When a call announced the start of the hatching everything suddenly became very real for Roan. Always, for as long as he could remember, at the back of his mind was the knowledge that he would one day become a candidate, but he had never really considered himself actually imprinting and becoming a dragonknight.
Nervously he walked out onto the sands with the other nine candidates and looked at the eggs, eleven of them yet only ten candidates, as long as all went well he would imprint. But his thoughts went out to the last hatchling, the one left over; he hoped the poor creature found someone in the stands to imprint with.
Roan's thoughts were drawn back to the present by murmurs and nervous whispers from the crowd as the first egg started to hatch, after shaking and wobbling it split and a dragon emerged tail first, a black and red hatchling that looked like a bloodied wound.
"Cool." Murmured Roan under his breath as a girl from the other side of the sands said, "Yuck!"
At this remark the hatchling's head snapped around, eyes whirling, and lunged headlong at the female candidates. They ran in terror as the offended hatchling sunk his small but razor sharp teeth into the girl's leg, then turned and walked over to a young man who had what appeared to be wings drawn so close to his body that Roan thought he must be imagining them. The next egg hatched shortly after, a green with strange white markings on her wings, she walked towards the bitten girl and made a connection straight away. A black and white hatchling came next; he wandered confusedly around before choosing a startled-looking girl.
Another egg hatched, the blue with white wing-markings looked around frantically and cried out, the cry was so pitiful that any heart it did not touch would have to be a heart of stone. A figure from the audience stood up and drew back his hood, the scaly-looking skin was vaguely familiar to Roan, a boy called Ryder who had been banned from attending, he ran to the hatchling and wrapped his arms around the dragons neck.
"WAIT A MOMENT," an angry voice cried. Cathairte Inness stood up and glared at Ryder, "I specifically told this boy, Ryder, NOT to come to the Hatching!"
Inness stopped for a moment, looking around, then sighed and shrugged, tossing up her hands.
Nobody but Roan noticed the next egg hatch, a black-blue dragon who wandered slowly but directly towards him.
"Oh, alright. Ah, Waiterth, I could wait forever just to Imprint you." The scaly boy said.
"And I could as well, Cohomenoth," said Roan as the black-blue head nuzzled his leg. They walked off the sands together and headed for the feast. He, Roan, who had waited the longest for this hatching to take place, had imprinted, he would be a knight.
