Celia smiled at the proof that she had formed a mindlink with a draga, unable to produce any words in voice or thought. Her mind could only focus on the sense of completion that filled a place in her that she never knew was there.

However, her focus on her new friend shattered when a sudden panicked cry from a draga echoed through the cavern. Everyone looked at the source of the cry: the bronze male. Kyle one of his hands gripped around the distressed draga's muzzle and his arm wrapped around his neck. He attempted to drag it away from the still-seated Han, who seemed just as distressed as the draga and looked as if his hopes and dreams were being snatched away from him. "This draga will be mine!" He yelled.

The bronze unleashed another high-pitched squeal of panic that seemed to echo in the cave. The squeal made goosebumps appear on everyone's arms and caused the hair on the back of everyone's neck to stand on end.

The draga's cries made Verbena nervous, and the juvenile draga made herself as small as possible as she pressed herself against Celia. In an attempt to calm the green draga, the human gently wrapped one arm around Verbena and stroked her with her other arm as she continued to watch the events unfold. Despite her desire to help the bronze, Celia knew she needed to focus on making sure her new bonded friend felt safe and secure in the turmoil.

After a brief moment where everyone stood frozen in shock, the ground shook as two massive adult dragons jumped down from the ledge they had been watching from only seconds before. Celia gently hugged Verbena's neck as she looked up to the stern and angry expression on Valiant's face.

Even though she wasn't the recipient, the seven arms tall white dragon was imposing. A low grumble emitted from his throat in a warning as he held his head high as he glared down at Kyle. Even his retractable claws had been fully extended in warning and his tail lashed behind him as he spread the entirety of his twenty arms wide wingspan, which made him appear even larger.

Though Valiant himself remained silent, the slightly smaller dark bronze with stripe markings beside him was hissing. His body was low to the ground with his wings and claws half extended as if he was prepared to pounce if needed. Atop his head, his feather crest stood up as tall as it could on another form of warning.

Upon the ledge, a brown male perched on the edge and watched, ready to join the fray at a moment's notice, while the golden queen next to him looked a mix between distraught and angered. Based upon her reaction to the unfolding events, Celia believed that the gold was the bronze's mother.

Guild Master Orthos stood on the edge of the ledge with his arms behind his back and a disapproving frown on his face. He stood tall and was even more intimidating than usual, as he was an imposing force on the ground, much lower than his cured position several arms above everyone's heads.

Celia felt like she couldn't breathe, despite her full ability to do so. Her mind searched for the comfort of Verbena's mind. Her mind was warm like a fire but as soft and gentle as her undercoat.

Verbena already knew the large ivory dragon was extremely intimidating and remembered the few times she received his anger and judgment in the three cycles of sharing a cave with the white dragon and his family. Despite her memories, she felt relief and comfort in Celia's presence.

Kyle was frozen in some sort of a mix of fear and regret but never released the draga in his arms until it squirmed out on its own and ran into Han's lap. The poor dragon was trembling and whimpering, so Han gave it a reassuring hug and stroked it soothingly. "Don't worry, I have you." He cooed.

Kyle looked up to Valiant with wide, trembling eyes then looked to the ledge and became even more nervous as his eyes locked with Guild Master Orthos's stern gaze.

Guild Master Orthos turned to the black queen and asked for a lift down to the bottom, then mounted her and rode her down to the arena floor. All human eyes were on him as he dismounted and landed on his feet. After gently patting the black queen's side, he regained his stern composure.

There was a brief moment where Kyle came to grip with exactly how much punishment he was about to receive before the Guild Master approached Kyle. Without saying a word, he gripped the boy's upper arm and hauled him to his feet. His voice was firm and rough with suppressed anger.

"Let's take you to the city council. They will decide your punishment." Guild Master Orthos glanced back to one of the other adult dragon riders. "Leon, take the Chosen and the remaining Potentials to the celebration hall. I shall join you once I am finished dealing with this one."

One of the riders still on the ledge, Leon, nodded, then moved to mount the remaining male dragon as Guild Master Orthos dragged Kyle away.

Kyle whimpered as he stumbled a bit to keep up with the speed walking pace the Guild Master had set for him. "But that was supposed to be my dragon... this was my cycle to get one...." If Guild Master Orthos heard his mumbles, he made no indication of it as he forced the massive doors open and dragged Kyle out of the room.

While Valiant followed his rider out of the cavern without even casting a glance back to those who remained in the cave, the dark bronze returned to the ledge to retrieve his rider. Both of them were focused on aiding their riders since there was someone else assigned to taking care of the Potentials.

Leon's brown dragon landed on the ground next to the Potentials and the new riders. He put his hands together in a single clap as he spoke. "Now then, let's put all of the chaos behind us and head over to the feast. I am sure at least the draga are hungry" Four green bars on the sleeves of his brown cloak, which marked his impressive status as the Knight Rank. Bright red hair crowned his head, but almost everyone else had the same basic hair color. His eyes sparkled in a light green like some of the luminescent plants that grew in the cave. His tall statured physique also contained a face chiseled facial features and blemishless pale skin.

He flashed them a smile as he motioned for them to follow him through the exit. The six remaining teenagers followed Leon and his dragon through the open door, but instead of going back to the waiting rooms, he turned right and lead them down a different tunnel.

All of the tunnels looked eerily similar. That all had the same glowing moss coating the walls with colorful fluorescent mushrooms growing on whatever surfaces they could gain a hold on. Over time, the ground had been worn down by human feet and dragon paws, leaving the damp and smooth rock free of moss. Fine gravel and sand had been added to flatten out the floor where it was needed, and it also doubled in water drainage. Furthermore, the silt also provided better traction than the surfaces without the addition of the crushed rock.

Luckily, the caves were marked with names like streets. At every intersection, a metal plate with the tunnel name was nailed to the wall along with arrows that pointed to important locations and landmarks. The signs made it easier to navigate, and to limit the number of people that get lost, children were not allowed to navigate the tunnels on their own until they were at least ten years old and had been taught how to.

Based on the signs and her knowledge of the Choosing, Celia could figure out where Leon was leading them: the Meal Hall, which wasn't too far away from the Choosing Cave. It was probably a choice, as the smells of cooked and sauced meat lingered in the air like a beacon.

'What is that smell?' Verbena sniffed the air the same way the other draga were, and her mouth was salivating slightly. 'It smells like food, but different.'

Celia chuckled softly at her dragon's antics. "It is food, don't worry. It has seasoning and sauces special for the occasion. We'll be there soon." She stroked Verbena's long neck as the human smiled.

Verbena bounded up and down, then pranced a bit in her excitement. 'Food! I haven't eaten in nights!'

"You only need to eat every few nights." Celia failed to suppress a laugh at Verbena's antics. Adult dragons could go haft a cycle without a meal as long as their previous meal had been large enough, but growing draga and dragonets needed to eat a bit more often than that.

"Yeah, but I had to catch it myself." She pouted as she paused her joyous prance. "Mommy and Daddy made me catch my food myself." Though still considered as juveniles, Draga emerged from the cave fully capable to survive as an adult. They could hunt and fly well enough to survive even without a bond with a human. A bond made the draga more intelligent and gave the social animals a friend they could finish growing up with, or at least that is what Celia had been taught.

Celia never stopped walking. "Don't worry, you won't have to catch this meal." She assured, then smiled as the draga caught up.

They rounded the final corner and emerged in the Meal Hall. Stone tables were scattered throughout the room, and many people were already eating. Based upon the number of people and dragons in the room, Celia suspected that most of the town's population of a few hundred people were in the room.

A stage decorated with strings of glowing moss and mushrooms sat at the far end of the room . Typically, the stage was also used as a place to eat or as a place for the dragons to rest and sometimes eat while their riders ate, but it remained clear so it could be used in the ceremony.

"All right, Potentials, you may sit with your families or anywhere else you would prefer to sit." Leon gestured to the remaining three Potentials before he turned his attention back to the new riders. "Before the dragonets can eat, all of you need to appear on the stage to be formally announced."

'But I want food nowwwww.' Verbena whined.

"Soon, I promise." Celia patted Verbena's side as they followed Leon. His brown dragon wandered off to mingle with the other dragons.

Leon stopped at the base of a carved ramp leading up to the stage. "Up you go. Guild Master Orthos will be back to join you shortly."

All three riders and dragons climbed and stood in the rough center of the stage. Only a few people and dragons noticed at first, but word quickly spread. Soon, most of the eyes in the room were on the six figures standing on the stage.

Verbena snuffed the air and fidgeted at the prevalence and proximity of food to fill her stomach, even if se could probably go at last a few more nights without eating before she starved. In her defense, the other two draga on the stage acted just as hungry and fidgety as she.

Luckily, the draga didn't have to wait long. Guild Master Orthos and Valiant soon returned and entered the room, and the new riders on the stage immediately noticed Kyle's absence. Kyle was probably detained for now, but he could also be in front of the council, minus Guild Master Orthos. The Guild Master walked onto the stage while Valiant sat to the left side of it.

"Welcome to the ninety-seventh Choosing Ceremony." His loud voice carried all the way to the back of the room and drew all eyes towards him. "This year, we have three draga who have chosen their riders and have officially become dragonets! So before these dragonets jump off the stage after food, please welcome Achilles the Bronze and his rider Han, Nova the Blue and Persephone, and Verbena the Green and Celia."

As he announced the names, a silver rider with five bars on their sleeve, the sign of the Master Rank, distributed new rider coats to each of the humans. No bars sat on the sleeves, but they would be earned in due time.

The crowd, both human and dragon, erupted in a series of yells and roars while Celia and the other now riders changed out of the brown Potential cloaks and into cloaks made from a color similar to that of her dragon. Celia's coat was a dark emerald color, which almost matched Verbena's markings, rather than the dragon's main jade color.

After putting the coat on, Celia wondered how Guild Master Orthos knew their names. She narrowed down the possibilities to two options: either Valiant told him, or he showed off his legendary Guild Master's omniscience.

Guild Master Orthos looked back at the three riders and three dragons with a slight smile on his face. "You may join in the revelry now."

The three dragons immediately jumped off the table and ran to the nearest table, which was piled with cooked and sauced meat, and begin to eat the soft meat. Their actions tired a bit of giddy laughter from the humans and a deep chuckle from the dragons. Even though the bones had already been taken out of the choice pieces of meat, a dragon's jaws were powerful to crush them. They ate every bit of their meals and digested almost all of it with very little waste afterward.

Unlike their dragons, the three riders did not throw caution to the wind by jumping off the stage. Instead, they take the ramp that they climbed onto the stage on.

Celia grabbed a plate of human food from the serving table, then approached her dragonet, who was still muzzle deep in food. The young dragon paused and looks to her rider, still chewing her latest mouthful with the brown sauce dripping from her muzzle. 'Want some?' Celia chuckled and shook her head no, then pulled up a chair next to her new friend as she devoured her food.

Celia had a smaller cut of meat, along with some chopped mushrooms, and some pine seeds. The meal was typical and was the same as everyone else's. Sometimes there were rarer treats, such as soft pieces of boiled bark, pine needles, lichen, and the extremely rare flower petal.

"Congratulations Celia, I'm so proud of you." A feminine voice spoke behind her. The voice was familiar and comforting to Celia, and she easily recognized the voice. Celia turned to look at the owner of the voice. The woman behind her was average height with red hair, green eyes, and familiar soft pale skin. Her face was a bit rounder than the narrow faces of everyone else, and Celia knew exactly who it was.

"Mom!" Celia smiles and stood up so she could tackle the red-cloaked dragon rider of the Knight Rank, who smiled with a huge grin that rivaled Celia's smile.

The woman laughed as she happily hugged her daughter. "I'm so happy that you were chosen! Your dad would be so proud." She kissed Celia's forehead, then looked to Verbena. "Your dragonet is beautiful."

"Her name's Verbena." Celia smiled in happiness.

At the mention of her name, the dragonet in question lifted her head and looked to the new human. 'Who is this?' Verbena asked along with a verbal noise alongside her mindlink voice Celia heard through the bond. Even though only Celia actually heard the dragonet's question, the woman had enough experience with dragons to infer what the dragonet was asking.

"Verbena, this is my Mom, Sabrina. Mom, Verbena." Celia introduced them.

'Hello Mom Sabrina.' Verbena purred while Celia suppressed a giggle.

"She called you Mom Sabrina." Celia continued to fail to suppress the giggles.

Sabrina laughed. "That's adorable!" She reached up and stroked the top of Verbena's head, which was the only space on her head that was both large enough to pet and clean so she wouldn't get dragon slobber or meat sauce.

Verbena purred happily at the contact, which caused a smile to appear on Celia's countenance. 'That feels nice.'

"I'm glad you like it." Sabrina smiled, proud of her daughter's achievement."Well, I'll let you get back to your food, but feel free to visit us whenever you want to. You're always welcome. Never forget that. For now, enjoy your new friend." She kissed Celia's one last time before leaving the two to their food.

With the conversation over Celia and Verbena returned their attention to their warm and delicious food.

'I like Mom Sabrina. She's nice.' Verbena purred and wagged her tail.

"I know." Celia smiled in response as she ate some of her food. "It's nice to always have someone who can watch your back."

'Oo! Can I watch your back?' Verbena became extremely excited.

"Sure Verbena." Celia smiled at her friend. "And I'll watch yours. That's what friends are for." The human scratched her dragonet in the same place Sabrina had previously stimulated, earning a purr from the happy creature.

Author Note:

I hope you enjoyed chapter two!

Feel free to ask me any questions you have and do not forget to vote!