Guardians of Magessa (The Birthright Chronicles Book 1) by Peter Last Read Free Book Online

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the correct path and headed toward her dorm. She made her way into the building
and ascended the stairs to the second floor. As she reached her floor, she could tell immediately that something was out of the ordinary. Two guards stood
by the door as though waiting for her. As she got closer, she was able to make
out the design on their breastplates—a fire-breathing dragon.
    “Senndra Felling?” one of the guards asked
as she came to a stop at her door.
    “Yes, what is it?” Senndra responded.
    “Good news from the hatchery,” the same
guard answered. “Your dragon has hatched. We have
been sent to escort you there.”
    “Very well,” Senndra said. She kept her
face emotionless, but inside she was ecstatic. “I need to grab some things from
my room, but I’ll be out in a second.”
    She entered the room and headed straight
for the bunks. Rita was sleeping on the bottom one, so Senndra made sure not to
disturb her as she retrieved her sword from the top bunk. She strapped it onto
her left hip, grabbed her cloak from off the back of a chair, and left the
room. She followed her two escorts down the hall and the stairs, and back
outside. They took the same path Senndra had traveled
only minutes before and walked at such a fast pace that Senndra had trouble
keeping up. Soon they reached the mess hall and took another path that led
toward the top of the mountain. The way grew steeper, and Senndra was panting
before long. The guards’ pace slowed down as they progressed; however, Senndra
still had trouble matching their speed. After a long, grueling climb, the
hatchery finally came into view .
    Senndra followed the guards through the
doors of the hatchery. One of them stayed with her while the other left.
Senndra did her best to keep a calm look on her face and not make her panting
too obvious. Gradually, her breathing slowed to normal and she was able to look
around. The room was entirely empty, with no furniture at all. In contrast, the
walls were covered with paintings, some of dragons and others of different
military settings. Senndra was about to walk over to the wall to better examine
the paintings when the guard who had left returned. Following him was a small
woman with white hair. She wore a green,
loose-fitting dress that had many pockets in it. With a flick of her
wrist, she dismissed the guards.
    “Senndra,” she said when the guards left
the room, “my name is Miss Farley. I am the superintendent of the hatchery. You
have already been told by your escorts why you are here, so if you will follow
me, I will take you to your dragon.”
    Miss Farley turned
and walked back down the hallway she had emerged from only minutes ago
with the guard. Senndra followed her to another large room. This one had chairs
in it and a receptionist on the far side. Miss Farley crossed the room,
unlocked a door with a long, bronze key, and entered another hallway. Senndra
followed her to another door that was opened by a different key which Miss
Farley drew from one of her pockets. The door opened to the top of a flight of
stairs, and Miss Farley descended them with Senndra close behind. The stairs
were almost pitch black, and emptied out into a dimly lit room. As Senndra’s
eyes grew accustomed to the dim light, the details of the room slowly became
clear. It was very long and narrow with small alcoves covering the walls. Miss
Farley was already walking across the room, and Senndra ran to catch up.
    “Now I must ask you something,” Miss
Farley said after stopping in front of an alcove. “You do know what colors
dragons can be, don’t you?”
    “Of course,” Senndra responded
immediately. “Dragons are most commonly red, orange, green, blue, silver, and
black, though they can be any color.”
    “Do you know the significance of the
different colors?” Miss Farley questioned.
    “With one exception, the color of a dragon
has no effect on its abilities,” Senndra answered. “A black dragon, however,
has increased