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A Tale of Dragons Chapter 32
“I did, too,” Éibhear continued to complain. “But apparently my father had other ideas.”“It was either that,” Addolgar shot back at the boy, “or let Bercelak cut off your head like he planned!”Éibhear, human and dressed in chain mail and the surcoat of some long-dead army, put his hands on his hips. “Why? Because I didn’t agree with the old bastard?”“You’re a soldier!” Addolgar yelled. “You don’t agree. You don’t disagree. You follow orders!”The boy raised his hands in th
A Tale of Dragons Chapter 1
“Oy! Addolgar!” they yelled into his human face. “Oyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! You awake?”Idiots. Every one of his brothers and sisters were utter idiots. Even these two—Ghleanna, his older sister; and Bercelak, his younger brother—who he believed to be the smartest of his kin, were still . . . Idiots.“Maybe he’s dead then,” Bercelak suggested.“Nah. I think he’s breathing. He just sleeps like the dead, is all.”An elbow, probably Ghleanna’s, rammed across his jaw. “Addolgar!” she screamed. “You awake?”His jaw throbbing, Addolgar knew he couldn’t keep ignoring his siblings or he risked losing part of his face.He slowly opened his eyes. “What?”“See?” Ghleanna said to Bercelak. “He’s not dead.”“Such a relief. Mum would have had a fit if he’d turned up dead.”“Your concern overwhelms me, brother.” Addolgar cracked his neck. “So what do you want?”His brother and sister, also in their human forms, stood tall, hands on hips, staring down at him. The two of them looked the most alike of their si
A Tale of Dragons Chapter 2
The seat of power for the Dragon Queen of the Southlands, Devenallt Mountain was the one place Braith loathed going. As a royal, there were certain times of the year she was expected to come and spend time among other royals, but she hated it. She had nothing in common with . . . well . . . anyone. She had nothing to say. At least nothing that would interest anyone. So she mostly just stood around, holding a chalice of wine she never drank, and waited until she could sneak out without being noticed.Unfortunately, she wasn’t here for a specific royal event but because she’d been sent for by her father. Something that frightened her more than she’d ever admit out loud. She wasn’t close to her father. Never had been. Her father had always made it clear that, to him, she was nothing more than “your mother’s daughter,” which was fine with Braith. She didn’t need her father and didn’t want to be around him, and he had always seemed to feel the same. So why he was summoning her to Devenallt
A Tale of Dragons Chapter 3
And what was she? Her lip almost curled. She was nothing but Braith of the Darkness. Destroyer of a single city that no dragon had ever heard of.How was that impressive to someone like Addolgar? Revered Dragonwarrior. Loved by his army comrades—dragon and human—and considered one of the “nice” Cadwaladrs of their Clan. The only other nice Cadwaladr was Addolgar’s father, Ailean the Wicked.Truth be told, it was Addolgar’s good nature that warmed Braith’s hard heart more than anything else. Not only because he was kind to her when even her own father was not, but also because he was kind to all he was not against in war.Glancing over at his battling siblings, Addolgar said low, “Sorry about my brother, Braith. He can be a bit of a prat.”“Yeah,” she said into her chest. “I know.”“What did he come over here for anyway?” Since, apparently, they both knew he’d never walk this way to see Braith.“Rhiannon, I believe.”“Ahhhh. I see.” Addolgar laughed. “His obsession with her is so ridic
A Tale of Dragons Chapter 4
“I didn’t know I was,” Addolgar replied.“Well, you were.”The brothers were silent for nearly a minute until Addolgar noted, “You’re awfully tense.”“Shut up.”“Braith, I don’t think you’ve met Lady Katarina. Lord Berg’s daughter.”Braith nodded at the fellow royal.“Now,” the Queen went on, “I thought you would be perfect to travel with Lady Katarina on her way back to the Western Mountains.”Braith and Katarina locked gazes, and Braith knew in that moment that she was not alone in not wanting to go on this trip.... Katarina didn’t want her to go either. Braith had no idea why Katarina felt that, nor did she care to know since, in the end, they both had the same desire.The problem was Addiena. How to handle her?“Your Majesty,” Braith tried, “I truly appreciate this honor, but I’m not sure I’m the best one for such a role.”“And I’m sure you are. Your father suggested you himself.”Braith tried not to frown, but it was hard. “My father suggested me for this? Really? My father.”The
A Tale of Dragons Chapter 5
“I am sorry about this, Lady Braith.”Braith looked down at the diminutive She-dragon, forced a smile. “It’s all right, Lady Katarina. I know this isn’t your fault.”“Just Katarina.” She stepped aside as one of their escorts hustled by. “I’ll be glad to return home so I have to worry less about all these titles.”“Well, you need not worry about mine at all.”Braith studied the soldiers that had been chosen for this trip. She recognized a few. They were soldiers loyal to her father. She didn’t know why that bothered her, but it did. She didn’t like this.“Something wrong, Braith?” Katarina asked.“Uh . . .” She focused back on the royal. “No. Nothing. Just thinking. Wasn’t really planning on a trip.”“And I wasn’t really planning to come here.” She raised, then lowered her front claws. “Yet here I am.”Braith felt bad for her. This was just a few days out of Braith’s life. Yet Katarina had spent a year as nothing more than a well-treated hostage.Placing one claw on the royal’s shoulde
A Tale of Dragons Chapter 6
Addolgar’s head tipped to the side. “But your father’s loyal to the Queen, is he not?”“My father is loyal to my father. I have always made sure never to forget that.”From the camp they could hear Lady Katarina calling out to Addolgar. Something about tea. Braith hated tea.“We’ll be eating soon,” Addolgar said.“I’ll be there in a bit,” Braith replied, turning her body back around to face the lake.Addolgar stood and began to head back to camp. But he stopped just before stepping into the trees.“Want me to save you some ox?” he asked kindly. Why did he have to be so bloody nice? Braith didn’t even bother to turn around. “No, thank you.”She heard him walk off, which wasn’t really hard since he stomped like a moose. Once she knew she was alone, she let out a long sigh.Briefly, she entertained the thought of breaking her oath to the Queen and just flying off. It would be easy enough; no one really cared that she was here. No one cared about her at all. But she knew she couldn’t do
A Tale of Dragons Chapter 7
Watched as she grabbed two of the guards by their hair with her talons, using one forearm for each. She yanked them back, flipped both of them up at the same time, and then brought them down hard, their necks snapping in the process. Before dying, the two males cried out, startled at the attack, and the remaining soldiers spun around to face her.The Red snarled, smoke coming from his nostrils. “Your father warned us we might have to kill you. Guess he was right.”The Red raised his sword and charged, and Braith punched. She punched him in the snout. A punch so hard that Addolgar heard bone shatter, saw blood splatter the others. The Red stumbled back, landed on his ass. His snout was pushed back so far, he couldn’t speak and he had to breathe through his open mouth.The others charged, and Braith caught the forearm of one, yanked him forward, and broke it over her other forearm. While still holding him, she brought up her now-free fist and hit the soldier behind her in the face, spun