Dragonmander,continued…

Chapter 4:

I’m ready to dart out of there but I couldn’t as my back  faced the end of the cave. The egg glowed a bright gold and small,red specks covered the top of it. But we are both cornered! That’s when Violet steps forward and speaks softly.”It’s all right”, she speaks, holding her hands out showing no threat. I can tell she is trying to mask her fear. 

The Dragonmander stopped and bowed its head.It’s soulless eyes stared at me and Violet. “We’re not going to hurt you nor your egg. We’ll help you”, Violet says, glancing at me. The dragonmander seems to be paying attention. Its claws disappear and back lowered. I think it’s working. 

We’re going to leave now”, I say walking past the dragonmander as it backs off. The monster looks at me from the comfort of its nest, its eyes lower as it falls asleep. 

Outside, we take a deep breath as the cold, sea air brushes our faces. Inside, we can hear the dragonmander shuffle around in its nest, making the egg warm and cosy. 

The fog died down. The moon peering at the sea and stars dazzling in the dark night. All is silent, deathly still. We talk along the sandy beach back towards the museum, talking about what just happened. No one should know about the cave. Violet talks hastily, thinking of ideas and answers quicker than a calculator. “We could pretend to be the council saying there’s been a rock fall! Or it’s unsafe to walk along,” she went on. 

By the time we got back to town, it was early hours and people awoke. The sun gets higher over the skyline. Miss Lee was opening her bakery, sweet smelling pastry wafted through the air. Mr Cane was setting up his stool full of beach equipment; scattered and hung on the table and floor.  Cars slithered along the roads, driving to places or home. 

I pushed the door open, dropping the key on the floor on the way in. But! Will the Dragonmanders egg hatch safely? Will it be kept safe from prying eyes? Violet strolls over to my collection of “beachcombing”. I hover next to her as she points to some sea glass. We looked at each other, eyes wide as we both gasped. The sea glass looked just like the Dragonmander’s egg. 

Violet has been reading books all day, mostly ancient stories, diaries of dead sailors and records. She stumbled across a diary involving a golden egg and the devil’s pet. They say they barely catched the monster and threw it into the sea. 

That late night, we chattered. Our adventure hasn’t ended after all! It has only just begun.