“Move!” Hess shouted as he tried to push Kaen away from the opening.

“No!” Kaen protested as he fought back against Hess. “I am not leaving! It is a dragon!”

“Exactly!” Hess exclaimed as he grabbed one of Kaen’s arms and started pulling him away. “We need to go now! They are dangerous!”

Kaen struggled and turned and kicked Hess in the leg, causing Hess to let go of his arm. The kick had not hurt him, but Hess was shocked that Kaen had kicked him.

“I’m not leaving! I want to watch it hatch! I can feel it reaching out to me!”

Hess froze. Between Kaen attacking him like a rabid animal with his legs and hearing that Kaen felt like it was reaching out to him, a memory deep in his past tugged at him.

He turned and glanced at the egg and saw that it was flexing and that another crack had appeared in its bronze and brown shell. Years of reading cracks told him that it would soon break free.

“What do you mean it is reaching out to you?” Hess demanded as he moved between Kaen and the egg.

Kaen tried to watch the egg, but Hess’s massive body blocked the entrance.

“I don’t know,” he grunted as he tried to push Hess out of the way. “I can feel it in my mind and my chest. I can feel it in my lifestone! As soon as I saw it, I felt it say hello, and the egg cracked! Now move!”

Hess stumbled to the side as Kaen frantically pushed him out of the way. He watched Kaen move closer to the egg and put his hand on the outside. He saw the egg push toward Kaen’s hand as it drew close to the outside of the egg.

“Impossible,” Hess whispered.

There has not been a bonding in many generations.

“I’m here,” Kaen spoke softly as he started to run his hand along the edge of the egg. “I’m here. Show me who you are!”

Kaen’s face was like a child watching fireworks for the first time. His eyes were wide, and the sight before him enthralled him. He had no idea what was happening, but Hess knew it would be impossible to pull Kaen away now.

He did not remember the exact term for what was happening, but Hess had heard about it a lifetime ago. Once a dragon found a person to bond with, it was for life. Both could live for hundreds of years. They would share their life force, and both would grow strong enough to rule kingdoms if they survived those who challenged them.

A crack in the egg popped off a chunk of the brown shell as it fell to the ground.

A trilling sound came from inside the egg, and Kaen leaned as close as possible when he saw the golden eye peering at him.

“Hey Pammon, I’m Kaen!”

“You know its name?” asked Hess.

Kaen reached a hand inside the egg a little and stroked the top part of the ridge along Pammon’s nose. The dragon trilled more, and it appeared to be smiling.

“I can hear him. Inside my head,” Kaen informed Hess as he tapped his temple with his other hand.

Kaen moved both of his hands to his thighs and tapped his legs with both hands.

“Come on, you can do it! Get out of the shell, Pammon!”

The dragon trilled and growled and flexed against the opening. It pushed, and suddenly, the egg split open as it tumbled out. Slime covered its dull brown and copper scales as it flopped around on the ground, trying to spread its wings and adjust its tail, all while standing up.

“Good job!” Kaen cheered as he bent down and started rubbing Pammon’s head and helping to remove some of the egg enzymes from his body.

Hess stood there in awe. What would Hoste have given to see his son with a dragon? He could barely believe it himself.

Pammon turned and glanced at Hess and cocked its head. It let out a shriek that seemed so puny for such a dangerous creature.

Kaen laughed and shook his head.

“He is a friend. He will not hurt you.”

Kaen turned toward Hess and motioned for him to get closer.

“Put your hand out. He won't bite.”

Hess glanced at Kaen, who was smiling as he rubbed the little dragon’s head, and then watched the baby dragon as it cocked its head sideways and watched him. He was not completely certain Kaen knew exactly what the dragon would do.

Hess slowly held his hand out, bent down a little, and smiled.

“Hey there, Pammon,” Hess said. His voice cracked a little, and Kaen chuckled.

Pammon slowly stretched his neck and sniffed the large hand near him. After a few sniffs, Pammon turned and looked at Kaen, who smiled and nodded.

Pammon then put his head under Hess’s hand and started to move it back and forth around his fingers.

“Scratch his head,’ Kaen whispered as he winked at Hess.

Hess laughed and moved his fingers around on the soft scales. He could not believe how soft they felt. He knew one day they would be strong enough to stop almost anything from penetrating it.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The trill that Pammon let out as his fingers scratched the bone structure of his head brought the largest smile Hess had worn in years. He found himself laughing and shaking his head. Moments ago, he feared the dragon, and now he was scratching it like a puppy or cat.

Suddenly, Pammon snapped his head back, turned to Kaen, and let out a loud screech.

Kaen grimaced and turned to Hess.

“He’s hungry, he says.”

Hess nodded and understood. He reached into the small pouch on his hip and pulled out some dried meat. Holding it out to Pammon, it sniffed it and tossed its nose up at it. He screeched at Hess, then turned back to Kaen and let another screech out.

“He wants fresh meat. Not that dried meat,” Kaen informed him with a shrug. “I don’t know where we are going to get that.”

Taking a deep breath, Hess stood up and let it out as he gazed around where they were. He spotted Kaen’s bow, moved to it, bent down, and grabbed it and the quiver.

“We only have a little over an hour of light left. Something will be out there. You wrap up that rope, and I will find something. Hopefully, it will be enough to tide him over until we figure out what we will do.”

“Aren’t we taking him home?” asked Kaen.

Hess chuckled. He knew that question was going to come before Kaen had even asked it.

“I am not sure what we will do tonight. We will figure it out, but we need to be careful. Lots of people will want to have a say about him and you.”

Hess started to trot off toward the woods.

“Get the rope and be ready to leave when I get back!” he shouted as he ran off.

Kaen and Pammon watched as Hess ran away.

Turning to Pammon, Kaen smiled and shrugged.

“I guess I’ll get the rope.”

Pammon let out a screech.

Pammon lay on the ground, his belly was bulging. The dragon was slightly bigger than a good-sized dog. It had eaten the two rabbits and squirrel Hess had managed to shoot. Each time, Pammon barely chewed before swallowing both rabbits.

Now he was lying on the dirt with his eyes glazed over, and a low thrum was coming from him.

“I guess we will have to carry him home or stay out here.”

Kaen nodded. He was overwhelmed with something he had not felt in a long time. For over six years, he had felt partially empty inside. When his dad died, all the joy in his life had vanished. That first year had been challenging. He had been awful to Hess. Every time, Hess would just smile and gently help him do what needed to be done. Hess never yelled at him or struck him.

With this connection to Pammon, Kaen felt a different kind of joy. He could feel the contentment from Pammon, and it made him feel alive.

“There aren’t many things out here that would bother us with a fire going, but I know I smell horrible, and we both need to eat. Would you be up for carrying him home?”

Glancing at the snoozing baby dragon, Hess started to chuckle.

Pammon opened one eyelid just a little before closing it and starting its low thrumming sound again.

“Out of everything I have ever carried in my life, I will admit this might be the most memorable as long as he does not claw me to death.”

Kaen laughed, and Hess smiled. Both of them saw the tiny sharp claws on Pammon’s paws and back feet. There was no doubt how easily those could cut someone.

“Ask him if he will let me carry him. If he says yes, then I will do it.”

Kaen walked over to Pammon, lifted his head, and tapped him on the skull. Pammon shook his head at Kaen, and a whine came from being woken up.

“He said you can carry him,” Kaen stated as he lowered Pammon’s head back to the ground. “He said he is tired and just wants to sleep.”

Hess nodded and grabbed the coiled rope on the ground.

“Let’s get him inside the rope coil so I can carry him. We need to head out. I want to be somewhere we know before it is completely dark.”

Working together, they got the mostly limp dragon into the coils of the rope and secured Pammon inside it against Hess. Pammon had let out a few grumbles and small whines, but he went right back to sleep once he was strapped in.

The trip back to their house had been mostly uneventful. No one was on the road when they finally reached it. The sun had been down for almost a half hour, and the only light came from the stars in the sky and the sliver of the moon that was out. They had traveled on that road for years, so they knew where they were and where they were headed.

Once they got close to town, they stayed on the outskirts of the wooded area until they made it near their farm. Having a small farm meant they were not in the actual city but close enough to be at the only drinking establishment in twenty minutes or so.

When they got back to the house, Kaen worked on getting a fire going. Once they had a little light, he fixed up a place in the small room that he slept in on the floor, and Hess gently lowered Pammon to the ground. The dragon had slept the entire trip and still not woken up now that he was on the floor.

Hess motioned for Kaen to join him at the table so they could be near the fire.

Kaen sat down and glanced into his room, where he could see the light of the candle inside it flicker off the brown scales. They almost looked copper in that light.

Hess set two wooden cups on the table, pulled a cork from his bottle, and poured a little into each cup.

“We are drinking alcohol?” Kaen gasped as he watched Hess put the cup in front of him on the table.

Hess chuckled and gently sat down in his chair. Leaning across the table, he held his cup out and waited.

Kaen realized what he was doing and quickly picked up his cup and tapped it against Hess’s.

“To your new life,” Hess said. “Your life will never be the same, and I pray you stay on the path that will make your father proud.”

Hess tipped his cup back and drained it.

Kaen glanced into his cup and smelled it. He had only tried some nasty mead Patrick had stolen once. It had made him sick for a day, and he had not drunk since then. Surely this must be better, no matter how the smell seemed to assault his nose.

Kaen tried to drink the alcohol like Hess had. One quick swallow. The only problem was the second the taste of it hit the back of his throat, he gagged and ended up spewing most of it over the table and the floor.

Hess roared in laughter and shook his head.

“It takes many of those to learn to keep it down. I hope you never practice enough to be able to down in one shot like me,” he teased.

Kaen grimaced and tried to smile. His throat burned, and his eyes were watering.

“Why did you do that?” he gasped.

Hess leaned forward, and his face turned serious.

He motioned to the dragon sleeping in the other room with his massive thumb and then pointed at Kaen.

“That changes everything for you. From now on, you must learn to question everything someone offers you. Even a friend like Patrick or Cale. A dragon’s body is worth a fortune. The easiest way to kill it is to kill you.”

Hess glared at Kaen, and Kaen shifted under the weight of Hess’s stare.

“I will do everything I can to prepare you for what is coming, but I am afraid we will not have a lot of time before someone finds out about Pammon. For now, you must not tell anyone and must train your dragon. He will never obey you if he does not learn to obey you now.”

Kaen glanced at Pammon and then back at Hess.

“How do you know these things?”

Hess sighed and leaned back in his chair.

“I learned a lot the hard way.”