Chosen for Power: Dragon Gate, Book 4 by Buroker Lindsay

Author:Buroker, Lindsay
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lindsay Buroker
Published: 2021-12-24T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

When Jak and Zethron climbed out onto the deck, Malek was waiting for them while Tonovan stood nearby, glowering down at the man on the paddleboat. He’d stopped waving his flag, and he wasn’t looking up at them. A thump came from the door that he’d barred. He darted behind an upturned lifeboat mounted near the railing and started untying it. It was far too large for him to maneuver into the water by himself.

“I’m ready,” Jak said.

Malek pulled out the two bronze skullcaps the natives had given them. They’d looked like metal on people’s heads, but they were surprisingly malleable. He handed one to Jak and one to Zethron, who breathed a sigh of relief and tugged it on over his hair.

Jak didn’t know if Zethron was superstitious and had adopted the natives’ beliefs about their importance without having seen any evidence that they did anything, or if he had a better idea of how they protected people than he’d let on. But Malek, who had presumably been checking his thoughts, didn’t indicate that he’d learned any great secrets.

Jak removed his father’s hat and affixed the cap underneath it. Just in case.

“Those protect against magic or some such?” Tonovan asked. “And you’re giving them to our most expendable people?”

Jak rolled his eyes, positive that if it were put to a vote, everyone on the ship would unanimously agree that Tonovan was the most expendable person.

“You and I ought to be able to protect ourselves from any threats that appear.” Malek leaped over the railing, dropped thirty feet, and landed in a crouch on the deck of the paddleboat.

The man whirled toward him, his eyes wide, and whipped out a dagger. Jak sensed Malek raising a barrier around himself, but the man only crouched defensively. He didn’t rush forward to attack. With his clothing ripped and bloody gashes visible, he barely looked like he could stand.

Malek twitched a finger, and Zethron levitated into the air, gasping a protest and flailing his arms. Tonovan snorted and sprang over the railing, falling past him, though he used his magic to slow his descent and soften his landing. He might be nearly as powerful as Malek, but he didn’t have the zidarr enhancements that made his body stronger and more resilient than a normal human’s.

The hatch clanged open behind Jak, and he turned with a frown. He’d shut it so nothing could get out of—or into—the ship.

Shikari’s head appeared. He shouldn’t have been able to climb a ladder, but he kept proving that he could. His talons scraped on the metal hatch frame as he pulled himself out and plopped down on the deck. Wings flexing and tail swishing, he trotted toward Jak.

“You can’t come this time.” Jak held up his hands. “Mother said it’s too dangerous for you.”

Shikari looked up at a cloud of insects buzzing nearby, each one as large as Jak’s fist. This world didn’t seem to enjoy any normal-sized bugs.

“If you’re hungry, I’ll bring you something later. This shouldn’t take long.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.