Dragon Steel – Laurence Yep

Then, as the cries grew louder, the krakens picked up speed and dove into the sheltering darkness. Dragons plummeted past us so fast that I couldn’t count all of them. Suddenly a light flared into life some twenty meters below. One of the dragons must have ripped the cover from a torch and the chemicals had ignited with the water. I could count a dozen dragons dropping like daggers through the water after the fleeing krakens.

Thorn wriggled by my snout urgently. “We should escape. Change yourself into something.” “They gave the war cry of our clan, though.” I waved him away from my face. [118] An embarrassed Indigo wriggled back now that it was safe. “More than likely they are from your clan. The common folk get the dirtiest and most dangerous jobs—like fighting the krakens.” I stared into the darkness after the tiny sun that marked the dragons now. The sun whirled and darted as if there were a tremendous battle going on below.

“I haven’t even thought about the rest of my clan since we got here.” I wagged my head guiltily from side to side. “My poor, poor people.” Indigo watched the battle below. “The question is: What will they think of you now?” She had a point. No more daydreams of grand welcomes for me.

From now on, I was going to be a hard-snouted realist. “I’m not sure how loyal I’d be after all these years of neglect.” I motioned for them to go on. “Maybe you’d better go off a little way until I’m sure.” “Too late.” Thorn said. “They’re coming.” The dragons, fresh from their victory over the krakens, rose up all around us like deadly flowers suddenly sprouting up from black soil.

These weren’t the toy soldiers of the palace with their gold-tipped claws and plumed helmets, but fight- ers. Some looked like grizzled veterans hundreds [119] of years old while others seemed to be newly hatched—and yet all of them bore some kind of scars. One of them, wearing the disk with the trian- gular mark of a sergeant, swam forward.

“I know that face.” She fumbled in the pouch slung over one shoulder and took out a torch of reeds. Hold- ing it in front of her carefully, she ripped off the covering. It flared instantly into life and I blinked my eyes against the sudden bright light. I brought my good paw up to shield my eyes. “Have a care. I’m not some mummy in a mau- soleum that you’re staring at.” The sergeant pulled back the torch slightly.

I couldn’t help noticing that she was missing one steel-tipped claw. “And that tone.”

Copyright © 1985 by Laurence Yep No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Manufactured in the United Kingdom by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. For information address HarperCollins Children’s Books, a division of HarperCollins Publishers, 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022. Designed by Al Cetta Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Yep, Laurence.

Dragon steel. Summary: To free her clan from slavery at underwater forges, the dragon princess Shimmer and her human companion Thorn combat the Dragon King’s jealousy and treachery. {1. Dragons—Fiction. 2. Fantasy.] I. Title. PZ7.Y44Dqn 1985 [Fic] 84-48338 ISBN 0-06-026748-8 ISBN 0-06-026751-8 (lib. bdg.) ISBN 0-06-440486-2 (pbk.) First Harper Trophy edition, 1993. To Jo, who has already traveled far PRO O14 UE Thorn had saved the Princess’s life, Though only a human boy. He’d stood beside her with his knife And followed her with joy.

Monster and maze they did outwit, Desert they did travel, To catch the evil Civet And break her wicked spell. The Inland Sea was once so fair, We dragons the noblest. Our treasures were beyond compare, Our kings and queens the proudest. Then Civet stole the Inland Sea And took the shining flood. And we lived on others’ charity Though it went against our blood. Old Monkey knew all sorts of magic Clever, clever Monkey He bragged he’d catch Civet with a trick And end her evil spree.

He drugged the Princess so she’d sleep So he could hog the glory; But he only made us dragons weep At his treachery. Monkey thought he was so wise. He thought he was so clever. But Civet saw through his disguise And did him one trick better. She loosed the waters of our home, Upon a helpless city, Leaving the Princess in the foam With the mighty Monkey.

Then Civet: changed into a mist With the power of a stone. Beyond the grasp of claw or fist, She rose up all alone. So Monkey flew to the dragons’ ocean, Not for pleasure, not for fun. Into his head he’d gotten a notion To “borrow” the High King’s cauldron. He’d boil away the water, was his boast, And save the situation. Among heroes he’d be the foremost. He’d add to his reputation. But the Princess and Thorn flew through the air To slay or to be slain.

And Thorn tricked the Witch within her lair Into swallowing a chain. Many a dragon would have hated. Many a dragon killed. Their anger could not go unsated, Their vengeance unfulfilled. But the Princess’s anger left her heart When she heard the Civet’s story. Instead she took Civet’s part And felt only pity. So the Princess left the Witch’s mountain With Thorn upon her back And flying over the desert again, She took the windy track.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 321f1fbd3cb09d63
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 9,451,519 bytes (9.014 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• ISBN: 0060267488, 0060267518, 0064404862
• Pages: 295
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 271.45 minutes
• Total Words: 54,290
• Total Characters: 296,819
• Average Words per Page: 184.03
• Average Characters per Page: 1006.17

Most Frequent Words

thorn (307), one (236), like (226), indigo (208), back (168), monkey (164), head (146), now (142), don’t (137), around (137), water (116), away (113), sergeant (105), it’s (103), time (101), see (98), didn’t (96), said (95), little (95), sea (94), began (94), paw (92), think (89), looked (89), toward (88), dragon (87), right (85), seemed (84), even (83), take (83), lord (81), dragons (80), way (79), long (78), lieutenant (77), first (73), still (73), know (73), let (73), two (72), get (71), well (70), against (69), mage (69), tried (67), going (66), grand (66), claws (65), took (62), eyes (62), clan (61), though (61), felt (61), light (60), help (60), almost (60), guard (60), moment (59), hole (59), thought (56), make (56), old (54), saw (54), couldn’t (53), uncle (53), high (52), better (52), look (52), another (52), sambar (52), much (52), myself (51), gave (50), made (49), i’m (49), held (49), flower (49), door (48), legs (47), civet (45), never (45), someone (44), face (44), pearl (44), flowers (44), left (43), something (43), enough (43), floor (43), home (42), behind (42), side (42), hand (42), cell (42), palace (41), tail (41), swam (41), room (41), people (40), already (40).

PDF Download