When James came to, he found himself in perfect darkness. There was no difference between having his eyes open or closed. There was a heavy weight on his chest and his hands felt unusually warm. When he moved his hands the weight on his chest shifted. For a moment he began to panic, thinking that he might be in a cave-in. The dream he had just had would be easily explained by head trauma. However, when he tried to move his hands apart, he found that they would not release what they were holding. He could feel the slight roundedness of it, the pebbled exterior, but he could not make his hands let go. Sitting up, slowly, he let the object fall into his lap and then the true panic began. What if it wasn't a dream? If that was true, then what he held in his hands was... Oh, no. Fuck that! There is no way! I am not THAT unlucky!

'It was not a dream James. And what you hold is, indeed, my egg.' 

"Who said that?!" Looking around wildly, James stood, his breath coming hot and quick. "Light a torch so I can see you! I am armed!" Technically, I mean, I have a sword. I just can't use it because this stupid egg won't let my hands go!

'You do not need your sword. I understand why you are afraid, I have looked into your mind. That is why you got the memory from me. There must always be an exchange.'  The voice was back, but he realized now that it wasn't coming from inside the room. It was inside his head. It was also distinctly female. He felt like he knew the voice, but he could not place it. 'You do not need to be afraid. A normal hatching would alert the dragons of a wide area, but I have suppressed my mind to keep this secret. Do not worry James, you are safe, for now.'

This was exactly what he was afraid of. He remembered stories of unsanctioned hatches being fallen upon by every imperial dragon within a ten mile radius. It was highly illegal to have a dragon, without the endorsement of the Emperor. There was more panic for a moment, as James felt like he was going to suffocate from the fear. Suddenly he remembered his grandfather's words and heard them clearly in his mind, 'It is fine to feel fear. But letting it control you, that could be your end. Let it settle upon you and then shake it off. Take it off like a wool cloak when the summer sun gets too warm.' And so, James let it settle, felt it close in on him as his breathing slowed. Then he shook it off, feeling like his world had become lighter. 

'Your grandfather is a wise man.' Great, the voice was back. But, he needed to get this situation under control and come to terms with it. 

"So, if you are a dragon, that makes me your rider, right?"

'Yes, that is correct, James.'

"That means you have to obey me?" He could not help speaking out loud, directing thoughts towards darkness just felt... weird. 

'Again, that is correct. If you ask me, I will release your hold on me and let you leave me here to die. What happens from here is your choice, entirely.'

James could not lie to himself, the thought had entered his mind. But now, he was shamed by that thought. How could he leave an intelligent creature here, alone in the dark, to die? For no other reason than fearing for his own life? His grandfather would be ashamed of him. With a sigh, he gave into the inevitable. He would become a dragon rider after all. A small ball of excitement began in the pit of his stomach began, but he stopped its growth immediately. This was not all bad, but he could not celebrate such a thing. "Fine. How about you release me from holding on to you so that I can light up a torch, OK?"

'As you wish, James...' There was a moment where it felt like she hesitated, as if afraid. 'Do not dally, as I can only last an hour without being in contact with you before I will die.' At that, he found that his hands finally let go of the egg. He had to react quickly or he would drop it. Lowering himself to the floor, he sat cross legged, laying the egg in his lap. Slinging his pack in front of him he found his lighter and lit a flame to see by. With that, it was easy enough to find a torch and light it.

Looking down at the egg, he thought again of leaving it. But, that moment of hesitation, that moment of fear, made up his mind. Whatever failings this creature had, they were not her fault. She could not alter the situation any more than she had. already she had done more than he had hoped by shielding her mind from the other dragons. Without that, he surely would have been dead already. And she had showed trust in him, to make the right decision. It was only fair that he trust her as well.

Reaching down, he slowly laid his palm against the top of the egg, feeling as there was nearly a spasm of electricity, holding his hand in place. He could feel the remnant of fear as the connection was remade. The hopelessness of not knowing what would happen. "You really thought I might leave you here to die, didn't you?"

'....y-yes. I could not know for sure. As soon as the connection was broken, I was alone again, like I have been for so long... It was a terrifying experience. To have a connection, and then to lose it, possibly forever. It was... a humbling experience.' The admission held a ring of truth to it. Something about it seemed more like a confession than a simple statement.

"Well, you do not need to worry. I have decided that I will be your rider. That may not go very well for either of us, but we will have to be in this together, from now on." In truth, James had no idea how to go about being a Dragon Rider. All he knew about it were the stories he had heard in the pubs and the town square. All of those were stories about Riders that had done great things, fought in great battles or defeated a large number of enemies against all odds. He could not imagine himself being one of these heroes.

He knew the basics about how to use a sword, because his grandfather had taught him. In fact, he could probably use one better than his grandfather now, since the pain in his joints made his footwork slow and his style would falter now and again. Suddenly a thought occurred to him. "Why can I hear you in my mind?"

'All dragons can speak to their riders this way. In fact, almost all of them do. Some prefer to learn to write or make the sounds of your language with their own voices, but most just speak in the dragon tongue and send their words through thought to their rider. Most riders do not even realize that this is happening, assuming that they just "know" what their dragons are saying or feeling.'

Well, that explained a lot. But that also begged another question, "How do you know these things? You have not even been born yet."

'I know because it is what dragons know. We pass our memories down from mother to child through our cells. Each cell in our bodies holds our memories and they are all connected to one another. I hold the memories of my line, since the first born of my kin.' This was relayed with a lecturing tone, as though James should have known the answer. James decided to go with one of his grandfather's favorite sayings from when he was a child that asked too many questions. 'Because, magic, that's why.' The thought brought a smile to his face.

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"Right, so, let’s get down to business then and figure out what we are going to do." James began, trying to make a plan for how things might work out without him or his new dragon dying within the next few days. "We cannot stay here, because I need to eat and you will need room to grow, once you hatch. We can't leave because being seen with a dragon egg would mean my immediate death or detainment.

If I leave at night, we can get away, but then we will have to keep to the wild and avoid soldiers patrolling the inland as well as the farms and towns out there. Which means that It will be extra difficult for me to find food. If I can supply first, that will help, but only for so long." Thinking about this whole situation was depressing. Even in a room full of money and expensive items, he was going to be screwed.

'Why don't you buy a horse and cart. You could tell the Governor that you are going to go work salvage in another place, because you had a falling out with your grandfather, or you want to see the world or something. Either way, he may grant you a travel permit. And, with this kind of money, a horse and cart would not be hard to afford. That way you could even take most of this with you. Though I would suggest getting a false bottom or something to hide all the money and such. No good reason to invite bandits to attack you.'

James was surprised to get a completely logical assessment from a creature that had not even been technically born yet. Talking to his grandfather was an especially good idea. He knew that he could trust the old man and hopefully the news would not give him a heart attack or anything. He could leave the old man with the rest of the items that he could not carry with him and he would know that he left his grandfather to live out his days comfortably. "Alright, we will have to go see my grandfather, but we should wait until the sun goes down to do any traveling. That way I don't have to think of some fancy way to hide you. Will you be able to hide your presence from the local dragons when we are above ground?"

 'That should not be a problem. I will simply keep my mind confined to yours. It will be much like sleeping for me, but my dreams will be what you are experiencing. However, our connection right now is weak, So we will have to keep physical contact for it to work. Otherwise I have to withdraw my mind completely; which, to be frank, is very frightening.'

Suddenly, James felt how she felt when she was like that. The feeling of being so completely alone and cut off from the world that time loses all meaning. She had stayed like that for over a hundred years, if James was remembering his history properly. He shook his head slowly, trying hard to keep the tears that had filled his eyes form falling. He would do everything he could do keep that from happening. Even if he had to strap her to his stomach. Hmm, there is a thought. Why don't we do that? then if people see me in the dark, they will just think I have a gut. Won't work for the governor or anyone I know very well, but from a distance... yeah that could work. James was quickly excited by the idea and hurriedly made a bit of a sling, out of an older long sleeved shirt. Taking off the shirt he was wearing, he tied the waistband of the old shirt around his waist and then tied the arms around his neck. After getting it done the best he could, one handed, he slide the egg in.  

"You will have to let me let go with my hand, so that you can sit in the sling. Then I can make adjustments. Otherwise, when we need this thing to be sturdy, you will be falling out the side, because you would not let me take the time now."

'You make a compelling argument James. Be gentle with me, please.' With that, he felt his hand relax, though unlike before, they did not lose their connection. This was because she was already resting safely against his hard abdomen. James was not a small man by any stretch of the imagination. While he was lean from hard work and lack of proper food while growing up, he was also rather bulky in places. He was wide in the shoulders and deep in the chest. His arms and legs were very well muscled but not so bulgy that it was displeasing to the eye. He was a well-defined specimen of a human male. And now, he looked like he had grown a beer gut in the last five minutes.

After a few adjustments with the old shirt, he was able to make it fit around him suitably well and to keep the egg tight against his stomach without moving around as he walked, jogged, ran and even sprinted from one end of the room to the other. He ended up with a multiple strapped monstrosity that would be hell to take off, when the time came for that. With his sling prepared, he headed out of the room and made his way to the ramp up and out. The only things he took with him were the twin mithril daggers that he buckled on each side of his hips. One went right next to his sword and the other balanced out his load. 

Getting to the bottom of the ramp, he looked up and out, seeing the light was still there but had more of an orange tint from sunset. Slowly and carefully, he made his way up the ramp of debris. It took nearly fifteen minutes to get to the top, he guessed that it was a distance of almost a hundred feet. Reaching the top of the slope and standing straight up, he was chest and shoulders above the ground. He was able to easily pull himself out and get on his feet. The air was already cooling off in the late hour. By the time he was up out of the hole, the sun was just an orange hazy smudge on the horizon. Feeling pretty confident James made his way to his grandfather's home. By the time he got there, the sun was completely gone from the sky and the stars were out in all their glory. 

'The stars are beautiful here. There are so many up there.' 

"Didn't your mother come through here, on her way to drop you off? I would have though you would remember the stars." Taking a moment, he looked up at the sky, seeing the countless stars shining back at him. They really were beautiful, when one took the time to see them. He had grown up with these stars, but he could feel his dragon's sense of wonder and happiness at seeing them now, even through his eyes. For the first time, they truly agreed on something. 

After taking a few moments to appreciate the celestial view, James moved forward and opened his old hatch. He took his time climbing down, very careful not to bump the egg against any hard metal objects. Once he got to the bottom and sat down, he noticed his grandfather sitting across the table, match still poised above a fresh pipe of tobacco, burned out without being used. His grandfather just stared for a minute before he regained his senses and grabbed another match. Lighting his pipe, he took a few puffs before pointing the stem at James. "There’s a story to be told here, and I'll be havin' it. Elsewise, you might find you’re welcome here has turned sour with my mood."

The serious look on his grandfather's face worried James until he remembered that his grandfather hated surprises and not knowing what is going on. So, James explained... everything. He told him about his claim and the mistake he made on day one. He told him of all the things he found in that room and he told him of his new dragon egg. He even told him about the vision he had, when he grabbed the egg. In the end, he told his grandfather of his plan to leave, to buy a horse and carriage and leave the coast. He told him about how he planned to go through with the hatching and become a true dragon rider. "From that point, I don't really have a plan, but I am sure that something will come to me." With that, he had run out of words. So, he waited for his grandfather to speak. 

It was a full ten minutes of watching his grandfather puff away at his pipe silently, staring at the protrusion under his shirt before he spoke. "What's her name?"

James was at a complete loss. He had not even thought of giving her a name. Though perhaps... 'I do not have a name yet. Nor will I until you give me one.' James' mouth fell open in shock. 

How the fuck am I supposed to come up with a name?!

*giggle giggle* 'Not my problem.'