Linda McNabb asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior written permission from the author.
Alyxa
Alyxa could hear her father calling her as she ran across the dragon farm. Was she too late?
She ran as fast as the dim gloom of twilight would allow. The hatchery was on the far side of the farm and she could hear the squeals of newly-hatched dragonets.
The heat from the hatchery hit her as she reached the long low-roofed stone building. Huge stacks of wood stood to the side of the building. Feeding the fires that kept the hatchery warm was one of the most hated jobs on the farm. The main doors stood open, which was a sure sign that the eggs were hatching. They did not waste heat by leaving the doors open. Even though it was a month into summer it still wasn’t warm enough for the eggs to survive without help. If they grew too cold the dragonet inside would die.
As she hurried up the steps she knew it was all over. The cries of the dragonets had died down to a gentle mewing that reminded her of a kitten and she could see a green dragonet tucked under her father’s arm.
‘Yours is a stone,’ her father said with a small shake of his head as he adjusted his grip on the wriggling dragonet. Her father’s two other dragon charmers were heading towards the door carrying two small green dragonets each.
Five? There had been six eggs. Five of them turned green almost a week ago but hers had remained white. She moved past her father and saw her egg still sitting in the mound of sand she had packed around it earlier in the day.
‘It’s still white, Alyxa,’ the dragon charmer said with a gentle pat on her back. ‘You know what that means.’
‘No,’ Alyxa argued and walked over to the motionless egg. The hot sand was burning her feet as she hadn’t stopped to put on the leather boots that always stood at the door. This egg had been the first one found on last year’s egg hunts in the mountains and it was the last to hatch. ‘It’s not a stone.’
‘If it was going to hatch it would have changed colour by now,’ her father reminded her. He held his lantern closer to the egg. The shell glowed white and no matter how hard Alyxa stared, she couldn’t see even the slightest hint of colour. ‘You can have another egg next year.’
‘Just give it more time,’ Alyxa said, putting her arms around the egg as if to protect it. She could only just reach around the egg and she knew it would be far too heavy to pick up. By now the egg should have changed colour to reflect the colour of the dragonet growing inside. ‘If there isn’t a dragonet inside then why is it getting heavier?’
Her father shrugged and pointed at the almost glowing white shell. ‘Why is it still white?’
‘Just one more week,’ Alyxa begged. She stared at the shell so hard that she was sure she saw a tinge of green on one side, or was it yellow?
‘And who is going to keep the fires going?’ the dragon charmer asked. He nodded towards the dragonets that were being carried towards the door. ‘We will be too busy with the dragonets to keep the heat going. There are a dozen already hatched and needing constant attention.’
‘I will do it,’ Alyxa promised.
‘As well as your duties with the dragonets?’ her father asked.
Alyxa nodded, knowing it would be almost impossible to do both, but she was not going to let them put out the fires that pushed hot air under the floor of the hatchery.
‘Very well,’ her father agreed with a brief nod. ‘One week, but only because it is your birthday tomorrow.’
Alyxa gulped and sighed with relief and despair at how she was going to do both jobs. She touched the egg one last time then heaped sand around it to keep it warm. Her father headed for the door and Alyxa followed. She was the last to leave the hatchery and she pulled the door shut to keep as much warmth in as possible.
‘I’ll be there in just a few minutes,’ Alyxa called out as she ran down the dozen steps and around the side of the building. There was a small half-circle opening where the wood was fed into the fire and she carefully layered as much as she could without risking putting out the fire. She guessed that it would take several hours for it to burn down and she would have to come back and shut the metal doors to keep the heat in for the night. She would have just enough time to help feed and settle the new dragonets and check on the others who had hatched earlier in the week.
Alyxa caught up with the dragon charmers and the dragonets as they reached the small shed where the newly-hatched dragons would spend their first few days.
‘That’s going to be a lot of effort to keep a stone warm,’ Toriq, the older of the other two dragon charmers commented in a teasing tone and grinned at her. Alyxa ignored him and went to the barrels to fetch fresh fruit for the dragonets.
It was late when she closed the metal doors on the fires and staggered off to bed, knowing she had to be up before the sun to rebuild the fires.