[Post Here First] Reinburgh Fjord Pass

After her adventures in Esharra, Madelena was making her way once again through the rugged landscape that she was hoping would take her back home. She had made some of her coin back, but still wasn't carrying very much with her and was worried about making it back. She kept looking around the ground and the bushes, hoping to find some berries. She had never been a hunter and couldn't possibly hope to hunt anything for meat. Her horse had been freshly watered and fed on one of the grasslands they had come by, so it was good to go for a few more miles. But Madelena her tummy was rumbling uneasily.

She indeed came upon the berry bushes, but seeing them uprooted like that made her cautious. She would look around her and listen if she could hear anything that might have caused the bushes to be like that, but nothing was noticed.

In the end her hunger won from her wits and she dismounted her horse. She tied the animal to one of the trees and let it graze on the little grass sprouts that were growing around it. She picked up a jute bag that was in her saddlebag and started to pluck the berries carefully. They were berries she knew from her books and was sure were not poisonous to her.

She kept picking and picking, occasionally snacking from some of them and filling the bag up until finally she started to notice something was underneath it. "What is that?" she whispered to herself softly. She moved the bushes out of the way as best she can and found the rock underneath it. Why was it hidden? And why were the bushes on top of it? Her fingers brushed lightly over the surface of it. Some part of the rock seemed smooth while others were rough and bumpy, almost like scales. It looked like it did anything but belong there.

When she felt the warmth she was taken aback and her hand moved back to her own body. "An egg?" she said in surprise. Once again her eyes started to scan the area around her. What kind of egg could it be? It would surely explain the smooth surface of it, and the scales might be a hint to what was inside of it. Must be a reptile right? Or a bird? No birds didn't have scales.

She found her hands once again touching it and this time she even lifted it slightly off the ground. It was heavy and big, whatever was inside must have been a big creature. But where was its mother? She started to feel the heartbeat indeed and started to feel captivated by the egg. "No Madelena, you have always learned to not disturb nature. The egg will be fine without you taking it. I am sure the mother is around here somewhere and will be back to it soon. So you should go as well before she rips you to pieces." she said sternly to herself and put the egg back in its place. But something was holding her there. She felt like she could nog leave without it.

When it started moving, Madelena was no longer able to control herself. She had never been one to succumb to greed, but somehow she needed this egg and the creature that was inside of it. Her whole being was telling her that she could not leave the thing behind, so once again she picked it up and lifted it in her arms.

She would put the jute bag, full of berries, into her saddlebag and take out a woolen cloak. She wrapped it around the egg, hoping it was enough to keep it warm and protected from the wind. She untied her horse and mounted once again to resume her ride. Every now and then peeking behind her to see if anything was following her.

Eventually she felt like she had gone far enough away and once again tied her horse down at a tree, leaving it plenty of space to look for food. There was a small lake near her which would be perfect to draw some water for the animal as well.

She would soon have set up her small camp with a tent and had gathered wood for a fire. Though Madelena didn't seem the type to be good on her own in the wilderness, she managed to do pretty good and soon the fire was roaring and giving her the warmth she would need to see herself through the night. She put water from her waterskin in a big pot and hung it above the fire, hoping to create something warm for her to drink.

She took the egg partially out of the wooden cloak and checked if it was still warm, then she placed it near the fire, but not to close to let it get to hot and just stared at it. "What are you?"

Madelena almost jumped when the first crack gave away on the egg. It was hatching already? She saw the little paw coming out and thought she could see the small scales that were covering it. So it was a reptile? All she could do was make sure the little egg wouldn't toll to close to the fire.

She would stay close to the egg making sure it would not endanger itself while hatching, hearing its little growls of frustration. Was it unable to claw its way out? Was it not strong enough.

She ended up carefully picking it up and would try to break some of the shells away with her fingers. The egg was surprisingly tough, she was sure it could have survived a pretty big fall and not have broken. "We will get you out of there," she said as she broke another small piece from the shell.

She had to shield her eyes against the shattering egg shell pieces before she was able to see the creature in front of her. It had small wings protruding from its back and scales all over him. She would pick it up and try to calm it down. "Ssshhh shhhh." she shushed it. "It is okay, you are safe." she said, event though she knew her words would mean nothing to her.

Its chirps were cute and she would try and pat it across its scales if he would let her. It was smooth as its shell had been and still slippery from the fluids he had been inside of. "We better get you cleaned up. And figure out exactly what you are," she said, having a few ideas but not sure.

Madelena didn't seem to care much for the staining of her dress and let the little crrature nuzzle up to her. She would pick the last pieces of shell of it's back and then once again wrap in the blanket she had used for its egg start to rub it dry.

While she was doing that she would talk softly to it as seemed to calm it down. Only then she realized she hadn't thought about how she could care for it. She knew nothing about lizard or dragons. Did they need milk? Or did they eat meat right away? Maybe cows milk would be okay. She knew she still had a bit in her saddlebag. "What am I to do with you now huh?" She said thouhh still smiling.