slamming closed was hard to miss.
Henry jerked back with a muttered curse. His hand went to his nose; it was still there, and completely unscathed, though not from lack of trying on the dragon's part. "Little pest," he said. "What was that for?"
Nick chuckled as he sidled up to stand on Seth's other side. "Seems she's already protective of her Rider." He side-eyed Henry, smiling crookedly. "Better watch out, Henry."
The old man grumbled something Seth didn't catch and turned away to finish unloading his wagon.
Nick only chuckled again. He elbowed Seth — much gentler than Henry had — and told him, "You should probably complete the bond now, hm?"
"Oh." Seth looked down at the dragon. She was circling the nest on shaking legs, sniffing the other eggs, some of her own eggshells, and the edges of the nest. As he watched, she crouched low and peered over the edge of the pedestal, as if contemplating the drop and if it was manageable. Thankfully, she decided against it. She turned away, took two steps, and noticed Seth watching her.
Their gazes met and held. Seth was surprised to see the colour of her eyes. All of the dragons he had met before had eyes the same colour as their scales, varying only in shade. But this little dragon, staring up at him fearlessly, had eyes of dark amber, with hints of brown and gold. They stood out boldly against her silver scales, scales that just about shone with pearly luminescence in the sunlight. With every shift of her body, a flash of sky blue, rose pink, or violet could be seen skating across her scales, just like her egg. She was beautiful.
And eyeing him like he was about to be her first meal.
Seth took an involuntary step back before he could stop himself. Small as she was—and she really was small, even compared to the other baby dragons he had met recently—there was something in her stare that said she should not be underestimated.
Behind him, Nick chuckled. "Don't be afraid of her, Seth. She won't hurt you. You two are bonded now. You need only complete the connection."
Oh yes she will, Seth wanted to say. He didn't know how he knew it, but bond or no bond, he would get the same treatment from this dragon as Henry had if he got too close. The look in her eyes promised it.
~ • ~ • ~
She did not understand the pull.
For just a second, she had felt it: a draw; a beckons; a promise of something great. She had surged toward it, curious and determined to learn the source. So she shattered her protective shell and entered the world.
What she found was not what she expected.
The two-legged creatures — humans, she would later learn — stood around her. She did not know what their faces said, but their scent told her things she had not realized she knew. Things she did not yet have names for. One drew her attention more than the others, like the pull that had drawn her from her shelter.
She did not like this pull. It was powerful and fierce, yet also foreign and strange. To bow to it would be to give up a part of herself. Instinct told her she would gain something great in exchange, but she did not know if she wanted it.
She pushed the feeling down inside and ignored the pull. She was wild, and now she was free. She crouched, and launched her body — small but strong — right at the one who had created the pull.
He ducked beneath her, did nothing to try and fight her, or stop her. She landed hard and ran, at first uneven and awkward on her wobbly legs, then faster and surer. She would not be caught.
She would not realize until later that the boy had shown no surprise at all when she leapt.
~ • ~ • ~
"Whoa!"
Seth didn't see him, but he knew Nick had ducked, as he had, when the dragon jumped. Seth turned, ready to defend himself if she tried again, but she did not. Without looking back, she ran straight toward the nearest hedge. She looked rather silly, running across the lawn. Dragons were not meant for sprinting. Although the little silver she-devil did an admirable job of it regardless.
Nick muttered a curse and started after the dragon, a determined look on his face. "Henry, come help—"
"No," Seth said, stopping Nick in his tracks. Seth kept his eyes on the dragon, watched as she reached the hedge and slid into its sheltering leaves. "Leave her be."
"Are you draft?" Nick said. "We can't just let a hatchling dragon run loose on the grounds. And you two still need to complete your bond!"
Henry ambled up, frowning and looking from the pedestal — now empty, save for the dragon eggs — to the two Riders. "Uh, what's happening?" Seth and Nick ignored him.
Seth turned away from the hedge and faced Nick. "What happens if I don't complete the bond?"
The expression on Nick's face was the silent echo of his earlier question: Are you daft? "If you don't complete your bond, it will fade away to nothing. You will not become a Rider. She will grow up like the wild dragons. And the odds of another dragon choosing you as its Rider drop to nil."
Seth wasn't sure if he felt relief or disappointment at that news. He sighed, and his gaze wandered back to the hedge. The dragon was still there, though he could not see her. There wasn't even a rustle of leaves to indicate her hiding spot. He just… knew.
"You can feel it," Nick said, his tone calmer. "The bond. Why are you fighting it?" He sounded genuinely confused, which surprised Seth. Even when mad, Nick was usually much better at disguising his emotions.
Seth shook his head. "I don't know. I guess… because I don't know that I want it. The bond. This life. I don't know that I like the idea of sharing my thoughts and emotions with someone else. And… I'm not the only one who feels this way."
Nick's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"
Seth pointed to the hedge. The silver dragon had stuck her head out, and despite the distance between them their gazes found each other and held for two… three… four seconds before she drew back and disappeared from view again.
Seth dropped his hand. "She does not know if she wants this either."
Nick looked from Seth to the hedge and back. He sighed. "I can't say that I understand, because I don't. Any doubt I had about becoming a Rider vanished the second Ignatius hatched for me. But I do know you, Seth, and I know you will regret it for the rest of your life if you don't at least try."
Seth looked at Nick and met his mentor's steady gaze for one long minute. Then he turned and started walking toward the hedge.
~ • ~ • ~ She sensed his approach. Instinct told her to flee; the pull urged her to stay. She peered out from between the leaves, watched the two-leg come closer. She did not reveal herself, but she did not run either.
The words of the voice, the promise of two becoming one, echoed in her mind. She had not thought such a thing was possible for her. How could any be as wild as she was? As fierce as she was? As powerful and free?
She stayed, and she waited. Waited, to see if this boy could truly be the one.
~ • ~ • ~
Seth slowed as he neared the hedge. He could not see the dragon, but he could feel her fierce gaze on him, powerful and unwavering. When he was about six feet away, he stopped. He took a deep breath and sat down where he was.
He leaned forward, head tilted to try and see through the leaves. He thought he saw a hint of gleaming silver, but he had no idea what part of her it was. It could have been her tail for all he knew. He addressed it anyway.
"I know you're scared," he said. "And I know you hatched more out of curiosity than because you chose me. I don't blame you. I feel the same. This life you've entered… it's not all sunshine and rainbows. It's got some dark, scary places, places I don't even know if I can face, and I've practically been surrounded by it my whole life. It's not the sort of thing I would ever want to drag someone else into."
His gaze dropped to the grass in front of him, where he was unconsciously drawing patterns with his finger. He balled his hands into fists. "I won't hold it against you if you decide you want nothing to do with me. But if you choose to stay…" Seth looked up, and he was surprised to find the dragon had poked her head out. She was staring up at him with her dark eyes gleaming with intelligence, but there was a cant to her head that reminded him of a dog who was trying to understand his master's words. Seth couldn't be sure if she understood his words, but there was clearly something about what he was saying or doing… or feeling… that had her complete attention.
He exhaled slowly, held her gaze, and continued softly, "If you choose to stay, I'll spend the rest of my life proving to you that you didn't choose wrong. I don't know that I'll always be good, or that you won't end up in danger, but I hope... No. I know we'll be strong enough to face anything."
He held out his hand with a hesitant smile. "What do you think?"
Naturally, the dragon said nothing. For a torturously long minute, she did nothing either. Then she moved.
She eased slowly from the hedge and approached his outstretched hand. Her eyes never left his. She came close enough that he could feel her warm breath on his fingers. Her eyes held him in thrall, dark and intelligent and fierce. Her touch was imminent.
And then she bit him.
Seth yanked his hand back with a hiss. There were two deep gashes on either side of his middle finger, from his first knuckle to his nail. Blood was gushing from them, dripping over his hand and into the grass. He was surprised the bite hadn't gone right to the bone.
He shot the dragon a glare. "What the hell was that for?!" he snapped. His anger disappeared almost immediately, however, as the dragon started rubbing against his leg like a cat. She was even making a low rumble in her chest that sounded almost like a purr.
"Uh…"
The dragon looked up at him, and Seth could have sworn it was amusement he saw in her dark eyes. Amusement and… a challenge.
Seth lowered his hand to his lap, heedless of the blood. He held her gaze as he lifted his uninjured hand and moved it toward her. He met her challenge head on, showing no fear as he got within biting distance again.
He didn't flinch when her head moved toward him. Her snout brushed his palm. Instantly, a current of power shot into the point of contact and travelled up his arm and into the rest of his body. At first it felt so cold he felt frozen to the spot; just as quickly it morphed into a heat so great he was surprised he didn't start sweating. And then it was gone, leaving him shaking and wide-eyed.
"Whoa," he whispered.
The dragon gave a full body shake. There were no words, but Seth got the feeling she was saying, in her own way, You got that right.
Despite knowing it was coming, it still surprised him when he felt it, that feeling of agreement from her. He'd had a sense of the dragon from the moment she hatched, but that sense had nothing on actually feeling her emotions. He was both amazed and uneasy with it.
The dragon didn't seem bothered by it, although Seth knew the connection went both ways. He reached out tentatively toward the connection with his mind, probing gently for a better sense of her. What he found both amused and annoyed him.
The dragon felt him alright, the same way he felt her. She was just ignoring him.
Seth huffed quietly and shook his head. "You're going to be a real pain to work with, aren't you?"
He got nothing in response to his question but there was a sudden pulse of alarm right before she spun around and dove back into the hedge with a low growl.
Frowning, Seth looked over his shoulder to see what had startled her. Nick was walking slowly toward them.
He held up his hands in surrender when he caught Seth's gaze. "Didn't mean to interrupt. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay. You've been over here for a while."
That was news to Seth. It hadn't felt like more than a few minutes. "Yeah, we're fine." Seth directed his words toward the hedge more than to Nick. "Nothing to worry about."
He got no response from the dragon, so with a shrug he got to his feet.
Without thinking, he used his right hand to push himself up. He let out a hiss as a fierce jolt of pain shot out from his finger and made his vision go black. He would have ended up right back on his ass if Nick hadn't closed the distance between them and caught him up by the arm.
"Whoa, Seth. What happened?"
Seth took slow, deep breaths until his vision returned and held up his hand in silent explanation. His whole right arm up to his elbow was streaked with blood. Most of it was halfway dry, but fresh blood had started oozing from his finger when he stood up. There was blood caked to his shirt and pants too, from when he'd rested his hand in his lap.
Nick let out a foul curse that had Seth's brows shooting up. Nick never swore in front of his students. He gently took hold of Seth's hand and turned it this was and that to better examine the damage. "Shit. She really got you, didn't she?"
Seth shrugged. "Yeah, but I think I made it worse by yanking my hand back so fast."
Nick just grunted. He let go of Seth's hand and stepped back. "Go find Marge and get her to clean that up," he ordered. "Then find Roland and send him out here to see Henry. Then you can meet me and the rest of the new Riders in the arena."
"Yes, sir." Seth nodded, even as his gaze was drawn downward by a movement in his periphery. The dragon was sliding out of the hedge again, her eyes on Seth's hand. They rose up to meet Seth's gaze for several seconds. Then she looked away with a shake, her wings flaring slightly.
Somehow, he knew that was her way of saying sorry.
For some reason, Seth found himself chuckling. "Come on, devil," he said. "Let's go start our adventure."
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