Read Online The Dragon' Son by Kathryn Fogleman - Free Book Online Page B

wet with tears. “Forgive me, I did not hear you,” he said as he discreetly wipe the tears from his eyes.
     
    “When I went out to hunt, I saw smoke to the north.” The dragon nodded his head toward the direction he spoke of and watched Keegan closely, obviously looking for something in the boy’s face.
     
    Keegan tried not to look at the beast, but the dragon’s intense stare made Keegan feel that the beast could look right through him and see his every thought. It made him very nervous.
     
    “So? What of it?” Keegan asked with a shrug, hoping that the dragon would change the subject.
     
    “So, what of it?” the dragon echoed, seeming somewhat amused by Keegan’s attempt to hide the truth.
     
    Keegan looked up at the dragon and marveled how well it seemed to understand everything. “Well,” Keegan started and paused, unsure how to approach this issue with such a creature. The dragon stretched his head forward, obviously intent on getting the truth. Keegan looked down at his feet. He wasn’t interested in telling his story. It was already playing over and over again in his head. He didn’t need to replay it and tell it to a dragon. “The story is not important. The important thing is that I have to go back; I have to go see.” Keegan stood, but the dragon didn’t budge.
     
    “It is a long trek out of this forest, to the plains. Would you care to ride upon my back, and I'll fly you there?” the dragon asked.
     
    Keegan was taken aback at the dragon’s offer. He wondered if he should or even could do such a thing. Who had ever heard of someone riding a dragon? “I could not ask that of you,” he said.
     
    “You did not ask me,” the dragon stated, still not moving anything but his mouth and the tip of his tail calmly.
     
    Keegan stared at the dragon for a moment, unsure how to continue with this. He leaned over to pick up his dagger from the gravel as he thought about his predicament. His ring fell out of his shirt as he did so. It hit the end of the silver chain, its red stone glistening and twinkling brightly.
     
    The dragon let out his breath with a threatening rattle, and the smell of smoke reached Keegan’s nose. Keegan caught the ring in his hand and jumped backward, expecting to be dragon toast at any moment.
     
    “I know that stone! I know that stone in the ring which you have,” the dragon said in a surprised, mournful tone of voice. He stood as he spoke. Both of his sharp golden eyes locked onto Keegan.
     
    Keegan closed his eyes, expecting the great beast to catch him up in its mighty talons and squeeze him to death. However, after a moment of silence, Keegan opened his eyes to see the dragon still staring at him. “Well, go on! Get it over with!” Keegan said loudly. He wished that the beast would just kill him, instead of staring at him.
     
    “If I had wanted to kill you, I would have done it last night when you laid down between my foreleg and neck,” the dragon said loudly and sternly, with a growl behind his words.
     
    Keegan was slightly shocked by the dragon's statement, as well as the huge boom of his voice. “Well then, why didn’t you kill me?” Keegan asked more quietly.
     
    “Because you wept, and because I knew that you had a dragon stone. I just didn’t realize that it was the dragon Tolloan’s stone,” the great dragon said, somewhat emotionally, with great sadness in his big, golden eyes.
     
    Keegan realized that his life had been spared again the night before, just as it had been in the village. He was so near to death, but pity took over each time. Why was his life being continually spared from death? And what meaning did the dragon stone have for the dragon?
     
    “What does a dragon stone mean? Why is it that you did not kill me because I had a dragon stone?” Keegan asked.
     
    The dragon stared at Keegan, with sadness still lingering in his eyes. “A dragon stone symbolizes protection, honor, strength, and bravery. No one is to harm