Firestorm Read Online Free PDF Page B

raising his hands in a calming gesture. Aurora lowered her head until her bottom jaw rested on the ground next to him.
He placed a hand on the side of her face and patted her gently. ‘Let me introduce Aurora – my dragon.’
    It was unfortunate that his mother, Megan, had just emerged from the front door as he bellowed out his news. Her eyes first went wide with shock, and then rolled up in her head. She collapsed
with all the grace of a soggy lettuce.
    ‘Mother!’
    Elian raced across the field and vaulted over the low, stone wall that marked out the edge of the garden. His father appeared through the door even as Elian reached his mother’s side.
    ‘Megan? Megan!’ Raim’s voice was anxious as he knelt down at his wife’s side and gently patted her face in an effort to bring her round. ‘What happened, Elian? Did
you see her fall?’
    As Raim looked up at Elian, he became aware of the crowd of people gathered at the end of the garden.
    ‘What are they all doing here?’ he asked. ‘Have you been causing trouble, young . . .’ Raim did not finish. Megan chose that moment to stir. Her eyes fluttered open and
she smiled as she saw her husband and son looking down at her.
    At that same moment a shadow fell over them. Megan’s eyes went wide. She gave a piercing scream and passed out again. Raim looked round sharply. His eyes first focused on the huge body of
the dragon only a few paces away. It took a moment for him to take in what he was looking at. Then slowly – painfully slowly – his head tipped further and further back as he followed
the neck of the dragon up until his eyes met Aurora’s and took in her toothy grin.
    Ra had followed Elian silently until she was as close as she could get to the house without damaging the garden wall. Her head extended on her long neck well over the wall as she attempted to
get a closer look at Elian’s parents.
    ‘Get into the house, Elian,’ Raim ordered, his voice low, but firm. ‘Don’t make any sudden moves. Just ease inside the door and everything will be fine.’
    ‘Of course everything will be fine, Father. This is Aurora. She’s my dragon. Well, she’s not my dragon in the sense that I own her. It’s a bit more complicated than that.
We sort of own each other, really, but, well . . . Ra, this is my father. Father, meet Ra.’
    ‘I’m not going to tell you again, Elian. Inside the house – now!’ Raim growled.
    ‘Father, listen to me. I know this sounds unlikely, but I just found out that I’m a dragonrider. This is my dragon.’ He looked up apologetically at Ra. ‘I’m sorry
about this. Would you mind backing away while I talk with my father, Aurora? It’s bound to be a shock. No one from around here has become a dragonrider in a very long time.’
    ‘Certainly, Elian,’
Ra replied, bowing her head.
‘Your parents seem good people. Your father is a brave man. He thought to protect you and your mother from me. It was
a noble gesture. Please tell him I’m pleased to have gained a dragonrider born from such a fine family.’
    ‘I will. Thank you, Aurora,’ Elian replied aloud for his father’s benefit.
    Raim looked in astonishment as the dragon’s head turned away on her long neck and the huge beast walked off into the middle of the field where she curled up in a massive circle of scales,
horns, ridges and teeth to wait. All eyes in the evergrowing crowd followed her every move.
    ‘It can’t be true,’ Raim stammered after a long pause.
    ‘It is, Father. I’m a dragonrider. Ra says what you just did was very brave and that she’s pleased to see her rider has a courageous father.’
    ‘But you’re too young. You can’t be a dragon-rider. You’re too young.’
    ‘I’ve seen fourteen summers, Father. I’m nearly a grown man.’
    ‘But you’re
not
a grown man, Elian. You’re not old enough to be flying around on a dragon. Riding a dragon is terribly dangerous.’
    ‘And you would know this because . . .’
    ‘Don’t