BooksBarbecue
Back Copper Chain
Chapters (62)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Dedication
  4. CONTENTS
  5. MAP
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. 38
  44. 39
  45. 40
  46. 41
  47. 42
  48. 43
  49. 44
  50. 45
  51. 46
  52. 47
  53. 48
  54. 49
  55. 50
  56. 51
  57. 52
  58. 53
  59. 54
  60. 55
  61. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  62. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Becoming impatient, Palemon finally saw the slender figure of Zara, as always clad in her figure-hugging dress, climbing up the stairway. Stopping just below the ledge, she looked everything over before nodding.

‘We are ready, sire,’ she called.

Palemon nodded back to her. He then met the eyes of the soldier at the end of the row. ‘Do it.’

The soldier holding the sobbing young fruit seller took a deep breath and used his pole to force his captive to the edge of the platform, guiding her by her collared neck. Gasping and choking, with both hands trying to pry the metal clasp from her throat, she tried to resist, but the soldier was strong and determined, and he forced her to the very edge, until her toes were over the drop. His mouth tightening, the soldier then moved quickly.

He pushed a lever to open the collar around the woman’s neck. In the same instant, he shoved her with the pole, prodding her sharply between her shoulder blades.

She screamed and tumbled off the edge, falling through the wide holes in the net of iron chain while Palemon leaned forward to peer down and witness the inevitable outcome. He waited for the thud of her body as she struck hard stone. He was expecting it so much that he had his teeth gritted: he didn’t actually want her to die; that wasn’t his objective. Her limbs clawed at the air as she fell with her back to the ground, staring wide-eyed up at him.

Suddenly Palemon gasped.

She vanished in a heartbeat. A cloud of white mist obscured her body, filling the entire bottom half of the shaft. The mist flickered, like sheet lightning in a storm.

There was no thud of her body breaking on the flagstones. Instead, he heard the snapping sound of wings.

A mighty winged creature flew up out of the cloud, wings beating the last shreds of white into nothingness. The dragon screamed, an ear-splitting shriek that must have been heard all over the city. It launched itself upward, heading directly for the open sky above and the promise of freedom. With odd-colored eyes, a narrow head that reminded him of a snake, and wings like a bat, its color was somewhere between silver and black and it was about half the size of the dragon that was the king of Xanthos, still penned below the tower.

The dragon shrieked again when it struck the net of iron chain, trying in vain to fly through and make its escape. But now it was too big to get through the holes. Every onlooker watched wide-eyed as the creature crashed against one wall and then the other before it began to tire.