I scrambled down the large, arched hallway, the only noise was the tapping of my soft black leather hunting boots and my raspy breathing as I pushed myself to go faster, trying to get out of the fucking maze that was the castle I was in. I heard a faint clicking noise that was quickly becoming louder and I was shocked that they had already caught up to me, I thought I had lost them in the forest outside. I pushed even faster, skidding around a corner, slipping slightly, and skinned my knee, leading to a few quick curses slipping out of my mouth as I try to scramble back up without losing too much speed. Before I could even gain balance, a silent, lithe shadow darted over me. My eyes widen before I push myself more than ever before, already knowing I wouldn't make it to the opening at the end of the short hallway before it was blocked off. As always, I was right, the shadowy giant landed in front of me, not even two meters away. I skidded to a stop, trying to backpedal away from the shadowy beast that was in front of me before I felt a big thump and looked back fast enough to dodge becoming chow food. I threw myself to the side, narrowly escaping the large silvery jaws that were snapping shut. I scrambled to the side of the hallway, back to the wall, and seemingly no way to get out. Before one of the two beasts could crunch down on me though, I leaped up and onto the shadowy beast, sliding on the smooth surface, before leaping off of it and onto the floor on the other side, but before I could see where the bright doorway that I could almost touch led to, I was suddenly yanked back, landing back in my bed and in a cold sweat. I was wide awake in seconds because my little sister was bouncing while sitting on my stomach. Even though she was my little sister, she was only 2 years younger than me, making her one year away from possibly becoming a rider but five years from the next choosing ceramony. Still reeling from the half-remembered dream/nightmare that was slowly fading, I dressed quickly into my finest hunting clothes after a quick shower before rushing downstairs and out the house, forgetting my breakfast on the way. Today was the day when the riders would bring the Choosing Egg to our village to see if anyone was viable enough to possibly train, ride, and befriend a flying lizard, otherwise known as dragons. As I slid into my spot at the back of the long line, I huffed out a breath I felt someone stalking up to me before trying to jump on me. I sidestepped the attack and glance at the groaning pile that was my friends, and twins to each other, at my feet. I laughed before helping them up one at a time and setting them on their feet. "Come on, Kyirin," Arya, the younger of the twins, whined as she rubbed the dirt off her face, "you couldn't even give us a hint that you knew that we were there?" I giggled and shuffled up a bit as the line slowly shortened, "You guys rarely give me enough time to move, much less warn you." Xian, Arya's older brother, laughed before putting out his hand for our handshake before I turned and did a different handshake with Arya that included bumping our heads together, knowing there weren't any hard feelings. As I stepped back and looked them over while rubbing my head, I appreciated the way they dressed. Like me, Arya and Xian had put on their comfy hunting gear but it was still fancy enough for people in such high esteem as Dragon Riders. As I looked them over, someone bumped into me, I heard a squeaky gasp and I internally sighed and pleaded with my eyes at my friends that it wasn't who I knew it was, but they just smirked and ignored me while watching the show. The high pitched voice I knew so well pierced my ears, making me flinch, "How dare you to bump into me and not apologize, peasant!" I slowly turned around to the voice that belonged to the one and only Zarah Capernickle, one of the riches girls in our semi-large city called Argos, named after the elemental air dragon god, Agorgus. The family of Capernickle has always had at least one Dragon Rider ever generation, making them rise in draconic ranks, which means money, which means higher economic ranks, quicker than most families. "Hey! I'm talking to you, peasant! Whatever, Dragon Riders don't bother themselves with lowly peasants who will never rise above their station, humph!" And, sadly, this generation wasn't a disappointment, as I see a bronze dragon tattoo with red eyes emblazoned on the side of her face, going from her right shoulder, twisting around her neck, and ending right under her right eye. The Forever Tattoos are what signal who's a rider and the color is what color your dragon was. The larger the tattoo was, the more powerful the bond, and in turn the power, was. Zarah has one, a medium-sized one, Fuck. Zarah spun around and walked away, her posse scrambling to catch up, only a few have a Forever Tattoo. "Damn shame, I feel bad for whichever dragons are bonded with her and her little posse." I sighed and turned around again, about to speak to the giggling twins when "Kyirin Mistari!" I spun around, again, to see that there wasn't a line in front of me anymore, it was my turn next! I breathed in and, with a little of the twins shoving, walked up to the two Riders that had come. One had a blue dragon twisting up her arm and down her torso, as I saw a flash of blue when she shifted and her shirt lifted slightly. The other Rider had a red dragon all along his leg, which I saw when he shifted to help me up to the Egg, a sliver of red licking his abs and the other end ending wrapping around his ankle. I took the red dragon's offered hand and took in the podium that the Egg was on. The podium was mostly lapis and obsidian made to fit together perfectly, with no seams apparent to the naked eye. Lining each corner of the podium are tiny, thin ropes of gold and silver intertwining. They lead to a silk royal blue pillow that holds what looks like an almost polished looking, jade-colored, fist-size rock if you didn't know better. Imbedded in the Egg was an oval, cyan stone, marking it as one of the eggs made for finding possible bonds for dragons from the First Dragons. I started shaking as I looked over the Egg before closing my eyes and taking a deep breath.