The Dragonling by Jackie French Koller

Author:Jackie French Koller
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin

7

DAREK AND ZANTOR SPENT THE rest of the night in the bushes outside the Great Blue’s cave. At the stroke of dawn, before it was even fully light, the Great Blue appeared. The whole valley quickly came to life. With great squawks and chatterings, dragons appeared at the mouth of every cave and crisscrossed down through the air. The Great Blue lifted off.

Darek sucked in his breath. “Well,” he said, “I guess this is it.” He edged his way out of the bushes and into the cave, motioning to Zantor to follow. The cave was pitch-black inside, and Darek couldn’t see a thing, but instantly the air was filled with a chorus of rrronks. Dragonlings! Zantor rushed past Darek back into the gloom, and the rrronks turned to excited thrummings.

Darek’s eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness, and at last he could make out Zantor and two other slightly larger dragonlings tumbling merrily over one another. Darek smiled. He wished he could give Zantor a farewell hug, but he knew the smartest thing to do was to leave, fast. Just as he turned to go, a huge shadow darkened the mouth of the cave.

“Grrrawk! Grrrawk!” shrieked the Great Blue as she touched down on the outer ledge. Darek’s blood turned to ice. She must have heard her babies cry and come back to check on them. If only he’d waited until she was out of earshot! Her great bulk filled the entrance. Darek whirled, looking for another passageway. There was none. These were not ordinary caves, he realized, just holes in the mountains hollowed out by the dragons’ sharp claws.

“Grrrawk! Grrrawk!” the dragon screeched again. She glared at him, her green eyes glowing in the dark. Darek swung his bow off his shoulder and reached back for an arrow. With a trembling hand he fitted it to the string. There was only one unprotected spot, he knew, high up on the neck, just under the chin. She would lift her head just before battle. He would have one chance.

The dragon reared back. Flames shot from her mouth and lit up the cave. Darek took aim and—

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