Dracon (1st book of the Draconon Series)

Chapter 30

The darkness changed into this reddish goldish color, and my heart skipped a beat before it started to pound faster. Hope filled my chest and the feeling washed over me, but for some reason, nothing else happened.

"Well?" my grandmother asked softly, and I couldn't help but wonder why it sounded so far away. "What do you feel?"

"Hope," I said, my voice void of any emotion and was barely above a whisper. "I feel hope. I don't know why, but I feel hope."

"Can you see anything?" she asked.

I didn't respond and shook my head no.

Was I supposed to..?

My heart seemed to break, and I couldn't help but purse my lips in annoyance.

"Hmmmm..." I had a feeling that she pursed her lips in annoyance while she studied me. "Picture that orb again," she said softly, "but make it look like an egg instead."

"Why?" I asked while I raised an eyebrow in question.

"Because that hope shouldn't be the only thing that you are feeling, Dear," she replied and kept her voice calm.

"Andromeda," Targon warned, and she hissed a small warning and flashed him a warning look, even though I couldn't see it. He pressed his lips into a thin line and narrowed his eyes but stayed silent.

"Do it, Dear," she coaxed while she looked at me again. "Picture that orb again and then picture it turning into an egg."

I took a deep breath and released it with a small whoosh before I slowly nodded and did what she told me to do and picture the orb again, but this time I made it look more like an egg, a dragon's egg.

Sure enough, I saw the orb again, and it slowly started to look like a dragon's egg. Like the orb, the egg was red and encrusted with gold that seemed to glow a brilliant bright color that I couldn't describe in words.

The egg was the size of a football, but for some reason, I had a feeling that this egg was a lot heavier than that. It moved up and down and seemed to wait for me to call it to me, even though I had no idea how to do that.

"Well?" my grandmother asked, and I had a feeling that she raised an eyebrow in question. "What do you see? Do you see it?"

"I see an egg," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "I can see an egg in front of me. It's the same color as the orb that I had seen."

"Good," my grandmother said while she breathed a sigh of relief before she cleared her throat. "Now, call it to you. Hold it in your hands and open it."

"How?" I asked, and my grandmother chuckled amused, and I had a feeling that she dipped her head closer to her chest. "Yana," I pleaded, and she chuckled again.

"Think, my dear girl," she said softly. "Unfortunately, I am not allowed to say and neither is Targon. However, that doesn't mean you aren't capable of doing it. I believe in you." She paused and cleared her throat. "All you have to do is believe in yourself."

I pressed my lips into a thin line before I sighed and dipped my head closer to my chest while I "stared" at the egg.

"Coax it to you," Targon said in a tone that I understood.

Coax it to you like you coaxed me...

I closed my inner eyes and took a deep breath before I released it with a small whoosh while I opened then again.

"Come to me," I said, my voice barely above a whisper and in a language that I had once forgotten but slowly started to remember. "Now."

The egg floated in place before it slowly started to make its way toward me, and I couldn't help but start to hear this faint sound as it got closer.

It sounded as if it was a song that I had heard once before when I was younger, and it carried an almost melodious tone with highs and lows like ocean waves.

"Do you hear something?" my grandmother asked as if she saw the look of shock and surprise on my face.

"Yes," I said, my voice barely above a whisper while I nodded. "I hear something while the egg is coming closer to me."

"Good, good," she said, relieved, and I had a feeling that she nodded before she cleared her throat and grew serious. "Then sing it back to it."

"How?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

"You know how, Clove," my grandmother coaxed soothingly. "Copy the song that it is singing."

"Bu-"

"You know," Targon said, interrupting me. "Take a deep breath, and trust your instincts. Let the music flow through you, and sing it back."

I pressed my lips into a thin line before I slowly nodded and paid closer to the song that it was singing, my heart pounding harder and harder in my chest while I tried to find the right melody.

Still the egg moved closer to me, coaxing me to sing the song that it was singing, so I did, even though it was barely above a whisper.

The egg started to glow a dim reddish goldish color, even though for some reason I knew that it wasn't supposed to look like that.

"Sing louder with more confidence in your voice, Your Highness," Targon said as if he knew what I was seeing. "Don't doubt yourself. You know what to do and what to sing. Take a deep breath and sing."

I didn't stop my song while I slowly nodded and started to sing in the way he wanted me to. My confidence with the song grew with each note I sang, and the egg grew brighter and brighter while I sang it.

Subconsciously, I held out my hands for it to enter, and it floated into my hands, filling my whole body and heart with warmth and a power that I had once known but forgotten, but for some reason, I didn't grab it yet.

"Good," Targon said with his voice barely above a whisper, and he couldn't hide that sigh of relief. "Now, pull it closer to your chest, and open it. Show us what is inside it."

I kept singing and slowly nodded while I did what Targon had said and grabbed the egg, shuddering while the hair on the back of my neck stood at attention because I was not expecting that power.

Now, how am I going to open it..?

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes tighter while I grabbed the egg tighter and pulled it closer to my chest.

Open, I silently said while I squeezed the egg tighter in the middle, and I still sang the song it was humming, something that was still just a melody. Let us see what is inside you.

The egg did what I asked and slowly cracked open, revealing a brighter reddish golden light.

I couldn't help but squeeze my eyes tighter shut when the bright light appeared out of nowhere and gritted my teeth together.

Shit...

The light slowly dimmed when the egg opened all of the way, and something warm appeared in my hands.

"Good," Targon said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Now, open your eyes and see what's there."

I nodded slowly before I opened my eyes to see something staring at me with the same red eyes as the tattoo on my back.

I slowly blinked while I stared at this red and gold creature that was bowing, its snout almost touching the palm of my hand.

"Holy shit," Antonio said, and we looked at him to see that he was looking at the creature in my hand. "Is that a-" He stopped while he looked at me with wide eyes, not able to finish that sentence.

I slowly nodded and looked at it again. "-a dragon."