Dragonkeeper by Carole Wilkinson

Author:Carole Wilkinson [Wilkinson, Carole]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781742590585
Publisher: Walker Books Australia
Published: 2013-03-20T16:00:00+00:00

• chapter thirteen •

A STITCH IN TIME

Her own heart was pounding as if it

were trying to keep both her and the

dragon alive.

Ping knelt down in the water at the edge of the lake and felt for the beat of a heart in Danzi’s scaly chest. She couldn’t find one. Her own heart was pounding as if it were trying to keep both her and the dragon alive. She felt around his neck until she found the soft unscaly patch where he liked to be scratched just above the reversed scales. She dug her fingers in. There was a pulse. It was slow and shallow, but Danzi was still alive.

The rising water was already lapping over the dragon’s tail and back paws. Ping had to move him. She had to get him back to the overhang of rock where she could warm him and give him food and herbs. She thought about asking the peasants to help her, but she didn’t want them to see the dragon in such a pathetic state. She had to drag him there herself.

Ping had walked hundreds of li since she’d been with the dragon, but she knew the next half li would be the hardest. The earth was soft and muddy from the rain. Using a branch, she smoothed a path leading to their camp, removing stones and pulling up grass. Then, using the same branch, she levered the dragon onto his back. Even that left her short of breath. She held the dragon under his forelegs and pulled. His body had settled into the mud. She couldn’t shift him. She pushed and pulled, tugged and strained, falling over in the slippery mud. Heavy rain continued to fall. The level of the lake was rising at an alarming rate. It was now covering half his body. Ping closed her eyes and thought of Master Lan, of the years of harsh words and bruises from flying objects colliding with her flesh. If it weren’t for Danzi, that would still be her life. She concentrated hard to summon every shu of energy from every part of her body. She grasped the dragon and heaved again. There was a sucking sound as his body dislodged from the mould it had settled into.

Ping had shifted the dragon no more than a couple of inches, but it gave her heart. If she could move him two inches, she could move him two more. She pulled him again. His body slid up the steep slope from the water’s edge. He was a heavy load and she couldn’t stop to rest for fear he would slip back and all her effort would be wasted. After half an hour of straining, Ping’s arms ached and she was dizzy from exertion. After an hour, the ache had turned to a piercing pain, but she continued. Finally she reached the top of the incline. She pulled the dragon onto level ground and rested. The next part of her path was flatter. The rain had made it treacherously slippery and Ping was able to push the dragon more easily.

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