45. Forty-Two

Forty-Two

L ily flew north, keeping her eyes on the mountain. It looked like any ordinary mountain with a rock face. But when she turned and began flying south, she couldn't believe her eyes. By turning to a different angle, she could see openings. Some were just small holes big enough for birds to roost, but there were dozens of caves large enough for dragons. Somehow, from the southern side, none of the cliffs were visible. But coming from the north, she could see them all. The closer she flew, the more caves became visible on the mountain side.

She landed on one of the cliff edges and walked into the cave. There was nothing spectacular about it, or the next one. Or the one after. Did Liam find whatever they were looking for? And why would he be searching caves in the first place? Was there a secret entrance they sought? Perhaps they were trying to get to the hidden people of Vasha.

Shaking her head, she turned to leave the eighth cave she'd entered. It was futile searching all of them without knowing what to look for.

But something caught the corner of her eye.

Her brows dipped. There was a pile of rocks. What had it been she saw?

It was the one rock that looked slightly out of place. It was the same shade and had the same striations as the red-gray stones surrounding it and was just bigger than a watermelon. All of the stones in the pile had the same weather-worn grayish black streaks from years of rain, and there were even fluffy lumps of lichen fading to brown. But there were lumps on this rock.

Lily walked over and placed her hand on it, rubbing her thumb over one of the lumps. It felt like gritty sand, but none flaked off.

She shook her head and turned to leave, only to be halted when she heard a crack.

She slowly turned and looked at the rock.

There was another crack, which spread across the entire surface and send the outer shell of bumpy shapes and lichen to the ground. Lily withdrew her hand and gasped.

Sitting in the pile of rocks was a beautiful brown and gold dragon egg.