"There's a very good reason; only the best and brightest are set to try out the new equipment before it's issued to the other riders. Tell me, do you believe in magic?"<br/><br/>He frowned, "I ask because I've seen plenty try some sort of new thunder ball or lightening spell and get blown straight out of the heavens. That being said, forget about any of that - there's a very good reason they selected us for this task."<br/><br/>Pausing for a moment, he tilted his head and started to continue, "Should we perform very well I understand there is an extremely special and highly dangerous mission that they need a skilled rider and dragon to be assigned to. My guess is that this 'testing' assignment is far more than it looks like and we're really going to be assigned to something huge once we prove ourselves."<br/><br/>The comment about hoping for a male to be her rider surprised him and he blinked, "Was there any particular reason you had not wanted a female?" He looked confused and then smiled a bit more softly once he had found that he was addressed as an elf.<br/><br/>"Actually, I'm only part elf. My father was half-elf and half-human; mum is a quarter fairy. I guess that makes me a mutt if anything."<br/><br/>To be honest, Major Tuigalen was surprised with himself. He didn't believe he was going to be so open with his mount so quickly as it had seemed highly unprofessional of him to speak as such. Nevertheless here he was speaking as open as day.