Marked by Katrina Cope (free children's ebooks pdf txt) 📕
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- Author: Katrina Cope
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My body tenses, and my heart skips a beat as the creature looks up, searching for where the rocks have come from. Its beady eyes land on me then narrow. My neck stiffens in fear. I am certain that it is about to come after me. Instead, the creature drops down again, gropes for the egg, and grasps it in its claws before flapping its enormous wings and taking to the sky.
I scan the ground again, hoping to find more rocks, and exhale loudly with excitement when I spot some more. I slide them one by one into my sling and hit the creature. It squawks loudly when one hits it on the wing, and the second one collides with its leg. As it connects, a sickening crack, much louder than before, reaches my ears. The creature cries out again, and I silently congratulate myself that the hours of practice have paid off.
The creature drops the egg, and I clench my teeth as I watch it fall to the hard ground. It is only a short distance, but I hope that it isn’t so far that the egg would crack open before the baby is ready to come.
I run at the creature, scooping up more rocks while watching as it flaps its enormous wings. The creature’s eyes narrow, and it aims directly for me, even though the rocks I am slinging are hitting the target. Even the struggle with its injured wing doesn’t stop it from coming toward me and swooping down. I duck away from its grasp, yet the long claws wrap around my upper arm and over my shoulder and clasp me firmly. My feet lift off the ground as we ascend.
Pulling my strength from my torso, I swing my feet up and kick the creature in its belly right where I hit it with the rock the first time. It cries out and drops me but not without scraping its claws farther along my arm and drawing blood. After I land hard on my side, an intense pain shoots to my hip. I refuse to let this deter me, and I search the ground for more rocks and fire them at the creature.
It turns and takes to the sky, causing my heart to soar as it leaves me on the ground.
When I am confident that it will not return, I clip my sling on the back of my pants and glance over at the three eggs. My breath catches in my throat when I see one is slowly rolling down the hill toward a cliff. I break into a run, hoping that I will be fast enough to get to the egg before it tumbles over the side. Its momentum increases, and it rolls faster. I dig my toes into the hard ground and sprint.
With only seconds until it reaches the edge, I dive, reaching as far as I can, trying to block the egg’s path before it falls. I land hard on the solid ground and grunt in pain as I scrape my arm all the way up the side, and a jagged rock jabs into my ribs. That will definitely cause a bruise.
I wrap my arms around the egg and hug it close. It is surprising how warm it is. Dragons’ eggs are usually warm, but this burns from the rays of the sun, which give it the much-needed heat when the mother is away. I hold it close, drawing comfort from the heat. As much as I hate the duty of cleaning out the dragon pens at the academy, I am always mesmerized by the creatures and enjoy the time that I spend with them. It is during this time that I can study them and their different breeds.
As I hold the egg, I stare down at the beautiful gold color and wonder what it would be like to study this dragon up close and take in the different features from a real perspective rather than a book.
I stroke the egg softly and whisper, “It’s okay, little baby. I got you. May you grow into a big, strong dragon. I don’t know where your mommy is or why she isn’t here to protect you. But don’t worry. I’ll protect you.”
I stroke the egg some more, and a tingling feeling shoots up my arm. When I wriggle my fingers, I realize my arm is bleeding. It must be from the injury caused by the creature, and I hope it isn’t infected. I stroke the egg one more time, marveling at the golden glint under the sun. “I shall take you back to your nest with the eggs of your siblings, then I must go.”
Holding it tight, I walk in the direction of the nest. I glance up to watch where I’m going and stop short. Before me, standing over her remaining eggs, is a large golden dragon–the emperor dragon–and I can tell by the fiery glint in her eyes that she is the mother.
I don’t like the way she looks at me. It makes me feel like her next meal, and I don’t know what to do. Her fiery gaze boils my fear to the surface, and I know I have to move now. I glance at the two eggs underneath her then at the golden egg. My legs start to shake. I badly want to place the egg back where it belongs, but I don’t want to step any closer to this mother dragon. She has the look of protection in her eyes as though she is about to swoop down and kill me.
Holding the egg firmly in my outstretched arms, I attempt to edge forward, hoping she understands that I want to return the egg, but my feet won’t move. They are frozen in place, with the quivering turning my legs to jelly.
Dropping to my knees, I lower my gaze, slowly pushing the egg farther toward her while stretching my arms as far as they will go. Then, ever so slowly, I let my eyes creep up to look at the mother. I don’t know if the mother will see this as a submissive gesture or not. I am definitely offering her egg back to her.
“Please, take it back.” It takes all of my strength to keep my voice calm and even. “I was only trying to protect the egg. The only reason your egg is in my hands is because I was stopping the creature from stealing it, then I had to save it from rolling off the cliff. I’m not trying to take your egg.”
I have no idea if this wild dragon can understand me, but at this stage, anything is worth a try. The dragon flings her head back and snorts out a large plume of smoke. For a second, the air in front of me is cloudy with its haze. Eventually, the smoke clears, revealing her piercing golden-brown eyes first.
If she understands me, I don’t know if she believes me. It doesn’t matter. I have no choice. I’m about to lower the egg to the ground and see if I can turn and run, trying out my chances of escaping in one piece. Even so, the niggling voice deep down is still screaming that I am a fool to think I can get away. But I must try.
The egg starts to inch toward me when I feel the ground rumble beneath me after a thump. The dragon has landed not far from me. She towers over me and gazes down. I don’t know if I’m about to lose my head, and now my arms are starting to shake as well.
“I-I promise. I-I was only protecting your egg,” I stutter, trying to stop my arms from shaking so much before I drop the egg. Slowly, I lower my arms and place the egg on the ground in front of the dragon, tilting my head respectfully. “Please, don’t kill me.”
Answered by silence, I start to back away, only to be startled when a voice booms through my head.
You should not be here, Valkyrie.
I look around for the person who was talking to me, but no one is in sight. It is a strange feeling. I am certain that it was in my head, but I have never had this experience before–my ears are deaf to the sound, and it echoes through the corners of my brain.
It is no use looking around, Valkyrie. It is I who speaks to you.
I look up, and my eyes meet hers, which are gold and piercing.
The dragon nods in acknowledgement. Yes, I am the one who is speaking to you.
A strange combination of emotions is running through those eyes. They are not quite as piercing as I first thought, but I am still uncomfortable in their presence.
Normally, I would kill you for being near my eggs. But I saw what
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