From the Dragon Keepers' Vault Read Online Free

keeping one for herself. “Just to be safe, we should go separate ways,” Leandra said. “Whatever we do, we must not let St. George get his hands on these dragon babies!”
    Bending over Peg, Leandra whispered in her ear. Peg nodded, then gathered the egg in her skirt, picked up the fern, and vanished.
    “Here is a fern for you!” Obsidian said to Leandra.
    “Thank you,” she said. “But I’m not sure how much good they’ll do if this weather keeps getting worse. Let’s just hope Peg gets away in time.”
    Suddenly, the sky opened up and hailstones began to fall, beating down the ferns clutchedin their talons. In moments, the ferns were pounded to pulp. Leandra and Obsidian would no longer have the protection of invisibility.
    “Never mind,” said Leandra. “I still have a dragon’s wings and a dragon’s fire to protect me. And your human form will make you less suspicious. Hide the egg in your pocket and pretend you are just another of St. George’s minions. Leave now.”
    Before Obsidian left, Leandra gave him one last message, her voice the barest whisper beneath the growing roar of the hailstones.
    Obsidian nodded. “I will do as you ask, my dearest one. But where will
you
go?”
    “I will take the third egg and hide it where St. George will never find it: in the crater of High Peak. Meet me on the upper slopes after you have completed your task. Then either you must change me to a human or we must find a way to reverse your spell and transform you back to a dragon. Whatever happens, we must find a way to be together.”
    It was the hardest thing Obsidian had ever done, leaving Leandra behind to fend for herself. He walked slowly across the camp, past the workers, who were oblivious to the hailstones clobbering their heads. Obsidian kept his eyes forward, not daring to look at St. George’s tent. He only hoped the foul weather would keep the villain inside. When he got to where Old Bub stood tethered, he was relieved to see that Peg’s milky white mare was gone. She had gotten away undetected. With the Thunder Egg in his pocket, Obsidian mounted Old Bub and started toward the Old Mother. The hail had thinned out to sleet now.
    Halfway to the mountain, he heard a rumbling sound that he mistook for thunder. Then he got a powerful whiff of brimstone. He turned to see Leandra hovering above the treetops, magnificent red wings unfurled, smoke curling from her mouth. The woods below her had erupted in flame, smoky in the dampness. Bells clanged and St. George screamed, calling hisminions to arms. Leandra sent another scorching steam of breath down upon the camp.
    Obsidian turned away. Leandra had her job, and Obsidian had his. Egg in one hand, reins in the other, he rode the trusty farm horse along the winding path that ran up the slope of the Old Mother. The hail had turned to rain now. When the path grew too steep, he dismounted and climbed the rest of the way to the summit.
    There, he placed the Thunder Egg in an eagle’s nest. This was Leandra’s instruction and he did it without hesitation or question. The spirits of the air would stand guard over this egg. He would not know until later, but Peg had hidden her egg in the stream running down from the Old Mother, where the water spirits would protect it.
    Obsidian turned away from the nest just in time to see Leandra flying toward the snow-topped volcano known as High Peak, where the fire spirits of the crater would protect the third egg. Then Obsidian caught his breath as he saw St. George, goggled, with a white scarf flying behind him, pursuing Leandra in an elaborate flying machine that looked like a giant metal mosquito. Obsidian looked on helplessly as the machine and Leandra collided in midair above the slopes of High Peak. He saw the egg drop from Leandra’s grip. With an anguished cry, he watched as the sharp wing of St. George’s flying machine pierced Leandra’s shoulder. She fell, tumbling head over tail.
    Obsidian stumbled back down the