Free Dragon's Egg by Sarah L. Thomson Page B

yell, Alain let go of Mella’s arm. The little dragon dodged out of the way as the two humans fell together, and Mella kicked and rolled her way free.
    Alain rose to his hands and knees to find himself face-to-face with a wild dragon. She flapped her stubby wings frantically and hissed steam into Alain’s eyes.
    Mella scrambled to Roger’s side and yanked at the belt around his feet.
    Alain fell back, a hand to his face, and staggered up. Limping badly, he ran for his sword. All across the clearing dragons were rising from the grass like shadows coming to life. Hisses and growls echoed from every side.
    Mella got Roger’s feet free as Alain reached hisweapon. Dragons surrounded him now. He swung the blade, and they danced lightly and easily out of the way.
    â€œMaybe you should run,” Roger whispered as Mella tugged on the scarf around his wrists.
    â€œNo, I’ve almost—”
    â€œLook—”
    One dragon after another darted in toward Alain and then fell back. Alain was good with his sword, but it was like trying to fight mist. The little brown female crouched to avoid a swing of the blade, leaped up, and fastened her teeth in Alain’s sword hand.
    Alain howled in pain and dropped the weapon. The scarf around Roger’s hands came loose and fell away.
    â€œCome on!” Roger was up, pulling at Mella. But her feet foolishly stayed planted. “Mella!”
    â€œThe Egg!”
    The dragons pressed in close around Alain’s knees. One must have bitten him again, for he cursed, twisted, lost his balance, and fell.
    That’s how they hunt, Mella thought, horrified. A pack of wild dragons would worry and harass their prey until it fell. And then…
    She remembered Alain hitting Roger, choking him. She remembered how lightly and easily he had threatened her own life.
    But to stand and watch him eaten, bite by bite…
    â€œStop!” she shrieked.
    Roger was running forward. He snatched up Alain’s sword from the ground. And the dragons, after all, did not swarm forward to finish off the fallen man, but drew back.
    Mella ran too. She looked around for a weapon and grabbed a gnarled piece of root from Alain’s pile of firewood.
    â€œSurrender!” Alain gasped, on his knees. His hands, one bloody, were spread out pleadingly. “I surrender, young knight.”
    Roger stood before him, both hands on the hilt of the sword, the tip just inches from Alain’s throat. The weapon was heavy for him. The blade trembled a little and caught the firelight.
    â€œIt is against the rules of honor to strike an unarmed man,” Alain said humbly. “I ask mercy.”
    Roger hesitated. His face, smeared with dirt, was doubtful.
    Mella brought her piece of firewood down hard on the back of Alain’s skull.
    â€œI’m not a knight,” she said, looking across Alain’s crumpled body to Roger’s astonished face. “I’m only an innkeeper’s daughter. We don’t have to worry so much about the rules of honor.”

Chapter Ten
    B efore they tied the unconscious Alain to a wheel of his wagon, Roger found a bolt of clean white linen among his stores and carefully bandaged the man’s bleeding hand and the bite behind his left knee, along with a second, shallower nip in the calf of that leg. Mella supposed this was something else concerned with the rules of honor.
    They took turns sleeping and staying awake to keep an eye on Alain, who didn’t stir, and on the Egg, glowing like a black jewel in the fire. The wild dragons lay in a circle, their noses toward the flames, their tails twitching. They hissed and showed their teeth if Roger came too near. But when it was Roger’s turn to watch, Mella sleptbetween two of them, as warm as if she were in her own bed.
    When the morning light came, the dragons crept quietly toward the woods. Alain woke to find Mella and Roger rifling through the goods in his wagon, looking for