The Dragonslayer's Heart: The Dragon Seed Series: Book Two of Four by Resa Nelson

Author:Resa Nelson [Nelson, Resa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-01-08T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 13

Many years ago, Pingzi had met Fiera, the Goddess of Fire, when she lived in the shape of the Imperial Dragon. Pingzi knew from experience that she could trust the goddess.

Without hesitation, Pingzi accepted Fiera’s outstretched hand.

Pingzi felt no fear when the world around her turned as black as a clouded night. But moments later when that blackness dissipated to reveal a realm she’d never seen before, Pingzi felt awkward.

They stood in a busy marketplace. Hundreds of grand stone buildings fanned out before Pingzi, and she noticed that they surrounded the marketplace like spokes on a wheel. Down one of the spoke-like avenues, one building gleamed like silver.

A few men in black cloaks walked through the marketplace toward the avenue leading toward the silver building.

Pingzi started at the sight, because their bodies were made of stone, wood, and earth. Still clasping Fiera’s hand, Pingzi tightened her grip.

Fiera wrenched her hand free and waved at the strange men. “You there! Where is the All-Father?”

The men paused and stared. One of them said, “You don’t belong here.”

“I have business with your gods.” Fiera hissed, and fire flicked from her mouth.

Another man counseled his peers. “Looks like a dragon god to me. I say we keep moving.”

“Fine,” Fiera said. She brushed away a few black ashes that had landed at the corners of her mouth. “We’ll follow you.” She gave them a quick once-over. “I suppose you’re headed toward the hall of the dead. I believe that’s where the All-Father keeps quarters.”

One of the men growled. “There’s no place for your kind here. Go back to your mortals and their Far East.”

Fiera clucked as if scolding hens for laying too few eggs. “Every god and goddess have the right to walk in this realm. If you fail to understand the ways of your own gods, I’m sure the All-Father can set you straight.”

The men argued with each other for so long that Pingzi lost her fear of them. She eased a step closer and stared openly at them. The way the pieces of each man floated in place fascinated her.

One of the men noticed and pointed her out to his peers. “That one’s up to no good. I say we go home. If they follow, it’s the problem of the gods, not ours.”

After nodding in agreement, the dead men continued their march onto an avenue bordered with tall and wide stone buildings that towered as high as canyon walls. They walked until they arrived at a stone building. Its wide marble steps led to a large brass door, into which designs of dragons and men had been forged. Tall urns lined the exterior walls on either side of the door.

One dead man opened the door. It revealed a grand foyer of walls decorated with swords, daggers, and axes hung in starburst patterns. Beyond the foyer, crowds of men laughed, ate, and sang in a massive dining hall.

Each of the dead men that Pingzi and Fiera had followed went to a stone urn, climbed onto its edge, and then removed every piece of his body, feet first.

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.