Dragonmaster by Karleen Bradford Read Free Book Online Page A

pack of lies and fairy tales. You know not of what you speak. I am no dragonling! I am Hhana! Just because my hair is an unusual shade…Just because I know not where I come from…” She broke off with a sob. Before Norl could make a move to stop her, she turned and ran into the darkening woods. Norl stared after her, then turned to the Sele.
    “How can this be, Sele? Not even Catryn has ever spoken to me of such creatures as dragonlings. And, even if this maid be one—and I cannot bring my mind around that—why would I want her with me? From what you have said, she might just bring more danger.”
    “But she might not,” the Sele replied.
    Norl whirled away, then spun back to face the Sele again.
    “I go to Caulda to certain death, Sele. I am insignificant, even as Hhana said. And I am a failure. I could not learn the magic no matter how I tried.”
    “You are not a failure until you have tried and failed, Norl. And given up. That is failure. You know not what awaits you. You know not what strengths you may have.”
    “I have no strengths!” Norl cried. “Do you not understand? I tried for three years to learn what Catryn and the Protector would teach me, but I could learn nothing. There is no magic in me at all. Finally I snuck away without even bidding them farewell. I could not face the disappointment in their eyes.”
    “And are you so sure that it would have been there?” the Sele asked.
    “What else could there be?” Norl replied bitterly.
    “Perhaps you should have waited to see,” Sele the Plump replied mildly. It reached up to lay a hand on Norl’s shoulder, but Norl shook it off.
    The Sele dropped its hand and shrugged. ”It is late, my friend,” it said then, and smiled. “We should eat. Food always helps. I took the opportunity to supply myself with a goodly amount of that grain this morning—the horses will never miss it. And I’ll remove myself from this fire, too.” With that it settled itself down against a tree, well away from the flames, and opened a pouch that it carriedslung around its neck. It dipped a hand into the grain and began to eat.
    “Perhaps you should seek out the maid,” it said, the words muffled. “It must be a shock to her to learn what she is.”
    “It is a shock to me, as well,” Norl said. He stood up and brushed himself off. Without a further word, he headed into the woods to follow Hhana.
    He found her standing in a glen. The moons of Taun had both risen and were casting opposing shadows. By their light he could see that she was staring at her fingers. He hesitated, unsure of what he should say to her, but when she heard him approach, she looked up at him and, wordlessly, held her hands out to him.
    Norl took them in his own. He could feel her nails cutting into his palms. Even longer now, and as smooth and gleaming in the moon shadows as talons.
    “I have always known there was something different about me,” Hhana said, her voice no more than a whisper. “When I cursed that boy…I suspected…Something…But not this. Not this, Norl!”

CHAPTER SEVEN
    N orl woke early. He had not managed to sleep until almost morning and when the first warm rays of the sun fell upon his face he lay for a moment, groggy, before he rose. He looked around and saw that Hhana and the Sele slept still, each curled up beneath a sheltering tree. He looked at Hhana. With her cap pulled down around her ears and her face soft with sleep, she looked like the young boy he had first taken her to be. He could almost make himself believe that what he had seen the night before had never happened. That, surely, Sele the Plump must be mistaken about her. Then she stirred and reached out a hand, and Norl was shocked all over again by the sight of the long talons that tipped each finger. Razor-sharp they seemed in the morning light. He shivered and turned away. His quest was impossible already—what was he to do now?
    He walked into the trees to relieve himself, then went back to the