Thanks everyone for reading. And, as so many of you are not keen on the idea i presented, and to tell the truth, I am not liking it either, I will not be going forward with it.

Disclaimer: I only own Florina and her dragon

"Hush, Little One." She whispered to the bulge in her jacket. The dragon was hidden inside and was protesting greatly. But Florina was about to enter Kuasta and agents of the king were there, hidden very well. One never knew who they were. The guards nodded to her in greeting and let her pass unhindered, thinking that the bulge was nothing more than a money purse. She tried not to hurry through the crowded streets as she made her way back to her father's forge. The golden dragon wriggled. Florina soothed it with her thoughts. It calmed down slightly. Caleb looked up as she drove past and around the house. He noticed the bulge in her jacket and smiled, glad that he was right. He listened as she unhitched the horses and led them to the stable. They lived at the edge of the city, closest to the forest and so were able to have a stable of their own for their two horses and their wagon. She hurried inside, barely calling a greeting to him.

Florina rushed to her room and deposited the gold dragon onto the bed. "You almost got me caught." She told it. "If the king were to find out about you," Florina shuddered and the dragon looked at her. Florina pressed a mental image of the possible atrocities that would happen if the king found out about them. The dragon squeaked and Florina's anger abated. The dragon was so young, it did not understand. She picked it up and curled up with it and held it in her arms. "How am I going to hide you from the rest of the city?" She said to it. "If the stories are true, dragons grow very quickly." A knock on her bedroom door disturbed her thoughts. "Yes?" She called. Her parents entered the room before she could tuck the dragon out of sight. Not that she could keep anything from her mother. Her mental barriers were not that strong. "I can explain,"

Caleb held up his hand and stopped her. "It is I who needs to explain." Florina and the dragon looked at him. Emily sensed curiosity coming from both of them. "I found the egg twelve years ago, when I taught you to swim. I showed it to your mother. We agreed to keep it hidden. We knew it was no coincidence that I had found it while the both of us were out in the cove that day. And I was right. Last week, when I told you were going to Dras-Leona instead of me, we both heard a squeak when you walked by its hiding place. So I hid the egg in the wagon where you would find it when the hatchling was ready to hatch. When did it hatch?"

"Fate has an odd sense of humor." Florina chuckled. "It hatched on the night I turned eighteen." The three of them began laughing. "My only concern, where are we going to keep it? It will soon be too big for the house."

"It will be safe enough in the forest." Emily said. "We just need to keep it from the little farms that we do have here."

Florina looked at the dragon and smiled. It had been just over a week since the dragon had hatched for her and she was glad to finally have a companion. At night, when she was done in the forge and her mother did not have a surprise lesson planned for her, Florina spent the extra time with her dragon. It was a little higher than her knee. She knew that it would be twice the size in another week and so she allowed it to hunt for itself. She did not look at the dragon as a mere animal. She knew the stories that were whispered by the fireside held truth.

The king did not concern himself with Kuasta's affairs as long as they paid his taxes on time. This allowed the dragon to be able to hunt without fear in the higher reaches of the Spine. That was one thing the strange people of Kuasta were afraid of, the Spine. Very few went to hunt inside it and those did not venture out of sight of the city itself. The dragon, with help from Florina, knew how important it was to stay in the Spine. "Why did you choose me?" She asked the dragon as it walked around the clearing. The mental connection was strong and grew stronger every day. The dragon looked at her. Florina felt the sense of safety that the hatchling felt when she was with Florina. "I know you want to live in the house. But you are already bigger than a cat. If the people of the city saw you, we would be in Galbatorix's service before you were a month old. Now don't give me that look. I want you by my side as well. The king is mad and will do anything to get new Riders under his control. I would rather kill us both before that happened." The dragon snuggled into the crook of Florina's arm and slept. Florina rubbed its head until the moon began to rise. Florina placed the sleeping dragon in the hut her father had made and walked back to the city.

Isolated as Kuasta was, the only wall was along the main road to the north. Florina had hidden her dragon in the southern end of the Spine. She walked quietly to her house. She knew she had to tell her father that it was no longer safe for him to go to Dras-Leona. She entered through the back door and went to the kitchen where both of her parents were sitting. She saw a letter in Caleb's hand. She gulped. "Why would the Varden be sending a message to you? I cannot open it. Damn magic."

"I've been meaning to tell you, but with the dragon, I forgot."

"Forgot to tell me what?"

"The king knows that you sell to the Varden. It is no longer safe for you to go to Dras-Leona. From what has been said, there may be a spy. They changed the phrases and promised to send me the new ones before the next trip to Dras-Leona."

"The payment."

"From now on, we will be paid so that it will look legitimate. And, they will still have you make the weapons, but I must be the one to go and sell them. Please, Papa, do not make this harder than it already is." He handed her the scroll and she opened it. She read it and memorized the phrases. A message like this needed to be burned after reading it.

Daughter of Caleb, we hope that this finds you in good health and free of Galbatorix's clutches. I have decided that I will only ask you to make one more trip to Dras-Leona. After that, you and your family must come where we can protect you. Tell this to them so that they may ready for the journey. Caleb knows the phrase to enter. I will be waiting for you at the gate by Kóstha-mérna Lake. Await my next order. You will leave from Dras-Leona. Caleb and Emily will leave from Kuasta in the night later. Meet them at the lake.

Florina gulped and handed the note to her father. His face darkened. "Doesn't he know that leaving will only further tip off the Empire? No, we will not leave. When you make your next trip, you will act as if nothing is amiss and you will return. Do you understand me, Florina?"

"Yes, Papa." She knew he was right. If the Empire truly knew who exactly was supplying the Varden, they would be waiting for them to disappear in the night. "What do we do for now?"

"We work on naming your dragon. When you both are ready, then we shall go to the Varden. They have been waiting for a Rider for many years now."

Florina looked at the now three month old dragon. Small words had started to pass between them which only further convinced Florina that the dragon was no mere animal. They spent the hours together talking and soon, Florina realized that her dragon was a female.

"You need a name."

"Oh, and what are you thinking of calling me?"

"Hmm, let's see now. I hardly know of any of the female dragons as tales of them are only whispers because of the king. I want it to be something that suits you. It needs to be noble." Florina toyed with a few names, including the name of the woman who had given birth to her, but the dragon did not like any of those. "Okay then, how about Kuldra. It's a little obvious as kuldr means gold, but I cannot think of anything else that would fit a creature as noble as you."

"Kuldra" the dragon repeated, testing the sound. "You should not underestimate yourself when it comes to names. I like that you have thought of it. Sometimes the best words are the most obvious ones. Kuldra," Kuldra started humming and Florina smiled to herself.

"You've been in my thoughts. Do you think my parents should flee?"

"If their allies are right and their enemies know that it is your father who supplies them, leaving would only confirm their suspicions and then they would come looking for you to try to get them. Your father is a wise man. When do I get to meet them?"

"Soon, I promise."

The moon was shining through his window when he woke. The stone on his shelf of trinkets was rocking rapidly, knocking against the wall. He jumped out of bed, knife in hand. The egg stopped rocking. He remained tense, ready to strike. The stone began squeaking and rocking faster than before. The fifteen year old dressed with an oath. He didn't care if it was valuable, he was going to bury the stone far away from his home. The rocking and squeaking stopped. He looked at it. It quivered and then rolled forward and dropped onto the floor. He inched toward the door as it wobbled toward him.

Cracks suddenly appeared on the stone. He watched, unable to move as the piece where all the cracks met rose and toppled to the floor. After another series of squeaks, a small dark head poked out of the hole. It was soon followed by a weirdly angled body. He held the knife tighter. The creature was free of the stone and was walking into the moonlight. He recoiled in shock. Standing before him and licking the membrane that incased it was a dragon.

He watched it, taking in its features. Neither one of them knew that they were the second new pair of Dragon and Dragon Rider.

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