Seth was too small for a proper dragon cave in the tower yet, so Casper took him and his rider to the temporary youth hold, a cave beneath a hill outside the town. A river ran through the valley at the foot of the hill, and wildflowers covered the valley on either side.

Very nice, Seth approved, flying out of the cave when Bree arrived. Very comfortable, though I noticed one problem…

"No food," Casper predicted correctly. "I'll send some food down later. For now, get settle in. I'll take the horses back to the citadel."

Fine with me, Seth agreed, glad to see the horses leave.

Coming for a swim? Bree asked when Casper was gone, studying the river. The dragon was one step ahead of him, diving underwater as he spoke. Bree jumped in when Seth didn't resurface, looking for his little fledgling.

Seth popped his head up in front of Bree, splashing him with water. Bree laughed, splashing back, and Seth dived deeper underwater.

* * * * *

Casper beamed as he told the massed ex-dragonriders that one of the eggs had hatched. What he hadn't realised would happen was the outrage with which the riders responded.

"A teenage boy!"

"What's he like?"

"Can he fight?"

"Calm down!" Casper yelled, shutting them all up. "No, you're right, he can't fight yet. But soon, when we've trained him, he'll be as good a rider as any. He's already settling well, after all he's only had a dragon for a day and he's not running from his new responsibility."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Of course I am. I'll train him myself if I must," Casper offered. The other riders agreed happily to that. "I just hope it'll be enough."

* * * * *

Bree couldn't believe how quickly Seth grew. Hatching about the length of his arm, the little white dragon grew within a week to be six foot long and in height to reach to his hip.. It wasn't long before those who brought food ran from him, and feared he was a man eater.

After that first week, Casper returned to size up Seth. According to him, Seth had good, wide – sailed wing, but he praised little else.

"Not one thing about this beast is proportional!" he scolded Bree as if it was his fault. "The sooner we start your training, the better. Get him into shape. At least he's not as small as I feared."

Seth growled furiously while Casper criticised, eventually opening his mouth wide by instinct and trying to breathe fire. Casper laughed at him as he failed.

"It takes a lot longer than that to develop the agility to breathe fire." He chuckled. "Get into the air, Seth, I need to see you flying."

Seth grumbled, but hopped up easily. Bree watched as he dived, twisted and turned in mid air.

"Well camouflaged in cloud," Casper acknowledged. "And he can fly."

Of course I can fly, Seth snapped. I'm a dragon!

"No, you're a fledgling. I will tell you when you can call yourself a dragon," Casper scolded, turning to Bree. "Make him fly for an hour every day at least. By the end of the week he should be big enough to ride, and strong enough to channel magic through."

"Magic?" Bree asked, astonished. Casper ignored him and carried on.

"I will be back in a week, and I will teach you to use magic. Until then, don't try," he warned. "Cast a spell wrong and it can kill you."

And me, Seth added, landing in the lake. With a flap of his wings, he soaked Casper from head to toe. That's for calling me misshaped.

"By the time I return, you'd better teach that beast some manners," Casper snapped, shaking the worst of the water off like a dog.

* * * * *

"Well, he's growing fast," Casper reported to the other once riders. "Not always in proportion, but that's not unusual. Karian could barely stand at a week old, his tail had taken all the growth that it was so long and heavy."

"Erebeth's wings didn't grow until she was three weeks old," another rider agreed to Casper's relief.

"How big is he?"

"Easily six, maybe seven, feet from nose to tail," Casper said slowly. Gasps sounded around the room. "Easy though, at a week you can't judge on size. Karian was the smallest of his clutch when he hatched…"

"What's his wingspan?"

"About twenty feet."

After that, Casper couldn't shut them up.