The Dragon Scale

Chapter 10

Recap:"Ella --" Zachary's voice cut off as a sudden crack resounded through the cave. Ella turned around quickly. Her egg was hatching.
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"Oh!" Was all she could say. "Oh!" The top of the egg had cracked, and she could see a little claw sticking out. Midnight jumped off of Tom's shoulder and crawled toward the hatching egg with curiosity.

"Ella," Tom whispered in her ear. She jumped and turned around. "Say something. You know, to coax it out. Your voice has to be the first voice it hears." Tom stood up and walked to the corner. Ella cleared her throat.

"Um... Hello. How are you?" Instantly she cursed herself. If only she had said something intelligent. Clearly, asking a dragon how it was wasn't going to get her anywhere.

What should I say? She bit her bottom lip.

Seriously? 'What should I say?' You're overthinking it. Just talk like how you normally talk. But if you talk like that in real life, I think I'd rather listen to that one standing in the corner, a sarcastic female voice echoed in her head.

Ella fell backwards, her face turning pale.

"It just -- she just--," she frantically gestured toward the egg and herself. Tom smiled.

Oh, wonderful. You obviously didn't know that you can hear my thoughts and I can hear yours. Pretty amateur. Even he knows that. Ella opened her mouth and immediately closed it in frustration. She didn't know what enraged her more, the fact that her dragon had insulted her, or the fact that her dragon had insulted Tom.

"Of all the dragons in the world, I had to be stuck with her!" She crossed her arms and frowned. Tom placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, dragons are sometimes cranky when they first hatch. It'll wear off, hopefully," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Hopefully being the key word," Ella humphed and looked the opposite direction.

Hey! A little help here? I guess I'm going to have to sit in here 'till you help me....

"What?" Ella glanced at Tom. "She's asking me to help her. What do I do?"

"Help her get out of the egg, Ella," Zachary said, walking out of the corner and sitting next to Ella. "Here." He peeled a piece of the egg off.

Finally, at least somebody knows what to do! Ella clutched her head.

"Be quiet!" She muttered and started peeling the egg away from the dragon inside.

****
It was done. Her dragon was sitting on the stone floor, it's orange eyes staring up at her.

Hey, human-who's-name-I-don't-know-yet, its voice echoing inside her head. Ella sighed.

"It's Ella. This is Zachary," she pointed to her right, "this is Tom," she pointed to her left, "and this is Midnight."

Midnight? Cool name. Hey, what's my name? Ella paused.

"I'm not sure," Ella glanced at her tiny dragon. It was scampering around the cave floor, eyeing everything with curiosity.

She ran a hand over its smooth orange scales and gazed into its large brown eyes.

"I'm going to call you... Auburn!" She exclaimed.

Auburn? Like the color?

"Yes, like the color. How do you like it?"

I guess it's fine. Might take some time to get used to, though.

"Nice, hello Auburn!" Tom knelt down beside Ella. Zachary sat down on the cave floor as Auburn ran circles around.

"Ella, we should go. Elder is probably wondering about us," Zachary placed a soft hand on her shoulder.

"Okay, let's go." Ella reluctantly stood up and brushed dust off of her dress. "Come, Auburn." She stretched her hand out. Auburn yawned, her little teeth glinting a partly white in the beam of light.

Ugh, I sure am tired. She curled up in a ball on the floor.

"Really, Auburn! We have to go," Ella frowned in annoyance. Her dragon was silent. Softly sighing, Ella gently picked the tiny dragon up off of the floor. It smiled in its sleep and nestled into her hands.

Ella whispered softly in its ear,

"Welcome to the world, Auburn."

*****
Hello amazing readers! Hope you enjoyed reading this chapter!! The media picture is of Auburn, what did you think? Did she look like you pictured?

Also, what did you think of her name? It took me a while to think of a name for her, hopefully you like it!

Don't forget to vote and comment, thanks a lot!

And speaking of voting, this chapter's dedication goes to.... Green41002 !!! Thanks so much for voting!

Thanks for reading!

Until next time!!

~CB_1

P.S.: Here is the link for the picture - http://aranamuerta.com/2010/02/17/shhhh-sleeping-dragons/