What is this new relationship I have? Read and see…

Arya had no thoughts other than for the robed figure from the night before. Mimic had said nothing about it when she told him, instead just sighing and walking away. He was drowning in thought much as she, but not of love but of hate. Arya never thought back to Eragon, her whole being bent on finding this mysterious figure clad in black.

And the strange man came looking for her, once more clothed in the black robe. "I'm sorry I left so…rudely. I was expecting to go to the nearby village of Tirth before the sun rose, but…I didn't expect meeting you." Arya smiled slightly. "Unfortunately, with a romance only heard of in fairy tales…there is always a conflict that keeps the two apart."

"And what would that be?"

"I am not human."

"Neither am I." Arya pointed out, but she knew what he meant. "Just let me see you."

"If you are so sure…" The man reached up and pulled the hood back, revealing the blue-scaled face of a dragon. "I am a drake." Arya gasped and drew her sword, but Mec did nothing. "Yes, go ahead and kill me, but then an army of hybrids would follow you to the end of your days." Arya dropped the sword on the ground.

"Why would I kill you? You have done nothing wrong…"

"Except hatch in the first place. And Eragon did nothing wrong, and yet you tried to kill him."

"I did not know what he was." Arya said softly.

"Neither did I until I was two days old; I always thought he was a dragon like my mother. But, you still tried to murder an innocent, regardless of species or mentality."

"He is a foul creature that has broken the laws of the riders."

"He is my father, and no longer a part of Alagaesia, nor is he a rider." Mec threw off his cloak, spreading his blue wings. "I am sorry that you lost him, but he belongs to my mother first. That is the meaning of being a rider; putting your partner before yourself."

"What would you know of such things?"

"Because of my dragon blood I instinctively know these things." Mec growled loudly, an animal sound that made Arya tremble. "Last night you were quite different, especially when you didn't know what I was. Now, what makes you think I am any different from an elf or human?"

"You are unnatural…" Arya said softly, but not truly believing it.

"I am the product of a pairing between a rider and his dragon. They are essentially the same being, as the magic in them allows such a thing as me to come into existence. Now, I could say that elves are unnatural, that they do not deserve the immortality my ancestors gave them, that my ancestor Bid'Daum should never have bonded with Eragon. But I can't say that, as then both dragons and elves would not exist."

"No…"

"But, I am only the continuation of the spell wrought long ago, just as man and dragon became one in soul and mind, I make them one in body as well." Arya saw the truth of his words, and looked up to his eyes. The ice-blue eyes that had caught her the night before, and she knew he was no different than any elf.

"Why did you come back to me?"

"Because I believe Fate has bound us, and I am not one to argue with Fate, even if it has no hold on me." Mec tucked in his wings and laid his tail in line with his leg, and he looked far more human. "So, are you going to accept me for what I am, for what I cannot change, or will you strike me down here and now?" Arya picked up her sword…and sheathed it.

"I cannot take the life of an innocent." She said so softly no elf could have heard her. But a dragon could, and Mec nodded, coming closer. "So, what now?"

"That is for you to decide, pure-breed." Mec smiled slightly. "I can change my form with magic if it makes you more comfortable being near me. Though I doubt you would want me to use dark magic…"

"Stay what you are, it is something you should never try and change." Arya smiled. "Does this mean we are in love?"

"How in the name of the lost worlds should I know?" Mec chuckled, though it sounded like a snarl. "I was only born a few days ago."

"How old are you?"

"One week tomorrow. Hybrids mature very rapidly in order to cope with the world that despises them." Arya watched as Mimic came through the trees.

What is this creature doing here? He asked, not really caring.

He is…a friend. A close friend. Arya said. "Mec, this is Mimic." Mec bowed in the manner of the elves.

"Well met, cousin." He said. Mimic growled and nodded, but no more. "Arya, do you approve of my being with you?

"Of course I do." Mec picked up his robe and wrapped it about him, but kept the hood down. "Where are you going?"

"With you." Mec smiled slightly, his razor-teeth showing. "What, did you think I would just run away and leave you behind?"

"Yes, I did." Arya followed Mimic back to their camp, the drake just behind. "So, you are really the son of Eragon and Saphira?"

"I am." He said, extending his wings from his robe so that he shielded her from the sun. "My brother is Arcir; my three sisters are Saphira, Vervada, and Jessara." He looked down at the ground. "Though Jessara is a mute, and cannot enter the light of the sun for fear of being burned."

"That's terrible." Arya said softly.

"She is still well, though, and we love her." He extended his wings out as far as they would reach, which was about twice the size of a dragon's wings, proportionally. "I will be fully grown tomorrow, and I should be able to carry nearly twice my weight in flight."

"You are so thin!" Arya said, looking at the bones that showed through his scales.

"I have a strange metabolism that prevents me from building up fat in my body." He returned his wings to their normal position. "You don't seem to mind my wings much."

"I don't mind, it's just hard to get used to."

"And will you have to get used to them?"

"I guess I will if we are to be together." Mec snickered. "If only my mother knew…"

"She is scrying us right now, I can sense it." He spread his wings and growled. "Well, let's see what she does about it…"

Wow, this is getting confusing. Tell me what you think about this change of plans in your reviews!