The Erth Dragons Book 1: The Wearle Read Online Free PDF Page A

we’d have had another drake to protect the Wearle.’ The stand-off that followed was brutally loud (though thankfully not physical). It took a huge burst of fire from Galarhade to calm Gallen and the white dragon down. The exertions left the Prime visibly weary. He had to breathe deeply to recover. He flapped Gallen and his Veng away.
    G’vard knelt before his Prime and sought his forgiveness. Galarhade granted it without redress. He told Gabrial to stand. The blue staggered to his feet, the mountain tops dancing around his head. It felt as if his spiracles had been plugged with sand. All three of his hearts were beating fast, and at different rates.
    Galarhade called per Grogan forward. To the anxious mentor he said, ‘What is your opinion of this?’
    Per Grogan gulped. He was one hundred and seventy-four Ki:meran turns old, looking forward to a future of deep simplicity and even deeper sleep. He glanced at the pitiful body of Grystina, mercifully arranged to hide the injuries to her head. He had known this female since she was a myss. How many more lives did this planet have to claim before the Elders looked to colonise elsewhere? A pricking sensation at the corner of one eye warned him of the danger of shedding his fire tear, that drop of burning water that contained a dragon’s auma , the fire of life granted to them by Godith. ‘Gabrial can be…impulsive,’ he said. ‘A trait inherited from his much-admired father.’
    ‘This is not about his father,’ Elder Grynt reminded him.
    ‘I merely wished to point out,’ per Grogan said painfully, ‘that his father’s ability to i:mage was highly developed, if a little…’
    ‘Wild?’ said Grynt.
    Per Grogan stared at him. He had never liked Grynt. He was one of those lightly-coloured purple dragons that boasted dark tints and a streak of armoured silver on his throat and breast. He was young for an Elder
(a title not awarded purely by age) and had been sent on this mission to oversee security. Although Gallen commanded the Veng in the air, operational procedures were decided by Grynt.
    ‘There is no wickedness in Gabrial,’ Grogan said plainly, making sure his voice carried far. ‘His loyalty to the Wearle is as true as any dragon. It should not be forgotten that he volunteered for this mission when others suggested he was too young to be of use.’
    ‘And now we see the fruits of it,’ Gallen sneered.
    Per Grogan turned on the Veng. ‘I know this blue. I have trained him well. He would not use his powers of i:maging recklessly.’
    For the first time, Elder Givnay entered the debate. Givnay was a mute who had lost the ability to speak due to an accident shortly after birth. He had been trodden on at play by an adult dragon and one side of his throat had collapsed. The injury had left him unable to utter anything other than stifled cries. His fire sacs, still in their early stages of development, had withered to nothing and his chances of making fire were ruined. His devastated father had wanted to end the drake’s life, fearing Givnay’s future would be a miserable arc of unrequited desires or envies. But the mother’s better wishes had prevailed, and despite his difficulties Givnay had grown into a handsome adult – a distinctive grey, with gold and purple trappings around his neck, which helped to shadow the injury he’d sustained. Unlike his peers, he had never roamed or sought the attention of females, but had turned himself inward, developing the skills of the dragon mind. He had spent much time in isolation, meditating upon the glory of Godith and perfecting the gift of transference . He could not only speak (and listen) in thoughts, but move his mind into another dragon’s head. It was hardly surprising that most dragons feared him. In a world ruled largely by claws and smoke, silence was a weapon not even the Veng knew how to battle.
    He leant towards Galarhade and pressed a thought into his mind, which Galarhade aired. ‘Did you know