Books For Young Adults

Sam ran into a huge cavern that was filled with sunlight, and on the far side was the cave exit! She and Patch raced to it and stopped a few feet away. A thin, wispy waterfall fell past the outside opening.

“It’s like a wavy, moving window, Patch.” Sam carefully inched through the spray of the waterfall. She was getting soaked and her glasses were fogged from the mist. She quickly rubbed the lenses clear with the dry cuff of her jacket and peered over the shear ledge. “Wow. We’re really high up, boy, and I don’t see a way down.”

“You are three thousand, four hundred, twenty-two feet, and one-quarter inch above the Green Sea, to be exact.” The voice was deep and the words were spoken with perfect diction.

Sam whirled around at the sound of the unexpected voice. She spied something hidden in the shadows, sitting on top of a tall rock column. She brushed her long, wet hair off her face and peered into the dark, trying to figure out who or what had spoken.

A giant head with short legs? Or maybe no legs! It was the oddest-looking creature she’d ever seen. She could make out two large horns curling back, and scaly skin. Its large red eyes were set far back from the tip of its long, pointy nose.

The head stirred and moved upward. Sam’s mouth dropped open. Whoa! The head is attached to a neck as long as a giraffe’s. Heavy footsteps pounded and shook the cavern floor. The giant, bright red form moved into the light, and shuffled toward her.

It’s got four scaly legs with claws and wings like a bat’s! Sam stumbled backward until she was stopped by the cave wall. Her heart pounded as she watched the creature draw closer. Patch jumped into her arms and ducked his nose under the crook of her elbow.

A dragon. It’s a DRAGON!

Sam’s mind whirled trying to come up with some way to escape. They’d have to jump through the waterfall or run back into the caves.

“Who…are you?” Sam asked meekly.

“I am Telegu the Magnificent, the Exalted Ruler of the Black Dragons and the Gate Guardian to the World of Bergeron,” he declared with a very precise clip to his voice. “I am the most intelligent, most handsome, and most fierce of all that exist.” He fanned his wings, ruffled his iridescent red scales in a flash of dazzling color, and flared his nostrils. “Am I not stupendous?” he asked as he looked down his long nose with an air of superiority.

“Well…yes. Yes, you are.” Sam was scared, and she didn’t want to be rude, but she had never met anyone as full of himself as this Telegu creature. Then she realized that if he was really the guardian of the gate, she would have to get his permission to pass. He might be her only chance of finding her way home.