Prologue

-Unknown POV-

What a day. Today started like any normal day, I woke up in the cave next to my mate. I decided to let him sleep because he had a long day yesterday. I walked out of the cave and stretched my wings a little bit. I then walked into the forest and dove into the ground. After a few minutes of shuffling around avoiding tree roots and other things, I sensed movement above me. I stopped moving and let my spines hone in on the shockwave. It wasn't a big animal, but it was still a good sized one. As I continued to follow my target, I noticed that it stopped just in front of my snout. This was my chance. I pounced out of the ground and quickly killed the animal with ease. When I looked at the carcass I noticed it was a wild pig. I took my kill under the shade of a tree and ate in peace. After I finished the boar, my mate landed next to me. "I was beginning to wonder where you went off to." He said.

"Like I would leave you alone by yourself, Adorjan." I replied to him. "After all, who would do the hunting?" Adorjan deadpanned me.

"I see we are on a first name basis then, Amata." My mate stated. "Also, what do you mean you do all of the hunting? I did catch that salamander that one time."

"And then while you tried handing it to me it slipped out of your maw and fell back in the lagoon." I responded with a chuckle.

"You'll never let me live that down won't you?" He asked playfully. I shook my head and he licked my cheek. I returned the gesture and he draped his wing over me. I nuzzled him and then Adorjan broke the silence. "So, what did you catch me for breakfast?"

"Oh now you want me to hunt for you? Where is all that talk about not needing me to do your work?" I said jokingly. My mate chuckled and dove into the ground to find his breakfast. A few minutes later he came back with a boar of his own and lied down next to me. He ate his food and then we took off into the sky. We flew in formation across the water's surface. As we were flying I dipped my wing tip into the water and splashed Adorjan with the mist that spewed from the ocean. After I had my fun he shook his head and deadpanned me. I laughed and he then dived into the water. A few seconds later he burst from the water with a mouthful of water and blasted me with it. I stopped myself and hovered there for a second trying to shake the water off of my body. Adorjan was laughing and I glared at him. Before I could exact my revenge however, I noticed there were some grey clouds on the horizon. I told Adorjan about them and we set off towards the storm. I wanted to go there because we can use the water currents to hunt for fish faster, but it was still a dangerous endeavor. As we approached the storm, I noticed there were lightning bolts shooting everywhere we looked and the waves looked choppy as ever. The rain coming from the clouds made it difficult to see and there was a small fog on the water's surface. We both dived into the sea and began our hunt. We split up like we normally did so that way we could cover more ground in a shorter period of time. As I was swimming along I burst through the waves again to refill my lungs with air. I might be considered a water dragon, but every dragon needs to breathe eventually. Once I surfaced and was hovering in the air, I noticed a wooden object cresting over a wave cap. I decided to see what was on the object, after all humans fish just like we do. As I approached the boat I noticed that it wasn't a very large vessel at all. It could barely fit two humans inside of it. I decided to land on it anyways to see if there was any food on board, but when I landed my feet fell into a pool of water. I looked at my feet and saw a few small holes in the boat. I don't really have too much time on my temporary perch. I sniffed the boat for signs of food, but found none. I then looked towards the back of the boat and I noticed a small cylindrical object. It was a blanket wrapped around something. I was about to simply grab it and take off, but something told me to open the shell first. I gently opened one side of the blanket and was greeted by none other than a human hatchling. The hatching looked at me in pure wonder and seemed to get excited at my presence. Then a big lightning bolt slammed the front of the boat and the hatchling began crying. "Please don't cry little one, it's only a little lightning it won't hurt you." I said to the hatchling. I expected the hatchling to continue to cry because after all humans don't understand dragons, but instead the hatchling stopped crying on the spot. Did it just understand me? I felt the water get higher on my legs and I had to make a decision. I grabbed the human with my front paws and flew back to the island with it. I didn't see my mate anywhere when I got to the cave, but I didn't panic too much. Adorjan has survived way worse than that in the past and I'm sure he'll be fine. I wasn't wrong either. A few minutes after I returned, my mate flew into the cave. He had a mouthful of fish and set them on the cave floor. I lit a small fire with some spare wood that was lying around and we both lied down next to it. I covered the hatchling with my wing so I could show it to my mate later and he ate his fill. My mate then gave me a curious look.

"Amata, why aren't you eating?" He asked. "Did you already eat before I arrived?"

"No I didn't, but Adorjan there's something I want you to see. I found it on a human craft that was drifting out in the storm." I replied.

"What did you find?" He questioned. I lifted my wing off of the human and pushed it towards the fire. "A human hatchling? What was it doing in that storm? Don't those humans know it could have died?"

"I don't think any humans were with this child. It might have been one of their castaways. Like when they send a child off to sea for being different." I replied. "Also, when I was on the boat with him, a large lightning bolt hit the other side of the craft. When it did this hatchling started crying and I tried to calm it down by talking to it. Instead of just ignoring me however it went quiet right then and there. I think this human can understand dragons."

"A human that can understand dragons, no wonder why those barbarians didn't want him. Even if they kept him he would have been killed for trying to bring peace to this bitter war." My mate stated.

"I know. However, I also don't think that we should cast aside this child either. If he can truly understand us, then he must be meant for great things." I told him.

"I agree Amata, but what do we do then?" Adorjan asked.

"I think we should raise him like our own hatchling and teach him about dragons." I replied. Adorjan nodded.

"Then it is decided. So, what should we call this human?" he stated.

"Tyler. His name shall be Tyler." I responded. The human smiled at the sound of his new name and I licked him across the face. He giggled a little bit and then I gave him some mashed up fish for him to eat. He tried to get it, but was trapped inside the blanket shell still, so I cut him free from it. The human crawled towards the food piled for him and he simply went face first into the pile. My mate and I both laughed at the sight and soon the human emerged with a mouthful of fish. He swallowed his food and then yawned and his eyes hung like he was ready to sleep. Tyler then crawled over to my side and lied down against me. I put my wing over him and I felt his breathing calm down. Adorjan walked over to my side and draped his wing over the one I had covering the hatchling and we both got ready to sleep as well. Welcome to our home. Welcome to our hearts, little one.