Dragon Trials (Return of the Darkening Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

All dragons were beautiful, fierce and utterly amazing creatures.
    One of the stockier boys with black hair called out, “Hey, Thea? You coming down to the Troll’s Head? A few of us are going down to celebrate. Last night of freedom, hey?”
    I guessed the place must be some sort of tavern—a better one than any in Mongers Lane. Thea looked pleased to me, for she straightened and smiled. She was going to be included in their little gang, and I noticed she was standing a little way from me.
    But she turned to me and frowned. “Uh—Sebastian? You want to come?” She didn’t sound as if she wanted to make the offer. “We’re going down to a tavern in the northern district of the city.”
    I waved to the landing platforms, one foot already on the bottom of the stone stairs that led upward. “Don’t you want to hang out with our dragon? We’ve got to say goodbye to her, so I thought maybe we could spend the evening just, you know…hanging out with her. We won’t get a chance to see her again for two weeks.”
    “Her?” Thea tipped her head to one side. “I thought fighting dragons were all drakes?”
    I shook my head. Was not her gender obvious? But, then again, how did I know with such certainty that she was a she? It just seemed obvious in the way she held her head, the look in her eyes as she regarded us, and how she spent time preening her wings rather than flapping them and pushing out her chest like some of the other dragons.
    “No, she is definitely a she,” I said, certain of it. “Come on, let’s say goodbye at least.” I grabbed Thea’s wrist and dragged her up the stairs with me, ignoring how her eyes went wide and her mouth fell open.
    At the top of the stairs, I stopped, breathless. Our red dragon gave a musical chirrup. She cocked her head to one side, and I knew she was interested in what we were doing. She unfolded a long neck, leaning forward to huff air over us, as if she was checking that we were the ones she had chosen.
    “Don’t worry, girl, it’s us, Seb and Thea.” I kept my voice low and smooth. Reaching out, I gave her nose a rub. Her chirruping turned into a deeper, almost throaty purr.
    “Lady Dragon,” Thea said beside me, her tone strained and careful. I turned to see her kneeling on the floor, head bowed. “I thank you from the bottom of my heart for choosing me and I hope I can serve you well.” She looked up, and I saw real fervor and honesty in her eyes as she said, “I promise I will treat you well, just as all of House Flamma have treated their dragons with respect and honor.”
    I thought it a pretty speech, but also a bit weird. The dragon just wanted to get to know us, not see us bow and curtsey. I wondered what our dragon would do.
    The red dragon paused, looked at Thea and very slowly, very gently, put her snout down in the air in front of Thea’s earnest face. She gently rubbed the side of Thea’s face with her own scaly snout.
    “It means she says yes,” I said, unthinking.
    “I know what it means,” Thea whispered. A chorus of choked laughter broke out behind us. I turned to see three other trainees—the ones who had asked Thea to go with them to a tavern—pulling faces about us getting so cozy with our dragon.
    Standing, her face red, Thea ignored them. She gave another bow. “Thank you, Lady Dragon, thank you.” Thea stood, brushed her knees off, and turned away in a quick motion. “I’m off to the pub, come or stay, I don’t care.” She threw the words at me, joining up with her friends and punching them on the shoulders to stop them laughing. They all stared back down the stairs.
    Disappointment gathered in my chest in a hard lump. Maybe I had done something wrong and I didn’t even know what it was.
    A gentle nudge on my shoulder bumped me from my mood. I turned to see the red dragon blinking at me with beautiful gold-green eyes. She chirruped again and pulled away quickly.
    “What?” I said. Had I done something wrong with her as