Dragon Bones (The Dragonwalker Book 1)

by D. K. Holmberg

  The tent wasn’t empty. There were two men within it.

  Fes hurried toward Theole, cutting free the bindings around his wrist. Theole looked up at him. “What are you doing here?”

  “Fulfilling a promise,” Fes said.

  “Is she…”

  Fes nodded. “She’s with the caravan not far from here. I can bring you to her. She’s safe.”

  The old man breathed out heavily. “After the attack, and after I was abducted, I thought that I wouldn’t see her again. How were you able to save her?”

  “I came across the place where they were holding her. When I found her, I ensured that she was safe.”

  “You didn’t have to come after me.”

  “I’m not sure that Indra would’ve allowed me to do anything else,” Fes said with a smile. He pulled out one of the figurines that she had carved, and Theole’s eyes widened as he looked at it.

  “You still have it.”

  “I still have it.”

  “Thank you,” he said.

  Fes turned to the other man bound to a post. He was broad and heavily muscled and dressed in a black jacket and pants. “What about you?”

  The man nodded.

  Fes sliced through his bindings, and he hesitated only a moment before darting out of the tent and disappearing into the night.

  Fes guided Theole free, and they snuck off through the haze, leaving the mercenary camp behind. It didn’t take long for them to see nothing more than the softly glowing lights of the mercenary caravan, and eventually, even those disappeared.

  “You intend to leave them there?”

  “I’m not going to cut through all of them.”

  “Even after everything that they did?”

  “Most of them were hired for a job. The only one that is really responsible is gone.”

  “She wasn’t the only one responsible.”

  Fes took a deep breath, glancing back toward the direction of the mercenary camp. Eventually, he knew that he would have to come to terms with Carter. She had warned him that he didn’t want to make an enemy out of her, and now it was too late. He had made an enemy out of her. Azithan could offer a little protection once he returned to the city, but if he were to stay in Anuhr, he would have to deal with Carter eventually.

  And there was what Reina had said. If she had been Carter’s employer, then Fes had additional questions. Hopefully, Azithan had answers. What had she meant about not expecting to meet a challenger in these lands? It had almost sounded as if she hadn’t been from Anuhr.

  “She will be dealt with,” Fes said.

  Theole watched him for a moment. “You are everything that she thought. Indra has a way of seeing people.”

  “And what did she see of me?” Theole pointed toward Fes’s pocket.

  He reached into it and pulled out the totems. “These?”

  “They suit you. Perhaps in time, you will come to understand.”

  “It would be easier if you were to simply tell me.”

  “If I were to simply tell you, you would miss out on the journey.”

  “I think I’ve journeyed enough. And now it’s time for you to end your journey.” He pointed toward the distant rebellion caravan. They hadn’t needed to travel that far to reach it; it was much closer than Fes would have preferred, but the rebellion had the numbers, and there was no reason to fear the mercenaries now. “Will you return home?” Fes asked.

  “We will. We’re near enough to the mountains that it should not be difficult any longer.”

  “Travel safe,” Fes said.

  With that, Theole clasped him on the shoulder and looked into Fes’s eyes. “You are more than you allow yourself to be. Eventually, you will see what Indra sees. Eventually, you may be that person.”

  “What person?”

  Theole flashed a smile. “The person who might disrupt everything.”

  He nodded and turned toward the rebels and made his way toward them, cutting through the haze as if he had no difficulty seeing through it. Fes frowned, wondering how he could, but suspected that perhaps it had something to do with his totems.

  When he reached the rebels, Fes heard a soft shout, but then, a few moments later, a cry of relief. He allowed himself a moment to smile.

  The next day, the caravan continued to travel through the dragon plains. After a while, a few of them branched off, and Fes stayed with the smaller group. He wasn’t surprised to see the priest and Alison among them. Fes stayed far enough away that he didn’t think they were aware of him. He trailed, managing to keep them in sight, and near nighttime, he saw something strange along the ground.

  It was different from the rock that he had become accustomed to seeing.

  Fes hurried over to it.

  A strange growth erupted from the ground. Had he not known how others described it, Fes wasn’t sure that he would have called it a flower, but seeing it, noticing the black stalk that rose from the rock along with the deeply tinted petals that seemed all a different hue, with striations that matched what he often saw in dragon pearls and the bones, Fes recognized it as the flower marking the dragon heart. It had a bitter and surprisingly hot fragrance.

  He looked up. The priest and Alison, along with the commander, were approaching, but they weren’t quite to him, not yet.

  If what they said was true, he had time.

  He began digging, probing the rock with his daggers, pulling the rock away around the dragon heart. The rock came apart easily, almost as if it wanted him to dig through it, and he reached the dragon heart. When he pulled it apart, he saw the heart.

  It was enormous. Shaped like a sphere—much like the dragon pearls that he had seen—the striations along it were of many different colors. There were blues and reds and oranges and greens, and shades of other colors. Each one faint and shimmering, but there was no doubting that they were there.

  Fes ran his hands along the dragon heart, feeling the striations and the warmth that radiated from it. There would be power to this. There would be no question that this was what Reina had been after. There was no question that this was what the emperor would want.

  Fes looked up as he heard the muted sounds of Alison and the priest. He had time. All he had to do was dig out the rest of the dragon heart, and he could disappear into the haze.

  He smiled to himself and set to work.

  The journey to Anuhr took a while, especially with a detour to find a specific artisan once he reached the city. By then, his pack was heavy, and he was exhausted from all the days on the road. He had managed to procure a horse in a village along the way and had made much better time after that, but he still worried Carter would reach the city before him.

  He met with little resistance passing through the city and by the time he reached the palace, Fes was ready to be done with this entirely. If it worked out the way he hoped, he might not need to take another job like this.

  He made his way through the back entrance to the palace, and into Azithan’s rooms. Then he waited. He didn’t have to wait long for Azithan to appear.

  Fes lounged in one of the chairs, a leg draped over the edge of it, and smiled when Azithan entered.

  “Fezarn. I will admit that I am a little surprised to see you.”

  “You didn’t think that I’d return?”

  Azithan made his way past him and smiled. “Not quite so soon.”

  “I finished the job.”

  Azithan frowned. “And what, exactly, was the job Horus wanted of you?”

  He shook his head. “Did you know Reina would be there?”

  Azithan sat forward. “Reina? She should not have. She was in the temple…”

  The fire mage temple, the place where all the fire mages trained. “Why?”

  “Rehabilitation.”

  “I don’t think it worked.” He told Azithan about Reina and shared with him how she’d been defeated, explaining it only as Talmund defeating her. “Is she from the empire?” That had plagued him in the last few days.

&n
bsp; “There are many questions about Reina. We had hoped to understand but never had the chance. Perhaps we never will.”

  “She hired Carter.”

  Azithan nodded. “Then it’s good that you went. Did you learn anything useful?”

  “More than I expected.”

  Azithan studied him a long moment. “And what did you find?”

  Heat radiated from him as Azithan used a spell. Fes made a show of shifting and reached for one of his daggers, fingering the hilt of it. He wiggled the dagger in its sheath, wanting to slice through any magic that Azithan might use on him.

  “You made a promise.”

  “And it’s one I intend to fulfill.” Azithan watched him. A hint of a smile played across his face. “You found the heart, didn’t you?” Azithan stood excitedly, and his hand moved slightly in place.

  Fes was aware of a slight shifting of energy, almost as if the heat he sensed radiating from Azithan pressed toward him. It was similar to what he had felt with Reina but far subtler. Fes shifted the dagger in his hilt and stared at Azithan, unblinking.

  “For the right price.”

  “Fezarn…”

  “You know that’s how this works. I take jobs for you, and you pay.”

  “Even for something like this?”

  Fes pulled the dragon heart out of the bag he’d brought with him. “If you don’t want to pay, then maybe I need to see if there’s another interested in this.” He slipped it back into the bag, concealing it.

  “You really did get it, didn’t you?”

  Fes shrugged again.

  “Interesting.” Azithan turned away from Fes and made his way to the table at the back of the room. When he returned, he handed Fes a pouch. It was heavy, and he pulled it open to glance at the gold coins inside. It was a prize unlike any he had ever imagined. “I would have expected the priest to have put up more resistance to you taking it.”

  “They didn’t know.”

  Azithan took the offered bag. He sat down near the hearth before pulling the dragon heart out and staring at it as he traced his fingers over it.

  “Is it real?” Fes asked.

  Azithan traced his fingers along the striations of the dragon heart. He kept his hand above it. “I cannot tell. A dragon heart is rare enough that I don’t know how to test its authenticity. If it is real, it’s something the empire has not seen in quite some time.”

  Fes watched Azithan, but he seemed to pay Fes no mind, more interested in staring at the dragon heart, continuing to trace his fingers along the surface. Fes looked at the dragon heart. Even from where he stood, the striations were visible. There was no flash of color, but why would there be in a replica?

  Fes pocketed the pouch of coins and headed out of the palace.

  Grab book 2 of The Dragonwalker: Dragon Blessed.

  The magic of the ancient dragons cannot be ignored.

  Learning he’s descended from the ancient Deshazl, those once known as the Dragonwalkers, has changed nothing for Fes. He continues to serve Azithan and the empire, even after deceiving them. The ancient Deshazl magic lives within him, but Fes doesn’t know how to control it or even if he should try.

  An old nemesis approaches him with a job he can’t refuse, and he’s forced to head toward Toulen. When betrayal separates him from from a friend in need, Fes must begin to understand how to use his Deshazl magic. If he can’t, not only will he lose his friend, but innocent people will suffer.

  With a growing magic within him, Fes questions not only the nature of his power, he’s forced to make a choice between these new connections and the empire.

  Author’s Note

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you so much for reading Dragon Bones. I hope you enjoyed it. If you would be so kind as to take a moment to leave a review on Amazon or elsewhere, I would be very grateful.

  I’m also always happy to hear from readers! Email me at dkh@dkholmberg.com. I try to respond to each message. Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook as well!

  Review link HERE.

  All my best,

  D.K. Holmberg

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  Also by D.K. Holmberg

  The Teralin Sword

  Soldier Son

  Soldier Sword

  Soldier Sworn

  Soldier Saved

  Soldier Scarred

  The Lost Prophecy

  The Threat of Madness

  The Warrior Mage

  Tower of the Gods

  Twist of the Fibers

  The Lost City

  The Last Conclave

  The Gift of Madness

  The Great Betrayal

  The Cloud Warrior Saga

  Chased by Fire

  Bound by Fire

  Changed by Fire

  Fortress of Fire

  Forged in Fire

  Serpent of Fire

  Servant of Fire

  Born of Fire

  Broken of Fire

  Light of Fire

  Cycle of Fire

  The Endless War

  Journey of Fire and Night

  Darkness Rising

  Endless Night

  Summoner’s Bond

  Seal of Light

  The Book of Maladies

  Wasting

  Broken

  Poisoned

  Tormina

  Comatose

  Amnesia

  Exsanguinated

  The Shadow Accords

  Shadow Blessed

  Shadow Cursed

  Shadow Born

  Shadow Lost

  Shadow Cross

  Shadow Found

  The Collector Chronicles

  Shadow Hunted

  Shadow Games

  Shadow Trapped

  The Dark Ability

  The Dark Ability

  The Heartstone Blade

  The Tower of Venass

  Blood of the Watcher

  The Shadowsteel Forge

  The Guild Secret

  Rise of the Elder

  The Sighted Assassin

  The Binders Game

  The Forgotten

  Assassin’s End