River Horse

Chapter Eleven

So in my last chapter, I got a request to go back to Hans' POV. So, this chapter shall be all Hans!!! Tell me what you think (and be honest. I want to improve my writing).

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HANS' POV:

I bent down, inspecting the churned and bloody earth. Deep gouges, looked like dragon claw marks, or some other kind of overgrown lizard. The blood was blackish, meaning goblins or kobolds. Both are greedy and often try to steal treasure from dragons. The most likely scenario was that the nasty little things had stolen dragon treasure, and the dragon had tracked them down. I looked over my shoulder and saw Gareth scanning the undergrowth for any signs of body heat so he could alert us of an ambush.

He saw me looking at him and nodded his head. The coast was clear, at least for now.

When Uncle Troy had told us that there were dragon sightings in the woods, I had insisted that Gareth and I go check it out. I needed the hunt, the distraction. I couldn't stop thinking about her...

I swallowed hard and turned back to the soil, shoving the thoughts away. My attention was almost instantly caught by something glinting. I frowned and dug around it carefully, pushing the dirt away. It was large, and looked to be some kind of...

"Gareth!" I exclaimed. "Get over here!"

In a second he was leaning over my shoulder, pushing hair out of his eyes as I frantically tried to free the object from the hard packed dirt.

"So it's a rock, big deal," he commented, straightening up and stretching his arms. "Maybe it was some kind of-"

I finally unearthed the stone, and with a grunt rolled it out of the hole it had been in. Gareth's mouth closed with a snap, and his eyes widened.

"Is that..." he breathed, tentatively coruching and laying a hand on the stone.

I nodded grimly. "That's right," I replied. "We just found a dragon egg."

Gareth whistled and sat down beside me. We just sat there for a few moments, contemplating the egg. It was pale gray, almost white, but when the light struck it, it shone gold. Gold and pale gray...

"Shade's blood!" I cursed and rubbed my forehead. Gareth stared at me, alarmed. I never swore, especially when it came to the Shade, the lord of shadow and patron god of all hunters.

"It's a mist dragon," I muttered, glaring at the egg. The rarest and most treasured of all dragons. Also the cleverest. And the nimblest. And also, the most protective of their kin. When their eggs are lost or stolen, they are known to savage any dragon nests they come across, destroying any egg that isn't their own.

"But those live all the way in Whales!" Gareth exclaimed, throwing his arms out for emphasis. "What the hell is one doing in America?!"

"I don't know!" I growled, standing up and brushing the dirt off my pants. "But one was here, and now it's lost its egg. Unless we find it, it'll go on a killing spree!"

A loud thundering noise interrupted us. Gareth squinted at the forest around us, tensing. I reached for the crossbow on my back and loaded a bolt into it, rolling my shoulders to loosen them.

"Elvish guards!" Gareth whispered. I felt the first stirrings of fear. The Elvish gurads were the most skilled and disciplined of all fighters. They protected the Seelie Queen and her lands jealously. Intruders were not welcomed.

I saw the first elf approaching from behind a tree, mounted on a solid black stag. I lowered my crossbow but still held it tightly, ready to use if necessary.