Dragon Land
Two Dragon Brothers # 1
The Beginning
Elizabeth Westphal
Copyright © 2011 Elizabeth Westphal
All rights reserved.
Cover Image Copyright © 2011 Elizabeth Westphal
All rights reserved.
CONTENTS
Prologue
Chapter One: Play
Chapter Two: A Friend and a Foe
Chapter Three: A New Home
Chapter Four: First Hunt
Chapter Five: Stranger
Chapter Six: Discovery
Chapter Seven: Exploring
Chapter Eight: Caves
Chapter Nine: Collapse
Chapter Ten: Unexplored Places
Chapter Eleven: Fights
Chapter Twelve: Autumn
Chapter Thirteen: Winter
Chapter Fourteen: Spring
Chapter Fifteen: Hatchdays
Chapter Sixteen: Forest Fire
Chapter Seventeen: Searches
Chapter Eighteen: Battle Preparations
Chapter Nineteen: Ambush
Chapter Twenty: Bittersweet Victory
Epilogue
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am grateful to the people at the Amazon Warrior forums, because they told me about NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writer's Month); the creators of NaNoWriMo, because without them this book would not have been written; and the creators of CreateSpace, without whom this book would not have been published.
Most of all, I am grateful to my family for being supportive and enthusiastic about this book. Special thanks to my dad for helping me find a way to format the book, and to my younger brother Danny and older brother Joe for helping me proofread it.
PROLOGUE
Splashsail and Flowerwater, two Amphibian dragons, swam slowly back and forth across a pond, hunting small aquatic animals.
Flowerwater lunged for a fish but missed, coming up with a mouthful of water instead. She was too busy thinking of her eggs to care. They were only a few days from hatching. She glanced back towards the shore, where her three pale brown eggs lay camouflaged among the tall grass.
Turning back to Splashsail, Flowerwater asked, “Do you have any name ideas for our hatchlings?”
“I thought of a few for boys, and one for a girl,” Splashsail replied, looking up from the fish he had been watching. “Have you thought of any?”
Flowerwater shook her head. “I thought of many names, but none of them seem to fit. What are your ideas?”
“Well, for boys I thought of Rainfall, Whirlpool, and Wavefoam; and for a girl I thought of Streamflow.”
“I like Rainfall, Whirlpool, and Streamflow, but Wavefoam doesn't sound quite right. I like the Wave part, but foam should be changed to something else.”
“What do you want to change it to, dear?” Splashsail asked, not at all belligerently.
“I don't know. Maybe...” Flowerwater went through a list of possibilities in her head. “Ripple?” she finished.
“Waveripple. It has a nice sound to it.”
“All right, then we have three boy names and one girl name. We need to think of two more girl names. There is a chance that they'll all be girls.”
Splashsail dove down suddenly, resurfacing a few seconds later with a large silver fish clamped between his jaws. He tossed it onto the shore opposite to the side their eggs were on before saying, “We could name one of them Clouddrop.”
“And the last one Creektrickle.”
“We also need to decide which of these names are the most important. If there is only one–”
“Shh! Did you hear that?” Flowerwater whipped around, scanning the tall grass intently.
“Hear what?” Splashsail asked, looking around.
“It must have been nothing,” Flowerwater answered after a few minutes. The wind was blowing towards the shore, preventing her from smelling anything, if there was anything, by her eggs. She must have been imagining things because of the uneasiness this caused her. “Let's continue hunting.”
Flowerwater and Splashsail held still, waiting for the fish to return to the area they were floating in.
A sharp rustling sound suddenly broke through the silence, causing both Amphibian dragons to jolt and spin around.
A large dark gray Vampire dragon burst out of the grass and began flying away. Her yellow eyes glared maliciously at the Amphibians. But Flowerwater was paying no attention to her eyes, for the Vampire was carrying two of their three eggs, one in her mouth and the other held between her front claws.
“No!” Flowerwater cried, rushing after the Vampire. As soon as she stepped out of the pond, Flowerwater began shaking herself vigorously, trying to get all the water off her. She rolled around in the grass to dry her back more quickly. Wings sprouted out of her back, and she jumped up, flapping them and running after the Vampire.
Splashsail had also dried himself by now. His wings had also grown, his webbed feet had joined together to form normal dragon feet, and his slimy skin had hardened into regular dragon scales. He ran close behind Flowerwater, flapping his wings.
Flowerwater leaped high into the air, flapping her wings harder and flying after the Vampire. Soon Splashsail was in the air beside her.
Splashsail flapped his wings quickly, trying to catch up to Flowerwater, but she had always been a faster flier. Flowerwater rapidly closed the distance between herself and the Vampire, who was flying slowly, probably to avoid accidentally smashing the eggs.
The Vampire turned suddenly and flew straight at Flowerwater. Before she had time to get out of the way, the Vampire stabbed Flowerwater with her horns.
Flowerwater fell towards the ground, just barely managing to pull up and not crash. She was bleeding, but she ignored the pain. She had to get her eggs back. Flowerwater roared and flew back up to the Vampire, who was retreating once more.
Splashsail had caught up by then and was flying higher than the Vampire was. He dove down, landing on her back and scratching her as he did so. The sharp row of spines on her back cut into him, but he refused to let go.
The Vampire twisted and rolled in the air, sending Splashsail flying off her. He spread his wings to slow his fall, landing with a thud on the ground. He immediately got back up and flew up to join Flowerwater, who was making another attack on the Vampire.
Flowerwater bit into the front right leg of the Vampire, ready to catch her egg if it was dropped. But the Vampire held on and lowered her wing down to crash it into Flowerwater, knocking her away.
Splashsail launched himself at the Vampire again, biting and scratching her left wing.
The Vampire dove down to the ground, causing Splashsail to lose his grip on her. Splashsail and Flowerwater dove down after her. When she was just a few feet from crashing into the trees they were now flying over, the Vampire pulled up, with Splashsail and Flowerwater following.
The Vampire turned and kicked Flowerwater with her hind legs, her claws cutting deeply into her. Then she slammed her wing into Flowerwater's head, knocking her to the ground.
Splashsail dove down after Flowerwater and landed beside her. “Flowerwater, are you okay?” he asked worriedly.
Flowerwater got up slowly, dazed and hurt from the fall. “Yes,” she said quickly. “Don't worry about me; we have to get our eggs back!”
But by then the Vampire was just a tiny speck in the sky, flying farther away every second.
“It's too late,” Splashsail said sadly, looking at the retreating Vampire. “We won't be able to get our eggs back. We have to go back and protect our last egg.”
“I suppose you're right,” Flower
water said, sighing sadly. “We'll have to move far away, where that Vampire will never be able to harm our last baby.” Her voice broke when she thought about the fate of her stolen eggs.
Vampires drank the blood of other dragons and animals, so this Vampire had not stolen the eggs to eat them. She was going to try to make them into Vampires themselves. That was the only reason a Vampire would steal an egg. They could, of course, turn hatchlings or adult dragons into Vampires, but those dragons would remember their lives as they were before they became Vampires. They rarely adjusted to their new lives, and usually tried to kill whichever Vampire had bitten them. The Vampires had to bite only eggs.
Sometimes, because of the fragility of eggs, the Vampires would not be successful in changing them into Vampires. They might accidentally bite too deeply into the egg, and kill the baby dragon inside.
Flowerwater imagined her defenseless baby dragons being killed before they could hatch, before they could even really live, and the thought depressed and angered her. But they could have a worse fate instead. The Vampire could succeed, and they would live as bloodthirsty monsters who would continuously murder other dragons. Flowerwater shuddered at the thought, and then hurried back to the pond, where her last egg waited.
No one would ever harm her baby, Flowerwater vowed. Nothing would ever happen to it.
~~~
Redclaws, the Vampire dragon, flew to one of the deepest, darkest parts of the forest with the eggs she had stolen. She set the egg that she carried in her claws down as she landed, narrowly avoiding squashing it under her feet.
Redclaws had an underground cave nearby where she would hide the eggs if she were able to turn them into Vampires. The cave entrance was well-hidden by the thick vegetation that grew there, making it nearly impossible to find. Besides, few dragons would go into that part of the forest anyway, because the trees were too close together. Redclaws had found it when she had literally stumbled into it, while she was trying to escape from a clan of dragons called the RaceWings....
Redclaws pushed the memory out of her mind, concentrating on the eggs instead.
Redclaws bit down on the egg that she was carrying in her mouth. She bit it a little too hard, and the egg cracked open. Redclaws quickly buried the egg before its stench would attract attention. Then she returned to the other egg. She bit into this one much more carefully, and it did not crack. Soon it would become dark and cold as the dragon inside became a Vampire. Redclaws moved the egg into the cave and waited for it to hatch.
CHAPTER ONE: PLAY
Waveripple dove into the lake he lived by and began to swim out towards its center. As soon as the Amphibian hatchling became wet, his wings withdrew into his body, and his hard scales softened and became slippery. His toes spread out and became webbed. His nostrils closed, and for an instant he could not breathe. Then the gills on the sides of his face opened, allowing him to breathe under water.
The ability to transform from a water dragon to a land dragon and back was the best thing about being an Amphibian dragon, Waveripple thought. No other dragon species could transform into anything other than what they already were.
Waveripple swam up to break the surface of the lake. His gills closed and his nostrils opened again, allowing him to breathe air.
Waveripple held very still so that he would not scare any fish that came near him. His scales matched the colors of the water and aquatic plants, camouflaging him. Soon frogs and small fish started swimming around him, unaware of his presence.
The spotted frogs and colorful fish fascinated Waveripple, and he watched them every day. They were also great fun to chase.
A large silver fish suddenly swam in front of Waveripple. He lunged for it, and the fish darted away. Waveripple dove under the water to chase after it, but the fish had a headstart. Waveripple swam faster to try to catch up to it, but the fish darted around erratically instead of going in a straight line. It turned right when Waveripple thought it was going to turn left and got away, hiding behind some plants. Waveripple swam up to the top of the lake, grinning. He had never caught any of the fish that he chased, but the fun part was chasing them, not catching them.
Waveripple looked out across the lake. He could see his parents, Splashsail and Flowerwater, hunting for real in the average-depth water, not the deepest water like Waveripple was swimming in.
Waveripple looked around. There was an open, grassy field surrounding the lake. In the distance was a ring of trees, which surrounded the meadow. His parents had told Waveripple that the ring of trees deepened into a forest; their lake was actually in the middle of a huge forest.
Waveripple's parents had traveled through the forest to reach the lake, but Waveripple could not remember that. He had been in an egg, and had only hatched soon after their arrival. He had never gone far from the lake, and had not been in the forest. He had been eager to explore it, but his parents had told him that it was too dangerous. They had said that many dangerous dragons lived there who would attack anyone who entered their territory. But they had not told him that he could not play in the meadow. The only reason he rarely went into the meadow was because there was so much more to do in the water.
Waveripple swam back to the land, keeping his head above the water so that he could see the shore. The rest of him was water dragon, but his head was not wet, so he was breathing with his nose rather than his gills.
Waveripple stepped out of the lake and started walking around in the field. The drier soil in the meadow felt strange to Waveripple, who was used to the mud by the lake. As he stared down at the ground, a flash of movement caught his attention.
Looking at the area of grass where he had seen the movement, Waveripple saw a meadow vole. He had seen very few rodents before, so he just stared at it, captivated. It was smaller than the fish he had been chasing, and Waveripple wondered if it would also be fun to chase. He decided to watch it for a little while to make sure it was not dangerous.
The vole scuffled around, eating grass seeds. It seemed harmless, so Waveripple took a step towards it. The vole instantly ran and disappeared into the grass.
Then Waveripple could no longer see or hear it, but he could smell it. The vole's scent was like an arrow pointing towards the spot where it had vanished. Waveripple followed the scent trail curiously. He could not follow an animal's scent back at the lake, because the water covered all scent.
As he neared the vole's hiding spot, Waveripple heard it scurrying away. He looked around and saw the vole running to a new hiding spot in the middle of a clump of wildflowers. By then, Waveripple was dry enough that he had already changed into land dragon form. His feet were no longer webbed, so it would be easier to chase the vole.
Waveripple ran after it, and the vole was not able to escape as easily as the fish had. Waveripple was used to chasing things by swimming, so he was not very fast at running; but the vole's short legs, tubular body, and small size made it even slower.
When Waveripple noticed that he was gaining on the vole, he pushed himself faster. He was almost close enough to grab it when he stopped suddenly.
Waveripple had been so intent on the chase that he had not noticed which direction he had been running in. But he had noticed when the sunlight he had been running in changed to shadow, and the texture of the ground changed beneath his feet.
Waveripple looked at the ground first, and saw that he was standing in pine needles. Then he looked up to see that trees were casting their shadows over him. Waveripple had run into the forest.
~~~
Whiteswirl stepped out of his home, an underground cave. Redclaws, the Vampire who had bitten his egg before he had hatched from it, was still sleeping, but Whiteswirl was restless, so he was going to fly around for a while.
Whiteswirl jumped as high as he could into the air and flapped his wings powerfully. It was hard to get into the air and start flying without jumping, either from the ground or off something.
Whiteswirl stayed low over the line of trees because a
lthough the sun was setting, it was not night yet. Any dragon who was awake during the day would try to kill him if they saw him.
The night was safer, because fewer dragons were awake, so Whiteswirl usually only flew around in the dark, but he was bored now.
Whiteswirl spotted a large, dark blue bird flying ahead of him. He chased after the bird and easily caught it in his mouth. The bird was too small to have enough blood to drink, so Whiteswirl did not kill it, but he accidentally damaged the bird's wing when he grabbed it. Even if it had been big enough to be a meal, Whiteswirl was not thirsty.
Whiteswirl dropped the bird. It spread its wings to slow its fall, and grabbed onto a tree branch. The bird's wing would heal if nothing ate it first.
Suddenly, a blue jay made an alarm call, and another one joined in. Whiteswirl realized that the bird he had caught was a fledgling blue jay that had just left its nest, and its parents were the ones shrieking now.
Whiteswirl knew that some dragons would soon try to see what had made the blue jays start shrieking, so he turned around to head back to the cave. But when he turned, he saw a black dragon flying towards him. It had an orange stripe going around its neck, and a few more orange stripes around its body. It was a Tiger dragon.
CHAPTER TWO: A FRIEND AND A FOE
The sun was beginning to set, darkening the forest. Waveripple quickly scanned the forest for danger, and froze when he saw a pair of yellow eyes staring at him from behind a group of trees. He backed away and was about to run when the other dragon spoke.
“Wait!” the dragon with yellow eyes called in a hatchling's voice. A dark blue hatchling stepped out from behind the trees. He was larger than Waveripple, but not as big as Splashsail.
“Don't go,” the dragon said. He saw Waveripple's frightened expression and said, “I won't hurt you.” He seemed surprised at the idea.
Waveripple did not run, but he remained tense, ready to bolt if the other dragon attacked. He was confused by the dragon's words. “But I heard that forest dragons didn't want anyone in their territory and would attack anyone who entered it. Why did you say not to leave?” he asked.
Dragon Land: Two Dragon Brothers # 1: The Beginning Page 1