Just thinking of it brought a warm smile to Asher’s face. “Her name is Avandriell.”
Saying it out loud was like breathing new life into the world. The realm needed her, even if it didn’t know it yet. To think how the world had coped without her baffled Asher. How had he coped without her? There was an argument to be had there but he was too consumed with the needs of his new companion to give it any further thought.
“Avandriell!” Inara repeated with a beaming grin. “A powerful name if ever there was.”
Nathaniel put an affectionate hand on the ranger’s shoulder and looked from him to the dragon. “Asher and Avandriell,” he announced, listening to the sound of their names together. “I like it.”
“I still can’t believe it,” Reyna admitted, with a tone of happiness.
“I found the timing of it all suspicious myself,” Gideon confessed. “But it all makes perfect sense. You’ve been a warrior more years than any of us and your connection to the realm of magic would make bonding to a dragon all the easier.
“My connection?” Asher questioned.
“Well, you spent a thousand years trapped in the Amber Spell with Paldora’s Gem around your neck. And then…” Gideon hesitated with his choice of words. “And then your resurrection was, in itself, an act of powerful magic. It’s those kinds of tethers that draw a dragon and Rider together. The fact that you fit the description of a Rider… I’d say Fate has spent millennia ensuring you found yourself in Drakanan when you did.”
Asher was used to feeling like Fate’s puppet, though it had spent most of his life dragging him over the hot coals again and again.
“It makes perfect sense,” Reyna agreed. “But I still can’t believe it.”
“You’re going to make quite the pair,” Vighon commented.
“Avandriell,” Gideon muttered to himself.
“What is it?” Inara asked.
The old master tilted his head as if hearing something from Ilargo. “Yes,” he said with some satisfaction. “That’s where I’ve seen it.”
“Seen what?” Nathaniel enquired.
Gideon looked directly at the hatchling. “Avandriell. I’ve seen it written down.”
“Where?” Asher tried to suppress the interest in his voice but he was quite sure he failed.
“In Drakanan, back when I was searching for the doorway with Alijah. There are libraries of ancient tomes in there. The one containing any mention of Avandriell was among the oldest.”
“What did it say?” Inara pressed, just as pulled in as Asher.
“There was only one mention of her, but it’s not a name you forget. Avandriell was Garganafan’s mother and one of the earliest recorded dragons. With a few others, she flew to unknown lands not long after the Dragon Riders were established.”
“Garganafan?” Vighon mused. “Like the mountain in Ayda?”
“Like the king of dragons,” Inara corrected. “The mountain was named after him when the elves sailed to Ayda.”
“He gave his life to capture Valanis,” Reyna added.
Gideon examined Asher’s expression. “This doesn’t come as a surprise to you,” he observed.
“Before she hatched,” the ranger explained, “I saw Thessaleia’s - her mother’s - memories. I think Garganafan is her father.” Asher ran his finger over the dragon’s soft wings. “You’re named after your grandmother,” he told her.
“Incredible,” Gideon uttered, his amazement entirely renewed.
“She’s of royal blood?” Nathaniel proposed.
“Not exactly,” Inara said. “Dragons choose their kings and queens. Their offspring rarely replace them.”
“Proof of that lies in Dragons’ Reach,” Gideon pointed out.
“Yes,” Inara agreed. “You might be interested to know, Asher: Avandriell has a brother. Vorgraf the mountain child was sired by Garganafan too. Though, of course, Rainael is their chosen queen.”
Asher had only a moment’s notice - a flicker of emotion in his mind - before Avandriell leapt from his arm. Her wings fanned out, giving her some lift, and she came to land in Inara’s waiting arms. The hatchling ran up her leathers and over her shoulders until she came to rest with her head hanging down beside the Guardian’s jaw.
Avandriell felt safe and contented, emotions that the ranger was unfamiliar with. It was relaxing. Asher could feel the tension leaving his muscles and he wondered how many years they had been wound so tight.
“I think she has family enough right here,” he replied.
Vighon slowly reached out, presenting Avandriell with the back of his hand. Only after she nuzzled between his fingers did he proceed to stroke her. “At last,” he said, “a dragon is born inside The Dragon Keep. This will make for a much better namesake.”
Asher wholeheartedly agreed, though he was growing curious as to why Adan’Karth was so reserved. “You’re unusually quiet,” he remarked.
Adan took in the sight of both Asher and Avandriell as he considered his response. “My journey with you has come to an end. It fills me with joy to know that end is not what I feared in my heart. You are no longer alone, nor will you ever die alone, if at all.”
Reyna covered her mouth. “You’re immortal,” she whispered, as if it had only just occurred to her.
“Don’t remind me,” Asher grumbled. “A never ending horizon of sunrises and sunsets. It sounds exhausting.”
The majority of the room shared a laugh at his description. “You’re still thinking like a man,” Gideon said. “I did for a while, before our bond matured. Soon you will begin to feel the energy of a dragon. It is the greatest of gifts. You will feel stronger, faster, wiser even. You won’t need sleep like you do now. Your senses will retune to the world, lending it a vibrancy you couldn’t imagine. It’s a ranger’s dream.”
Asher’s expression didn’t change. “Like I said: exhausting.”
Gideon quietly laughed to himself. “Take it from a man approaching his seventieth birthday; feeling like you’re twenty every day is outstanding.”
“I could do with some of that,” Vighon commented.
Avandriell pounced onto the floor and scurried across the chamber on her claws. Asher held out his arm and she used it like a frame to climb up onto his shoulder. “I
