Oath of Dragons (Dawn of the Dragon Riders, #1) by Morgenstern Alex

Author:Morgenstern, Alex
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Dragon rider, Dragons
Publisher: Alex Morgenstern
Published: 2022-02-08T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter XVI – The Halfbreed

Segir groaned in pain. New scratches covered his forearm and head. His ribs ached as if a tree trunk had pushed through them. He clenched his teeth and rolled on the floor, struggling to push himself to his feet. The trees towered above him like silent watchers and shielded the sun.

He gulped air and pushed with his chest until he managed to get up. Then, he limped with a hand forward to support himself. A glance around him in search of his flute gave no results, and he would not crouch down to search even if his life depended on it. He noticed there was something off with that part of the forest. His eyes had to accustom to the sight. Some of the stones were too regular, covered like the trees around him, in lichens and moss. Running his hands through them revealed even surfaces and even carvings. He leaned, peeling the moss with his fingers. Someone had been there, long ago, for sure, but someone had built all that.

Segir narrowed his eyes and peeled off the green moss and the branches around one of the walls, trying to see the carvings. The carvings were not the usual Steppeblood incisions, making a beard and a mustache and two holes for eyes on a standing stone. It was the work of a master. Spirals and human shapes spread through the stone. He could see figures and strange animals that he was sure never existed in real life; lions with wings, birds with two heads. It was not real, but his feathers were so lifelike that the artist seemed to have carved every single one. But that was nothing like the figures standing next to spirals and rings. A closer look showed him the details in the work, there were men carved with lush hair, some with beards that seemed to flutter with powerful winds. The detail on the noses, foreheads and even embroidered clothes were so delicate that Segir thought the wall had to be conjured and not carved.

He limped on, exploring the wall. Part of it had been submerged in a mound of earth that hid its original form. He tried to dig it off, but after a while his fingers and palms were aching and part of his nails had broken. He gave up, but wondered who had built that. Probably not the Steppeblood, but he did not know the previous inhabitants, whoever they had conquered, had that kind of building. He had never heard of buildings like that existing anywhere, especially near the Western Border.

He soon caught a glimpse of more sections. That entire section of the forest might have been a building or sanctuary. Other figures, which at first had seemed like another species of tree, turned out to be torn pillars overgrown with moss. Old stones in the ground turned out to be pieces of said pillars and walls. They seemed to have been torn down, as if crushed by a devastating force.

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