Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 137226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
“That’s the start of the valley,” he says, and starts running off toward it.
I take off after him, Lemi keeping pace, and scramble down the sides where the plateau slopes off. Once we turn the corner, the whole valley opens up. It’s as Andor described and as I remembered. The valley is narrow where we’re standing, the wind whistling past in both directions, creating whorls in the sand, then gets wider heading inland toward a ridge of volcanoes, lava spilling out the sides, too far away to be a threat to us. All along one upper ridge of the valley is a row of caves, some of which I remember being home to sycledrages at some point.
But they aren’t the eggs Andor brought me here for.
Right along one of the cracks that runs through the middle of the valley are blooddrage nests sprinkled here and there, like a little breeding farm.
“There has to be a dozen of them, at least,” he whispers to me as we lean against the rock wall. “And I only see two sets of parents on their nests. The rest have left them to hunt.” He glances at me, his eyes dancing. “Looks like there are no fire tornadoes in the forecast.”
Lemi whines, his head low to the ground and sniffing, giving me the signal that he wants to shift to the nearest batch of eggs. I put my hand on his head to warn him to stay in place for now. We have to figure out the best way to do this without attracting the attention of the blooddrages that are on their nests. From my experience, even if you’re disturbing another nest that doesn’t belong to them, they’ll react and protect it, much like a bee protecting a sand hive.
Andor reaches back and grabs one of his arrows from his quiver, then his bow.
“I can’t make the shot from here, but if we get closer I might be able to take them out.”
“How many arrows do you have?” I ask, eyeing the quiver, along with his sword on his back. I know in his boot he has his opal-glass dagger. “Maybe you should give the bow and arrow to me. That way I can protect you so you can concentrate on the eggs.”
He squints at me. “Only the arrows with the green end have been dosed with the serum. Have you even tried archery before?”
“Actually yes,” I tell him with a raise of my chin. “My father taught me target practice. We’d do so with the Soffers’ dragon figurines that he’d stolen, all lined up along the wall around our house.”
“And how old were you then?”
That was before we moved into the city. “Six,” I admit. “But I bet it’s like riding a horse.”
“And have you ridden a horse?”
I don’t say anything to that.
“Let me handle this,” he says, starting to creep forward. “You and Lemi concentrate on being a distraction. And if any dragons come for me when I’m not looking, you take them down. I don’t care how cute they are.”
That’s the thing about blooddrages. It’s easy to think they’re cute and harmless because they’re the size of a cat. But they’re quick and they’re vicious and they have a taste for blood. I’m not certain what they usually hunt here—I’m sure Steiner could have filled me in on their habits—but it’s the blood of something since your bare skin is the first thing they’ll go for. They have sharp claws and long, hollow teeth that will pierce your skin and suck you dry if given the chance. I’ve never personally been bitten, but I have been swarmed until they decided I wasn’t worth the trouble.
“All right,” Andor says. “Follow my lead and stay behind me. When I stop, you stop. Think Lemi understands that?”
“You just let me worry about Lemi,” I tell him, gesturing for him to go forward while I reach back and pull both ash-glass swords out of my sheath. “Let’s go.”
Andor heads straight out into the valley and I follow, keeping slightly to the side, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to see around his tall frame. The moment we step away from the relative shelter of the rift walls, the heat and wind seem to intensify, more of it blowing from the volcanic range. I pull up my neck scarf higher around my mouth and see Andor do the same, breathing becoming more hazardous with the flying dust and sand.
I trust Andor to keep focused on the blooddrages, so I scan the skies looking for anything that might be in flight, plus the fact that a sycledrage might poke its head out of one of the caves at any moment.
We’re about a hundred yards out from the row of nests when suddenly Lemi goes still.
“Andor, stop,” I whisper.
He stops in front of me and we slowly turn around.