The Book of Fire Read Online Free PDF Page B

around, cover trail, around around more, cover trail, around around . . . come here.”
    Raven laughed and patted his hand. “Clever thing! Brave old soul! Well, you’re safe here.”
    “No!” Gerrasch shook his mane until the whole stick pile trembled. “Not safe! No one safe!”
    “For a while at least.”
    The creature took a breath, sighed. “Yes.”
    But Doritt’s mouth tightened. “How long, do you think?”
    Erde shivered. What Doritt was really asking, no one could answer: how long could they keep Deep Moor hidden from outside eyes, now that the priest’s forces ranged the land so widely? One misplaced confidence, one single soldier of the wrong stripe stumbling upon their secret path—thatwas all it would take to bring the hell-priest’s armies down on top of them. And then there was her dream. What if the hell-priest could follow her here? Gerrasch’s glance slid away again. He let it round an entire circuit of the Grove before returning to settle it for the first time squarely on Erde.
    She smiled at him wanly. “Hello, Gerrasch. Remember me?”
    He gasped. “It speaks!” Then he cracked a huge grin.
    Erde grinned with him. It was impossible not to. “Yes, my voice is back. You were right—there was a word stuck in my throat. It was somebody’s name, a friend I thought had died horribly.”
    Gerrasch blinked at her, sobering, then leaned forward to lay one stubby finger gently across her throat. “Yes. Ludolph.”
    Raven sucked in a breath. “Ha.”
    “No . . .” replied Erde carefully. “That was not his name.”
    “Yes.”
    “No, Gerrasch, it was . . .”
    “Ludolph!” Gerrasch insisted, then he smiled again, dazzlingly. “Will be.”
    “Ludolph?” murmured Doritt. “The dead prince?”
    “The not-dead prince.” Raven chuckled.
    “He’s saying Rainer is Ludolph?”
    “He wouldn’t be the first person.”
    Doritt clucked. “Oh, how would he know about such things!”
    “You have your ways, don’t you, Gerrasch? And won’t our Hal be delighted to hear you agreeing with him for once!”
    Erde pondered her own ambivalent response to this news. Did she even care anymore if Rainer was the King’s lost heir? He was lost to her already. Besides, she had more important responsibilities now. And as if this thought was some kind of signal, Gerrasch stepped forward suddenly, his nose lifted in the direction of the farmstead. At the same moment came the familiar soft explosion in Erde’s head that heralded the dragon’s return. Her heart reached out joyously to welcome him.
    “They’re back!” she exulted. “They’re back!”
    Gerrasch’s nose worked furiously. “Two! Oh, two. Two two two!”
    Raven nodded. “Yes, clever thing. Our Earth has found himself a sister. A beautiful blue sister!”
    Doritt’s eyes narrowed. “How did he know?”
    Erde didn’t care. The dragons were back! Now she could celebrate in earnest. “Yes, a sister! Her name is Water. You’ll like her, Gerrasch! You can go swimming together!” She tugged at Raven’s sleeve. “Come, let’s go back!”
    Raven chortled. “Gerrasch hates swimming. Absolutely has to live by water, but never goes in.”
    “Come on! Hurry! Let’s all go!”
    “Right,” said Doritt. “Come on, Gerrasch. Gather up anything you need, and we’ll load it on the pony.”
    Gerrasch raised both hands, exposing his soft pink palms. “No. No no. Big storm.”
    “Yes, so you don’t want to stay out here alone, do you? You’d be much safer at the farm.”
    “No no no.” He backed into the shadow of his doorway. “New house. I like it.”
    “It’ll blow apart in the first gust, Gerrasch!”
    “Will not!”
    Doritt took a step after him. “Of course it will! You could have a nice warm spot in the barn . . .”
    In the barn with the dragon, Erde realized. Probably Gerrasch did, too.
    “No!” He withdrew his head entirely and slammed the door.
    “You are so rude!” Doritt yelled after him.
    Raven