Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Destiny and the Dragon
The Redwood Dragons, Book 5
By Sloane Meyers
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Similarities to actual people or events are entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 by Sloane Meyers. All rights reserved.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Thank You For Reading!
More Books by Sloane Meyers
About the Author
Chapter One
Dragon shifter Finn Pars shifted restlessly from foot to foot, only half-listening to what Peter, the old wizard standing at the podium was saying. The wizards loved pomp and pageantry, and would use any old excuse to give a speech. Finn had expected that he would have to listen to a long discourse before he and the rest of the search party were allowed to leave, but knowing that ahead of time didn’t make it any more bearable.
Finn watched with a bored expression as Peter droned on. Peter served as the head wizard of the Falcon Cross High Council, and was renowned as one of the most powerful wizards alive. But Finn still had difficulty tolerating his speeches. Finn was a dragon, after all. Dragons thrived on action, not on words. Finn respected Peter and everything the old wizard was capable of, but at the moment, all Finn wanted to do was get moving.
Finn looked over to his left, where the rest of the search party stood. There were four of them total, a small number considering the size of the task that lay before them. But the High Council of Falcon Cross had agreed that stealth mattered more than anything on this quest, and therefore had limited the members of the search party to the bare minimum.
Owen, Finn’s clanmate and fellow dragon shifter, stood directly to Finn’s left. He was twiddling his thumbs and squirming restlessly, just like Finn. Owen was perhaps the most hotblooded of Finn’s clan, the Redwood Dragons. Owen had been raring to go on this search since the day the amethyst records had been found. The amethyst records gave clues to the potential location of the dragon amethyst, a powerful ancient stone that held within it the possibility for the good shifters and good wizards to gain the advantage in the war against evil which they were fighting. Owen had been forced to wait, though, as the records were carefully studied and the best potential search path was discovered. Now, months later, the search party was being sent off. They just had to wait for Peter to finish his speech.
Finn’s eyes shifted to the two wizards in the search party. Raven Morey was a Falcon Cross native, and had been a part of the Falcon Cross military for a decade, at least. She was an excellent soldier, skilled at stealth, magic fighting, and broomstick flying. Her impressive array of talents made her an important member of the search party.
Next to Raven stood Isabelle Torres, better known as “Izzy.” Izzy had recently arrived in Falcon Cross, after escaping from the enemy’s army herself. Izzy was trained as a doctor, and, since the search party might encounter some dangerous situations, Peter had thought it would be good to send her along. Izzy’s firsthand knowledge of how the enemy worked might come in handy, too. And, like Raven, Izzy was skilled at broomstick flying. She would easily be able to keep up with the rest of the search party.
Everyone in the group was wearing dark black uniforms. On the left chest of each uniform, gold thread had been used to embroider in the Falcon Cross military insignia. Normally, the dragons didn’t wear wizard uniforms, but Peter had offered them to Finn and Owen, and the two dragons had thought it rude to refuse. Finn had to admit that the group looked quite fearsome in their matching uniforms. Finn and Owen stood tall and muscular, and Raven’s and Izzy’s magic rings glinted in the sunlight. Anyone who tried to mess with them was sure to face painful consequences.
What a group, thought Finn as he looked them over with pride. Two of the best dragons and wizards there were. This was going to be fun. If Peter ever finished his speech, that was.
Almost as if the old wizard could hear Finn’s thoughts, he chose that moment to give the closing remark of his speech. Cheers went up from the crowd, and Finn felt the blood pumping faster through his veins as excitement filled him. This was it. After months of preparation, they would finally have the chance to head out into the world and take their chances on finding the dragon amethyst.
Noah, the dragon who was second in command of Finn’s clan, came to shake hands with each of the search party members as they began mounting the broomsticks. Even though Finn and Owen could have flown if they shifted into dragon form, it would be easier to maintain invisibility if they rode on the broomsticks behind the wizards. Dragons could somewhat hide themselves by using chameleon-like tricks, but it was difficult to do while flying. Raven and Izzy were both talented at invisibility spells, and were sure they could keep the whole group invisible as they flew through the sky. Since they were riding as passengers, Finn and Owen would both be wearing giant backpacks. Those backpacks were stuffed with as many supplies as could possibly be crammed into them. There was food, water, clothing, flashlights, and, of course, maps and notes on where the dragon amethyst might be. Finn tightened the straps on the backpack a bit before climbing up onto Izzy’s broomstick.
Finn didn’t mind the chance to ride on a broomstick. It sounded like fun, and, besides, he wasn’t going to complain about being forced to sit behind a beautiful woman like Izzy. And, from the stupid grin on Owen’s face right now, Finn guessed he was pretty happy about sitting behind Raven, who was definitely easy on the eyes as well.
“Take care of yourselves,” Noah was saying. Peter had joined Noah next to the broomsticks, and was shaking hands as well now. Finn was always surprised at how strong of a grip the old wizard had. For an old man, he was quite powerful.
Finn nodded respectfully toward both Noah and Peter, as did the rest of the search party. And then, Izzy and Raven both shouted, “Ready?” at the same time.
Finn and Owen gave them a thumbs up, and the two wizards shot up into the air. An honor guard of wizard soldiers rose all around them to see them out of the city. The military dress robes of the honor guard glittered purple and gold in the sunlight, and Falcon Cross banners fluttered behind them. Finn had to admit that, despite his impatience with the speeches, he was enjoying the impressive show of might the wizard military was putting on.
Trumpets sounded from somewhere below as Izzy and Raven rose higher and higher, eventually leaving even the honor guard far below them. Finn breathed in deeply, relishing how cool and fresh the air up here was.
He looked down to see that the village of Falcon Cross had already disappeared from view. The small city was protected by an invisibility shield. Once you rose above the sh
ield, you could no longer see the buildings and streets that made up the wizarding town. Instead, your eyes were fooled into thinking that all that was below you was more treetops, just like the other hundreds of treetops that stretched out for miles.
With a happy sigh, Finn tore his eyes away from the trees below him and looked instead toward the horizon in front of him. Finn was no stranger to searching for powerful hidden objects. He had spent his life searching for ancient dragon artifacts. The Redwood Dragons clan consisted of a group of ten dragon shifter orphans, all of whom had been rescued during the last great shifter war by one great dragon, William. William had raised them as brothers, eventually retiring and turning the reigns of clan leadership over to Knox, who now served as the clan’s first in command. The clan had been spread out into different groups lately, though, thanks to the rising war between good and evil. Knox had gone to Texas, to help a group of shifters there guard the two dragon stones that had been recovered—the dragon emerald and the dragon sapphire. Four dragons remained in the Redwoods, guarding the dragon clan’s home base along with several wizards. And the other five dragons had gone to Falcon Cross to help protect their wizard allies. Now, though, Owen and Finn were once again on the move, leaving Falcon Cross behind as they searched for yet another powerful dragon stone.
There were four dragon stones in all, and the two that were still missing must be found by the good wizards and shifters. Those stones were so powerful that, if they fell into the wrong hands, they could be used to destroy everything good in the world. Finn gritted his teeth together as he thought of the awful possibilities if their search failed. Izzy drove her broomstick higher into the air, and Finn vowed to himself that he would find the dragon amethyst or die trying. If the good wizards and shifters could find this amethyst, only the dragon ruby would still remain unaccounted for. And once the amethyst was safe, all efforts could be concentrated on the ruby. Victory was so close that Finn could almost taste it. Failure was not an option.
The most important mission of his life had just begun.
Chapter Two
It didn’t take long for Finn’s excitement to fade into dull boredom. Despite the great adventure that lay ahead of the group, flying over hundreds of miles of wilderness got boring after a while. Finn found himself constantly glancing upward, willing the sun to move faster across the sky. Once sunset came, the group would stop for the night. Finn could hardly wait to get off this broomstick and give his sore ass a rest. Not to mention, he was starving. The group had not stopped for lunch, and the feeling of fullness his breakfast had given him had long since worn off.
So it was with great happiness that he realized several hours later that the wizards were slowly descending. They were over a thick forest, although Finn had no idea where exactly they were. For a while, he’d tried to keep track of roughly how many miles had passed, but after a few hours of flying he’d grown bored even with that. Once they landed, he would pull the GPS out of his backpack and take a look. His best guess was that they were somewhere over central Idaho by now. Falcon Cross was in Oregon, but the wizards flew like the wind. It wouldn’t take them very many days to reach northern Montana, where they were heading. It would be a week at the most.
Izzy leaned down against the broomstick, pointing the front end of it toward the treetops as she began to speed up her descent. She and Raven both zoomed expertly below the tops of the tall pine trees that dominated the forest, somehow avoiding all of the unevenly placed branches despite the rapid speed at which they were flying. Finn’s arms clung tightly around Izzy’s waist, and he did his best to lean in the same direction she did to help her as she steered. He marveled at the wizards’ flying skills. They may not have been born with wings, like dragons were, but Finn was pretty sure they were at least as good as the dragon shifters at zooming through the skies. Before another minute had passed, Izzy was coming to a smooth stop on the forest floor.
“Seems like as good a place as any to stop,” she said, nodding back toward Finn. “Go ahead and hop off.”
Finn stiffly climbed off the broom, rubbing his ass as he did. He laughed as he noticed Owen doing the same thing.
“It’s even worse than a bike seat,” Owen complained when he realized why Finn was laughing. “I swear to god I’m not going to be able to walk straight for a week after today.”
Raven gave Owen’s arm a playful punch. “I thought you guys were tough dragons,” she teased. “But you can’t even handle a little old broomstick?”
Owen scowled at her, although his eyes were dancing merrily. “Easy for you to say. You’ve had years of practice on that stupid wooden stick.”
Raven just laughed, and gave Owen another punch in the arm. Finn couldn’t keep a smirk from crossing his face when he saw the two of them interacting. He swore they looked at each other like two teenagers in love, although he was sure if he accused them of liking each other they would have vehemently denied it. Izzy had no qualms about pointing it out, though.
“Enough flirting, you two,” she said, crossing her arms and frowning sternly in their direction. “Let’s get our campsite set up before we completely lose daylight.”
As Finn had suspected, Izzy’s accusation caused a flurry of protests from Owen and Raven. Finn chuckled as he watched Izzy rolling her eyes at the two supposed lovebirds, then he turned to head into the woods.
“I’m going to find us some dinner,” he said. “I should be back soon.”
His departure was barely acknowledged amongst the heated discussion of whether Owen and Raven had actually been flirting or not. Finn moved silently through the woods, breathing deeply as he tried to locate any potential food sources. His shifter genes gave him heightened senses of smell and hearing, and he was hopeful that those heightened senses would allow him to find some meat to eat. The group had plenty of meal replacement rations in their bags, so they certainly wouldn’t starve if he couldn’t snag something tonight. But it had been a long day of travel, and he would have paid a lot of money for some fresh food right now.
Since there were no stores out here to sell him food, though, he had to rely on his own hunting abilities. He crept silently through the forest, hardly disturbing its stillness as his eyes darted to and fro, and his nose and ears smelled and listened. Luck must have been on his side, because less than two minutes later, he spotted a deer about twenty-five yards away from him. It was a buck, placidly nibbling on one of the pine trees.
Bingo, Finn thought. As silently as a shadow, he reached down to his side where his pocket knife was holstered against his military uniform. He moved forward toward the deer, careful to stay downwind from it, until he was within sprinting distance. Then, he ran forward as fast as his legs would carry him. Even in human form, Finn’s legs were impossibly muscular. He moved forward with the speed of a cheetah, quickly going from a near standstill to a full-on sprint.
As soon as he started running, the deer heard him. It started to bound away, but it was too slow. This was no ordinary human that hunted it. This was a dragon shifter, and the deer had barely had time to realize that it was under attack before Finn had leapt onto its back and sliced its neck with the knife. It took several moments for the loss of blood to take down the deer, and Finn held on tightly that entire time. When the deer finally expired, Finn loosened his grip and moved to begin field dressing the animal.
Not long after, he walked triumphantly back to the campsite, where a warm fire was now blazing in front of several thick blankets that had been spread out on the ground. The group had not brought tents with them, since they were packing as lightly as possible, but Finn didn’t mind sleeping under the stars. It was May now, and, although the temperatures were dropping as nightfall took hold, the weather was bearable. Additionally, the uniforms that each of the group members wore had been treated with climate control spells by the wizards. The spell worked even better than a winter coat. Finn had not felt chilled for even a moment since they left Falcon Cross, and he knew that the temperatures in
the sky had been quite cold.
“I brought dinner!” he said, holding up the deer as he neared the fire. The other three, whose heads had been bent over a map, looked up and noticed him for the first time. Owen let out a whoop when he saw the deer.
“You always were a kickass hunter,” Owen said. “I’m so glad I’m not going to have to eat a meal replacement bar for dinner tonight. Those things taste like cardboard.”
“They’re not that bad,” Izzy said. “I kind of like the peanut butter flavored bars.”
Owen made a face at her. “You’re crazy,” he said. “Are you sure Saul’s army didn’t burn off your taste buds or something?”
Izzy made a face at him and went back to studying the map. Finn made a face at Owen too, a face that told him he better not tease Izzy like that. Owen scowled and rolled his eyes at Finn, but then went to start building a spit to roast the deer meat on. It was a good thing, too, because if Owen had tried to press the subject, Finn would have really let him have it. Even though it had been months now since Izzy escaped the enemy’s camp, Finn could tell that the horrible memories still haunted her.
And no wonder. Saul, the dragon shifter who led the enemy’s army, had become obsessed with dark magic, as had all of his underlings. In fact, Saul had used dark magic to turn himself into a wizard, something that was normally impossible for anyone who had not been born a wizard. As the enemy’s army became steeped deeper and deeper into the realm of dark magic, the awful possibilities for pain and destruction grew greater and greater. Who knew what awful things Izzy had seen? Even worse, before her escape she’d been forced to pretend that she supported Saul and his army. She’d had to stand by and act like she enjoyed watching the destruction they caused. Finn shuddered. No wonder she clammed up whenever someone mentioned her time in the enemy camp.
With a sigh, Finn turned to help Owen with the deer. But Owen, seeming somewhat repentant after his callous comment to Izzy, waved him away.
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