For all the strong brave horses who have left a hoofprint in my life you spotted beauties all of you K B For Beryl my favorite horse girl A K
Chapter One Paley Dixon had almost earned enough gold to buy a dragon’s egg All she had to do was accomplish three more tasks for the Elder Mage and she would be on her way to Glendel Cave The light from the screen illuminated her face as she spun the wheel on the mouse and directed the Blue Elf toward the Misery Marshes Paley had stayed up all night to get this far Out side the sun began to climb in the sky In-game it was dusk and the Blue Elf was on the move Reeds rustled against her leather pants Gold coins in the pouch at her thigh rattled On the other side of Paley’s bedroom door she heard steps Her mother no doubt pausing to fret at Paley’s door 1
before moving on to wake up Paley’s nine-year old brother in the next room Paley reached for her headphones without taking her eyes from the screen to block out the loud noise her brother would be making soon This part of the game was tricky There were fire snakes The Elder Mage a tall copper-skinned man with a hooked nose and a mane of silver hair held out a piece of parchment The Blue Elf took it in her slender dark fingers and read the message Retrieve twelve hairs from the tail of a golden fox The elf bowed her blue hair like a waterfall She swept it back and turned away from the Mage and toward Paley The graphics were so real that Paley thought she caught the Blue Elf wink at her one sky-blue eye in a face as dark as night Paley winked back as if the Blue Elf were her own reflection even though her own eyes and skin were brown and her real-life ears were definitely not pointy Then the Blue Elf was off again muscles rippling as she raced across the Misery Marshes Paley reached for a bag of chips Empty She balled the foil and tossed it to the floor There was no time to stop for food The faster she got those fox hairs the closer she’d be to her dragon 2
