Soren awoke back in the cavern, the green light from the moss strangely warm and familiar but bright and painful to his eyes. Blearily, he sat up and reached to stroke the back of his head, the pain there prominent but he felt no wetness which was good.

That was an unexpected experience, thought Soren. First I find a dead dragon and then, what, talk to one?

Soren looked around realising he was alone in the cavern, the dragon, Azura he recalled, no longer lying unconscious on the floor. Soren realised he wasn’t surprised that Azura wasn’t in the cavern with him, he felt that he would have known if she was.

Getting to his feet, Soren replayed their conversation in the bright white space. Does this mean i’m bonded with a dragon now?, he thought. Azura didn’t actually say what would happen if I failed the trial. But can I assume that I passed given that i’m back here and Azura is clearly alive?

Soren closed his eyes and focused his attention inwards. There was no warm fuzzy feeling like he felt before, but there was a feeling. He realised that he didn’t need to concentrate on it too hard and he knew exactly what it meant. It told him where Azura was.

I guess this means we must be bonded, thought Soren. I can feel her moving around so she is definitely alive.

Soren made his way over to the opening on the far right, his bond with Azura telling him that she lay that way, and stepped through a narrow tunnel about 20 paces long and 5 paces high, the walls still littered with green glowing moss.

He emerged into a space that felt large but he couldn’t see further than 5 paces in front of him, the green moss having come to an end at the opening of the tunnel which was now the only source of light down here.

Soren also knew it was a large space because he could feel Azura high up above. Somehow he knew she was flying even though he could not see her.

This is crazy, he thought. Also terrifying.

Soren looked back the way he had come, the realisation dawning on him that he could go no further and he did not thing he could get back up the shaft he had fallen down before meeting Azura.

Turning back around, Soren called out, “Uhm, Azura? Can you hear me?”

He thought she could but he could not feel her flying closer.

“Azura?”, he called a little louder. “This is crazy”, he said out loud, “I’m talking to a dragon”.

“If you can hear me I could really do with some help down here. Or at least, maybe, some directions?”

Again Soren could feel Azura flying around but she didn’t seem to be getting any closer. On a whim, wondering if somehow she might hear him through their bond, Soren tried calling out to her in his head. Azura?

Unexpectedly, as he called out her name in his head, he felt Azura turn and make her way towards where he stood. So you can hear me through this can you? Can I hear you?

No reply came which Soren took to mean she either couldn’t hear him or she was ignoring him. He didn’t think it was the latter so he assumed it must be the former.

Soren felt Azura land in front of him before he saw her, her blue scaled face glowing a pale green-blue in the light of the moss.

Soren took an involuntary step back, the site of Azura, a dragon, still an unexpected and somewhat frightening site. It may have been Soren’s headache or the dim light of the cavern but he was sure she looked a little bigger than she had when he had found her. She looked the same other than that though from what he could tell.

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Azura came to rest just in front of Soren, her green flecked eyes staring intently at him, her wings tucked neatly to her side. She was sat down much like the larger version of Azura had been in the white space, the Starlight plane she had called it, with her arms laid out in front, one crossed over the other.

“Uhm, hello”, he said. “Can you hear me?”. Azura said nothing but slightly tilted her head to one side, much like a dog does when you say a familiar word. “I guess that means you can, but can you understand me?”, he asked. Again no response from Azura came.

“The other version of you was a lot more chatty I’ll admit”

What if I talk to you like this, can you understand me now?

Azura made no sound but her gaze became much more intense, as if she were trying to see inside Soren's body.

I’ll take that as a yes, he thought.

Soo, I’ve realised that I might be a little stuck down here, do you know a way out?, thought Soren.

As soon as Soren thought the question, Azura leapt up from where she sat and threw her wings out to the side, beating them hard to take off into the air. Soren felt the push of wind from her powerful wings as she climbed, but he lost sight of her quickly.

Wait! Come back!, he thought.

Soren felt Azura circle in the air and land back down again where she resumed her seated position, again staring at him intently.

Why did you fly off?, he thought. I was just checking if you knew of a way out.

Azura made no move this time, nor did she give any indication that she understood.

Frowning, Soren considered. So it seems that you can understand me, at least to some extent but you have no way of talking to me? This is going to be tricky. Hmm, maybe I didn’t ask the right question?

Soren returned Azura’s stare and thought, can you show me a way out of here, back to the forest and to where my house is?

“Stupid question” he said out loud, “she won’t know where my house is”

Scratch that, can you just show me a way out to where I can see the sky?

This time, rather than leaping off into the air, Azura bowed her head low to the ground, turning her head slightly. Soren hoped he wasn’t misunderstanding the situation but it seemed as if she wanted him to climb atop her back.

…Do you want me to climb on your back?, he thought.

Azura made no move to respond but she kept her head low to the ground which Soren took as a yes. Cautiously, he approached and rested a hand upon her hard blue scales. There was no pain when he touched her this time which was a good start.

Ungracefully, Soren steadied himself and then clambered up on to her back, almost strangling Azura in the process.

When he had been on the bigger version of Azura’s back in the trial, Soren had felt comfortable, as if he was supposed to be sat there. Now, on the much smaller Azura, he felt awkward and uncomfortable, her hard scales pressing into his legs and her smaller frame making it harder to gain a solid purchase.

Without warning, Azura leapt up off the ground and spread her wings out wide. Before she had a chance to beat her wings and take them any higher however, Soren lost his grip on her scales and fell off the side to land hard on the floor. Ouch, he thought, I really should have held on tighter.

Soren stood up and dusted himself off. He felt slightly embarrassed but no physical pain, apart from a lingering headache that wasn’t related to this fall. Soren turned to face Azura again who had landed back on the ground and was staring at him again.

Sorry, he thought. This is all quite new to me. Maybe if you could give me a little time to get used to sitting up there first this time. Shall we try again?

Azura again lowered her neck and tilted her head. Soren scrambled up on to her back, doing his best to not strangle her this time, but decided he would keep his arms firmly wrapped around her neck with his body pressed to her back, as uncomfortable as it was.

It was lucky he did because, despite his request, Azura did not give him any more time and as soon as he was atop her back she leapt up into the air and beat her wings hard and fast. This time, Soren managed to hold on and he felt them climb higher off the ground.

Clearly having gained enough height, Soren felt Azura lurch forward as she spread her wings wide and they glided forward into the darkness. Soren could not see a thing so he clung on for his life and hoped that Azura knew what she was doing and, perhaps more importantly, knew that he wanted her to take him out of this cavern and into the night air.