He knew, with complete certainty, that he had to help the creature that was in there.

Devin started to pull away some of the caves covering, and it was anything but easy. There were plant fronds covering it, and those were easy enough to remove, but the rocks there were larger and harder to shift. Devin had to squat to wrap his arms around them, and then shove them to the side one by one. He got several of them clear, and then something came out to swipe more out of the way: a claw.

Devin leapt back, and the dragon came out through the mouth of the cave. It looked almost exactly as it had been in his dreams. It was huge, but somehow Devin knew that it wasnt yet full grown. It towered over him, wings folded against its back, blue scales flickering with iridescent rainbow colors. The dragon was large enough that Devin half suspected it wouldnt be able to free itself from the cave, its body scraping against the side as it pulled itself clear. Devin heard the crack of shifting rock, and several rocks tumbled down around the dragon as it exited the cave.

More than that, it was growing larger. With every second that Devin watched, it seemed to be growing, and Devins eyes shifted, letting him see the clouds of light and power flowing into it. He didnt know much about magic yet, but he knew that was what was fueling the growth of the dragon, making it bigger, turning it into something impossibly huge.

He could only stare at it as it towered over him, rearing up on its hind legs, with its wings stretching out, bat-like, in the sun. Its neck stretched up sinuously into the sky, and then came down, so that its head wove in front of Devin like a snakes before its prey. Its mouth opened wide, revealing teeth that would be able to bite through him without any effort at all, while its hind claws left gouges in the dirt as it moved. It roared at him then, in a sound that all but deafened Devin as he stood there.

The dragon stared down at Devin as if trying to work out exactly what he was. Huge, reptilian eyes stared down at him, flicking back and forth. A snakelike tongue flickered out as if tasting the air around Devin, then scraped across his skin. The dragon blinked, as if not quite understanding, then paused, as if listening to something that only it could hear.

It roared again, and those great wings beat at the air, producing a rush of wind that almost knocked Devin from his feet. He had to brace to keep standing as the dragons wings beat again in great swings of leathery flesh. The first couple of wing beats seemed to be as if the creature were testing what it could do, but the next ones were more serious.