Author's Note - Okay, it's at the end of the chapter, haha!
RainbowAlchemist - I never actually decided what Pass this took place in. I'll have to think on that for the sequel.
Chapter Seven - Drudge No Longer
As the small green Impressed to a young male candidate near the end of the semicircle, the two eggs that had run into each other cracked simultaneously. Once more, the tension among the candidates mounted as not one, but two blue dragonets squealed in startled retort. One, the smaller of the pair, had literally landed on top of the other.
Giving a loud hiss, the larger one pushed his clutch sibling off his back, causing him to roll several paces away. Struggling to his feet, the smaller and obviously weaker one staggered a few more paces before falling again. Several of the nearby males seemed to be considering helping the poor thing, and even several of the females, who were rather close to both blues, were not watching the golden egg anymore.
Once more, the smaller blue heaved himself up, and Jaikel caught the sight of green ichors running down his back right leg. It didn't look like it was anything to worry about, but he was no Dragonhealer. Plus, it seemed to be causing the dragonet quite a bit of pain.
The first, larger blue strode right passed the one that was struggling, sitting right at the feet of a heavier candidate that was close by.
The little blue let out a call of total devastation, limping forward with all of his strength. It became apparent that he had found the one he wanted, and a short boy no older than thirteen finally met him halfway. Jaikel could only guess that, for a moment, the small blue had thought that His had been taken.
Unfortunately for Jaikel, he had focused all of his attention on the blue pair, and was startled to see a girl already walking off the Sands with a dainty green at her side. There was another brown walking down the other end of the candidates, and by the looks on the female's faces, the queen egg had started rocking slightly.
How was one supposed to keep track of what dragonet Impressed to who? All of the eggs seemed to be rocking rapidly, and he was torn as to which one to watch.
One of the lager eggs close to he, Faraj, and Kaiser caught his attention as it gave a violent rock. It stopped for a moment, and then the shell seemed to collapse in on itself. Covered in eggshell stood a rather large green. She let out a high-pitched croon as she attempted to shake the fragments off, with no success. Much to the disappointment of the nearby males, she set a course for the females.
Only to fall on her snout right behind one of them. The girl turned and let out a scream, and suddenly everyone was looking at the large green as she stood once more. Some of the Sands had removed the bit of shell, and her hide was revealed to be a beautiful dark forest green.
Pushing the screaming girl to the ground, she stared at her with whirling orange eyes before nudging another out of the way. There was a murmur from the crowd as she gazed at the gold egg for a moment, before swinging her head around and letting out another croon. However, this one was most certainly filled with happiness.
"Look!" Kaiser shouted rather loudly to Faraj and Jaikel. The younger candidate was pointing insistently at Ariala, who had just made eye contact with the large green.
The green let out another croon, before she almost tackled her Chosen to the ground. Ariala collapsed against the dragon, who continued to croon in increasing frequency.
"She's Impressed!" Kaiser shouted, though it was rather obvious. Faraj had a large grin on his face, and even Jaikel was smirking. One of his friends had Impressed.
Marlya, who had been standing two people away from Ariala, was also smiling. However, a look of worry suddenly came over her face, and she returned her gaze to the now-rocking queen egg.
As Ariala led her dragon off of the Sands and out of sight, Jaikel realized that there were already only about a dozen eggs left. Of course, as soon as he thought this, another pair broke free of their shells. Two more greens, both almost identical in shading. They gazed at each other before going off in opposite directions.
Jaikel was attempting to just watch as each dragonet Hatched, but his attention was once more diverted as someone down the lie of candidates to his right shouted. A medium sized blue that he had not seen Hatch had pushed not one, but three candidates to the ground. It looked like he hadn't actually hurt them, just moved them out of his way. Faraj was watching the blue, too, a look of slight disapproval on his face.
As the blue proceeded to push his way through the candidates in their direction, Jaikel noticed the interesting coloring of the dragon. Mostly a dark, navy blue, his muzzle and tail stood out oddly, as they were a light, almost sky blue.
The blue glanced up for a moment, and abruptly sat on his haunches, mere paces from Faraj.
"You've got to be kidding me." Faraj whispered, his voice totally changing as he spoke.
Jaikel felt a faint pang as Kaiser jabbed him in the shoulder, an amused glint in his blue eyes. When Jaikel looked back at Faraj, he was running a hand over the blue's light muzzle, a look of wonder on his face.
Jaikel almost snickered at the situation again. It would be his luck, having the two closest friends at the Weyr Impress, while he was left standing.
"Hey now, wipe that look off your face." Kaiser cut in as another green passed rather close to the pair. "There's still a few more eggs. And look! The gold's Hatching!"
Curious as to who would Impress the queen, Jaikel forgot about the other eggs for a moment. And a moment was all he needed, as the large, golden-hues egg seemed to flake apart before everyone's eyes. The crowd cheered, drawing everyone's attention as a healthy looking, light gold stumbled forth. For a moment, gold Jasleneth held her head above her daughter, looking over the candidates as if warning them what would happen if they were to harm her.
But the new gold let out a strong, almost musical creel and, after glancing up at her mother, started pacing around the females gathered. All of the young woman looked extremely tense, and Marlya and Nadezna were no exception.
However, Jaikel didn't see who the young queen chose. A section in the crowd had started cheering again, and all Jaikel saw was a flash of metallic glint before he was knocked to the ground.
J'kel! Look here, I bet you didn't know I, Talzynth, was even coming.
Jaikel looked up with wide gray eyes, meeting those of a small, reddish tinted bronze, who was currently holding him down on the hot Sands. Oddly, he had know feeling of surprise or worry. All her felt was a strange comfort feeling, as if nothing was wrong at all. As if, this bronze was supposed to be here, staring at him.
Of course I'm supposed to be here! And you're supposed to be feeding me, somehow.
'Sorry. Where'd you come from? I didn't even see you Hatch!' J'kel replied.
No matter. I found you. I knew where you were.
'Well…I think I know where to get you something to eat. I can practically feel your hunger.'
Talzynth immediately back up, allowing his Chosen to stand. Out of the corner of his eye, J'kel spotted Kaiser, who was smiling. There were only four eggs left. The gold was gone. Kaiser made a shooing motion with his hand. And then an image abruptly filled J'kel's head.
'A small, cream egg near the edge of the clutch shaking violently. Crack after crack showing on its shell, and then…what could only be Talzynth shaking himself clean of the remains of his containment.'
Glancing up, J'kel spotted two firelizards, gold and blue, hovering above him. Kira and Zailos! They'd seen the bronze Hatch, and were now sharing the memory with him. Not that they knew the real significance of the image, only that their owner was somehow involved.
I'm hungry! Talzynth insisted.
'Okay, let's go.'
Leading the small bronze off the Sands with Kira and Zailos spiraling above them, J'kel had a feeling that his life could not have changed more in the course of a few days. Impressing two flits and a bronze dragon? And he was a drudge!
Or, rather, he had been.
I've decided to add an Epilogue! It'll be shorter, and it WILL be up like, the day after Easter! Thank you all SO much for reading, and even more so for the reviews! I am serious about a sequel, but I won't start working on it until after my two AP tests, which are at the beginning of next month. Plus, a lot of things are going on at my RPGs, so expect the sequel to start sometime in June!