Meg handled the egg with oven mitts, but it felt pleasantly warm against Sue’s bare palms. She kissed the shell and felt her dragon stir.

Heavy wings flapped overhead. Joe scrambled down a rope in the well. Flames roared, the rope burned, and he tumbled to the cold water below.

The dragon sniffed the girl tied in front of his cave. She was no maiden. His pact with the village was broken. Now he could eat them all.