Read Dragonkeeper 2: Garden of the Purple Dragon for Free Online

left him. She looked around, but the fog was like a blindfold. She called his name and ran into the cave. The little dragon was digging up the bed, scattering pine needles everywhere. Ping rushed to him. He lowered his head, ready for a scolding, but she scooped him up and hugged him, not noticing the spines sticking into her.
    “We’re going to find somewhere else to live,” she said, trying to sound calm.
    She packed the cooking utensils into her leather bag, shoving them in any way they would fit. She collected her precious things and the meagre food store. Then they left the cave. Kai didn’t resist. Though she’d tried to hide it, he could sense her fear.
    “It’s all right,” Ping said. “I’ll look after you.”
    She hoped she sounded convincing.
    Ping hurried away from the cave towards the imperial path that led beneath the Halfway to Heaven Gate. She kept expecting the goat’s killer to loom in front of her at any moment. Hua was at her heels. She broke into a run.
    She reached the imperial path out of breath. She would have preferred to use the smaller animal tracks that only she knew, but they would have been too hard to follow in the fog. Sometimes they zigzagged back the way they had come, sometimes they led to unexpected precipices. They were too dangerous. The imperial path was the only safe way down the mountain. But she felt uncomfortable on it, exposed, though no one could possibly see her through the fog.
    The path plunged steeply down the mountainside and soon turned into steep steps cut into the rock. Ping looked back to convince herself that no one was following her and tripped, falling down six steps. She picked herself up, checked that Kai was all right and set off again. She forced herself to take the steps more slowly. The little dragon was making high-pitched,peeping sounds that made Ping’s head hurt. She couldn’t think. She didn’t have any idea where she was going. She glimpsed human shapes out of the corner of her eye, but when she turned they were just twisted pine trees or rocks looming out of the mist. But the feeling that someone was close by didn’t leave her.
    She made a sudden turn onto a narrow track that led off to the west. It had been made by sheep or goats, but hadn’t been used for some time and grass was overtaking it. She followed it wherever it wanted to lead her.
    The track might be dangerous, but that could be in her favour. No one could cut her off—if there was anyone there, they would have to be behind her. She turned onto a different path and then onto another, hoping that she wasn’t going to end up back where she started. She was glad of the fog to hide in. When she came to a rocky outcrop, she crouched behind a boulder, holding Kai’s jaws shut. She waited, her ears straining for the slightest noise. Hua was listening too. There was no sound. She waited longer, until she was sure there was no one following her.
    She kept going over and over the events of the morning, trying to think of why someone had killed the goat. She could only come up with one answer. Someone had wanted to frighten her. Questions crowded her head. Where would they sleep? What would they eat? How could she get another goat?
    Her gown clung to her skin, wet and heavy. The coldpenetrated her bones. Kai whimpered. She held him close, hoping that some of his body heat would find its way through his scales and warm her. She had planned to walk until sunset, but she was already exhausted.
    Each step was an effort. Her legs ached from the unaccustomed walking. Her arms hurt from carrying Kai. Her head was throbbing from trying to work out what she should do.
    She put Kai down. “Walk in front of me where I can see you.”
    The little dragon was too frightened to wander off. He wanted to keep as close to Ping as possible. Every now and again he suddenly stopped and shape-changed into something—a large leaf, a rabbit, a pile of dung—and Ping tripped over him. She showed him how to