Trapped

Chapter 3

     The visit to Caringfire had been pleasant, but there had been several awkward moments of silence. The rest of the day Starcharm had done nothing much, except tell Empty some stories. She had also tried eating some leaves, like Featherfriend did every so often. Not a good idea. Her stomach was killing her for hours. Suddenly her food was coming up her throat. She ran to the other side of the clearing and threw up.

     Darn. She had accidentally eaten some poison ivy. She spit the rest of the vomit out of her mouth. It was overcast, so soon it would rain and wash it away. Starcharm was lucky she had a special lining in her stomach to protect her from poisons. Otherwise she would get very sick.

     For her, the worst affects were vomiting and a raspy cough. Starcharm walked over to her nest and created a small cave around it to protect her and Empty from the rain. She curled up and got comfortable. This was going to be a long night, with the pains in her stomach. Stupid poison ivy.

     Starcharm brought Empty up to her head so she could hear the little dragon's heartbeat. But there was no heartbeat. She sat up and held the egg in her paws. The shell felt dry and rough, instead of smooth and cool. Suddenly the egg cracked and broke apart.

     The shards of eggshell fell at her feet, the non-hatched child left in her grasp. Starcharm couldn't believe her eyes. The tears flowed like a river in a flood. She gazed down at the body. Empty, an aqua-green male dragon, was dead.