32 Quetz

Professor McElroy wasn't seen in the University for a long time. Rumors were that he had gone on a continued leave and that a Company from America had sued him for trying to harm their image with malicious intent.

Dawn ignored him totally. She didn't even attempt to meet him. She was aware that the professor was related to the Dean, so sometimes she used to become scared that the Dean might come back to her with revenge, however none of that happened because of reasons not known to her. She concluded that if her name came in the forefront in the case filed against the professor, whatever reputation he had would be tarnished. A can of worms would open in which he might get accused of stealing information from other students as well.

Over the next few months, things became cold and Dawn was least bothered. She sold her shares on the stock market and made hefty profits.

A year later The Mink Corporation's shares crashed. The Company was developing a new software product and before developing it completely, it deprecated its old product that was fully developed. Its users left the platform because they couldn't understand which product to adhere to and they switched on to other companies.

This was mentioned in the next pages of the report, which remained unpublished.

Dawn once again profited from it by short-selling.

The Company closed eventually. It was a big failure for The Silver House.

Time passed.

Over the next two years, nothing significant happened in the University that was far-out for Dawn. She continued to be a part of the golf team and represented them in several championships.

She visited the Falshire Forests regularly. Her dragon grew one foot every year. By the end of two years, it was two feet tall. Its growth was so slow that it worried Arawn. Since Dawn didn't know much about dragons anyway, she thought this was normal. It was Arawn who was anxious. "What kind of a dragon is this?" he would often remark.

Dawn had tried to establish a way to communicate with it. She would go to the Falshire Forests, sit under the Whispering Eoben and talk to him continuously about her business management studies. The dragon would sit next to her, tilt its head and listen to her intently as if following every part. Rather than teaching it elementary stuff like how to fly or how to effectively communicate with her, the dragon was getting free business management lessons at the age of two. Soon the two would transfer their thoughts through a variety of words or images or simple sounds - mostly related to her studies.

Many moons later, they developed their communication levels. They could now reach out at larger distances. She could sense its thoughts like a ripple on quiet waters from the moment she would enter the meadows. Sometimes the thoughts extended to her cottage. It was awesome, comforting.

She really wanted to know its gender by now. In fact she was desperate to name it.

One day when Dawn was sitting with it, she found him closing its eyes out of boredom. She chuckled. However, she found that her chuckle was mixed with a low, threatening growl. The dragon's eyes opened immediately. It clambered to her and hopped to sit in her lap. It expanded its leathery green wings to the maximum, each being two feet long. It looked so huge that for once Dawn was impressed. She hadn't realized how big it had become. The growl grew. The dragon gave out a low rumble. Suddenly out of blue, two foxes jumped out of the woods.

Dawn was terrified. Her skin became clammy and she gasped at the imminent danger. Her pulse raced. She clenched her jaw. Her single-minded focus was to save her dragon. She became scared for her dragon and a thought brushed her. Her dragon was scared for her. It hopped out of her lap and flapped its wings with loud throaty rumbles to intimidate the foxes.

The foxes bared their teeth and growled loudly. The dragon screeched piercingly and took to air. It wanted the foxes to get away from Dawn. They leapt at it in order to catch it. This was what triggered Dawn. She ran towards them to save her pet and shape shifted. The werewolf attacked the foxes so fiercely that they were deeply injured. At the same time it also incurred some injury. That night when Dawn shape shifted, she didn't go back to her cottage. She spent her night on the roof of her dragon's home. The Whispering Eoben covered the two of them from all sides tightly. Her injuries healed rapidly within the night. When she woke up, she found her pet staring at her. It hummed and leaned its head in her hands. She patted him feeling as fresh as ever. She would protect it with her life.

That incident proved to be an unspeakable connection between them – something that went beyond logical comprehension.

Over the next two years the dragon became bigger. It reached Dawn's shoulders. It was five feet now. Instead of squealing, it roared. It had transformed into a powerful and scary beast of the Falshire Forests. Its green scales became hard like granite. Its fangs grew larger and the teeth were daggers, like that of a shark.

Along with Dawn, it would traverse various places in the forest on foot. But it was a big show off. Every now and then just to intimidate small creatures and impress Dawn, it would breathe fire at them and then look at Dawn coyly. She couldn't help laughing or chiding it.

And during that time its gender came to be known.

It was in the third year that one summer afternoon when Dawn was walking with the dragon that it took an unprecedented flight. It flapped its strong wings and in a few seconds it soared the skies like the beast it was. Dawn was surprised. That was its first solo flight in the forest in front of her. She jerked her head to see it soaring high. She communicated with it. "Come back!" The dragon dived and then hovered over her head. She could see something jutting out from its bottom. "It's a boy!" she gasped aloud. After three years of being with it, she finally came to know its gender. She was stunned. The dragon excitedly turned slowly to its right and touched the ground like an airplane.

Dawn stared in his deep blue eyes as it walked towards her. "You are a boy," she said.

Yes, Dawn.

Dawn's eyes bulged when she heard him in her mind so clearly for the first time. "You can speak," she felt a tingling on her skin. It was amazing.

Yes. The dragon sent another word between them as it came to stand right in front of her.

Dawn stroked his head with excitement. She was thinking of various names when the dragon gently interrupted, You can call me Quetz.

Struck by an unexpected feeling of wonder, she asked, "Is that your name?"

Yes.

She gave him an incredulous stare. For three years she had been wondering about his gender and that summer afternoon, not only she came to know that it was a boy, she even came to know his name. He knew his name. And it talked. She smiled, which turned into a giggle and then a loud laughter. She was so happy. "Quetz!" she exclaimed and embraced him like a baby.

---

Four years passed. Dawn was now a business graduate. Her graduation ceremony was in two days. She wasn't on the top of her class, but a fifth rank with a major in Finance was a feather in her cap. Many companies had to come to the Campus for interviews and she was selected as a Junior Market Analyst for a reputed one.

That year Azura Frazier was called to confer the degrees at the graduation ceremony.