When morning came the sun's rays reached through the small window in Tai's room, waking the little hatchling dragon. It turned and looked at it's chosen human and nuzzled her. She moaned. He rubbed his scaly snout against her palm. She closed her fingers and rolled over, having laid down at sometime while sleeping. It made an annoyed face, and decided to test something. It found her mind, merged with his, yet only a tiny part right now, and shouted 'Awake!'

"Wha?" Tai asked groggily, opening her eyes and looking around. Bright sapphire reptilian eyes stared back at her. 'Good morning sleepy,' the voice who had woken her said. The dragon chick seemed to be smiling. Tai glanced at it. "Who are you?" she asked allowed.

'Amlute.'

The voice sounded male, yet young. It was unlike any voice she had ever heard, more a thought than a voice, yet it was not hers. "Are you Amlute?" she asked the dragon, pointing at it as if it might not understand.

'Yes.' It seemed amused now. The dragon stood and stretched, his body seeming slightly larger than it had before. He had long legs and looked awkward, as most animals do at that age, and yet he walked about with a feline like grace. Dragons were fast learners, Tai figured. 'I am hungry.' He told her simply.

Tai decided to test this mental link and see if it applied to her as well. She thought a phrase to him, 'I'll get you food.' His blue eyes widened ever so slightly in surprise, but he quickly covered it.

A knock on the door startled them both. "Tai? Are you awake?" her mother called. The teen picked up Amlute and hid him in her bed, under the blankets. 'What are you doing?' he asked in irritation. 'Be quiet!' she told him telepathically. The dragon glared at her, but she ignored him. Just as she covered the golden scales, her mother opened the door. "Taina Mayne, what took so long?"

"I wanted to get dressed first." She answered plainly. Her mother sighed. "If only you would dress like a lady." Tai grimaced. She knew her mother had wished to marry a lord and become wealthy and for her daughter to fulfill her dream, but she had ended up with Tai, an adventuring spirit who wanted to run off and become a dragon rider.

"Come and have breakfast." With that her mother left. Tai sighed with relief and went to look at herself in the mirror before leaving. She brushed her short, at least for a girl, dark hair then tied the longer back half up and turned away. A silver flash caught her eye and she looked again. Pulling her shirt collar down slightly she studied the sliver dragon that had appeared. She touched it gently, not wanting to cause pain, but the skin didn't feel any different. Smoother maybe, like a scar, but that was it.

'May I come out now?' Amlute asked. Tai nodded, then realized he could not see her from beneath the blankets and replied 'yes.'

"I'm gonna go eat breakfast. When I'm done I'll tell you. I want you to meet someone. He won't tell anyone about you."

Amlute blinked then nodded. Tai sighed and left the room. Her older brother, Grath, smirked. "Look who just woke up. Find any dragons last night?" A look of alarm spread across her face, but she quickly replaced it and glared at him. "No, you find any brains?"

"Might have." He walked away, laughing. Tai couldn't stand her family. She was glad she had Amlute now. Maybe she could run away with him, to an elven city, and train.

A little over half an hour later Tai was walking around her house, moving towards her window. 'Amlute…' she whispered mentally, forgetting that no one could hear her. 'Where are you?' he thought back. 'Come out the window and we'll go to Erek."

'Who?' The small body soon appeared on paper-thin wings, looking too small to hold him. He had been practicing while she ate. Tai watched as her dragon almost fell then caught himself wit that draconic grace. He landed on the widow sill and she picked him up, marveling at how light he was. She hid him beneath her coat and made her way to where she knew Erek would be.

Erek was a tall, slightly thin but handsome young man, around three years older than Tai. However they had met at a young age and somehow bonded. He was sitting on 'his' rock right now, looking out over the stream where the village got their water. A pen in hand and paper on his lap he was writing. Erek had always wanted to be an adventurer but had found his talent lay with music and arts, not swords. He looked up and brushed a long strand of black hair out of his eyes and saw Tai on her way. The teen girl grinned and sat down next to him. He hugged her and she grinned. "Guess what?"

"Your brother finally took my advice?"

"No, silly…though I wish he would." Tai grinned and grabbed the paper he had been composing on. While scanning it over, she mentally connected to Amlute. 'Come on out, he won't bite…at least not hard…'

'Are you sure we can trust him?' Amlute asked, his small body squirming beneath her coat. 'Yes, you can trust him.' Tai answered.

"I give up. What is it? " Erek asked. Tai grinned. "I want you too meet someone…some one very special…I, uh, I hope you approve of him…" she trailed off and Erek's heart sank. That could only mean one thing- someone had caught her eye. And it wasn't him.

For the past few years, after seeing the woman Tai was growing into, her long time friend had begun to feel…differently about her. While he never told her, she was his muse. All of his music came from being with her. His green eyes met her grey ones. "Alright, where is he?"

"Amlute?"

With a tiny rawr the small dragon appeared, baring his fangs. Tai glared at him and he stopped, sitting down and folding his wings. Those golden scales gleamed in the sunlight, making it hard to look at him for long.

"Tai…I can't…where? How?" he stared, open mouthed at the dragon. Then he smiled and pulled her closer. "Tai, this means you can fulfill your dream! You can go and become a dragon rider!"

"I know." They were both crying now, their tears of joy mingling. Erek pulled away and grinned. "When do you leave?"

Amlute looked up at the twosome and confusion crossed his face. 'What is going on?' he demanded. Tai wasn't paying attention however, her eyes were fixed on Erek.

"I don't know…I don't know if I can…"

"Tai, you must…and soon. You don't want anyone to find him." He looked at her seriously, then at Amlute. The young man reached out to pet the dragon's scales. Amlute purred contently as he absent-mindedly petted him.

"I could leave tonight…but I'll need a horse. And I can't steal my fathers. He needs her for the field. Oh Erek, and I can't leave you." Her tears began to flow more steadily, but they were no longer happy.

"Shhhh, it's alright. Here." He removed a bag from his coat pocket and handed it to her. "Buy the best horse you can, and leave tonight."

"I can't take this…"

"Yes you can." He closed her fingers around the money and smiled comfortingly. "Don't worry about me. I'll be alright."

"But we promised to stay together, no matter what. We were going to do so much together." Tai was sobbing into his shoulder now. Erek hated seeing her like this, but he enjoyed her being so close, and loved how she was so broken up over him. "We will adventure together one day Tai. You'll see. Now go. Find a horse and pack. We'll see each other again."

Review Replies:

Teenchic2004- hehe, glad you like our dragons. And thanks for reviewing.

Dragonrider2000- Glad you like it, and the story is set about 10 years after the Inheritance trilogy is set. Hope that helps.