Trusted: Dragons' Trust Book 1 Read Online Free PDF Page A

bone snapped into place. The dragon flinched. A piercing wail rang out. Renick whispered in the baby dragon's ear to sooth it while Lainey inspected her work.
    "There. Step three—splint and bandage." She looked around. "We'll need something for a splint."
    A pair of equally sized branches stripped of their bark appeared next to Renick's head. Renick turned. Thane held out the perfectly made splints, but he was looking off in the other direction.
    Lainey took the pieces of wood. "Thank you," she said.
    Thane just turned away.
    Lainey held the splints in her hands for a few moments and then turned back to Renick and the dragon. "Okay, step three." She set to work binding the splints to the dragon's wing, using more bandages extracted from her bag. "Can you get him to fold his wing?"
    Renick slid his hand along the joint where the wing met the dragon's body. At first the dragon did not respond to the touch, but eventually he folded his wing to lay flat against his body. Lainey tied the wing in place. "So he can't move it around," she explained. Sitting back, she declared she was done.
    "Good," Thane said. "Now that the two of you have wasted the day fixing a broken wing, can we please continue on our journey? I prefer to keep to one hopeless task at a time."
    Renick stood and tried to carry the dragon, but its scales bit into his arms and the dragon's claws started tearing his shirt.
    "Here." Thane handed Renick his emptied rucksack. "Give me yours."
    Placing the injured dragon on the ground, Renick stripped off his pack and handed it to Thane. The older boy started filling it with the things he had dumped out of his own.
    Carefully, Renick and Lainey maneuvered the dragon into the pocket and onto Renick's back.
    "How's that?" Lainey asked. "Does it bother your shoulder?"
    Renick shook his head. "I'll be fine."
    "Now?" Thane asked.
    "Yes, Thane, now," Lainey answered, and the four of them headed back into the woods.

Chapter 5: Kind, Brave, and Trusted
     
    Up and down Plyth bumped. Something held him in. Trapped. The rain patted on his head. Plyth opened his eyes, waking from sleep. A crack by his nose helped him see light. He smelled wet earth.
    Mother?
    The moving stopped, followed by a big bump that made his wing hurt. Pain. The crack grew to be more light and more smells. Trees, tall trees, all around. Plyth sniffed the air. Rain, dirt, tree, and a new smell. New smell made his heart beat fast. Familiar, but strange. Alone. Scared.
    A face appeared. It was soft and round and white like a doe. The face smiled. The two–legged doe moved away. She went to stand by two others. They all smelled like the new smell. Bald bear growled at two–legged doe. He turned and pointed. Two–legged doe tilted her head to the side. Angry. They turned to the tailless squirrel. He chattered at them. Bald bear crossed his paws. Grumpy. Two–legged doe wiggled her head. Bald bear stomped around and picked up broken pieces of trees.
    Where Mother?
    Tailless squirrel and two–legged doe got out a big leaf. They used their odd paws to make it much bigger. Biggest leaf Plyth had ever seen. They put leaf between two trees. Tailless squirrel looked in brown lump. Two–legged doe's face came close. She rubbed under chin. Plyth liked that. But he still missed Mother. He tried to call for her. No answer.
    Afraid. Plyth wiggled and tried to get out. Wing did not work right.
    Two–legged doe patted his head and cooed softly. He felt his worry get smaller. Calm again, he watched. Two–legged doe sat and looked at others, smiling. Two–legged doe was kind. Kind patted Plyth on the head. Bald bear growled at her and pointed to a pile of broken trees.
    Kind knelt by the pile. She breathed fire on the broken trees. But not like Plyth's fire. She used her paws. The fire stayed on the broken trees. It got bigger and bigger. Plyth was cold. The fire was too far away. He tried to get closer. But he was still held tight. He could not get away.