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Back Copper Chain Save as PDF
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

Just a moment before, the young slave with the scar under his eye had entered the arch. She looked for him, expecting him to emerge from the other side, but now all she could see was mist billowing around the gateway, a mist that gradually cleared.

She saw the flash of a reptilian tail.

Zara gasped. The billowing cloud cleared further and now there was a long, sinuous shape where she’d expected the youth to be.

Wings fluttered, blowing away the last shreds of vapor, revealing the creature in all its glory.

Zara’s wide eyes traveled from one end to the other.

A spiked tail broadened as it reached two powerful hind legs. Thin, wide wings like canvas folded in and out, connected to the creature’s broad back by a framework of bones, with skin stretched over them as taut as a drum. Muscles rippled in the shoulders, while under its belly two smaller forelimbs scratched sharp claws on the stone floor. In front of the shoulders, a slender, serpentine neck craned, supporting a head ten times bigger than that of a horse, with angular protrusions sweeping back from the brow and eyes as big as Zara’s hand.

It was a dragon, chest heaving, looking back at Zara with a panicked expression, a thin scar under its eye. There was no mistaking what the arch had done.

Yet this dragon was different from any that Zara had seen before. The stories had always said that the eldren were silver scaled. The mixed-bloods she’d forced to change were sometimes the color of charcoal, other times a lighter gray.

This sinuous monster’s scales were red, a deep shade of crimson. The color of bright arterial blood. It was deadly, but for the time being it was confused.

That could soon change.

Zara shook herself.

‘Quick!’ she barked at the magus with the neat beard. ‘Get copper chains. Go!’ She leveled a finger at the group of stunned slaves.

‘And somebody find me the king!’

53

53

Dion, Eiric, and twelve of Eiric’s most powerful warriors soared high in the open sky, searching for the fleet of Ilean warships. When they combined their forces with Kargan’s, the fate of the people from across the sea would be sealed.

The ocean stretched on endlessly, the rows of waves rolling relentlessly forward below them.

You saw them in the Maltherean? Dion addressed Eiric.

Yes.

They might still be crossing through the Chasm, Dion said. Let’s head over there.

Agreed.

Eiric passed the instruction to his fellows, and the fourteen dragons all wheeled. But then Dion suddenly sensed shock and awe from his companions, swamping him with emotion as he tried to filter it out. Wondering what had alerted the eldren, Dion’s gaze swept over the sea, but he couldn’t see anything.

Dion . . . The sky, Eiric said.

He looked higher, casting his vision in all directions, and then he saw them.