Then the eggs began to hatch. Valkion became oblivious to them, glancing up only when the girl Impressed a green. Soon there were only three eggs left. Three dragons for three candidates. Two had begun to rock violently, while the other was only swaying. The rocking eggs began to hatch, and a crack appeared in the swaying one. A bronze tumbled out of an egg. He surveyed each boy carefully, approaching them slowly before he chose. A brown nose peeking through the slow one, and it struggled to break free of its shell. The other boy, unsure of what to do, stood watching the eggs. But Valkion had heard the dragon's cry. He bounded forward and began to try cracking the egg with his bare hands. Soon, the dragon was free. His eyes whirled blue as its tongue licked the blood from Valkion's bleeding hands. He began to cry as the dragon introduced itself. He stood. "Plath!," Valkion cried. "His name is Plath!" A cheer rose up from his family and friends. I'm hungry his lifemate complained. "Okay, beautiful," Valkion said as the two left the sands. "Let's go get something for you."