Chapter 3: Preparing for Battle

Dragons of old, with eyes like stars,

Held truths more vast than mortal scars.

Their eggs, like jewels of breath and flame,

Now fall to hands that know not shame.

Skylar

I watch as my father and his soldiers enter the castle walls. My father looks smug and proud.

“My people, we have done it,” he says, uncovering the golden egg and lifting it above his head.

Everyone around me gasps, then applauds, as if stealing a dragon egg from its mother is something to be celebrated. I ignore my own aversion to the practice and clap along with everyone else.

“Call everyone in and lower the portcullis! The dragons will be coming for this one.” My father’s voice booms through the courtyard.

He gets off his horse, carefully holding the egg, as one of the stable hands comes to get his horse.

“Get the horses secured quickly,” he says, turning to his soldiers. “Get the torches lit and the harpoons manned! Hurry,” he says, before striding quickly in my direction. “Prince Kenneth, Skylar, come with me.”

Kenneth falls into step beside my father. “Where did you find it?” my betrothed asks quietly.

“High up in the mountains. I’ll show you once the dragons are gone,” my father murmurs. “I need to secure the egg, then I’ll be back to fight.”

“Where do you want my men?” Kenneth asks.

“Put your men in the turrets. They can protect my harpoon launchers.”

Kenneth turns, stopping quickly to pull me into a kiss. “Be careful, Princess,” he says before striding away.

I only watch him for a moment before turning to catch up to my father.

“Where are you putting this one?” I ask.

I need to know so I can steal it and return it to its mother. Each time I’ve stolen one of these eggs, my father has found a new hiding spot for it.

“This time, I’ve made sure the thief can’t get it,” my father growls.

He has no idea that I am his dragon thief. I am his worst enemy when it comes to these dragon eggs. Not only does it put our kingdom at risk every time he steals one, but in my heart, I know it’s not right. Dragons were not meant to be tamed and used as weapons, which is exactly what my father intends to do with the dragons he’s found. I have no doubt he would try to beat the poor beast into submission if it didn’t submit to his will, and I refuse to stand by and watch that.

The first time my father found a dragon egg, I was too young and naïve to know what to do. Thankfully, that egg never hatched. It was a green, the most common of the dragons.

The next egg was a red, a female. I was sixteen years old. I was terrified, but I’d managed to get the egg out in the middle of the night, then sneak back into the castle while my father and his soldiers were out searching for the thief in the hopes of regaining the egg.

A year later, my father found a bronze egg. That one was heavier and larger than the first two and it had taken a lot for me to get it out of the castle unseen. By the time I’d heard the steady beat of dragon wings, telling me that the dragons were coming for their egg, my arms had been burning like fire from carrying the heavy egg.

It really isn’t the size of the egg though. The eggs are deceptively small. It’s the animal inside of it that gives the egg its weight. I have no doubt that the queen egg will be even heavier. Based on my father shifting the egg back and forth in his arms, I know I’m right.

“I’m glad I made special arrangements this time. Who would have thought I’d find a queen, Skylar! A queen!” he says, excitedly as he leads me down a narrow hallway.

He turns, looking to make sure we’re not being followed, then continues.

Our castle is huge and there are many places to hide a dragon egg here. However, my father learned after the first egg didn’t hatch, that dragon eggs need to be kept warm, just like most animals who are hatched from an egg.

The deeper we walk into the castle the warmer it gets. This is new. The castle is made of stone, it’s not usually warm except in summer. Since it’s spring and late afternoon, this part of the castle should be cold.

When we get to a door with a key in the lock, my father turns.

“Here, hold this. It’s heavier than it looks, Skylar, so be careful.”

I take the egg and, yes, it’s definitely heavier than it looks. It’s at least twice the weight of the bronze I stole last year. My mind begins reeling with how I’m going to get this heavy egg out of the castle without dropping it. I won’t be able to move fast with this thing in my arms. I’m stronger than I was last year, having realized that I needed to strengthen my arms in case my father got another egg, but I wasn’t anticipating this weight. This egg easily weighs a hundred pounds, maybe more. Since I have a slight frame, only weighing one hundred and fifteen pounds myself, this egg is nearly doubling my weight.

As my father opens the door, two things happen at once. I get a blast of hot air from inside the room, and I swear I feel the dragon move inside the egg.

I look down, half expecting the queen to begin hatching.

“Skylar! Hurry up,” my father urges, drawing my attention back to him.

In the center of the room is what looks like a large nest. Underneath and around the edges of the nest, there are glowing embers, hot coals that will keep the egg warm. The nest itself has been filled with some sort of nesting material that looks a lot like sheep’s fur.

My father goes to the wall and throws a switch that’s hidden in between the cracks of stone.

“What is that?” I ask, as he comes to take the egg from me.

“That is a trigger. Once I place the egg on its nest, if the weight is removed, that flamethrower will burn our thief alive,” he says, pointing up at the corner of the room, where a flamethrower is pointed directly at the nest.

 “Shouldn’t you have waited to set the trigger until after you put the egg on it?” I ask, not wanting to watch my father get burned alive in front of me.

“I’ll be fine,” he says distractedly, carefully setting the egg in the nest. I hear the click as the trigger sets and my father pulls his hands away and steps back slowly.

When he turns, he has a haughty smile on his face.

“Let the thief get past that,” he says.

We’re just about to walk out of the stifling hot room, when we hear the roar. The walls of the castle rumble, sending dust and debris cascading around us.

The dragons have arrived.

“Find someplace to hide, Skylar!” my father says racing from the room.

As I rush after him I realize that, in his haste, he forgot to lock the door behind him. That will make it easier for me to get the egg and get out of here.