Dragon Blood by Elana A. Mugdan

Author:Elana A. Mugdan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Dragons, fantasy, magic, YA fantasy, young adult, epic fantasy, adventure, sword & sorcery, magic powers, fantasy series, magical creatures, juvenile fiction, first in series, The Shadow War Saga, Dragon Speaker, Dragon Child, Dragon Blood, Dragon War, Dragon Empress
Publisher: Shivnath Productions
Published: 2020-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

“There are grand victories to be won in small gestures.”

~ Tanger Demasces, Fifth Age

“Small one, awaken.”

Keriya stirred. She turned her head and found Kraken looming over her. Keeping a firm grip on Sethildras, she turned to face him. Her brain was empty, numbed by the mindcloak, and she felt as if she were awakening from hibernation. How long had she been asleep?

“I have reached a decision,” Kraken announced. “I will accept the offer of your Moorfainian enemies in exchange for Shivnath’s missed payments. Additionally, I will let you return to Allentria in exchange for facilitating this agreement.”

Relief and guilt warred within Keriya. She let none of her turmoil show on her face. To hide any upset that might shine through the cracks in her strength, she bowed to Kraken.

“Shivnath and Allentria thank you,” she said.

“I’m sure they do,” he sneered. “I want no trouble with the binding laws. If you do not make good on your end of our pact, you will regret it for the rest of your miserable—and short—existence.”

“I’ll take care of it,” Keriya promised, though she had no idea how she possibly could. She didn’t know what the binding laws actually were, and she wasn’t certain Shivnath would agree to this arrangement. Maybe the dragon had broken her end of the original bargain because she’d realized how terrible it was. Maybe she’d never made it in the first place, and Kraken was lying.

If that was the case—and Keriya desperately wanted to believe it was—then she was digging herself into a dangerous, un-payable debt.

Since Kraken could see none of the troubling thoughts flitting through Keriya’s head, he grunted in acceptance and held out a tentacle. Recognizing this as a mirror to the Allentrian handshake custom, Keriya grasped the tip of the proffered appendage. They shook on their deal.

“The next order of business is to take you to Allentria, so you may inform Shivnath of our arrangement.” Kraken moved the same tentacle to take hold of her body, but Keriya shied away. “What’s wrong? Aren’t you anxious to return?”

“Yes, but the ship you attacked . . . many of my friends were on there.” Actually, her only friends were on there. Viran, Endred, and Cezon were the last friends she had in the world. Much as she needed to return to Allentria, she first had to make sure they were safe. “I need to find them. Then we’ll go to Allentria together.”

“Will you reach it before the Moorfainians?” Kraken demanded. “In time to solidify our deal?”

“My friends are taking me to the Smarlands, near Shivnath’s Mountains. I’ll talk to her as soon as I’m home.” She wasn’t sure this would be possible, but Kraken seemed mollified. Again he reached out, and this time Keriya let him slip his arm around her.

“Then I shall transport you to your ship. Humans are useless underwater, so we’ll have to do this the fun way,” he announced, blinking at Keriya. Perhaps if he’d had more than one eye, it would have been a wink.

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.