Barnabas reached for another book and placed it in his "Guide to Dragon Success" collection.
"Ah," he said. "Now, after ten years of collecting these books, I will finally have the privilege of actually reading them."
"Excuse me, Barnabas?"
Barnabas twirled around.
"Yes?" he asked the stern dragon messenger.
"The Council would like to see you."
"The Council?" Barnabas looked startled. "Oh, very well then. "I am almost finished..."
"They would like to see you now."
Barnabas raised an eyebrow, but then reluctantly followed the messenger to the dragon hall.
Inside the hall, it was empty and quiet. No like usual.
In the middle, perched the five Dragon Lords, each wearing a silver necklace which made the Dragon Lords look even more powerful than they already were.
"Master Barnabas," said one of the Dragon Lords, a tall elderly dragon with dark lines down her eyes.
"You asked for me," said Barnabas, kneeling.
"Yes. We want to know about the boy?"
"Marman?" Barnabas looked up.
"Yes. He has run away from the Dragon City. We are very disappointed."
"Run away? Your Dragoness, the boy is a fool. He will return shortly. He cannot survive on his own. I have said that to him already."
"Oh, he won't return, though. He already knows about what you really brought him to the Dragon City for."
Barnabas's blood ran cold.
"And what, your Dragoness, might that be?" he asked.
"Oh, don't play dumb with me, Barnabas. Your secret is out. Everyone already knows that he is a missborn."
Barnabas froze.
"Oh, no. I've failed him," he muttered under his breath.
"The council is proud of your decision to hand him over to the Tester on Dragon Fest."
"Who told you about this?"
"Soothia, of course. Our most trusted advisor."
"Soothia? How did she find out?"
"She's not a fool, and neither are we. We know who you are, Barnabas, brother to Kruger Longtail and uncle to his child, Marman the Missborn."
"Don't you dare call him that!" yelled Barnabas. "Where did he go?"
"No one knows, but the witnesses say he was headed west."
"West? Towards the human city?"
"I trust you to find him and bring him back to the Dragon City before Dragon Fest."
"I will definitely find him," said Barnabas. "But he won't be coming back to the Dragon City, that's certain. I don't know why you think I'm just going to let you execute him just because his egg failed a test, but I'm not."
"So, you go against the rules of dragon kind?" spoke an old wrinkly, blue dragon, the Tester, perched next to the female dragon.
"I do go against them," said Barnabas. "For the love of Marman and his desendants."
"His descendants shall be ashamed," said the Tester.
"Define 'ashamed'," growled Barnabas, gritting his teeth.
And with that, he flew out of the Dragon Hall and away from the Dragon City.
~~
YOU ARE READING
Hatch: A Dragon Story
FantasyGrom has arisen from the fiery depths of a volcano. He is ready to finally become the most powerful dragon in the whole world. Nothing will stop him now. Except for a tiny egg which had just hatched in the sandy desert of Middle-Earth. 17 years late...
