Free The Dragon of Trelian by Michelle Knudsen

a sound from the darkness ahead, making him jump.
    “Meg?” he called out. Surely that sound had just been her. No reason to assume it was anything evil and scary. If some horrible cave creature was lurking in here, Meg would probably have already encountered it. She’d clearly been here before. But then again — she
had
been concerned about his safety when they entered. So maybe there was something to be afraid of after all. These were not helpful thoughts. “Meg?” he called again. His voice sounded very small.
Probably just some effect of the cave ceiling,
he told himself reassuringly.
    “Here, Calen.” He felt her hand brush his fingertips, and he took hold of it gratefully. She pulled him forward around another bend, to where a slight glow began to illuminate the tunnel walls. He could make out her face now in the darkness. Her eyes were shining with excitement.
    “Ready?”
    Calen nodded, though at the moment he wasn’t sure he
was
ready. What kind of crazy secret was this, anyway? She could have warned him about the dark tunnel at least. His heart was still beating a bit too fast as she led him around another corner into a softly glowing chamber.
    “There he is,” Meg whispered, squeezing his hand.
    Calen felt his jaw drop. He froze in the entrance, staring.
    It was a dragon.
    Curled up against the rock wall, it lay as if sleeping, with its pointed tail resting over its forelegs. As the first moment of shocked recognition passed —
a dragon, it’s a dragon
— Calen realized that it was probably still very young; from the little he knew about them, full-grown dragons were supposed to be enormous, and this one seemed barely bigger than some of the king’s warhorses. Its scales were a rich dark green, deepening to nearly black at tail and wing tips, and its slender head was crowned with sharp spikes that continued partway down its long neck. He supposed it was beautiful, in a frightening, serpentine way, but most of all, in that small confined space, it was terrifying, and Calen couldn’t imagine how they’d be able to make it back out the tunnel entrance before it caught them and killed them. Or simply burned them to a crisp from where it lay, assuming it was old enough to make fire.
    Before he could even begin to think of what to say, Meg released his hand and began walking toward the creature. It opened great yellow eyes and calmly watched her approach. Calen stared in horror, certain he was about to see her torn apart with claws and teeth before his eyes.
    Instead, the dragon rolled over onto its back and let her scratch its scaly belly.
    Calen was aware of his jaw falling even farther toward the ground and quickly closed his mouth before Meg could notice and make fun of him.
    She looked over at him and smiled. “Come on,” she said. “I think it’s all right.”
    “You
think
it’s all right?” he asked under his breath. All the same, he found himself walking toward them. He still couldn’t quite believe it. He had certainly never expected to see a dragon close-up in his lifetime; they tended to avoid populated areas, and as a mage in service, he would most likely always live in or near large towns or cities. Yet here he was, not only looking at a dragon but apparently about to touch it, assuming it didn’t decide to kill him before he got the chance.
    The dragon, meanwhile, had returned to its previous position. It watched him with those unblinking yellow eyes. Meg stroked it and whispered to it softly.
    When he was only a few steps away, Meg stopped him. “Now slowly hold out your hands,” she said. “And wait.”
    Calen did so. For a moment nothing happened. He and the dragon looked silently at each other. Was he supposed to look at its eyes? Or would that be seen as some kind of challenge? He hoped it was all right, because he couldn’t seem to look away. The dragon was mesmerizing, as still as if it were carved in stone, except that it was clearly very, very much alive.
    Slowly, it