Chapter 8

The giant Wurm stared hungrily at the heroes, and finally pulled the rest of itself out of the ground. Its razor sharp fangs glinted in the noon sunlight, and it howled, sounding like a pack of wolves. Gatreng thought, trying to remember all he knew about the beasts. Suddenly he grinned. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he let out a piercing call. A shadow blanketed the whole party as a huge yellow dragon descended. The Wurm squealed in terror as it tried to crawl back down its tunnel- too slowly to escape its
 only natural predator. The dragon grabbed it firmly by the neck, and rose into the sky. Seconds later, the dragon landed again, looking plump. It inclined its massive head to Gatry, saying "Hello again, Gatreng. Long time no see." Paul and Zira gaped. They had not known that dragons were able to talk. "It's okay, guys." Gatry called. "This is Eingana. She prefers to be called Gana, though." Paul slowly unfroze. "W-where did she come from? How do you know her?" Gatry and Gana laughed. "When I was a hatchling," she began, "I was always picked on for being the smallest." Zira smiled. "You're kidding." Gana pretended to be shocked. "Honestly! I was barely 10 feet long. My siblings kicked me out of the nest, and I was wandering the Waste when Gatry found me. He rescued me from bandits who were going to make some dragon stew." She shuddered."I traveled with him for a month, and that's where I learned how to speak." Paul raised his hand. "Um, I have a question." he said. "How did you eat the Wurm so fast?" Gana dropped to all fours, and smoke billowed out of her mouth as she began to growl.