by Steve Bryant
I couldn’t find anything to eat, but there were a few good swallows of water left in one of the canteens we’d used on our journey here. I found Ulric’s sleeping pallet and unrolled it in a corner of the shop behind a few stacked up crates of materials where no one would be able to see me. I didn’t want to run the risk of those older boys finding me again.
Hours passed. It was bitter cold. Even under the two quilts I had, I was still freezing. More than anything, though, I was starving. I hadn’t had a good meal since Mrs. Crookin’s bread, and thoughts of those wasted crumbs were making my stomach tie up in knots. It hurt so much it put tears in my eyes. I didn’t know how I was going to find the strength to work the next day if I didn’t get something to eat before then.
Sometime after midnight, I just couldn’t take it anymore. I got to my feet in pitch black, and snuck out of the workshop. The complex was quiet in the dead of night. Almost all the students and riders were asleep, and their dragons were snug in the Roost. Only a few were still out flying low patrol patterns around the walls. I couldn’t see them, but I could hear the hum of the wind off their wings and long scaled tales whenever they swooped in close.
I was looking for anything edible I could get my hands on without being caught. I walked past the two armories, spotting the smoldering fires from the forge that still glowed. I wondered if I could sneak in there to sleep. At least it would be warmer closer to the forge.
On my way past the breaking dome, my steps got slower, until finally I was standing before the gaping doorway, staring into it with my skin shivering. It felt deep and monstrously dark in there, as though it were the bottomless abyss of some dark cave.
That’s when I heard it. Before, I thought I was only imagining that building growling at me. This time I was sure.
A deep, rumbling growl echoed from within, and I tripped over my feet backing away from it. I looked back over my shoulder. There was no one else there. No one was watching, or playing some kind of trick on me. But I didn’t feel like I was alone. There was definitely something in that deep, dark cavern of a building, and it felt like it was calling out to me.
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Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Sample Chapters: Artifacts
Sample Chapters: Fledgling
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