Page 11 of Ava's Legacy of the Dragons
When steady footsteps were to be heard on the street, Ava breathed a sigh of relief. Surely the soldiers were searching the area and finally moving on. But afew moments later, loud rattling, scraping, and hammering sounds echoed.
The men were breaking down doors.
She looked over her shoulder in horror. A beam of light penetrated the secret passage. It blinded her, causing her to quickly turn her face away. Searching for help, she looked around for her rescuer, who surely had a solution at hand. But when she caught sight of this person, her heart nearly stopped.
Her unknown helper wasn't an experienced underground fighter who could take on soldiers. Not a seasoned man with scars on his face or oversized muscles that promised to fear no fight and keep any attacker away from her. No, standing before her was a young girl, no more than ten years old.
The little one had tied her blonde hair back in a high ponytail, she was thin, not to say malnourished, and was wearing worn-out clothes. Her blue eyes appeared enormous in her narrow face. She put her finger to her lips in warning, beckoned Ava to come along, and held her hand tightly.
A girl was helping her against the king's men, while no one else dared to lift a finger. Who was this child? What was she doing in this dark underground passage?
Ava stopped the rush of questions flooding her mind and resisted the urge to voice them. She would get answers later, as any sound now threatened to betray them. First, they had to escape the uniformed men, especially since the little one was no more of a seasoned fighter than she was.
They continued on tiptoe, although the splintering of wood behind them suggested they should be running. But then their steps would be too loud, and thesoldiers would know they were really hiding in this passage.
The girl remained calm, moving as swiftly as a mouse and scurrying sure-footedly through the damp corridor.
The beam of light grew brighter, allowing them to easily make out the cellar passage. After a few steps, they reached an intersection. The girl pulled her resolutely to the left, where after a few meters they came to a door. It was secured with a padlock, but the little one pulled something out of her pants pocket, there was a click, and the door sprang open.
The little one slipped through, Ava followed her into the passage beyond, and they closed the door behind them, finding themselves once again in absolute darkness. A click indicated that the girl had locked the door.
"Now we're safe, but we should keep going anyway. They might break down the door." Her voice sounded soft and high-pitched. Why hadn't she immediately noticed it belonged to a child?
Ava nodded, until she remembered the little one couldn't see that. "Okay. Thank you for your help."
The girl had already taken her hand again and, despite the darkness, was leading her purposefully through the labyrinth. Did the people in this country possibly possess special abilities, and could the little one see in the dark?
The voices and clamor of the soldiers gradually faded away. But the little one seemed unwilling to take any risks, as she led Ava on without pause, for what felt like an hour, until she stopped, released her hand from Ava's, and lit a simple brass lantern.
The light traveled across the floor up the walls, illuminating a room that was barely large enough for themto take two steps in. On the opposite side was a meager bed consisting of a pile of straw, a blanket, and a backpack, which the girl immediately grabbed.
Ava stood there uncertainly. She had no experience with children and even less experience with underground cellars, soldiers chasing her, and a strange find in her bag. "Thank you. Without your help, they would have caught me."
The little one waved it off casually. "Don't mention it. Those bastards show no mercy and wait for no explanation."
She sounded precocious and hardened, not how a girl her age should sound.
She watched attentively as the little girl rummaged through her backpack. "My name is Ava. Who are you?"
The girl pulled out a chunk of bread, broke off a piece, and handed it to Ava, even though she was so scrawny it looked like the whole loaf wouldn't be enough to satisfy her hunger. "Just call me Lilly. Why were the soldiers chasing you? Did you steal something?" She said it matter-of-factly, as if there wasn't anything wrong with that.
Ava gratefully declined the food. Better for the little one to put some meat on her bones, even if Giovanni's gnocchi no longer provided much fuel. Instead, she had discovered a new energy source: adrenaline. The levels in her blood probably wouldn't drop until she was back home.
"The captain isn't chasing me because I stole anything..." She hesitated. If she could trust anyone in this strange world, it was probably this girl who had saved her. This girl who, despite her slight figure, dared to act against the soldiers' orders—unlike the other inhabitants of the city.
"You can trust her,"whispered the voice, as if knowing Ava needed one last push.
Without further ado, she sat cross-legged next to Lilly on the bare stone floor and took out the object from her bag. It glowed brightly even though it was still wrapped in cloth. Carefully, she freed the glimmering object, and its purple light gave the sparse room a cozy warmth. She held it out to Lilly.
"This is why."
Chapter 5
Lilly's eyes grew as round as saucers. Her hand with the bread remained suspended halfway to her mouth, and she didn't move until she suddenly started blinking faster and faster, her narrow chest rising and falling rapidly with quick breaths.
"That's a dragon egg!"
Ava froze. So her suspicion was really true? She had actually discovered a dragon egg? Even though she had already considered it, it was something else to hear the confirmation from Lilly's mouth.
