Hatchling

by Toasha Jiordano

  Slowly, as they traded pawns and then bishops and knights, Jimmy began his tale. He told Grandpa James everything he could remember, from finding Ash, to the mountain, and Lhysa being hypnotized by the tattoos. To everyone running from the camp… except Isaac.

  When he got to the part about his birthmark, Grandpa James sucked in a breath and cursed. “We must find that troll. Your destiny cannae pass.” He stopped, shaking his head in disgust.

  “And when he pushed me into the portal he gave me this,” Jimmy said at last, pulling the sun stone from a fold of the animal pelt. “He said to tell you the queen is underground.”

  Grandpa James’s lip quivered. “’Tis worse than I thought.” The words barely made it out before tears fell down the old man’s wrinkled cheeks. They traced a worn line through his birthmark and dripped onto the golden red hairs of his arm.

  “What?” Jimmy asked, though he couldn’t bear to know.

  But Grandpa James ignored him, staring into the pale quiet stone. “We must go back.”

  THE END

  THANK YOU

  Thank you so much for reading the first book of the Saga of Valonde. I hope you enjoyed it. If so, please leave a review here, to help other readers find books they’ll enjoy.

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