The Dragon Egg Saga. Stephen Lindsay J.

fire and start to burn slow and steady. He hands one to Melissa and the other to Clay. “Are we ready?”

      The group looks at one another. Melissa nods, followed by Clay. Karl returns their nod with one of his own. He bends down and takes up his sword in his right hand. In his left, he holds up the torch. “Right. I’ll lead. You two stay close behind me. Whatever’s in there, we use the torches to keep it in sight.”

      There is no need for them to respond. It is as good a plan as they can expect to have, given the fact that they had no idea what they were dealing with.

      Karl steps around the first of the broken grills, swallowing hard. His eyes and ears strain; listening for either the hissing or skittering sounds. He’s hoping to locate them without having to see them first. Experience has proven that if you rely too much on sight, by the time you see what you’re looking for, it’s probably too late.

      Ahead of him he can just barely start to make out the open archway leading into the Garden Center. Two steps later, the archway is clearly visible, and that causes Karl to freeze in his tracks.