I am on spring break now, but since I am not doing anything to save money, I can get a lot of work done on this story. So, I will be releasing a few more chapters over this week alone. So stay tuned! Also, if you like this make sure to review, favorite, and follow so you can be notified whenever a new chapter gets released!

Chapter 4: A daring escape

Phineas gaped at the small dragon. Its scales shimmered a brilliant violet, the same color as its egg, shining even in the dim light of the night storm. It shook itself, and then stared up at him. He eased himself closer and closer to the baby dragon, until he mustered the courage to try and touch it. As soon as his fingers made contact with the dragon's side, he fell backward, biting his tongue as an icy pain flashed through this hand up his arm. He gasped for air for a few minutes, then the pain subsided. He glanced at his hand where he had touched the dragon.

Shimmering in the center of his palm was a shimmering silver oval. He shuddered. This means he really was chosen, as he he had read from history books that the silver mark on his hand was synonymous with being a rider. He touched the dragon again, but this time, there was no pain, only a slight tingling sensation. He also felt a strange sensation in his mind. It felt like a probe in his thoughts, lingering there for a moment, followed by a sense of curiosity. He looked at the dragon. You? He thought. But, Phineas laughed. It couldn't have been the dragon.

An overwhelming sense of affirmation came from the probe. Phineas shook his head and looked at the dragon in disbelief. He couldn't believe that the dragon was a part of his thoughts. Another crash of thunder jolted him back to awareness of his surroundings.

He was still trespassing, with a dangerous storm raging outside, and two guards just outside the large door at the other end of the room.

Acting fast, he picked up the dragon, and wrapped it snugly in his tunic, hoping to free his hands. He climbed up to the window and lowered himself out the other side back into the pouring rain. He winced as the dragon increased the weight on his hands and feet, tiring him out more easily. But, he continued downward.

Halfway down, he panicked as he felt the dragon starting to slip out of his tunic. He doubled his pace but he wasn't fast enough. The violet dragon tumbled out and into open space. In a blind desperation, Phineas reached out for the dragon. And missed.

The momentum was too much for his hand on the ledge, and he slipped off of the wall and fell.

He tumbled down for twenty feet until he landed hard on his right foot, snapping the ankle. He screamed outward into the night as the unbearable pain gripped him. In his tightening vision, he noticed the dragon gliding down to the ground slowly and safely.

Phineas cursed his stupidity. He hated what he did, and now he was stuck outside in pouring rain with a busted ankle. He softly cried to himself. Half from the pain, and half from the sorrow. The dragon sniffed his jutted out ankle, then looked up at Phineas with its piercing eyes.

"Help.. me…" he whispered through the pain. Then, the dragon touched his ankle with the edge of its snout. He gasped in pain as he felt the bones and joints grinding back into place, when the motion stopped, the pain ceased from his ankle. He looked up and saw that his ankle was fixed to be perfectly normal again. He gaped at the dragon. What did you do? He projected his thoughts at the dragon.

Help was the one word response he got. He shook it off, gingerly standing up and testing his ankle. It felt strong and firm, so he picked up the dragon and sprinted back toward the tunnel he had visited previously. Following his previous footsteps, he made it back to the storeroom where he saw that the door had been broken in, but it mostly remained intact. He continued forward, until he finally re-entered his room and collapsed onto his bed, exhausted. The dragon pawed across his bed until it sat firmly on his chest, staring at him with its violet eyes.

"What am I going to do now?" he asked aloud while he stroked the dragon's neck, being careful of the spikes on its back. A thought crossed his mind. In the morning when the guard find that the egg is missing, the alarm would sound all over Illrea, as the gates would be shut indefinitely as they searched the entirety of the city, and it was only a matter of time before they found it. And what would they do if they found it? Phineas didn't know. He shuddered. He needed to get out of the city as fast as possible. From there on, he didn't know where, but he knew he needed to escape.

He jumped out of bed, scaring the dragon that was nodding off on his chest. He frantically searched around the room, throwing on a heavier cloak to protect from the cold rain, as well as grabbing his pack and filling it with items that he would need, including extra clothes, a firestarter, a map of Alagaësia, his bow, as well as a short sword his father gave him as a gift for his sixteenth birthday in celebration of his rise to manhood.

He cursed that he had no food to speak of, but he remembered a bakery was out near the stables where a few horses were, and one he planned on stealing. In the remaining space in his pack, he shoved in the dragon, despite its protests. Stay in here. He messaged over the mental connection. The dragon blinked once, but it seemed to understand. He shouldered the pack. Wary of the guard, he knocked on the door to see if he was still there. No answer came from the other side. He slowly opened it up to find the hallway empty and the guard vanished.

He crept out of his room down the hallway toward the stairs, which he slid down quickly until he was at ground level. Going to a more desolate end of the Citadel, he found a side exit, and quickly filed out to be greeted once again by the pouring rain.

It quickly soaked his clothes again as he pulled the hood of his cloak up to protect from the rain, and he dashed off quickly into the storm. Within a few minutes, he arrived at the stables. Going first to the bakery next door, he used his sword to slice through the thin chain that was locking the door. He slid inside, fumbling around until he found the racks where the bread were stored, grabbing two loaves and stuffing it into his pack next to the dragon.

He cursed again. You eat meat don't you he sent.

Again, the wave of affirmation came from the dragon. He fumbled around through the cabinets until his hands fell on a few pieces of dried meat, possibly as a snack for the owner. This will have to hold you for now. I'm not sure when we'll get to eat next. He handed the meat backward to the dragon who eagerly snatched it up without a second thought.

Hurrying back outside to the stable, He broke the chain at the front door, and stepped into the smelly structure. Again, the light was dim and he could barely see. But there was just enough for him to fumble around the wall until he found a saddle and saddle bags against the wall. Pulling them off, he wandered through the stable until he found the stall for Fury. He was the fastest horse around, and he knew he would be more than enough to get as far away from Illrea as possible.

The horse eyed him curiously as he threw the saddle over the top and latched it on. Without hesitation he swung up onto the horse, and motioned for the horse to leave. It burst out of its stall faster than Phineas was expecting and almost threw him out of the saddle, but he held on and Fury crashed out the front door and out into the night. Phineas swung fury around, heading for a side gate exit of Illrea.

Somebody yelled at him from right outside the stables. He paid it no mind. He only focused on the ground in front of him as Fury sped over the cobblestone streets. Soon, the side gate was directly in front of him. It would have the least guards, and it was only slightly bigger than a cart. He kicked Fury to go faster. He tore through the gate without a protest from the guards above, and Phineas, Fury, and the dragon rode out of Illrea and into the unknown.