Princess Callie and the Fantastic Fire-Breathing Dragon (The Callie Chronicles) by Daisy Piper

Author:Daisy Piper [Piper, Daisy]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Juvenile Fiction
Published: 2011-10-10T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

The Eye of the Needle

Graydon was on his feet again, shaking his head to clear it. He picked up his sword and ran back toward the princess, skidding to a halt a few feet away. “Stand aside,” he commanded.

“No, wait!” Callie cried.

She grabbed at the sleeve of his jacket. “Please, don’t hurt him! It’s…Earle.”

At the mention of her dragon’s name, the trees shimmered before them and turned a lovely shade of purple. There, blinking down at them with his big yellow eyes, was Earle. He had been camouflaging himself as the forest itself! Callie remembered reading that the ability to change color was one of the most famous defense mechanisms of the Great-Crested Ceylx.

Callie’s heart sang with joy! She couldn’t hold herself back and reached out to hug him.

Earle was happy to see her as well, for he bellowed, “Ehhhhhhhrle!” and tilted his head down to snuggle gently with her. He must have tracked her for parthons.

Lord Graydon looked quite annoyed. He re-sheathed his sword and brushed the leaves off his jacket; mementos from when Earle had sent him flying.

“Earle! Great to see you, dude,” Lewis said easily, patting the dragon’s scales. “Though you could have skipped the whole ‘scaring-us-to-death’ part.”

Earle still had iron collars around his neck and foot. Callie touched the broken links of chain. “But how did he break free?”

Lord Graydon examined them. “I’d say your dragon’s love for you knows no bounds.”

“Or bonds,” Lewis added. “This is cool, Cal. We’re going to have a dragon with us on our journey.”

Callie addressed Lord Graydon. “He is coming with us, isn’t he? If you send him back to the palace, I don’t know what will happen to him.”

“I know exactly what will happen,” Graydon replied. “They’ll chain him up again, he’ll break free again and come after you. And so much for our quiet little expedition. There’s nothing for it, I’m afraid. Though the queen and Dr. Monsoon would strongly disapprove, we’re going to have to take him with us.”

Callie smiled. Earle was going to be included in their mission! Finally, her near-sighted Royal Dragon had caught a break.

“Besides,” Lord Graydon said, patting Earle’s scaly neck. “A dragon might be useful. Even a young, inexperienced one. However, since we are trying not to attract attention, he’ll have to use his camouflage most of the way. Do you think he can do that?”

Earle jumped around excitedly, changing his color back and forth between the forest colors and his natural purple.

It was like watching an ‘Earle lightbulb’ blink on and off!

Callie and Lewis burst out laughing as Earle bounced around. Even Lord Graydon couldn’t help but chuckle at the dragon’s antics. “All right. I think we get the idea. Now we must press on if we want to reach the Eye of the Needle before nightfall.”

The group continued on its way. After passing through the forest, they traveled through a valley full of multicolored boulders. Spectacular colors glowed in the fading light--vivid pinks, hot oranges, warm golds, electric blues.

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