Dragon Born

Chapter 11

I must have fallen asleep at my workbench, because I woke up with a start. My notebook had fallen, landing painfully on my toes. But that wasn't what woke me up.

There was a strange scratching noise on the window behind me. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I squinted through the darkness that had fallen over the apartment and approached the window-

Suddenly, the glass shattered into a million pieces and something small fell on the floor with a definitive thud. It groaned.

Terrified that a small monster had somehow traversed the massive walls and found itself in my room--for whatever reason--I dove for my knife and a lantern. With a quick flick of a match, light pooled around my feet and threw shadows against the wall. One shadow had wings and a lithe tail.

Heart in my throat, I stepped closer, raising the lantern higher. Its blessed light reached the little monster and-

"Raiden?"

This couldn't be good. I rushed the dragonling, placing the lantern beside him and scooped him up. He was more than happy to nuzzle into the crook of my arms; his claws dug into my shirt, tearing it he was so pleased to see me. "What are you doing here, little guy? Do the Ackers know where you are?"

I bet they didn't. Otherwise one of them would be escorting him.

"You can't leave the castle on your own. Someone could see you." I didn't want to think about what might have happened to him if someone had spotted him. His dazzling green eyes blinked up at me, so sweet and innocent, ignorant of the horrors this world held. He had no idea of the dangers of this world--and how could he? He hadn't been in it long enough to know.

A strong gust of wind blew through the window, stirring up the shattered glass. A low grumble followed in its wake. Raiden responded with a small noise of his own.

Holding him close, I took Raiden to my bedroom, laying him down on the bed. He looked up at me and whined. He made movements to follow me as I slid off the bed, but I held my hand up to him and tapped his snout.

"I'll be right back. I need to clean up the glass before it gets caught up in my furniture and rugs. Stay." To give him more incentive to stay still, I gathered all of my blankets and pillows and made him a little fort. Content, he curled up like a kitten, folding his wings over his back and laying the very tip of his tail over his snout.

It was a sight to behold, and I wished there was some way to capture this moment so I could look back on it when he was the size of a building.

Don't get attached.

I sighed. No, I couldn’t get too attached. The Ackers would come for him and I would have to give him back. Maybe after a few probing questions. He appeared unharmed at first glance--I would do a more thorough inspection after I cleaned up the glass--but there had to be a reason he ran away.

I swiped my broom and dustpan from the closet and made quick work of the glass on the floor. Just in time for another powerful gust of wind to blast through my now-permanently open window. Only, this time, I noticed the shadow in the sky, blending in with the overcast night.

A dragon. Actually, several when I took a better look outside. They were circling the city.

My first thought was that the walls were under attack, but they were silent as they glided over the buildings, flying much closer than they typically did. I couldn't hear any monsters or signs of fighting in the streets. They were looking for something.

I glanced at my bedroom.

A sudden pounding came at my door. Swearing, I quickly tossed the broken glass in the bin that was already half full of glass from experiments gone wrong then hurried downstairs. More pounding shook my door before I could reach it.