The Last Druid by Colleen Montague Read Free Book Online

Calla,” she muttered to herself.  None of it could possibly have been real—she must have dreamt about the whole thing.  She lived in the real world, not one inhabited by monsters from the stories she grew up hearing.  Perhaps taking a long walk would help her to forget about it.  The thought made Calla feel much better already, and she decided to walk in the city gardens for a while.
    Afternoon was just giving way to evening when Cal la finally came home again.  After spending at least another hour wandering around on her own, she’d decided to go visit Kira.  Unfortunately she didn’t get to stay for as long as she would have liked: it had been only a few weeks since her friend had announced she was getting married, but already she was busy making her wedding plans.  Calla was waiting for only a moment before Kira took advantage of her presence, placing a large pile of different fabrics in her arms.
    “You must make my wedding dress, Ca lla!”  She had been so excited she was practically bouncing in place.  “I want only you to make it!  You sew so well, I don’t want anyone else doing it.”  And with that Calla was hurried out the door again.
    She gave a soft chuckle as she opened her front gate.  Kira was seriously misinformed about Ca lla’s sewing abilities; she hadn’t made so much as a stitch since she was ten.  The last time she had been given such a request, she cheated and went to her neighbor Ella to ask for help—she was a master seamstress who could truthfully claim the title.  Calla knew for sure that she would be paying the old lady a visit after she had selected the perfect fabric.
    Her mind was still on sewing ideas as she entered the house.  She was setting the fabric down on the table and was about to start going through it when she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.  Something was wrong, something felt off.  She was suddenly filled with a strong desire to run.
    Something in the back of her mind cried out in alarm, and she jumped off to the side.  She reacted not a moment too soon, as something blasted through the air where she had been and crashed onto the table, scattering the fabrics across the floor; it was followed by a loud, inhuman screech and the beating of large wings.  She whirled around to face her attacker, but stopped in her tracks when she saw who—or rather what—it was.
    The thing hovering in the air behind her was about the size of the average housecat.  Its body was long, every inch of it covered in dark purple scales with occasional bands of yellow and dots of bright green.  Its wingspan was at least twice the length of its body, and it had only one pair of legs located farther down the body from the wings.  Its head was squared off, and Calla could see two long fangs protruding from beneath its upper lip that dripped with yellow venom.  It glared at her with bright red eyes.  The only other feature that stood out was the long barb on the end of its tail.
    Ca lla would have viewed the small dragon as the most ridiculous piece of her imagination if it weren’t for the massive split in the table top where the thing’s tail barb had collided with the wood.
    With a screech the animal dove towards Calla, fangs bared as it flew at her head.  Calla dropped down and rolled under the table.  But just because she had avoided its attack was not enough for the creature to give up its assault; it landed on the floor and proceeded to walk toward her on a set of claws that extended out from the joints of its wings, two claws on each.  It jumped at her, snapping at the air with its teeth.  Calla scrambled away from it, somehow able to avoid the barb as it flicked its tail at her.
    The small lizard took to the air again, gaining height so quickly it was almost able to land on her head.  Dropping down Calla threw her hands over her head as it sailed by into the door behind her.  All the while her mind was working, trying to understand how