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Chapter 1

The hatchling tasted his first air Cool and dry coeness set him aquiver

He had only just discovered a neorld in the sloakening, one so different from the muted patterns and colors,in his dark little space, drowsing and drea noises had woken him He’d suddenly hated the enclosure in which he’d floated for so long Instinctively, he tried to uncurl his long neck He had jerked his chin upward, feeling the growth on his nose strike the inner surface of the hard cocoon Three more taps, and the shell had cracked

The air relayed so ave a tiny snort

He wiggled his nose and widened the hole When he could get his snout well out and open hisalth of his back, filled entirely with air Its zest, the new sensation of his lungs inflating and deflating, invigorated hien to his bloodstream He pulled his head back, and the sawtooth on his still-wet nose opened the egg further Now he could get his head out

The light, di sounds and a deep, rhyth above roused his curiosity Determined, he turned his head

A presence, huge and green, lay curled around hier enclosure of rock and shadow Another casing, er than the first? Echoes played off the hard stone, chasing each other through the great space

He wriggled his head free Now he could use his neck to look around A nasty drop hung before hiths beloo shapes writhed; both had necks like his, with equally long tails projecting out of their hindquarters Identical in every aspect save color, they pushed and clawed at each other using four stubby legs Theirsharp white teeth, and atop their snouts stood sawtooths just like the one he’d used to poke his way out of his shell Both the co their necks One of the hatchlings was a rich ruby color, and it sank its teeth into the coppery opponent, rending flesh anda plaintive cry

Soe of their eyes and forehead put hie

He longed to join this contest He uncoiled his body; his fractured egg was no th It separated, and he twisted over so he could crawl

The crack of the egg opening interrupted the red hatchling in its triu and looked up In the flick of an eye, it scuttled to the rock face and began to climb toward him

He did not wait to e of the shelf to get it on the way up, instinctively wanting the advantage of the high ground

A wet slipperiness slowed hi froht in it Frenzied, he tore at it with his rear liue If he felt pain, the desire to get at the other crested hatchling se just as the red’s head appeared Its shining slit-pupil eyes widened as it saw him come to push it back down

But the red was strong, stronger It got its thick shoulders tucked under his narrower ones and e of the precipice They faced each other,battle with little squawks of fury

He forgot the cave, forgot the giant green presence behind his He went for the red crest, to shove it off the ledge and put an end to it