!"
With eyes bulging from his sockets, Aryan fixed a devilish grin on Zinarfiel and silently hurled thousands of curses at him before finally accepting his fate. After being thrown onto the sands, he lay there for a few moments, gazing up at the blue sky.
"Hmm... It's so warm and soft here—perfect for a nap. But... where is that Master, huh? Master! Master! It seems that everywhere I look there's nothing but sand. When did I ever decide to come to the heart of the desert?"
Thus began Aryan's trial. The desert had absorbed him and was scrutinizing him. Hours passed, yet he remained seated on the same spot, staring at the ground. The sound of the wind and the shifting sands had grown ominous, and as the sky darkened and the sun's glow faded rapidly, Aryan began to panic.
"...I—I'm scared. Why isn't anyone here? Master... Master... The air is so cold and dark... Master!"
Time and again he called out for Zinarfiel, but there was no reply. The darkness in the desert deepened steadily—the far edge of the dunes now resembled black tar, as deep and endless as the abyss of the Talaris Ocean.
After a short while, something began to tremble in Aryan's pocket. At first it terrified him, but he soon realized the quivering belonged to the magical egg he'd taken from the Capital. Initially, the egg shimmered in a metallic black, yet its darkness exceeded even that of the surrounding sands. It kept shaking—almost as if it were reacting to the desert or to Aryan's unease.
"Don't worry, Dad, I'm here..."
"Whaaaa!! Who is this, Dad? Who is it—is that a voice in my head?"
"Why are you yelling, Dad? It's me—the egg, or rather, the creature within it—please, I..."
"Hey, why did you go silent, kid? Do eggs even talk?! ...Enough fooling around; I'd better go find this damned test—but how?"
After about three hours of tears and whining, Aryan finally decided he had to face the test, even though he still didn't know what kind of test it would be. He continued his solitary walk through the desert, day after day. There was no sign of Zinarfiel, no hint of the promised test—only the black egg, clutched close to him, growing larger with each passing day, as if nourished by the very life of this arid place.
In a distant, disembodied voice, someone mused: "This foolish kid—who would have thought he'd venture so far? By God, he's my very student, yet it's odd: this is the first time I've seen the desert treat someone with such care. Even Atrios—if he were here—would have only encountered mirages and those geckos. And that egg itself! How bizarre—it's steadily absorbing Aryan's mana and expanding, its color deepening from black to an even darker shade!"
The continuous sound of shifting sands and whistling winds, along with the weight of the egg, wore Aryan down both physically and mentally. The scorching heat of the desert grew ever more intense, fraying his nerves.
"Why won't this cursed test reveal itself? My dear egg, why don't you conserve some mana for me? If the environmental mana concentration weren't so overwhelming, I'd have died a hundred times over from its shortage... It's been days now—where is Zinarfiel? I'd better get some sleep."
Overwhelmed by exhaustion from a week of relentless walking—and despite his fear of the unyielding desert—Aryan finally closed his eyes and sank into a slumber deep enough to be called the sleep of the Seven Kings.
The incessant rustling of compacting sands by his ear tickled his mind, rousing him from his sleep. When his drowsy eyes opened, he saw a black creature standing directly above him. Terrified, he reacted instantly: drawing upon the mana-transfer technique Zinarfiel had taught him during their journey, he summoned a flow of mana beneath himself and harnessed the power of the wind element to put distance between himself and the being.
"Oh my God, what is that?! I was lucky to have slept just a few hours—otherwise I almost died! Hey, why are you looking at me like that? Why the cocked head, you black dog?! Wait—let me see... isn't that egg's skin over there? Ah, no way!!"
"Indeed, Dad—it is my egg, but I'm no dog!"
At last, the creature within the egg emerged fully and began communicating with Aryan telepathically.
"Really? You emerged from that egg? And how can you speak directly into my mind? But you're... beautiful. You're not frightening at all; in fact, those big, adorable eyes of yours are irresistible! And why do you call me 'Dad'?"
"I'm not entirely sure why, but ever since you transferred your mana into the egg, I felt the warmth of your mana drawing me in. Your mana is remarkably gentle—even unlike the harsh energies around—and it was the first time I managed to connect with someone from within. So, you are my Dad! As for what I am... I'm not exactly certain, but I suspect I'm more like a wolf than a dog."
"Very well. Yet it's obvious that you're just as alone as I am—a being who doesn't truly know who or what he is. I was raised by a great dragon, though I belong to a different race entirely. You, on the other hand, were born in the heart of the desert—devoid of any parental guidance—so whether you're a dog or a wolf (though I suspect more the former), it doesn't matter. I'll raise you!"
For a long time, Aryan and the newly emerged creature engaged in warm conversation. After several days, Aryan finally shook off his loneliness and even managed to smile. Through his own insight, coupled with the creature's explanations, he realized that his new companion was nothing more than a wolf.
"Alright then—now that I know what you are, and since you call me 'Dad,' let's give you a name. Hmm... let me think. Your fur is so black that without the metallic glimmer in your eyes, you'd be invisible in the dark. And, since you're a wolf, I'll call you 'Shadolf'—a blend of shadow and wolf. How does that sound?"
"Any name that you, Dad, bestow upon me, I accept!"
"Excellent. Come on, Shadolf—let's get out of this miserable desert and track down that wretched Zinarfiel!"
Thus, Aryan and Shadolf set off together through the desert. As they advanced, the character of the desert gradually shifted; more mirages appeared—especially as Aryan's water supply dwindled. Meanwhile, high in the sky, Zinarfiel observed Aryan, employing his dragon powers—the very privilege reserved for dragons, the only race in this world granted the ability to fly.