Miantha looked up at the clear blue sky, clearing her mind of all distractions as she practiced her careful breathing.
In-2-3-4
Out-2-3-4
In-2-3-4
Out-2-3-4
Slowly, her eyes drifted closed and her mind emptied of all thoughts. Her mind lifted into a clear place full of light. It was white and clean, reflecting her inner calm at the moment. Breathing...Breathing...
Suddenly, her meditation was disrupted by a loud noise a ways off. Her hearing was always enhanced whenever she went into the Trance.
"Hello?" She called. "Who's there? Answer me!" She demanded, then stomped off towards where the sound had come from. There was a large crater taking up several square yards. The edges of the basin were smoking, and everything was charred and black. "What the..." She whispered, going up the edge of the crater and touching her fingers to a small tree there, which instantly crumbled into ash at the contact. Miantha gasped.
"What is this?" She asked herself quietly, walking tentatively into the circle, glancing around her constantly, looking for danger. Miantha walked tentatively through the smoky wreckage. She had grabbed her dagger on the way out of the meadow, and she drew it now, holding it before her the way she had been taught. Fist in front of heart. Though Miantha had never enjoyed fighting or violence of any kind, it was necessary to learn these skills when you lived in the Spine. It could be dangerous to those that didn't know the ways of the mysteries lurking under those treacherous trees.
Miantha crept up to the object in the exact centre of the circle. It appeared to be some sort of...green stone, at first glance. As she slowly advanced, she realized what it really was.
"A dragon egg," she said in awe. "That...that's not possible..." She reached forward to stroke it. A dragon egg would be of great benefit to her village. If it hatched for one of the elders, then they would have a Rider, just like in the tales. As her fingers brushed the smooth, dark green egg, she heard a cracking sound. She spun around.
Nothing was there. In fact - it seemed the cracking sound had come from the egg. She watched in mixed admiration and terror as a claw emerged, then a foot, and finally the hatchling spilled out of the shell. It croaked at her. She backed away slowly, holding her hands out in front of her as in surrender.
The hatchling mewled at her, like it thought it was a cat or something, and pitched forward awkwardly on its spindly new legs. It reached its head up piteously as though it wished to be petted.
Its head had a ridge that reached from the tip of its nose to the small of its neck, where it morphed into small spikes running down the dragon's back, not yet lethal but promising of the great and terrible things to come. The eyes were ringed by a darker color, making it look as though the dragon were staring intensely at everything it saw. It looked extremely intelligent and wise, although only yet an infant.
Miantha ran through her head everything she knew about dragons. It came to the grand sum of - nothing. She decided that there could be no harm in simply touching the hatchling - after all, she would eventually have to give it back to whence it came, to where it belonged.
Slowly, she reached out. The moment she felt the hatchling, she cried out and grabbed her hand back. It had burned suddenly. She examined it for injury, but found only a silver mark upon her hand. A few words found their way into her head, like smoke, twisting until she recognized their form. "Gedwey Ignasia?" She queried aloud. Of course, she didn't really expect a reply.
But she got one anyway.
That is correct.
