Splits a Mountain

She lifted her head to the rising moon, taking a deep, tranquil breath.

Wait. Why was the moon wobbling?

It wasn’t the moon. It was the ground. The ground was shaking, harder and harder, an earthquake trembling through all the veins of the mountain. Peril’s boulder toppled into the ravine and she had to leap into the air, pounding her wings to get as far away from the shuddering hillside as possible.

The other dragons threw themselves aloft, too.

“What’s happening?” Turtle yelled. “Is Jade Mountain falling? Is this the prophecy?”

Peril twisted in the air to look toward the academy. Clay.

But Jade Mountain wasn’t moving. Only this mountain was, and in fact, it was doing more than shaking and dropping giant rocks everywhere.

It was splitting apart.

An enormous crack appeared in the earth, and out of the darkness rose the hugest dragon the world had ever seen. Silver scales glittered in the corners of his eyes and along the underside of his black wings. His bones were visible under his skin; he was long and frighteningly thin, with a narrow handsome face, long twisted horns, and eyes as black as underground caverns.

Escaping Peril Chapter 21