Chapters (50)
- Cover
- Dedication
- - ONE -
- - TWO -
- - THREE -
- - FOUR -
- - FIVE -
- - SIX -
- - SEVEN -
- - EIGHT -
- - NINE -
- - TEN -
- - ELEVEN -
- - TWELVE -
- - THIRTEEN -
- - FOURTEEN -
- - FIFTEEN -
- - SIXTEEN -
- - SEVENTEEN -
- - EIGHTEEN -
- - NINETEEN -
- - TWENTY -
- - TWENTY-ONE -
- - TWENTY-TWO -
- - TWENTY-THREE -
- - TWENTY-FOUR -
- - TWENTY-FIVE -
- - TWENTY-SIX -
- - TWENTY-SEVEN -
- - TWENTY-EIGHT -
- - TWENTY-NINE -
- - THIRTY -
- - THIRTY-ONE -
- - THIRTY-TWO -
- - THIRTY-THREE -
- - THIRTY-FOUR -
- - THIRTY-FIVE -
- - THIRTY-SIX -
- - THIRTY-SEVEN -
- - THIRTY-EIGHT -
- - THIRTY-NINE -
- - FORTY -
- - FORTY-ONE -
- - FORTY-TWO -
- - FORTY-THREE -
- - FORTY-FOUR -
- - FORTY-FIVE -
- - FORTY-SIX -
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Fort’s mouth felt dry as a desert, but he swallowed a few times until he found he could speak. “I think I do,” he said, his voice cracking.
“I AM D’HEA,” the dragon said, snaking its head up and around them, moving out of Fort’s sight. “I AM THE CREATOR OF DRAGONKIND, FATHER TO THOSE BORN OF PURE MAGIC. I AM THE CREATOR OF THE DRACSI AND THEIR KIN, CURSED BY MY BRETHREN TO DO SO. AND I AM THE FORGOTTEN ONE, DOOMED TO REMAIN WITHIN THIS TOMB FOR ALL ETERNITY.”
“You’re an Old One,” Fort whispered. “The Old One of Healing magic.”
“Oh no,” Jia whispered from his side.
“HEALING?” The dragon began to laugh, sending golden nuggets tumbling off their mounds. “YOU HUMANS NEVER UNDERSTOOD MAGIC. THAT IS WHY YOU STOLE IT FROM MY CHILDREN, LEARNING SECRETS THAT WERE NEVER INTENDED FOR YOU!”
“We didn’t steal magic!” Rachel shouted, and Fort was thankful that she, at least, wasn’t intimidated by the creature. “We’re here to find someone, not take anything.”
“My father was here,” Fort said. “I saw him in a dream. You were speaking to him.”
The dragon’s head came circling back to stare at Fort. He sniffed loudly, pulling them all forward momentarily, only to fall back into place when he was through. “YOU DO SMELL LIKE ONE OF THE LAST HUMANS I SAW,” he said.
“One of?” Gabriel said. “Was there another?”
“His name was Michael—” Jia said, but the dragon snapped his jaws, sending jets of fire exploding into the air to either side of his snout. “DO NOT MAKE DEMANDS UPON ME, HUMAN. IF I WOULD NOT SUFFER FURTHER FOR DOING SO, I WOULD RIP YOU APART FOR MY CHILDREN’S SAKE. YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOUR BETRAYAL OF THEM DID!”
“We didn’t betray the dragons,” Jia said, sounding as scared as Fort felt. “They were helping humans. We’ve seen proof. They were allies!”
“LIES!” the dragon screeched, loud enough to set Fort’s head pounding. “I CREATED MANY CREATURES, BUT MY GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT WAS THE DRAGONKIND. INSTEAD OF EVOLVING THEM FROM ANOTHER BEING, I PULLED THEM FROM MAGIC ITSELF, GIVING LIFE TO SOMETHING THAT HAD NONE BEFORE. IT WAS THE ULTIMATE FORM OF CORPOREAL MAGIC!”
“We didn’t do anything to them!” Rachel shouted. “You really think we tiny humans would be able to hurt a dragon? Like you said, we can barely use magic to begin with!”
“AND ALL THAT YOU KNOW WAS SHARED WITH YOU BY THE DRAGONS,” the Old One, D’hea, said. “YOU WOULD STILL BE SERVING MY BRETHREN IF NOT FOR MY CHILDREN. YET YOU STILL EXIST. WHERE ARE THEY? WHAT HAPPENED TO MY DRAGONS?” He turned and roared, shooting fire from his mouth hot enough to melt an entire mound of gold. “THEY ARE GONE, BECAUSE THEY SIDED WITH HUMANITY AGAINST MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS!”