The Land of Dragons

Chapter 17

After Chapter 16

A man was crouching behind a bush, looking at a small clearing and another bush next to a big tree trunk. He was waiting for something. When the bush began shaking, he smiled under his hood and grabbed the basket on the ground next to him.

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Yes! We're out! We can go home! Lando was thinking as he climbed out through the trapdoor. He was so happy to be outside again! He lay down on the soft grass and closed his eyes, enjoying the warm rays of the afternoon sun.

The others followed suit and in a minute, all six of them were sprawled around a big tree trunk and the bush which was hiding the trapdoor.

Pierre opened his eyes and looked around. He saw the bush and the tree trunk, and farther, some more bushes were scattered across what seemed like a clearing in a forest. The trees were growing close to each other and the forest seemed rather creepy to be there after dark.

Wait... Where are we? a thought suddenly occured to him. Dread began creeping over him as he looked at the forest again. I have a feeling that we are not anywhere near home yet... he thought.

Just as he was about to tell everyone about this, a person in a brown cloak rose from behind a nearby bush. His face was hidden by the big hood he wore.

The youngsters leapt to their feet, suspiciously watching the brown cloak approach them. Without a word, the person gave each of them something that was shaped like an egg and was the size of a man's two fists. Then he turned and disappeared behind the bush without any trace.

"Well, that was odd..." Pierre broke the silence, staring at the bush where the mysterious person had vanished.

"Yeah." Max agreed, then the silence continued.

"What kind of eggs are these?" Charles asked. The eggs were coloured differently, but they still looked quite similar.

Lando crouched down and imitated sitting on the egg.

"That's definitely a Lando egg!" Carlos laughed, finally breaking the awkward mood. At that moment, Lando leapt to his feet again.

"Whoa! That egg was moving!" he exclaimed, making Carlos laugh even harder.

Lando sat back on the egg, only to jump again.

"Again! There's something in it!" he said.

"Don't you think it moved because you sat on it?" Carlos asked him.

"Come and try it yourself!" Lando challenged. Carlos sat down reluctantly.

Nothing happened. Carlos began humming a song to show that he's bored. The next moment, a high-pitched squeaking voice joined him.

"What?" Carlos looked at the egg in his hands in disbelief. Pierre gave him a questioning look. He had thought Carlos was only pulling Lando's leg but as it turned out, he really didn't believe the Brit.

That sound came definitely from that egg, Pierre and Alex thought at the same time.

Whatever was inside made a sound that sounded exactly like it was laughing at Carlos. Lando absolutely loved it.

"See, it's laughing at you!" he smiled. "I told you there's something in the eggs!"

Carlos stood up and was still staring at his egg in disbelief. But... if Lando's and Carlos' has something inside, then what about the others? Charles thought.

He sat down and put the egg on the grass in front of him. A quiet knocking noise came from inside. Knock-knock, knocked Charles. Knock-knock, came the answer. Pierre smiled as he saw them. They did look cute.

Max also sat down with his egg in front of him. He warily pushed it. The egg fell over, then tilted back upright. Max pulled his hand back quickly. The monsters he encountered in the past few days had made him feel insecure about any new creatures. Still, he gathered his courage and gently pushed the egg again. The result was the same, with a funny chirping noise from inside. Max smiled and pushed it a bit harder. It turned upright again and by then its inhabitant sounded so happy it actually made Max laugh.

Alex had put the egg on his lap but it tilted and fell off. He put it back but it fell off again. This time, he placed it in a more stable position. The egg jumped to the ground again. No joke, it really looked like it was jumping.

"Okay, then stay there." Alex told the egg. It responded by chirping and rolling back to the Thai's leg.

"You want to come back up?" Alex asked. He felt a bit silly talking to an egg. However, it clearly understood what he said. The egg chirped happily at the prospect of getting back onto Alex's lap. Alex laughed and lifted it back on his lap.

The dark blue egg chirped cautiously and tilted a little bit. Then it chirped a bit louder and tilted even more. Alex knew what was going to happen. The next time the egg tilted, it fell off. The Thai rolled his eyes as he put it back again but inside he was smiling. He knew he wouldn't be free from this egg until it would decide to leave him alone. He was a bit surprised to realise that actually he was quite happy about it.

Carlos had finally accepted that there were some kind of creatures in the eggs - his was apparently very good in mimicking sounds. The Spaniard was humming a song and the egg chirped along with him. Soon, they could even do duettes.

Lando's egg seemed just as annoying as the Brit when he was tired or bored. He tried to catch it but it turned out to be a lot harder than he had thought. The egg always managed to roll and actually jump away from his hand at the last moment. Considering that it was an egg, it was surprisingly agile. Lando chased it around the others, trying to make an annoyed face when he saw Carlos looking at him. However, the Spaniard couldn't be fooled. He knew all too well that Lando was enjoying every bit of the egg-chasing game.

Pierre also sat down and put the egg on the ground. Just as he did it, a big, eagle-like bird swooped down from the sky. Oh, what if it's coming for the egg? Pierre realised and grabbed the sky-blue egg. The bird's talons were only centimeters away from ripping Pierre's hand into pieces. The Frenchman looked at the leaving bird. His heart was racing.That was close!

The egg seemed to appreciate his efforts in saving its life and snuggled deep into Pierre's lap, chirping gratefully. He looked down and smiled, although he was furiously trying to find some logic in the brown-cloaked man's actions.

These moving eggs are funny and cute all right, but why on earth did he give them to us?

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Did you think it was the end of the story? Well, you're lucky, we're only just past halfway ;)

P.s.: I'm not sure how can eggs jump around, but it seemed far more funny this way ^^

Edited 14.04.2024