She had given away most of her things, keeping only a few of the most memorable trinkets, and some of her clothes. Nalrin had managed to get a dragon to convey her from home to Paniya. She was glad he had. If she had to go by boat, she probably would not have agreed to go. She had a slight fear of water. She had never been on a boat very long without panicking and she refused to swim in the ocean. Lakes were okay, but she tried to stay in the shallowest parts.
One thing she was hoping to see was a gryphon. She had heard alot about them and had seen some from a distance, but she had been told that Paniya had wide variety of gryphons, so she was hoping to see some up close.
As she was waiting, she started daydreaming about gryphons again. This time, she was flying on the back of a large gryphon. It wasn't very distinct but she was still thrilled by the feeling. Suddenly she was startled by a large nose nudging her shoulder.
" Aliana? We were sent to bring you to your father at Paniya. Are you ready to go?" The dragonrider looked down at Aliana, who was still surprised by the dragon at her side.
"Yes, I am ready. Do you know my father at all? Will you be able to point him out to me? You see, I haven't seen him in a very long time and I'm not sure I will recognize him." Aliana knew she was talking too much, but she was a little nervous. She'd never been this close to a dragon before. It was exciting.
"Don't worry, he'll be waiting for you. I will point him out to you. I'm sure he will have a hard time recognizing you, too; I'm sure you have changed more than him. Well, let's get you up and we'll be on our way." The dragonrider grinned and held his hand out to her.
She smiled back and took the proffered hand. Within seconds, she was comfortably seated and then they were off. Moments later, they were over Paniya and were slowly coming in to land in a small open area near the caer. Just before they landed, the dragonrider pointed to a man standing slightly to the side. "That's Nalrin. He doesn't look like he's moved at all since I left. He's really anxious to see you."
They landed and he helped her down. "See you around." Then the dragon leapt into the air and flew towards the caer, leaving her alone with her father.
She approached him slowly, not sure how to greet the man she had not spoken with in six years.
He looked at her for a long moment, then spoke. "Is that really you, Aliana? You've grown so much. You look like your mother. The only differences I see are your hair and eye color. I'm sorry I couldn't come to see you for so long, but I don't get much time off here. I have missed you so much." Then he pulled her into a big hug.
When she looked up at him, she saw tears running down his face. She realized just how hard the last six years must have been for him, so far from his family. She pulled away after a few moments. "I missed you, too. I am glad that you invited me to stay with you. What is the big surprise? Why did you want me here so quickly?"
He looked surprised for a moment, then remembered what he wanted to tell her.
"The gryphons allover Paniya had an abundant season last season and had many young, but this season was very poor and still had a large number of eggs. They don't have enough resources saved up to sustain all the extra young. So they brought a large number of eggs to the perches here, in hopes that they might be bonded and be taken care of. They are looking for many possible bonds. No one is sure exactly how many eggs were brought. I thought you deserved at least a chance to bond one if the Aerielady approves you. Would you be interested?"
Aliana looked at her father, not quite believing what he just said. A chance at bonding a gryphon. Of course she was interested!
"Yes, I am interested. What do I need to do?" She was very excited. She hoped that she would be an acceptable bond and that one of the gryphons would choose her. She knew it would involve a lot of hard work, but the best things in life always do.
"Come with me. We must introduce you to AerieladyTirin, and see if she finds you suitable. Then I will take you home to settle in. It might be a while till the eggs hatch; some of the types of gryphons aren't very common and little is known about their incubation period. So we wait. Let's go."
He took her arm and led her into the township. They found the Aerielady and talked to her for a little while.