Dragonquest - Donita K. Paul [93]
“A battle?” The question flew around the room on nervous lips.
Librettowit nodded solemnly.
“A war that has been secretly waged will erupt for all to see. You must make your choice. Stand and fight, or do nothing. Choose the higher plane, or dwell on the lower forever.”
39
ARDEO
Kale awoke in the middle of the night. She’d curled herself around a lumpy pillow. One hip hurt where it had settled into a crevice in the poorly stuffed mattress. For a moment she didn’t recognize the room made of rough-hewn beams and plastered walls. Toopka slept in another narrow bed. Moonlight cast a pale glow through the small chamber. Only the corners hid in shadows.
The inn.
Groggy with sleep, she looked at one window. Curtains hung over a single glass pane.
Dibl’s giggle shifted her attention. The three minor dragons perched on the back of a wooden chair, staring at her with joyful expressions. She blinked. What? She started to sit up, but a slight weight on her hip stopped her. She craned her neck to see what it was.
A small glowing mass balanced on the curve between her waist and her thigh. It moved. Kale squinted. The ball of white light stretched, elongating into a neck topped with an angular head. Curious dark eyes blinked at her. The small dragon continued to stretch, showing her his small pointed tail.
Kale’s hand flew to the pouch that always hung around her neck. No longer round with the egg, the flattened sides and muffled crunch revealed the broken eggshell within.
A rush of joy caught her off guard. She laughed out loud. Scooping the shining baby into her hand, she sat up. Her fingers glowed as if she were holding a white lightrock. Gymn, Metta, and Dibl soared into the air, expressing their delight with a chorus of trilling noises and fancy aerobatics.
Kale watched as the baby performed an instinctive bonding behavior. Gymn, Metta, and Dibl had done this same thing. The young creature rubbed his entire body leisurely over Kale’s palm, thrumming contentedly.
“What is your name, little one?” whispered Kale.
The dragon lifted his chin from her thumb and peered at her with eyes that looked too large for his tiny head.
“Ardeo! Your name is Ardeo.”
The flying dragons swooped around Kale’s head and shoulders. Their excitement transferred to Kale and the newborn. Ardeo rolled in her hand. The dragon’s luminescence blurred his features. She couldn’t actually see his face other than the dark eyes. A gleaming haze surrounded his entire form.
“Wow!” Toopka whispered her excitement.
Kale looked up to see the little girl standing at the end of the bed. Toopka crawled onto the hard mattress and eased closer to the baby dragon.
“Can I hold it?”
“Him,” said Kale. “And you can hold him tomorrow.”
“He shines.”
The radiance from the newborn reflected off the little doneel’s pale fur. The baby settled down on his back.
“Can I touch him?”
“Yes.”
Toopka stretched out her hand and stroked the dragon’s belly with one finger.
“What do you think his talent is?” she asked.
Kale furrowed her brow. “I don’t remember a description in the books of a white dragon who glows. I still have them, though. They’re in the hollows of my cape. Tomorrow we’ll look him up.”
“Maybe his talent is glowing.”
Kale held the creature up to her chin and rubbed him softly with her cheek. “That would be enough.”
“Oh yes,” said Toopka. “But I didn’t get to see him born.”
“Neither did I. I woke up, and he was already sitting on me.”
Toopka heaved a dramatic sigh. “I guess I’ll never see a baby dragon hatch.”
“I have four more eggs, Toopka. Surely someday you’ll be in the right place at the right time.”
The little girl nodded but didn’t seem to hold out much hope.
Kale scooted over on the narrow bed. “Here, you crawl in with me. We need to go back to sleep. In the morning, you can hold Ardeo.”
Toopka scrambled into the warm bed beside Kale. She squirmed a bit to get comfortable and then lay with her head on Kale’s shoulder. She stared at the little dragon cupped in Kale’s hands and resting on her stomach.