"How about Azra? It means pure. No? Hunter? Roxanne? Really? I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel here. I quite liked Luka, you know." Asher sent a reproachful glance at the tiny, still nameless, silver dragon. Truthfully, she didn't know whether it was male or female and was just offering up a list of names in the hope that the hatchling would respond to one it liked. She was no closer to a name than she had been nearly three weeks ago when the name game had started.

"You don't like any of the names I've come up so far. I swear, you're almost as picky as my father. How Persephone puts up with him I don't know. At least I don't have to work with him like Thanatos does. No wonder the guy can't take a joke."

The sudden warmth and rightness stopped her muttering in surprise. Asher frowned towards the young reptile in confusion, a state that was sadly becoming far too familiar these days.

"What?" An unblinking silver stare answered her, followed by a feeling of exasperation. How a tiny, young thing like that was exasperated with her, Asher didn't know. "Persephone?" She tried tentatively only to receive, thankfully, another negative answer. 'Oh, no. Please, please, please don't be –'

"Thanatos?" A small affirmative chirp and happy feeling flooding her mind from the gleaming hatchling, "You want to be named after the god of Death?" Asher whined in dismay.

She tried very hard, but Thanatos was as stubborn as his namesake was dedicated to collecting souls. The only compromise he would allow Asher was shortening his name to Than. It wasn't that Asher actually disliked name or the god in question, she just found the names of the Greek gods annoying. A sort of Pavlov response to being sent on quests and spending a ridiculous amount of her time running for her life from which ever monster of the day was trying (and totally failing, for the record) to kill her.

Asher found the days blurring together in a monotonous repetition of hunt, cook, eat, and sleep. With Than growing so quickly, he required more and more meat to eat, which meant that Asher was hunting more and more just to keep up, often utilising her powers to find prey. Than made this easier on her by learning to hunt larger game as quickly as he could. The odd goat-like creatures that wondered around the massive mountains made decent enough meals if Than and Asher could catch them.

One benefit Asher had found in her unintended banishment, apart from her new companion, was the significant lack of demi-god dreams. Since her arrival, Asher hadn't had a single true dream like she used to. There had been unusual dreams, flashes of colour (a stunning blue), but no actual prophetic or informative dreams. She was grateful for the reprieve, although she didn't expect it to continue much longer.

Months passed in this peaceful haze. But, as Asher had known it would, it soon came to an end.

Than was already larger than a small hell hound when the calm, serenity of their life changed irrevocably.

Asher's clothes were wearing out, but it was only when her jeans ripped that she realised how bad her clothing situation was. Her top was almost falling apart and she had abandoned her worn shoes weeks before. With a sigh, she turned towards the large silver dragon lazing in the gentle morning sunlight.

"Than, do you think you could try catch me something relatively large? I need the hide. I'm going to try tanning it."

'Why would you need to do that?' Than queried as Asher tried to figure out what she would need to actually tan a hide. The idle reptilian didn't even twitch a muscle while she inspected her insufficient attire.

'I need more clothes, Than. It's starting to get cooler at night and not everyone has scales to protect them from the rigors of life in the mountains, you know.' She muttered back mentally.

Tanning hides was not something Asher had ever thought about at camp. If a new camper needed a leather necklace, one was provided. It had never occurred to her to wonder where the leather had come from and now she was preparing to try making clothes herself. Or at least leather to wrap around herself to keep warm.

Than finally consented to find her a large creature to skin, but only after grumbling about human weaknesses and the uselessness of skin as opposed to scales. Asher had huffed in amused exasperation. It was a common tease from her partner and not something she would ever let him change. Life could get difficult in the dark times and his humour would help both of them cope with the adversity they might face in the future.

The thump of a large creature brought her out of her thoughts. Than had quickly delivered what she needed and Asher sent him a grateful smile as she set about skinning the strange creature. She was sure she needed to massage the brains into the hide while stretching it, though she couldn't quite remember where she got that titbit of information from, or even if it was true.

Absently, Asher wondered if she would have enough leather left over from her experimenting to make a saddle for Than. He was adamant that he would soon be big enough for her to ride and Asher really, really wanted to soar through the skies with him. Especially since the skies here were not the domain of Zeus, who would be more likely to blast her out of the sky than ignore her audacity. She had never even flown a pegasus, since they didn't like her, but now she finally had a chance to soar through the clouds without fear.

Once the animal had been skinned and Asher had collected the brain matter and the fat (just in case), Asher began her search for some sturdy branches to begin stretching the hide. 'Gods, I hope this works.' She thought to herself as she spied a tree with decent sized branches. Unfortunately, the tree was of a kind that Asher didn't recognise and unbeknownst to her, was mildly poisonous. In breaking off and stripping the selected branches of leaves, she managed to get herself covered in sticky sap. Deciding that making leather was more important, Asher simply rinsed her hands and ignored the rest of the sap all over her in favour of getting to work.

It wasn't until Asher swiped some hair out of her face with the back of her forearm, that things got dangerous. The sap from her arm was transferred to her face and as she sweated over her work, it trickled into her eyes. At first, she ignored the slight prickle, thinking it was nothing more than perspiration, but as it grew worse into agonising pain, she realised her mistake.

Thanatos opened a single molten silver eye to watch as Asher dashed towards the stream beside their camp. Hurriedly, she splashed water into her eyes in a belated effort to wash out the sap.

'What's wrong, Asher?' inquired Than with concern from his spot in the sunshine. He could feel a soft echo of the stinging she was experiencing.

'Just something in my eyes. Probably some sap from the tree. I've washed it out so it shouldn't be a problem.' Than peered carefully into her eyes,

'I don't see anything in your eyes, so why are they still hurting?' he asked bluntly.

'It'll stop soon. I'll be perfectly fine.' Asher reassured.

Asher's eyes didn't stop hurting. Over the following days, the pain lessened to a continual burn, as if she were tired and in desperate need of sleep. Than was worried about the continued pain, but Asher kept maintaining that it would soon pass. In fact, the situation grew worse as Asher began tripping over things and walking into tree branches. This caused both Than and Asher quite a bit of distress as her balance seemed to be affected by the burning in her eyes.

In the end, it was Thanatos who figured out the real problem,

'Asher, watch out for that tree!' Asher paused in confusion,

'What tree?' she asked, squinting as she tried to see what Than was talking about. Than felt icy fingers of apprehension slide down the length of his back all the way to his tail tip.

'Asher, can you see the branch beside you?' Asher glanced to the left and shook her head. The branch was on her right.

'What about the puddle next to me?' Negative. 'The shrub over on your left?'

"Of course I can see the shrub Than." Asher replied, her impatience showing in her voice, but Thanatos could tell she was trying to hide something from him.

'Humour me. Do you see the little white flowers on it?'

'Yes Than, I see the stupid flowers.'

'Asher… There aren't any flowers on the shrub.'

'…There aren't?' Than shook his head sorrowfully, a motion that Asher could only see due to his bright scales reflecting the sunlight.

'Asher, I think you're losing your sight.' The devastation he felt from his rider nearly broke his heart. Had they been with the Dragon Rider Order, he was sure someone would have been able to save her sight, but they weren't. They were alone with no one else to rely on and neither of them knew a way to heal Asher's eyes. She would have to rely on her paternal powers to 'see' in the most basic way, but over using that power would kill her. Most devastating to Thanatos was that his rider would never see the brilliant colours of the sunrise as they flew through the skies.

It took two weeks for Asher to completely lose her sight. She finished making her leather, but it was a hollow victory, soured by her failing eyes. AS her sight continued to dim, she grew more and more depressed. Upset at her ignorant mistake and angry at herself, she took her frustration out on Than. Understanding the emotions and fears behind her actions, Thanatos simply comforted her through her tears and poked at her temper until she released the bottled up storm.

'Why won't you just leave me alone?! I don't want you here. Go away.'

'Absolutely not. You're as helpless as a new-born hatchling. You haven't even eaten anything I've brought you in two days. How can I leave you alone?' The silver dragon eyed his rider in irritation over her refusal to eat. She needed the sustenance.

'I'm not hungry.' She denied as her sightless eyes looked away from him.

'Do not lie to me, Asher! I am the other half of your heart, mind and soul. I can feel your hunger. You will eat today if I have to shove raw meat down your throat with my own claws.' Asher's short temper flared alongside Than's,

'What would you do is it was one of your clutch mates starving themselves?' Asher paused as Than's words sank in. What would she do in that situation? What would her siblings think of her behaviour now? They would be ashamed of her temper tantrums and the horrid way she had been treating her partner. She was better than she had been acting.

Than felt the understanding flow through his companion and quietly sighed in relief. She would recover from this and be even stronger for it. Content with Asher's new found determination to be more positive, he set off to find fresh meat for her.

Far away, across the deserts and plains, a young rider received a prophecy from a strange herbalist and advice from a were-cat.

Disclaimer: I do not own either Inheritance Cycle or the Percy Jackson series.