Dragon Tamer Box Set 1

by J. A. Armitage

  “I don’t know. It’s probably got something to do with what Avery told your mother last night.” I sighed, pulling the covers further over my head to block out the noise. I could already tell that there was an argument brewing outside and no doubt I’d have to deal with it.

  “What did she tell her?” he asked, jumping out of bed and inadvertently pulling the covers off me. He found a clean shirt from his wardrobe. I watched as he pulled it over his scarred torso. We really were a pair, covered in scars. It suited him, made him look dangerous.

  I reluctantly dragged myself out of bed and tripped on the bloody shirt from yesterday that was still in a heap on the floor. I picked it up, along with the other dirty clothes, and made a mental note to wash them if I ever found the time. I dressed quickly and followed Ash out of the house.

  It seemed like half the town was already at the fire pit, including all the Wolvren and Slayers. Unfortunately, no one had thought to light the fire and start breakfast. My stomach rumbled as I remembered I’d not eaten dinner yesterday. There was a lot of noise, with everyone shouting to be heard. I scanned the group to find my father. He was uncharacteristically quiet, sitting between Edeline and Avery, but then he did have a sandwich in his mouth. Once again, I wished I’d thought to get something to eat before coming out.

  “What’s going on?” I asked Edeline, finding a place to sit beside her. Ash took my other side.

  “The Wolvren told everyone about the Goblins. The dragons are really mad.”

  “I bet they are. What do you think, Father?” I asked, peering around Edeline to speak to him.

  “I’m keeping out of it,” he replied, taking a bite of his sandwich. “I told you last night that I wasn’t going to argue with people anymore, that I was going to try to keep the peace. Well, now, I’m going to go with the majority. I’ll let someone else decide for a change. Besides, the Slayers are getting their say.” He nodded towards the other side of the fire pit.

  I looked over to see Jasper screaming at one of the Wolvren, while Xander was in a heated discussion with one of the dragons. “Why does it always descend into chaos when the three groups get together?” I sighed.

  Ash chuckled. “I’m just surprised your father isn’t in the middle of all this,” he whispered in my ear.

  “He’s a new man!” I informed him.

  I listened to the arguments going on around me. It sounded like everyone had a different opinion. The dragons wanted to go back up to the Goblin village and burn it down. The Slayers weren’t so sure, as they feared the magical repercussions if they tried. Morganna reasoned that if they did manage to kill all the Goblins, no one would be able to find the rest of the swords, and even if we did, we wouldn’t be able to free the dragon souls from them. Finally, the Wolvren just wanted to go home.

  I was just about to try and do something to stop the shouting when Spear arrived, looking distraught. He seemed as annoyed at the ruckus as I was. He stood on the side of the fire pit and tried shouting to get everyone’s attention. Unfortunately for him, I was the only one who noticed him. His shouts were ineffective over all the noise.

  I stood up and Ash grabbed my hand.

  “Where are you going?”

  I pulled my hand back. “You’ll see.”

  Heading back into the house, I ran up the stairs, Firecracker hot on my heels, and emerged onto the balcony. Below, I could see everyone arguing. Some had already come to blows.

  “You might want to go inside for this,” I warned Firecracker. She just looked up at me and wagged her tail. Putting two fingers in my mouth, I whistled as loudly as I could. Everyone—every dragon, every Slayer, and every Wolvren—looked my way. I was going to verbally kick some ass and they all knew it!

  Chapter Nineteen

  It was strange having everyone look at me, but I didn’t feel daunted. The ridiculous fighting had gone on long enough.

  “We are all on the same side!” I shouted down to them. “We all want to live in peace, side by side, but we can’t do that with the incessant, petty squabbles that occur daily.”

  As I spoke, a few of the people in the crowd nodded their heads.

  “Our three tribes have a long history of hatred between each other. You all know that, but you should also know how that hate started. The Slayers weren’t always in the business of killing dragons, and the dragons didn’t always hate the Wolvren. One time in history, we all lived together peacefully. However, a great many years ago, the Goblins realized they could harvest magic in the form of dragon souls. It’s no secret that dragons are magical beings.”

  “We can’t do magic,” shouted Ally.

  “Of course you can. You might not be able to wave a wand, but you can shift your entire bodies. That is magic. You defy physics every time you change from a dragon to a human and become a quarter of the size. Dragons are born with a magic that is pure. The Goblins saw that and wanted it for themselves.

  “For those of you who have met the Goblins, you’ll know they aren’t built to fight, but they are cunning. They spread the rumor that the dragons were killers. Just a hint here and there, but before long, those hints became full-blown rumors. When it was common knowledge that the dragons were dangerous, they offered to make special swords for the people in the surrounding villages. Over time those people became Slayers. The Slayers hunted the dragons because they thought they were dangerous, and the dragons fought back, thus proving the Goblins were telling the truth.”

  I paused for a breath and to let everyone take in this new information. I was embellishing on what Avery had said, filling in the gaps.

  “Once the Slayers were slaying, the stockpile of dragon souls grew. The more swords the Goblins made, the more souls were collected.”

  “None of this makes sense,” replied Ally. “The souls have been in the swords for a long time. Some of them over a hundred years. If the Slayers still have the swords, or had them up until recently, then the Goblins didn’t even have the souls.”

  He had a point. We still had the swords and therefore, we still had the souls, too. I’d been so caught up in what Avery had heard and spun my own theory around it without thinking it through.

  Below me, everyone began to argue again. I’d messed up. What did I know about being a leader? I couldn’t even get everyone to stop bickering for more than two minutes. Kick ass. Ha!

  “There has to be meaning behind this,” I shouted down, “Maybe the Goblins have been trying to get the swords back, or to figure a way to release the souls themselves.”

  “You’d think they already know how to do that,” another dragon replied, not bothering to hide the contempt in his voice. “They were the ones who made the swords. They’d be a bit stupid if they made them to collect souls without making a way to get the souls out.”

  “Fine,” I agreed. “Maybe they just haven’t found a way to get the swords back yet.” I said it, but I didn’t believe it. They’d not even attempted to get the swords back. In all the times we went up to the Goblin village, no one tried to take our swords from us. I was missing something, but I didn’t know what. There had to be meaning to it, but I couldn’t quite see it.

  “Can I come up and see you?” someone asked. I looked for the voice and saw it was Morganna. After I nodded yes, she cut through the crowd and made her way through the house up to the balcony.

  “Well, I really messed that up, didn’t I?” I asked, feeling dejected. Sure, the squabbling had temporarily abated, but my theory had hit a blank wall. Maybe Avery had misheard the Goblins, or I’d interpreted what she’d heard wrongly.

  “Actually, I’ve been thinking about something ever since we were up at the Goblin village. I think you’re right and I think I know why.”

  “Why?”

  “When I was there the first time with you, I felt the magic all around us. I felt it when I first went to the Goblins many years ago to purchase some of it, and I felt it again this last time. Each time I visited, the magical energy was more diminished, as if it was gett
ing smaller. Magic is just a form of energy like any other. It might be slightly more mystical than, say, the electricity in a lightning spark or the flow of a river, but it is energy, nonetheless. The first time I ventured up there all those years ago, the air crackled with it. You could feel it on your skin. It was almost too much to be in the village for too long. The energy I felt the last time we were up there was almost non-existent.”

  “You mean they’re running out?”

  “I believe so, yes. Because magic is energy, it lasts eternally unless it’s used. The Goblins could have had enough of this magic energy to last a great number of years. Hundreds even. If they took back the swords from the Slayers after a year or so, the Slayers would stop coming to have them made, and so the Goblins would have very few souls to work with. Why not make swords for as long as they could get away with it, or as long as their magic held out, until they decided to take them back? Goblins live for much longer than either humans or dragons. A hundred years or so is nothing to them.”

  I mulled over what she was saying. “So you think the Goblins are close to the last of their magic?”

  Morganna nodded her head sagely. “I’m sure of it. I think they’ll be coming for the swords soon.”

  “Well, they’ve got no chance of getting them,” I huffed. “The ones that still hold dragons are at Spear’s house. If they even tried getting down the mountain into the valley, they’d have to fight dragons, Slayers, and Wolvren.

  “You forget who we are talking about. The Goblins will not fight. They are too clever for that. I think they’ll try and take the swords some other way.”

  “What other way?” I asked, not liking the sound of what she was telling me.

  “I don’t know, but Goblins are extremely dangerous. They hide it well, but they don’t hurry things. Whatever they are thinking of doing will have been their game plan for a long time. They’ll stop at nothing to get what they want, and they’ll think nothing of killing anyone who tries to get in their way.”

  “We need to tell Spear!”

  I ran downstairs and asked Edeline and Fiere if we could invite some people inside. It wasn’t just Spear we had to tell. We brought in Spear, my father, and Alpha as the three leaders, along with Fiere and Edeline themselves. Edeline brewed a pot of tea while Morganna shared her thoughts with everyone.

  Spear furrowed his brow. “Are you sure about this?”

  “No, I’m not sure,” replied Morganna. “Most of what I’ve told you is conjecture, but I think it would be reckless to ignore the signs. The Goblins will have held just enough magic power back to annihilate all of us if they need to. I believe we are headed for a war, ladies and gentlemen, and it isn’t going to be pretty.”

  No one spoke for a good minute until my father broke the silence. “I bet you wish you could go back to just worrying about the Slayers now, eh?” He clapped Spear on the back.

  “We need to come up with a plan,” I jumped in. “If Morganna is right and the Goblins are about to attack using the last of their magic, we need to make sure everyone is safe. Spear, can you organize the dragons? Tell them that they have to stay indoors until we can determine the threat. I think they’d be better bringing everyone to the houses in the cliff face. They are safer than the houses in the village. You’ll have to ask the inhabitants to let more people in.”

  “The people in these houses are already allowing Wolvren, Slayers and those returned dragons with no homes to stay with them. There’s no space.”

  “They’ll have to make space,” I insisted. “People can sleep on couches or the floor. It’s only until we figure out what the Goblins are up to.”

  “We can fit more in,” offered Edeline as she poured the tea for us. “Lucy can sleep in with us for a few nights, can’t she, Fiere?”

  “Of course,” he replied. “We need to keep the people in the village safe.”

  “Father, can you take the Slayers home?” I asked as I looked to Spear. “Spear, he’ll need someone to shift into their dragon form to get them up the cliff so they can go through the tunnels to the other side.”

  “Okay, but we’ll take them right back to Dronias. It’s not much difference. I doubt anyone will get sick in the time it takes to get there and back.”

  “Hang on a minute,” my father interjected. “Why are the Slayers going back to Dronias?”

  “Because Dronias is the first place they’ll look for the swords. Everyone there needs to be kept out of harm’s way, too.”

  “So, you want me to just go home and hide, do you?” he blustered.

  “Not at all. I want you to organize the village, get everyone safe, and then come back so we can plan how to deal with the Goblins.”

  He nodded. “I understand what you are saying, but I’m needed here. I’ll send the others back, putting Xander in charge. Jasper can go and take your mother to safety.”

  I turned to Alpha. “I know you want to go home. I’m not going to stop you. I’m sure the dragons will fly you back up the—”

  “Stop right there,” he said, cutting me off. “It’s true that this fight does not involve us. We have no swords or souls, but I would not think of abandoning you at this time. I would not abandon Morganna, and I know she will want to stay to fight.”

  “Too bloody right I will!” she responded, giving him a kiss.

  “That’s settled then. We’ll make sure everyone in Frokontas and Dronias are safe and then we’ll meet back here and decide what we are going to do.”

  I picked up my tea and drank it down in one gulp. I had a feeling that I was going to be too busy over the next few days to be drinking tea again. I stood up as if to leave, but before I could, Ash came rushing through the door. His face was red and he was breathing heavily as if he’d just been running. Fear was etched onto his face.

  “What is it?” Edeline asked in alarm, taking in the expression on her son’s face.

  “Good, you’re all together,” he wheezed. “You need to come with me. Something weird is happening.

  Chapter Twenty

  Ash didn’t give us time to question him; he was already out the door. Chairs squeaked on the floor as everyone else stood up in a panic. All I could think as we followed Ash out of the house was that the Goblins were attacking. Would we even be safe out there? Would everyone else be safe? We’d not had the chance to tell everyone to stay indoors yet. Had we run out of time?

  Part of me remembered Morganna saying that they didn’t attack individually. They didn’t fight in the way we did with swords, but then I remembered her telling us that a war was coming. If they were going to attack, they would do it with what was left of their magic. As we ran outside, I looked for signs of what this magic might be, but apart from a few startled people still around the fire pit, nothing had changed. I looked upward toward the Goblin village. It was impossible to see from here, but I figured if anything was going to come for us, that was the direction it would come from.

  Everything appeared normal there, too. The sky was a lovely shade of pale blue with a few clouds lazily scudding across it. There was nothing to suggest that we were close to an attack. The only sounds I could hear were the usual sounds of birdsong. If it wasn’t for the panicked look on Ash’s face, I wouldn’t have thought this day was different from any other. He was already a long way ahead, sprinting, it seemed, to Spear’s house. I felt a knot in my stomach at the thought that it might be something to do with the sick dragons. Maybe something weird was happening to them and it had nothing to do with the Goblins after all.

  I watched Ash run up the stairs to Spear’s front door ahead of me. A minute later and I followed, with the others behind me. Ash stood in the entrance hall, bent doubled over as if completely winded by the run.

  “What is it?” asked Spear, crashing in behind me.

  “Come with me.” Ash beckoned us into a room I’d not been in before. It was sparsely decorated with only a couple of chairs. In the very center were two piles of swords. I knew them immediately. On the l
eft were the swords that I’d freed the dragon souls from and on the right were the swords I had yet to do. Seeing them side by side, it was obvious which were which. The ones with the souls still in them looked brand new. They sparkled, whereas the others were dull with burn marks on them from when the dragons had escaped.

  Behind me, the others filed in as Ash pointed to the pile of sparkling swords. I tried to figure out what was wrong, but they looked the same as they always did. There was something wrong with the air though. I couldn’t put my finger on it. It was a feeling that something was wrong. The hair on my arms stood on end.

  “Goblin magic,” Morganna said. “It’s strong here. They must be using a lot of it.”

  So that’s what I could feel. The room felt charged somehow, but apart from the feeling, I couldn’t see exactly what the Goblins had done.

  “What did you see, Ash?” asked Fiere.

  “When you all went into our house, I decided to check on the sick dragons. I’d just got to the house when I heard a loud bang. When I came inside, there was another bang. Actually, it was more like a popping sound. It took me a few seconds to figure out what was making it. The swords. They are disappearing.”

  Almost as soon as he’d said it there was a loud popping sound followed by a whoosh of wind. One of the swords disappeared into thin air in a flash of light.

  “Since I last looked, about ten have disappeared just like that.”

  “Ten in the last fifteen minutes. At this rate, they’ll all be gone by the end of the day,” I said.

  As I spoke there was another pop. This time, I dove on the top sword that was glowing slightly. The whoosh of wind flew past my ears and the sword lit up brightly before disappearing from my hands, scalding them as it went.

  “I think I’m going to need more of your cream Edeline,” I said, looking down at my red palms. They weren’t burned badly, but enough to know that it was impossible to stop the swords from disappearing.