Free The Equen Queen by Alyssa Brugman Page A

get it!’ Tab said, wincing.
    >>>HUNGER!    HUNGER!    HUNGER!    HUNGER!
    More visions of cow and oxen corpses flashed through her head, along with a high-pitched whine that stung somewhere behind her eyes. She stumbled back the way she had come, stubbing her toes and grazing her elbows on the various chests in her path. The baby dragon stayed close, stepping on her heels, chirruping and tittering. She felt her way along the rough wall to the door and climbed through it, scraping her shins.
    Once in the corridor the hatchling took the lead, bounding along ahead of her, halting every now and then to scold her over its shoulder. Tab could see the glow of its eyes in the dark and she jogged to keep up.
    Soon they came to the hole in the wall that led to the cell. As the dragon crossed through the light she saw just a flash of it, shimmering a greenish-gold colour and then it was gone, along the corridor and away.
    Tab stopped and poked her head in the hole.
    ‘I've been so worried!’ said Amelia, gripping the cell bars. ‘You were gone for ages!’
    ‘What's down there?’ Philmon asked.
    Tab saw that he had managed to extract his head from the between the metal shafts. Her hand slipped into her pocket and cradled the coins. She could have told him about the treasure, but she knew she wouldn't. Greed had already crept inside her and buried itself there.

     
    The dragon's call echoed down the corridor. ‘What did it say?’ Philmon asked.
    ‘It's hungry,’ she said.
    ‘Is it going to eat you?’ Philmon asked, wide-eyed.
    Tab shook her head. ‘It wants cow. Preferably one that has been dead for a while.’
    ‘Where are you going to find an old, dead cow?’ Amelia wanted to know, wrinkling her nose.
    The hatchling chattered crossly before racing ahead.
    ‘I don't think I'll need to. It's doing a good job of finding things all by itself. I'm just following where it leads,’ Tab answered. ‘I have no idea where this tunnel will come out.’
    ‘We'll find you,’ Amelia said. ‘Oh, and be careful – the guards know that it's hatched.’
    Tab nodded. She imagined the city streets now full of City Watch and marines with nets and crossbows at the ready, all set to take down the baby dragon as soon as they laid eyes on it. She had to protect it. She owed it to Melprin. Besides, she and the hatchling were bonded now.
     



Horrible
     
    Tab paused at the tunnel's exit. The archway leading out onto the street was partially blocked by one of Quentaris's massive masts. She wondered why the treasure had not been discovered when the mast had been raised, and why the corridor had not been populated before then. It would have made quite a cosy home out of the cold and the wind. It was much more spacious than some of the dwellings in Lower Quentaris.
    She squeezed through the remaining gap and then looked behind her. From the outside the tunnel's entrance looked like a plain wall. She thrust her hand towards it, expecting it to pass through whatever illusion had been placed there to protect the entrance, but her knuckles struck stone. ‘Ow!’ she said, rubbing her grazed fingers.
    It was impossible, she thought, carefully running her hand over the entrance, but it was solid. She didn't have time to think about that now. She had to find the hatchling before the City Watch and the marines, or any number of rogue bounty hunters.
    Tab set off at a jog, heading back to the entrance to the dungeons where she expected to find her friends. She sent out thoughts, trying to determine which way the dragon went, swivelling her head this way and that.
    All at once a piercing noise penetrated her skull and she doubled over, covering her ears with her hands, grunting with pain. The sound blast lasted a few seconds and then she was able to stand straight again. Tab felt a burning sensation on her thigh. She took the mood stone out of her pocket. At first she thought she had pulled out the wrong stone, because, instead of being a