Dragon Tears Read Online Free

Patrik, “I am a wizard, skilled in all the arts of magic, higher even than your mother and father.” He didn’t wait for Patrik’s agreement but continued as if thinking aloud. “Therefore, I answer to no one, not even the king. However, this concerns me. War is not healthy, for anyone . I do not think the king has considered this carefully enough.”
    “Therefore…” Finally he turned to look at Patrik, and said, “I plan to pay him a visit.”
    Patrik dropped the log he’d been carrying to the fireplace. “What?”
    “Exactly, we will leave in the morning.”
    ∞
    Larkin followed the others back to his cave, the evening song still ringing in his ears. Too bad they don’t give out rewards for singing. If they did, my cave would be covered with jewels. He shrugged his shoulders, making his footsteps hop a little. Oh well, maybe someday I’ll do something important, and then they’ll have to notice me. Maybe I’ll fly away from here and discover a new land, or a new species of dragons.
    That thought made him remember the unusual scent he had discovered on his ledge. “I wonder what it was?” he mumbled to himself. “I’ve never smelled anything like it.”
    He felt the brush of wings against his side and jumped at the unexpected touch. Redwing, a red dragon lowered her snout in the universal sign of greeting. He dropped his snout to hers, acknowledging her presence. “Redwing?” he asked, pleased with himself for remembering her name.
    “Hi, Larkin. I just wanted to say that I thought you sang beautifully tonight.”
    A blush of pleasure crept into his face and his eyes whirled like a kaleidoscope. “Thank you,” was all he could manage to say.
    “May I walk with you?”
    He stopped and turned to look at her. “Aren’t you afraid what the others might say?”
    She shrugged, her wings flapping a little as she did so. “I really don’t care. They’re wrong to pick on you so much. You’re just different, that’s all. And by my flame, there’s nothing wrong with being different.”
    She turned her head toward him as he snorted in disbelief. They were walking side by side down the tunnel that led to his cave, her head and shoulders standing about a snout-span taller than his, even though she had hatched a half a moon later.
    “Don’t let them bother you,” she said, her yellow eyes, tinged brown with concern and sparkling with earnestness. “Everyone is different in some way or another. That’s the way the great Skyhawk made us. We’re not all supposed to be the same.”
    Larkin nodded in silence, not knowing what to say. They reached his cave and she followed him inside. “It’s cold in here,” she said. “You want me to light your firestones?”
    Again, Larkin could only nod. He had gathered the firestones, just like every dragon did, but his remained unlit because he still hadn’t learned how to flame. No one had ever offered to light them for him, not even his brood mother.
    “Thanks,” he said, as the stones glowed red and their warmth began to spread throughout his den.
    Redwing turned to leave. “Good-night, Larkin. I can’t wait to hear you sing in the sunrise.”
    He watched her go, her long red tail trailing out the mouth of his cave. The small dragon curled up next to the firestones, feeling the heat soak through his body. With his tail wrapped around him, he rested his nose down on his forelegs and closed his eyes. But sleep wouldn’t come.
    The things she’d said kept echoing in his mind. He’d always thought he needed to be like the others. It had never occurred to him that being different might be a good thing. He wasn’t sure if he believed it or not, but it made him feel good to think that it might be true. It also made him happier to think he might have found a friend. Maybe she might recognize the strange smell on the ledge outside his secret passageway. But as soon as the thought entered his head, he dismissed it. Best to keep his secrets to