Author's Note - Three reviews, that's a start! haha. Please continue to review, when I see fourteen hits I want reviews people! Thanks for reading, and of course the reviews.
Firelizard lover: I happen to be a firelizard lover also. On my roleplaying sites I always have at leastone character with one!
dragonsrgorgeous07: I will, as you know buddy! Keep reading!
VoodooWeasel: Yay! I'm happy you liked it. Hopefully I won't lose my touch or something as this continues. And after I looked over the chapter I noticed that I did start with actions a lot. Hopefully this one's better. hehe.
Chapter Two - Surprises
A good four candlemarks later, the drudge opened his eyes, at first forgetting where he was. Yawning, Jaikel sat up from where he had ended up laying on the floor. Shards! It was cold! With a jolt he remembered the eggs, and quickly attempted to build up the fire. Feeling the two shells, he realized that the sand had kept them warm. Thank Faranth! That was twice now that taking the sand had helped.
No sound came from down the hall whatsoever now, and Jaikel allowed himself to relax a little. Peering out the window for a moment, he could hear nothing but the normal sounds of the night. It was pitch black, a cold breeze blowing through. From a high point on the rocks above the Hold, two gleaming eyes suddenly appeared.
Jaikel froze. It was just one of the dragons, but it almost seemed like those whirling green eyes were looking at him. Which was a ridiculous idea; he noted with a smirk.
Shaking his head, he returned to the room. What time was it? He dearly hoped that the eggs would Hatch before the riders left, for he still wanted to see the dragons. Again sitting on the floor, he gazed at his two eggs with soft eyes. They were his. Once they Hatched there was no way that anyone would take them from him, his two flits. Leaning against one of the chairs that adorned the room, he accidentally dozed off again.
The sound of a knock startled Jaikel. Looking around while fear threatened to over-run his common sense, he looked for the source of the sound. It wasn't someone at the door, nor down the hall. The window was only cracked a bit, and nothing could have fallen against it. Finally, his eyes fell on the hearth.
The smaller, cream-shaded egg had actually rolled a few paces away. It still wobbled back and forth, as if the creature inside would explode if it didn't get out. Jaikel held his breath, grabbing a hand-full of meat from the bowl. Glancing over at the other, larger one, he saw that it too wobbled slightly, though not nearly as much or as fast.
A small cracking noise suddenly echoed across the room. Jaikel's head snapped back around at the small one, which now had a large crack right down the center of its shell. Grinning like a drunken man, he waited, holding his breath as it gave one final rock before splitting neatly apart.
A small, navy blue firelizard tumbled from the remains of the egg. It seemed to look around for a moment, un-furling his wings, before letting out an extremely high-pitched creel.
Worried that it'd wake some one, Jaikel wasted no time in placing a piece of meat right in front of his outstretched hand. The blue pounced on it, stuffing his maw full in an instant. Eyes whirling an orange shade, it crawled on Jaikel's hand, screaming its lungs out for more food.
It was another ten minutes before the blue sat on Jaikel's right shoulder, sleeping soundly. Jaikel talked to it anyways, thinking happy thoughts the entire time. What to name him?
"How about Zailos." He said, stroking the little blue on the head. It was amazing, how already its hide was hard and yet smooth to the touch. Jaikel could hardly believe it, he finally had a firelizard! Remembering the other egg, the drudge settled down to watch.
He'd seen firelizards up close before, but he'd never been able to touch one until now Also, he had never seen a gold or bronze. The few people at Katno Hold who had firelizards had greens, blues, and the occasional brown. He remembered seeing a bronze dragon once, but it must had been when he was very young, because it was just an image.
Another fifteen minutes passed by, and still the large egg barley moved. Was it a dud? Jaikel frowned, though he couldn't be all that upset. Such was the way of things, not every egg clutched actually Hatched.. Besides, blue was a noble color, and he had after all gotten his flit. Not to mention that it would be easy enough to conceal the fact that he had Impressed a firelizard. There were enough blues at Katno so as Zailos would not draw attention. It was even better that the rest of the clutch was probably Hatching the same night, so he wouldn't be the only new flit either.
Jaikel was still watching the larger egg with curiosity when it shattered without warning.. Eggshells flying everywhere, he didn't at first realize what color it was, he was too occupied with keeping shell fragments from hitting Zailos. When he got a good view of the little darling, his mouth dropped open. Oh no. The light from the fire glinted off the beautiful hide of what could have been nothing less than a gold.
Gold! He couldn't have a gold! He hadn't known there was a gold in the clutch! A drudge would not, could not be seen with a gold! A gold could not be hidden among the other non-metallic colors at the Hold. Even if there had been a bronze or two in the same clutch, there wouldn't have been two golds!
The sound of the poor dear creeling softly in hunger snapped him out of his panic. Oh, but look at her! He couldn't let her starve, and the nearest beach was too far, so he didn't want to let her go wild. Hands shaking in his excitement, Jaikel offered her a palm full of meat. She immediately jumped into the hand, cries muffled by the sound of her intent chewing.
Jaikel lifted his hand, along with the flit, so that he could get a good look at her. She was quite a sight. A good medium size, her hide still glistening. When she was finished devouring the meat in his hand, she curled up in his lap, making little content chirps before falling asleep. Moving slowly, Jaikel managed to set her on his right shoulder, opposite of Zailos.
"Zailos and Kira." He said softly, watching the two. They were his. He couldn't get the thought out of his head. How he had managed to get the queen egg, he'd never know.
Jaikel sat for another two candlemarks, letting his companions sleep and trying to figure out what he should do now. He could escape being seen for most of the day, but Siara and the other lower caverns woman would get suspicious if he stayed away too long, and he still wanted to see the dragons. He walked over to the window, noticing that it was already light outside. Well, at least a lot of people would sleep in later than normal due to the night's festivities.
The drudge took an involuntary step back as two dragons landed in the clearing at the Hold's entrance. One a medium sized green, the other a huge brown. Jaikel's eyes widened at the sight, marveling as the pair folded their wings to their backs and allowed their riders to dismount. The two walked inside, disappearing from view.
Kira let out a sudden soft chirp from his shoulder, picking her small golden head up and peering out the window. One of the dragons, the green, seemed to glance right at the window. Jaikel blinked, wondering by Faranth what had just happened. From his shoulder Kira chirped again, wrapped her tail around her owner's neck, and promptly fell back asleep.
Something told Jaikel that he had better leave the room, so he strode to the door and quietly opened it, and was relieved to find the hallway empty. Voices drifted from a few nearby rooms, but he needn't worry about that.
Feeling extremely out of place with the two flits on his shoulders, Jaikel made his way to one of the back entrances of the Hold. Normally one such doorway was only used for supplies and trader's goods. Peering outside, he noticed that the two dragons were still there, alone on the grounds. Running a hand through his hair with nervousness Jaikel crept forward, only to hear voices coming from down the hallway that he had just come through.
In a slight panic he headed for the place a lot of Hold folk wouldn't follow him, which closer to the dragons. If he got close enough, maybe whoever was behind him would just think he was one of the riders.
Both dragons turned their large, wedge-shaped heads toward him, but neither made a sound. Jaikel wondered if they would tell their riders that someone was so close to them, but perhaps they didn't care at all.
"Jaikel!" A shrill voice shouted from behind him. He shuddered; Siara again! Why could he not escape that woman! He would have run back into the Hold through the main entrance, but then the green dragon was suddenly blocking his path with her neck. The brown snorted beside her, and Jaikel had a feeling it was from amusement.
"What do you think you're doing!" Siara yelled again. Her voice was close, but Jaikel didn't want to turn around. He was doomed. He'd stolen to firelizard eggs, including the queen egg, and was now bothering dragons. Not a very good combination.
"Now Siara, don't scare him." A light feminine voice stated. This time Jaikel did turn around, watching in slight dismay as who he could only name as the two riders and Siara stopped in front of him. The green that had blocked his head looked at him for a moment, then lifted her neck so that the others could get closer.
"Scare him! Look! There's your two missing flits!" Siara persisted, pointing an accusing finger at Kira and Zailos. At the loud noise, both firelizards lifted their heads, squawking in alarm.
"Come now." The female rider repeated, smiling at Jaikel. "It's luck that he got the gold egg, but the eggs were to be distributed anyways." She brushed a lock of beautiful black hair out of her eyes, smiling to those around her, blue eyes calling for reason.
Siara shook her head, eyes narrowing. "He's a drudge."
The other rider, who had been silent until now, suddenly chuckled, grinning at Jaikel.
"Well, I suppose that partially is why we couldn't find you, lad." He said, brown eyes shining in amusement and a hint of surprise.
"Pleas sir, how did you find me? And I'm sorry Siara…" Jaikel blurted, only to be cut off by the female rider again.
"Your two firelizards." She replied simply. Seeing the sudden look of fear on Jaikel's face, she smiled again, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder. "we're not going to take your flits away. Even if we wanted to, they're Impressed to you, and our dragons wouldn't let us. They want you to come back with us."
"Back…with you? To…to the Weyr?" Jaikel asked, her words sinking in. He knew that his voice was practically trembling. Him! To Skyfire Weyr! Kira and Zailos, who had just calmed down, started up their chattering again. Kira's tail was wrapped around Jaikel's neck so tightly that he thought he might have a mark later.
"Yes." The male rider replied, holding out his hand. "Drudge or not. If you're candidate material, you're coming. I'm R'dim, rider of brown Trynth." The named brown rumbled in agreement.
"And my name's Anna, of green Lindreth."
As Jaikel returned R'dim's gesture and then also shook Anna's hand as well, he couldn't help but notice the flicker of a smile across Siara's face.
"Ma'am…" He stuttered, unable to keep his emotions in check.
"Jaikel, you obviously were not meant to be a drudge in the first place. Your father wasn't, and so you should not be. Plus, you'll be off my hands. Now hurry up and get your things. There's two others from the Hold that are also going, and we can't keep these two riders waiting." Siara said, voice mockingly stern. "Be back here in a candlemark."
Jaikel couldn't run back into Katno Hold fast enough, but he had to take his time so as not to dislodge the blue and gold on his shoulders. He'd have to feed them…yes, and then he'd go get the few things that he owned. Zailos nipped at his ear, letting out a soft hum.
He wasn't going to Skyfire Weyr alone!