Most of the spectators had already arrived by the time the candidates trailed onto the sands. Laren brushed her red-brown bangs out of her eyes as she watched the first egg hatch into a fanged, horned blue dragonet, hissing furiously.
After searching through the uneasy ring of candidates, he walked calmly to one of the male candidates, and they left.
Laren had sat down to wait out the hatching, and was idly clutching a handful of sand, and let it fall through her fingers back to the ground, her mind a million dragonlengths away.
Hey! A voice yelped, causing Laren to look up. Or rather, down. Down here!
She looked down to see a vaguely annoyed-looking green hatchling shaking sand from her muzzle.
"Oh!" Laren said sheepishly. "I'm sorry!"
What was that for, Laren? The dragon asked, still shaking sand from her head, causing Laren to chuckle.
"I didn't mean to...I didn't know you were there, Iranth, honest!" She insisted.
Iranth's eyes still whirled a bit with red, but they soon turned to the blue-green of contentment. All right, I forgive you...Just don't do it again, okay?
"Of course." Laren smiled as she lead her dragon away.
