Declaimer's Flight (The Spoken Books Uprising, #3) by D. T. Kane

Author:D. T. Kane
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: epic fantasy, magic spells, epic fantasy for adults, magic spells books, fantasy adventure fiction, quest fantasy books, dragon books for adults
Publisher: D. T. Kane
Published: 2022-06-16T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

BAZ KNEW FROM EROMÉR that there were other Book Dragons, but he’d never really given it much thought.

“You mean, there’s more than one of them?” Deliritous asked.

“I made many Book Dragons,” the Enigma said before Tessa could fling an insult at Deliritous. “At one point, there were well over a hundred.”

Baz scrunched up his nose at that. Hadn’t the Enigma just said for every successful Book Dragon, at least five had died? Spilled ink! The Enigma had tried to make himself out as compassionate for ceasing his experiments, but the number of creatures he must have killed before doing so was horrifying. He could be single handedly responsible for the lack of dragons in Oration today.

“But how many remain?” the Enigma continued, mouth growing thin. “I cannot be sure. Eighteen lost their lives defending this Library against the Seven, and thirty-seven have died in the years since. A few to old age and battles with Fire Breathers, but mostly to poachers.” This last word he spat like a curse. “And it is possible, though not very likely, there are others I don’t know about. I keep track of them closely, but even I don’t know everything.”

Rather than seeming uncomfortable at the thought of dozens of Book Dragons, there was what seemed to be a hungry glimmer in Deliritous’s eyes. “Can they all fight like the one that brought us here?”

“If you mean Eromér, no. They certainly don’t fight like him.”

“Ah,” Deliritous said, the light in his eyes fading somewhat. “That’s too—”

“They fight far better. Eromér’s strength was never in battle.”

“Better?” Deliritous asked, disbelieving.

“Oh, yes.” The Enigma nodded his head, his shoulders set like those of a proud parent. “A dozen Book Dragons could level an entire city if they put their minds to it. But Tessa, I warn you. The Book Dragons have remained absent from the affairs of men since the Burning. I do not think Penlore will aid you. He was surly even before the shelves fell, and so far as I know he has neither left his home nor even taken flight since the Seven were imprisoned.”

“He will give his aid,” Tessa said, an excited gleam still in her eyes. “Penlore Darkflight owes me a blood debt and vowed to fulfill it.”

The Enigma raised his brows at that. “Indeed?”

“Indeed,” Tessa confirmed.

“Excellent,” Deliritous said. “The look on my father’s face when we—”

“We?” Tessa interrupted. “There is no we, Hoarder. You will not be coming with us.”

“Like the Elsewhere I’m not,” Deliritous snapped back. “You’ll need someone familiar with Erstwhile’s layout, someone who can get you around without being noticed.”

“I have contacts in Erstwhile,” Tessa said. “They’ve provided me maps aplenty.”

Deliritous snorted. “There’s no way you have a complete picture. There are secrets in that city none but Readers know. Tunnels beneath its streets that haven’t been used openly in hundreds of years. Secret doorways, escape routes, hidden guard posts. You need me, woman.”

“We will have the might of the Book Dragons behind us,” Tessa said, face showing her to be totally unconvinced.

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