Taraah was a little gobsmacked when the human talked up to her. When the message finally sank in, the dragoness exploded in roaring laughter. It took several seconds for her to calm down. How cute! The thing believed it could make it home alive on it's own. Fleshbag wouldn't last five minutes after dark - the nocturnal wildlife in this region was enough to give dragon whelps trouble, let alone young - or any for that matter - humans. Time to break the bad news in. "I am sorry child, but are you sure about this?" Taraah asked, unable to keep the amusement form her voice as her head shot forward. In a swift blur, the dragoness' jaws snapped around Thalia's blade and torn it from her grasp, spitting it out of her reach.

As former black, Taraah wasn't skeptical to beliefs like the Reds. She didn't believe in the same gods as the blacks did, but she would admit to an existence of some higher power. And right now, she believed said power was giving her a gift. The sacrificed children she would have to choose a rider from later were broken people by the time they got there - content with their fate and believing they would all die soon. On top of that, most of them were too old for their mindsets to be hammered into more favorable shape. And here she was, presented with not only a young mind, but one that had fire in her soul to match her own. If this wasn't divine intervention, nothing was.

"I have a proposition for you - one that you can't really refuse. I am one of those to choose a rider this time around. And you know what? I choose you!" Taraah said, with a crazy and challenging gleam in her eyes as her neck wrapped around Thalia's shoulders in the same manner a human would put an arm around them, leveling her head to the eyes of the girl. For the first time her burning red eyes noticed Thalia had different color in each eye. "Alternatives are dying right now by my hand, or dying a few moments later when the sun sets. That is all you have to choose from." the dragoness delivered in a teasing voice, "You stand no chance on your own, that is a fact. You are nobody. Nothing. They -" she pointed to the crispy remains of Thalia's captors, "- didn't even disarm you. But I will train you. Take my offer, and I'll make you the strongest human in history. And perhaps, as you so elegantly put it, one day you will be strong enough to 'strike me down' - and win your freedom!" Taraah finished, her eyes burrowing into Thalia's, searching for an answer.