Yennefer had prepared herself well for this moment. She understood the various stages and triggers of shock and could pot her own reactions to the second. She had kept the image of the giant black dragon in her mind, forcing herself to understand how large and ferocious they would seem to her and grooming herself to remain calm in the face of such forces. She could have no idea what was going to happen in this arena, but the atmosphere had taken on a latent tension and the air around her tingled as though electrified. She was suddenly very aware of every sound, every movement, and her body had naturally tensed up and hunched her into a more defensive stance. Abruptly there was the sound of fire and a gust of cold wind, eddies and currents catching and playing with her thick red hair and billowing about her face, she had forgotten to tie it up this day of all days. Her skirts ruffled around her ankles as well as she snapped her neck up briefly to catch a glimpse of the pitch black dragon spiraling through the sky and wonder at its grace for a moment, lost slightly in her awed gaze.

She was snapped violently out of her wonderment by the creak of a giant wooden gate, a sound that sent a pulse of energy up her spine and made her wheel about to face it. She forgot her fellows in the arena and focused on slowing the beat of her hammering heart, her self preparation leaving her as quickly as it had come. The gate fell open further and she wrestled to seize back control of her mind and body, forcing her spine upright and battling to still her wild thoughts, something she had great practice in. You could not save lives with shaking hands. There was a moment of calm when the doors were fully open, three shuddering heartbeats pounding against her ribcage... and then everything fell into chaos. Fire and heat swirled and crescendo-ed around them and the roars and screeches and wing beats of enormous creatures pounded at her eardrums. She cried out and covered her face and head, maintaining her footing but shivering away from the scorching heat and roaring noise. She opened her eyes to find she was blind from the brightness of the flames, only ever glimpsing flashes of coloured scales now and again before they disappeared back into the inferno. Delirious, confused and frightened, she desperately tried to cling to her wits against the barrage of sensation filling the stadium.

All of a sudden there was a massive, quaking thud to her left and she spun around just in time to watch a great behemoth of muscle and scale stride out of the fire towards her. His head towered high above hers, massive curled horns arching back and around his skull like a crown. Yennefer's heart skipped a beat as his Bronze eyes met her own and his massive maw snaked down from its great height to face her completely. She only faltered for a moment, wavering on the spot, fighting the urge to step back from the terrifying jaws of the beast and standing her ground against the colossus. Again there was a moments silence, just the thunderous breathing of this Mahogany giant as they both searched each other's faces, tension rippling through the atmosphere. Yennefer felt ticks and twitches run across her skin, her mind in a whirl of possible ends to this scenario. How was this operation going to go? What could go wrong? What was the best course of action? How would her subject react? The Dragon's eyes were a void to loose yourself in, so young and yet seemingly older than time. She sensed a wealth of intellect and pride behind its gaze, a mentality of nobility and poise that was not self-aggrandizement but just simply the truth. She saw these things, she diagnosed her subject and considered how she should react, how would she normally react to a meeting? Something clicked. Then, ever so slowly, Yennefer gathered her skirts and dipped low into a well controlled curtsy and held her position, eyes lowered, as she awaited his reaction. There was another moment of intensely charged silence and then a sound like an avalanche on a mountainside filled the air. Yennefer opened her eyes to see her Dragon, head low, eyes closed, wings stretched flat on the ground with one massive front paw elegantly clasped across his chest, bowing chivalrously before her. The site of him seemed to rock her grasp on the fabric of space and time, some ancient vibration quaked her soul and pulsed against her heart as she watched his eyes open and his head rise to its cloudy heights once more.

[i]And what treasures do you guard, My gracious Lady?[/i]

His voice in her mind thrummed like the drums of war.

[b]"The Lives of the living, Noble Sir."[/b]

He hummed thoughtfully, the reverberations making pebbles on the ground bounce and dance at his feet.

[i]And what thieves do you guard this treasure from?[/i]

Yennefer stood taller, her heart still thrumming and pulsing with some unknown force.

[b]"Death. I guard them from death. But I do not succeed as often as I should like."[/b]

The Dragon rumbled in approval and stretched his wings out so that their glimmering golden underside caught the light and suffused Yennefer in a golden glow and she was struck in awe at his majesty.

[i]I am Methuzar, My lady, I hear your mind.[/i]

His name hummed in her thoughts and threaded into her unconscious mind, weaving into the pattern of her memories and enveloping her essence of being. She hadn't known her head was so empty before now, but she could not be gladder to fill the hollow spaces. Methuzar hummed in warm agreement and lowered his head once more so that he might touch the peak of his nose to the crown of her forehead, the most delicate of brushes from the softer lip of his muzzle as he breathed in the smell of her. They quietly familiarised themselves with one another, blissfully unaware of the drama unfolding about them.