Dragons Rising Books One-Three by Alisha Klapheke

Author:Alisha Klapheke [Klapheke, Alisha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780999831458
Published: 2020-06-10T22:00:00+00:00

The sea darkened near the Watcher’s abode. Water in shades of the deepest green flowed through a forest of salt mushrooms, whose muddy stalks and bright crowns towered over a twisting pathway crowded with transparent albino eels.

As Ryton slowed and sank to the sea floor to walk, the eels scattered, their strange orange beaks clacking. He passed under an archway of pitted coral, a dead structure that wouldn’t grow larger with time but would become brittle and eventually be carried away by the tides. Not that the currents had much pull down here, in this ditch of a place.

It was quiet, Ryton could appreciate that, but the murky, stale water made it impossible to tell if the shapes floating overhead were detached seaweed or the ghosts of fallen sea folk.

He’d only seen one such spirit in his life, not long after his sister Selene had been killed by the dragons. A pale figure, limbs disturbingly elongated, had drifted past his front door. He had simultaneously hoped it was Selene and prayed it was not. At the time, grief had made him desperate to see her face again, to bid her farewell, to hear her tease him as all siblings do, but he could not stomach the thought that she’d become a distorted ghost.

He hoped and prayed to the Source that she was at peace in her new form, a bright energy suffusing the sea with hope and laughter.

Now, he pushed away the ache of losing Selene to dragons so he could focus on what he would say to the Watcher.

“I hear General Ryton approaching.” The Watcher’s ragged voice echoed from the sea cave through the dusky water.

Did she have guests often? Ryton swallowed, wondering if he should have an excuse to cover his visit if someone close to the queen were present.

He entered the mouth of the Watcher’s home, keeping his spear lowered. The crone stood over a bowl similar to the one she’d used for scrying in the palace. The sides were steeper than that one though, and a dip along the rim showed the well-worn spot where the Watcher had gripped the edge for the many, many years she had lived and prophesied.

Seaweed unspooled from the walls and ceiling of the cave. Their long leaves cast a peculiar glow over the Watcher’s pinched face and the empty places where her eyes had once been. He wondered again if the story about her blinding was true.

“How can I help you, dear general?” The Watcher’s voice was a whisper.

Chills snaked down Ryton’s back as he set his spear against the wall. He approached with a polite bow. The water flowing closer to the bowl was cold, and it twisted oddly into the vessel, the stone depths catching the cave’s glow and distorting a reflection of the Watcher’s ancient face.

“I come,” he said, “asking for a miracle.”

“It is so cold… Dragons of shifting light…” She muttered nonsense until her words became mere sounds and noises.

Ryton didn’t know whether to interrupt or stand politely for a while longer.

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.