The Elf , the Egg , and the Almost - Dragon Content . Young Iori spent her nights listening to her grandfather ' s stories about the ancient dragons and her days searching the nearby swamps for signs of the legendary creatures . Once she bought back a bright , shiny scale she was convinced belong to a dragon . Her grandfather said it was nothing but a piece of wamasu hide and cuffed her for going too far away from the house . But that didn ' t discourage Iori . She wanted to find a dragon , so she kept searching . Iori strayed further and further from her grandparents ' hut until , one day , she got caught in a rainstorm . She took cover in a nearby cave but found the floor full of brackish water . Picking her way around the pool , Iori made it to the back of the cave and came upon something she ' d never expected to see — a large , green egg ! The egg , half - buried in warm mud , pulsed with life . Iori knew it had to be a dragon egg . All her grandpa ' s stories said dragon eggs were big , and hard , and warm . This egg was very , very warm . And it was alone . There was no sign of the mother dragon , or anyone else . Iori knew if the egg hatched now , there would be no one to take care of the baby dragon and it would die . " I can ' t bring it back home , " she said . " Gram ' ll want to smash it , or cook it ! " Her gram didn ' t believe in dragons and eggs , in her world , were food . " I can ' t stay here , either , " she thought about the hiding she ' d get if she came back after dark . " What am I going to do ? " Iori sat and thought while the rain poured down . " The storm ' s getting worse , " she thought . " I can ' t go back now — I ' ll just get lost or sick . Gram ' ll understand . " And , so , Iori convinced herself she should stay overnight . And she did . The next morning , Iori woke to the sun shining in the cave mouth . She was famished , as hungry as she ' d ever been , but her first thoughts were of the egg . Iori dug it out of its warm , mud nest and examined it . The egg was hot ! " It must be just ready to hatch ! " she exclaimed . But almost as if in answer , she heard a growl from outside the cave . " Maybe that ' s the mother dragon ? " she thought . But the thought of being trapped in a dragon cave didn ' t make her feel good at all . Iori heard the growl again , followed by sniffing . It wasn ' t a dragon outside ! It was a guar ! Picking up the egg with one hand and a stone with the other , Iori crept out of the cave . There , she saw a wild guar , nose to the ground . It saw her and sniffed . " You can ' t have it ! " Iori exclaimed , throwing the rock at the guar . It hit the creature right in the nose , hard enough to make it yelp . But this guar wasn ' t like the tame ones back home . She ' d never heard a tame one snarl , and this one started pawing at the ground angrily . Iori ran . The guar chased her a little way and the young girl grew frightened . She clutched the egg to her chest , protecting it from the tree branches and the occasional fall . She ran long after the guar gave up chasing her , she was so frightened . Eventually , when Iori was too tired to run anymore , she fell to her knees . " I think we ' re safe , little dragon , " she said — but then gasped in horror . She looked down at the egg and there was a crack ! " Oh , no ! " Iori wailed . She must have held it too tight , or let a branch hit it . Or — Another crack appeared , and then another . The shell started to fall away , being pushed from the inside . " You ' re hatching ! " Iori said . She looked around wildly , not sure what to do . She stooped to put the egg down but then hesitated — what if the dragon ran away ? But she didn ' t want to hurt it , either , so she sat cross - legged and made a hammock out of her dirty apron . Iori put the egg in her lap . It continued to shake and break and , soon , a dragon ' s nose poked out of the hole ! It was bright green and a bit slimy - looking , but the eyes opened and looked up at her . A forked tongue licked out of the wedge - shaped head and Iori felt a rush of excitement . The dragon was hatching ! The rest of the egg broke away , but Iori was surprised to see the " dragon " had no claws — no feet or legs of any kind . It was a snake , but a snake with tiny wings . Most of her friends would ' ve been horrified , holding a baby snake in their laps , but Iori was amazed . She ' d heard stories of dragons , but never a snake with wings ! After the creature struggled free of its shell , Iori carefully discarded the shards and put her hands around the winged snake . It was a bit cold , but she felt it grow warmer as it snuggled up in her hands . With sleeping , serpent ' s eyes , the creature looked up at Iori . It blinked twice , then fell asleep . " Well , you ' re almost a dragon , aren ' t you ? "