Dragon's Blood
by Jane Yolen
Jakkin was born into bond, in service in the great dragon barns of Master Sarkkhan. The key to his freedom was a fighting dragon of his own, a skilled and deadly beast that could triumph in the dragon pits which lay beneath the Rock. But that was a distant dream - until the day Jakkin stole a hatchling, and found himself the proud possessor of a dragon among dragons, a true fighting red, a terrifying beast – and Jakkin’s dearest friend. Dragon’s Blood – the opening saga of a richly detailed fantasy introducing the most spectacular denizens of all the wide galaxy: the fighting dragons of Austar IV.
