egg-snatchers. With a crash, he burst out of the learning hall and into the beautiful, snowy gardens. He shivered. Winter on Odo Minor was long and cold, and Teggs wishedheâd worn his battle armour over his uniform to keep out the chill.
The learning hall was built on a high hilltop with a terrific view. One glance at the churned-up snow at his feet told Teggs where the speedy oviraptors had gone â straight down the hillside.
He charged off after them. Then a small oviraptor popped out from behind a tree â with a laser gun!
Zzzapp!
A white-hot laser beam shot over Teggsâs head.
âThanks for warming me up!â Teggs called as he dived for the cover of a nearby bush.
âJust stay where you are, please!â said the oviraptor. He didnât sound as fierce as his brother on the stage. âI hate guns, and Iâm a lousy shot.â
Teggs frowned. âSo why donât you just put down the gun and let me come out?â
âIâd love to,â sighed the oviraptor. âBut I canât. Goopo would throw a fit. He told me to stop anyone following us while he fetches the ship.â
Teggs chewed some frozen leaves for extra strength. âDo you always do what your brother tellsâ you?â he asked, creeping quietly closer.
âGoopoâs the eldest. Heâll be king someday. The little figure sighed. âIâm Prince Shelly, the youngest â so I never get any say in what goes on. Now, stay back! I donât want to hurt you!â
âThat makes two of us!â called Teggs. Slowly, his big bony tail snaked out from the undergrowth and curled itself around Prince Shelly . . .
âGot you!â Teggs cried.
The oviraptor gasped as Teggsâs tail tightened round him â he was trapped!
Teggs dragged his prisoner over to the top of the steep hillside. Goopo and his brothers were nearing the bottom of the slope. Soon they would vanish into the woods, and Teggs would never find them.
He dangled Shelly over the edge of the hillside. âYou know, I think itâs time you caught up with your brothers,â he grinned. âThereâs
snow
time to lose!â
With that, Teggs flung Shelly down the hillside after his brothers. The raptor hit the snow with a yelp. Unable to stop himself, he rolled over and over. And as he rolled, he gathered snow â faster and faster. Soon, he looked like a giant squawking snowball. As he tumbled towards the fleeing oviraptors he got bigger and rounder and heavier . . .
Until finally â
Splat!
The snowball rolled right over Goopo and his brothers, squashing them into the snow.
âDirect hit!â cheered Teggs. Then he sledged down the hill on his tummy to round up the oviraptors and recover the eggs. Luckily, the soft snow had stopped them from breaking â and the oviraptors were unharmed too.
Up close, they were not pretty creatures. Their jaws were wide and toothless â instead, they used two bony prongs inside their mouths to crack open their food. Each of the creatures had a high, narrow crest rising up from its head.
Teggs smiled at the dazed reptiles. âThat should cool you off till the space police arrive!â
âCurse you, Captain!â snarled Prince Goopo, half-buried by snow. âI command you to release us in the name of our king!â
âNo way,â said Teggs. âAnyway, Iâm sure your king would be very cross if he knew you were stealing such important eggs!â
âPah!â cried Goopo. âIt was his idea! King Albu will kill us if we donât bring him those eggs!â âHeâll fry us with butter!â twittered another oviraptor.
âHeâll boil us in salty water for three minutes!â moaned a third.
âAnd then heâll crack our heads with a big spoon!â quaked one more.
âItâs quite exhausting,â sighed Prince Shelly, still stuck in his giant snowball. âMe and my
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