Chapters (50)
- Cover
- Dedication
- - ONE -
- - TWO -
- - THREE -
- - FOUR -
- - FIVE -
- - SIX -
- - SEVEN -
- - EIGHT -
- - NINE -
- - TEN -
- - ELEVEN -
- - TWELVE -
- - THIRTEEN -
- - FOURTEEN -
- - FIFTEEN -
- - SIXTEEN -
- - SEVENTEEN -
- - EIGHTEEN -
- - NINETEEN -
- - TWENTY -
- - TWENTY-ONE -
- - TWENTY-TWO -
- - TWENTY-THREE -
- - TWENTY-FOUR -
- - TWENTY-FIVE -
- - TWENTY-SIX -
- - TWENTY-SEVEN -
- - TWENTY-EIGHT -
- - TWENTY-NINE -
- - THIRTY -
- - THIRTY-ONE -
- - THIRTY-TWO -
- - THIRTY-THREE -
- - THIRTY-FOUR -
- - THIRTY-FIVE -
- - THIRTY-SIX -
- - THIRTY-SEVEN -
- - THIRTY-EIGHT -
- - THIRTY-NINE -
- - FORTY -
- - FORTY-ONE -
- - FORTY-TWO -
- - FORTY-THREE -
- - FORTY-FOUR -
- - FORTY-FIVE -
- - FORTY-SIX -
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
The Old One went silent, but the light intensified, painful even through Fort’s closed eyes. He brought his arm up over his face and turned around, hoping this magic wasn’t going to kill them all, now that he’d finally talked the dragon down. Only, as he turned, someone grabbed his shoulder and yanked him to the ground.
“I’ve got the kid!” one of the cops shouted. “He’s out of danger!”
“Take that thing out!” another shouted.
“NO!” Fort screamed, but the police officer who’d grabbed him held him in place. “He won’t hurt you if you don’t attack him first!”
“We’re doing this to keep the city safe, kid,” the cop on the ground growled at him. “I don’t know what that thing is, but if we let it go, who knows what it’ll do.”
“Don’t shoot unless positive you have a confirmed target!” one of the cops shouted. “On my mark. Three! Two!”
“Please, no!” Fort shouted, but as he did, the light abruptly disappeared, dropping the whole world into darkness.
The policeman holding Fort loosened his grip in surprise, and Fort didn’t wait. He leaped to his feet and ran in the direction where he hoped the Old One was.
“Kid, no!” the cop who’d grabbed him yelled. “Hold your fire!”
Not waiting to see if they did, Fort threw a teleportation circle beneath the spot he’d last seen the dragon, then dove through it blindly, hoping the Old One wouldn’t pick now of all times to float above it.
He flew through the circle and into the display room back at the new Oppenheimer School, crashing hard to the concrete floor, only to feel the whole room shake as the dragon landed next to him, not moving.
Cradled protectively in the Old One’s arms was a bright blue egg, glowing with an inner light. And from that light, Fort could just make out the fact that something inside was moving.
- THIRTY-NINE -
IT WAS TAKING FAR MORE Healing bandages to wake the Old One up than Fort was comfortable using. That, and having an unconscious dragon meant he could have teleported the creature back to Dragon’s Teeth without any worry.
But for some reason he didn’t feel right, leaving it at the mercy of the other Old Ones. If Fort sent the egg back with him, they’d surely make him turn the new dragon into another Dracsi. And if he kept the egg safe on Earth, he’d be taking the Old One’s child from it, which also felt horribly wrong.
Still, what was he doing, healing a creature that had threatened all of humanity?
After the seventeenth bandage, the Old One’s eyes cracked open, and he groaned, then glanced up at Fort strangely. “YOU… RESTORED MY BODY? WHY?”