Page 61 of Consort's Dragon
“Have a little respect,” snapped Klothi.“This is not a game.”
Titus regulated his expression.“Excuse my excitement.I’ve long waited for this day.”
“Not as long as us,” Kachezi stated as she withdrew her egg from the sack.
With the three of them cradling theirs, that left just Avera.
“Go on, pull it,” Klothi murmured.
Still reluctant but unable to stop herself from joining, Avera pulled the oval-shaped stone from the bag and hugged it to her chest.Last chance for her to put a stop to this, only the words wouldn’t emerge.Her tongue didn’t move.Her lungs refused to expel a cry.Despite the futility, she wanted to once more ask them to reconsider.She’d seen firsthand what one dragon had done to Verlora.But her mouth wouldn’t open, as if held shut.
Kachezi lifted her egg and in a strong voice that carried said, “We are gathered today to bring back the dragons who sacrificed themselves to save humanity.At long last, it is time for their return.Time for them to once more save us.Today we make history as?—"
Plop.The slight splash interrupted and drew attention to Titus and his empty hands.
“What did you do?”exclaimed Karoki.
“The egg slipped,” Titus lied.
“Quickly.Drop the others.We don’t have time to wait,” hissed Kachezi, gently dropping hers so that it sank gracefully without a splash.Karoki lobbed hers towards the middle of the lava lake where it hit and caused a small rippling wave.
Only Avera remained.
“Hurry,” Klothi exclaimed, running towards Avera as lava started to churn in agitation.As if on cue, the ground rumbled.
Avera never knew if she’d have done it voluntarily because the decision was taken from her.Klothi batted the egg from her grip, sending it tumbling into the magma before grabbing hold of her arm and pulling.
“Let’s go.We need to reach the tower before the volcano erupts.”
“From what the survivors told me, it took hours for it to happen in Verlora,” Avera stated keeping a rapid pace.
“With one egg.We just dropped four,” Klothi replied.
“Wouldn’t it have been wiser to do them one at a time?”she huffed.Probably not the best time to be asking questions, but the distraction helped quell the panic at the coming peril.
“No.Dragons are territorial.If we’d hatched just one, it likely wouldn’t have allowed the others.By doing the four at once, they will emerge knowing they are to share,” Klothi explained as they passed Titus who leaned over the magma watching as they darted into the tunnel.
The ground underfoot shivered harder.
“Might want to run faster,” Titus called out as he joined them in the corridor.“Seems like Avera’s tale of earthquakes was true.”
“Why would I lie?”she huffed as she redoubled her pace.Not easy given the shaking floor.Under other circumstances, it might have been comical to see the viziers hiking their skirts to run faster, but Avera found nothing amusing about the situation.
The end of the tunnel and the stairs to the keep appeared and from this direction Avera noticed the tunnel extended past the steps.
“Move faster.It’s getting hot back here,” Titus called out.
Pausing on the first step, Avera made the mistake of looking behind and her eyes widened at the glowing orange wave coming at them.Well, that explained the conduit that continued past the stairs.
“Lava!”she squeaked.
“You don’t say.Hurry up now.I like these boots,” Titus declared, giving her a little shove.
Avera climbed and emerged onto the main floor of the shrine but didn’t stop there.She kept climbing, puffing her way to the top, a hand plastered to the wall to keep steady even as she prayed she didn’t fall and that the stairs didn’t collapse from the shaking.
At Titus’s urging, she went past the living level and up another flight—much to her screaming legs’ annoyance—until she emerged on the roof, a flat terrace that offered a terrifying view of the smoking volcano.The clouds overhead had trebled and darkened, and a light snow of ash tumbled.The rumbling of the earth could still be felt, an ominous grinding noise that almost drowned out panicked bleating.A glance behind showed a dozen sheep penned on the far side of the rooftop.
Sheep.On a roof.Would they be enough to feed the dragons?A question for later, given the more pressing matters.
