Davyn the Viking was fourteen years old, the youngest of his family of 10 brothers and sisters. His mother had died giving birth to him, and the grief had made his father reject him. He didn't have a good bond with his father, so it was left to his oldest sister to take care of him even though she had a family of her own. Which was probably his saving grace because his baby niece was born right around the time that he was so his sister was able to breastfeed him.<br/>His clan was the largest in his tribe, making up about half of the population on their side of the massive island they inhabited. Most of his family didn't have jobs like other clans. None of them were smithworkers or tribe leaders or anything like that. They trained solely for combat. So when Davyn heard the commotion from his village being attacked, he watched from a safe distance, certain that his tribe would prevail. He couldn't have been more wrong, and watching his family get killed shook him to his core. He stayed in that spot, watching his village burn while the attackers took everything of value and then they sailed away. He was safe in the woods above the village, but he felt like he had been in that village alongside the rest of his family. Everyone he knew had just been killed and he was on his own.<br/>As the sun began to sink and the temperature dropped, he knew he needed to find shelter. He turned his back on his smoldering village and raced deep into the trees.<br/><br/>An hour later the sun was out of the sky so he was racing through the trees, guided by only moonlight. He stumbled upon a network of caves in a portion of woods that he didn't know. The breeze shifted and he shivered from cold. He knew he wouldn't find anything better tonight so she checked the entrance for signs of recent activity. There were no tracks and no sounds from inside. He called into the darkness and listened hard for a growl or a response of some sort. Nothing. He edged inside slowly, still calling out so that whatever was inside would know that he was inside as well so it had better show itself so he could leave. Nothing moved.<br/>The sheer darkness scared him. It was absolute night where the moon's light didn't reach. But there was warmth further in so he carefully made his way. Eventually the moon's light became inadequate and he found himself advancing through the save simply guided by touch. Suddenly, he tripped. He landed on his face, scraping his chin, his hands and his knees. He started crying, the reality from the day's events shoving itself into his heart. He curled up on the cave floor and sobbed, barely noticing that his toes touched a smooth surface that moved when he did. When he finally stopped crying, he noticed the thing his feet had nudged, and he sat up. he grabbed it, noting its smooth surface and oblong shape.<br/>He had no idea what this thing was, but his mind drifted to stories of this island that used to be home to a flock of pitch black dragons. His ancestors had hunted these dragons nearly to extinction until the decimated flock was forced to leave the island. He didn't know why those stories came to his mind as he touched this strange thing, but he still held it close as he finally drifted off to sleep.<br/><br/>When the sun rose the next day, it shed its light into the cave to awake Davyn. He sat up, rubbing sleep out his eyes as he looked around his unfamiliar surroundings. When his eyes landed on the smooth black stone, he remembered everything from yesterday. He nearly started crying again as he gathered the strange black thing close, but he noticed that it moved. He startled as he held it out where he could see it. He could feel something on the inside moving again, feel a small but present rhythm. Like when he had felt a pregnant village mother's belly and felt the baby's heartbeat and kick. There was something alive in this stone. It was no stone, but an egg. A dragon egg.<br/>He gasped and held it close to his chest as an enormous weight settled on his shoulder. he didn't know why he did this, but he promised to protect the egg. It made no sense to him at the time because he would barely be able to take care of himself let alone be responsible for another life. But he made the promise nonetheless, and Davyn's word was as good as gold.<br/>The egg moved again, growing in intensity and frequency and Davyn put the egg down, fearing the wiggling would cause him to drop it. He talked to it, trying to calm it. But it did nothing. It only encouraged the egg to squirm. And then the cracks appeared, one after another. When they joined, the egg fell apart and out tumbled a tinny, pure black dragon with purple eyes. It stumbled around as Davyn lost his breath, and it focused its eyes on him. It squeaked and stumbled in his direction. it started to fall, but he scooped it up on his arm and brought the hatchling close to his chest.<br/>"Hi, there." he cooed, stroking the dragon down its back with barely a touch. "Look at you, little one. Aren't you beautiful."<br/>The dragon purred and looked him in the eyes. He chuckled and petted the dragon again. "Amythest."<br/><br/>ONE YEAR LATER<br/><br/>"Okay, Amythest." Davyn sighed as he hauled his pack out of the cave. "Today's the day. You excited?" He looked to the dragon following him, hearing her rumble her agreement.<br/>He stopped and pulled out the map he had recently acquired at the village on the other side of the island. It was a trip he hated to make because his village and the other village didn't always get along. But they would agree to nearly everything for the right amount of gold.<br/>Amythest came close, ignoring the butterfly fluttering nearby. She could sense that this was a time for seriousness. "We are here." Davyn pointed to the island, near the center of the island where the caves they had called home for the last year were located. "And the nearest island is here." He pointed to a tiny island to the north. "Let's get to this island and then call it quits for the day. That way you can rest up for tomorrow."<br/>Amythest purred, looking to the north. "Okay, then let's saddle up." Davyn put away the map in his knapsack. He took his blanket and tied it onto Amythest's back, tying the ropes under her chest and around her middle, being careful to avoid interferring with her breathing, her wings and her front legs. He then tied on his single knapsack so that he could lean on it. He didn't want it on her sides, afraid it would throw off her balance or interfere with one of her limbs.<br/>He checked the contents of the sack and then the cave, making sure they had gotten everything. There was nothing more to collect."Its time to go, Amythest. You ready, girl?" He asked as he climbed into her back. She rumbled, swishing her tail in excitement."<br/>"Okay, then let's go. Remember, we're going north." He said as he pulled on his heaviest jacket and tied some fabric over his face to reduce the impact of the wind. He knew form experience that flying without a jacket would leave him very cold that not even a fire would fix. As he did so, his dragon made her way to the precipice that she learned to fly from. it was a deathly drop from the highest point on the island, and the wind was at their backs. Perfect to start a journey.<br/>"Go." He urged her, leaning as far forward as he dared as she opened her wings and launched them effortlessly into the air.