This was it.

Two years of training, studying, working all lead to this. Sleepless nights studying, terrifying hours of testing, gut wrenching anticipation.  But I had made it, I had climbed my way up the mountain and I was finally here, I reminded myself as I dug my fingernails into the palms of my hands to try to keep them from shaking. I stared blankly at my instructor, my brain struggling to focus as adrenaline pumped through my veins.

“You must be the first thing the hatchling sees..” yes, yes I already knew that. I hadn’t spent years learning about this very moment for no reason! “After the initial hatching, you must give it over for its injections immediately to the nurses. After the vitals are checked, you are free to take the hatchling home, and to give it the proper care you have surely been taught in the DT programs.”

“Yes ma’am,” I said, my voice barely a whisper so I repeated it, trying to look like the top notch scholar that I was. I had graduated top of my class, I knew everything from how a dragon can breathe fire to the approximate feeding times a day a hatchling should have. My house was completely hatchling proof, ready for the teething baby dragon, and quite possibly a little puff of flame. No wires in sight, the floor spotlessly clean. Heck, I could basically see my own reflection on the tile that created tribal designs on my kitchen floor.

“Are you ready?” she asked, and for the first time she actually sounded a bit human, her exotic blue green eyes looking me over.

I inhaled slow and counted to five. When I felt like my lungs would explode, I slowly exhaled with a nod. “Yes.”

The white door opened with a hissing noise. And I stepped in.

I was in a painfully white room that domed overhead. With the purity of heaven and the stifling silence of a horror movie. I stood there like a frightened deer in the headlights, my hands rubbing the small collar between my fingers as if it were a good luck charm.

A cackling voice boomed from all around me from the speakers. “Kara Demory, you may approach the egg.” I jumped slightly at the voice before regaining my composure, inhaling slowly once more then releasing me as I walked closer to the prized object which was set on something which looked like a porcelain bird bath.

The egg. My prize. It was a beautiful dark indigo, but as I stared at it I swore I could see whisps of silver twirling just under the shell, like the strokes of wind on a painting. I extended my skinny hand, the freckles on them seeming to shiver as my hand shook slightly. The silver gathered directly under my hand, taking the shape of my handprint. That wasn’t in the handbook.

I stared, starting to hyperventilate. I read about it, I heard the stories firsthand from Rothais. This part was incredibly painful. The second I touched that egg, my skin brushed the hard shell, pain would overwhelm me. My soul was going to be ripped in half, then fused with the dragon’s, my whole being would change, become more than human. Was I ready for this? My pounding heart told me no.

“Miss Demory, are you alright?” a feminine voice called in the loudspeaker.

“Perfectly fine,” I called in a strained voice after jumping from the startling sound of the speakers bursting to life. Then I took the jump. And touched the egg.

A scream cut through the air.

It took me a moment before I realized it was my own.

Pain doesn’t seem to describe the feeling I was experiencing. I watched in horror as my legs locked into place, stiff like a lego, both hands latched on the egg. The terrible, pulsing burning feeling crawled up my hands to my arms and I could visibly watch it as my veins lit up in a brilliant gold. Gold ribbons lacing inside my body, the bone a dim, darker shape inside. It’s killing me. I thought dully, and my locked legs stumbled back. The gold crawled up my arms to my shoulders and I screamed in terror as it latched onto my rib cage, my frenzied heart pumping in defiance of this new enemy.

Nasea swept over me in waves as I felt like someone was shredding me from the inside, ripping me apart and the gold continued to crawl up my neck. This wasn’t right. Frightening stories came back to me in my moment of pure panic. If the dragon refused me as Rider, they could possibly kill me. That was the risk I took when I signed that dotted line.

The gold reached my face, lighting up jigsaw pieces along my freckled, pale cheeks. My eyes bloomed golden and I gasped as I could no longer see. Something was crushing my brain from all sides, compressing it as memories of my life flashed through my eyes. My brother and I dancing in the rain, my mother hooked up to the machines as cancer ate her alive, studying for finals, going out to the mall with Amy. They flashed through my mind before they were whisked away in the blackness that my mind had receded into.

Dully, I could hear a crash and I vaguely knew my body had fell to its knees. But it somehow didn’t matter now….

My head dipped forwards before suddenly color splashed into my vision and before I could make out much more than vague shapes, the booming loudspeaker assaulted my ears. “Miss Demory? Miss Demory! Your vital signs just spiked dangerously. Please respond if you need medical attention.”

That was probably the stupidest thing I’ve heard them say. I could just imagine it, their faces as they watched behind the white wall. My teacher, Mr. Demetry’s eyebrows were probably melded into a unibrow in worry.

But even as my shoulders slumped in relief that I was still alive, my eyes sharpened enough to allow me to see something I had been wanting for as long as I could remember.

Hairline cracks. Eggshell pieces fluttering down to the floor. The egg that was cradled in my hands. I gasped in amazement, forgetting the scientists all watching me, forgetting the pain, forgetting all that time I spent curled over books. There was only now.

I expected a blue snout to poke out. After all this was a blue fire dragon. But instead the egg popped open like a pistachio and my jaw dropped as plasma blue fire erupted from the shell. I was too stunned to move even as the fire climbed to two feet, then three. I could vaguely hear warnings being yelled into the loudspeaker, but I had no clue what they were saying .

Then the blue suddenly collapsed into itself. And I found myself staring at the most insane pair of eyes.

One was a pristine blue, the other a radioactive green. Both were flashing to and fro, studying my eyes intensely, and both glowed.

I reached out slowly.. my hatchling…. And my fingers stroked smooth skin, a strong jaw. I ran my thumb over his thin lower lip in awe. He wasn’t a dragon hatchling. On knees in front of me, a tall, fully grown man gazed at me like I was the center of his universe with those beautiful, mismatched eyes. His skin was a pale porcelain, just like mine, his arms and chest bulging with muscle. He had an incredible handsome face with his high cheekbones, strong jaw, and slanted, almost catlike eyes. His thick black hair was so glossy that when the light shone upon it just the right way it would shimmer a purple or green. He slowly reached up a shaky hand and I felt his thumb slide across my cheek, making me shiver as my skin buzzed under his touch.

For a moment we just stared at each other like there was nothing else in the world.

Then I held up the tiny hatchling collar. “This isn’t going to fit.” Was the first thing I said, completely over my head.

Just as soon as I broke the silence, gloved hands grabbed his buff shoulders as the scientists tried to pull him away from me so they could perform their injections and blood withdrawal. He grunted and growled surprisingly low in his throat, jerking his arms back and sending the white coats flying, his eyes flashing dangerously before he stood in front of me protectively, although I could tell he was wobbly as a newborn colt.

I gulped, trying not to look at his toned white buns. Now is not the time, Kara! I reminded myself, blushing fiercely as I got to my feet. The scientists advanced and I could see one of them had a tazer. My eyes widened. My little baby wasn’t going to get shocked! I didn’t care if he looked like a grown man, he was mine.

 I reached out and grabbed his arm. “Ari,” I said the name I had chosen for him, which was Old Norse for ‘eagle’. He looked at me again and as soon as our gazes connected I could tell he would trust me. I wasn’t sure if he would understand me, but I had to try. “These scientists are trying to help you. They want to make sure that you are healthy. Let them work with you,” I said, focusing on his eyes.

He nodded slow before he finally lost his balance and fell to the floor. Before I could rush to his side I was pushed back by a gloved woman and masked scientists crouched around my fallen Ari. He whined as they pushed thick dragon needles and but he didn’t move, those insane mismatched eyes focused on me only. I felt my heart clench as I heard him whimper but I was powerless.

One of the scientists stood up and walked over to me, his face grave. “I’m sorry, but this was a bad egg. We’re going to have to terminate it. It’s not… normal.”

“He.” I corrected in a tight voice, feeling my face drain of color. “You’ve got to give him a chance! Maybe-“

“He’s unstable, Miss Demory. The power coursing through his blood could have the potential to-“

“Do you think I’m stupid?” I said in a thick voice, my fingernails digging into the palms of my hands as I fisted them. “I… I know what you mean by terminating him. And it’ll kill me too!”

He put a hand on my shoulder. “No no, Miss Demory. I assure you we won’t kill him. Just put him in a very long, relaxing sleep. It is the best way. You can live on your life, pretend this never even happened.” He gave me a crooked smile.

You know what this sounded like to me? ‘Miss Demory, you are a screw up and so is your weird hatchling. You failed at your dream. Now let me take him away forever.’ No. I was not going to let this happen. “No. I am taking him home with me!” I said in a deadly voice, eyes narrowed.

“I’m sorry but that can’t-“ he started to say before he was interrupted by a deep bass voice that belonged to none other than my uncle. Who just so happened to be the director of this snow globe of dragon hatching. He stomped in here with the presence of a Russian Tsar, and the beard to match. “Miss Demory will have her dragon. Get off him.” He demanded, his voice leaving no room for excuses.

They pulled away from my dragon and skittered out like the cowards they were. I crouched by my dragon as my Uncle put a blanket over him. “What an interesting fella,” my uncle noted as he crouched on his heavy duty zombie killer boots. My dragon flinched, expecting another needle as he ran a callused finger up his face. “Never had a dragon like this before.”

I looked up at him. “Is he going to die? Why is he different?” I asked in a choked voice.

“I don’t know lassie,” He sighed, running a hand down his red beard. “But he’s frightened. Take him home, get him dressed in your brother’s clothes, and we’ll see how it goes.” He winked at me with a smile mostly hid by his beard. Then he stood up, and was gone.

Ari looked up at me and smiled. So innocent.

I was so dead.