The Chronicles of Dragon Collection (Series 1 Omnibus, Books 1-10)

by Craig Halloran

  “GRAADA-STOOK-SAAY!”

  ***

  It was hot. Smothering. Nath was pinned down underneath the heavy, burning beams. Fire engulfed everything around him. His eyes were filled with smoke. The fire was blistering hot. Painful. Agonizing. But dragons don’t burn. Not by normal fire. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t suffocate and die.

  He shoved up on the beams with all his strength. “Urk!”

  The beams started to rise.

  He gathered his knees under himself and put his back into it.

  Push, Dragon! Push!

  The air was thin. His head became dizzy. The hot lights started to dim. He started sagging toward the floor.

  Crash!

  The burning wood beneath him caved in, and down he went into the crawl space beneath what was left of the assembly room floor. The movement of cool air greeted him. A glimpse of darkness gave him hope. He pushed away the burning beams and fought his way through the debris. Flames rolled under the flooring like a bright orange roof. Crawling on hands and knees, he headed out. Fiery holes emerged above him. The entire floor warped and crackled. He found the edge of the crawl space and kicked it open. Fire rushed out over him, feeding off the night air.

  Nath felt his energy fleeing him and despair moving in. The flames had him. His fingers hung off the edge of the wood, and he moved no more.

  Of all the ways to go.

  Something seized his arm and dragged him through the hole and away from the flames. He figured one of those dragons was ready to take him apart one limb at a time. He could see the inferno now, blazing high. He gulped in a lungful of sweet night air. The rain felt delightful on his face. Strength returned to his limbs.

  “Huh?” he said, looking back at the man that held his arm. “Ben!”

  Ben heaved him up to his feet and slapped him on his back.

  “You must weigh a ton!” Ben said. He reached behind his back and grabbed something.

  Snap. Clatch. Snap.

  Akron’s string twirled up along the bow. Ben slipped an arrow from the quiver and nocked it.

  Twang!

  The arrow buried itself in the chest of an attacking gnoll.

  “Are you finished resting yet?” Ben said, loading the string again.

  Twang!

  The arrow zipped into another.

  There was fire, fighting, and screaming all over. Dwarves slugged it out with the gnolls, orcs, and lizard men. Overseer Dormus shouted orders to his men. Nath sprang to his feet.

  “That’s the one we want,” he said to Ben. He took off at a run.

  Dormus caught him out of the corner of his eye and gaped. Then his face turned to rage.

  “Impossible!” the Overseer shouted. “Stop him! Stop him!” He wrapped his hand around the amulet and started chanting.

  Nath lowered his shoulder and drove Dormus to the ground. He snapped the amulet off of Dormus’s neck.

  “You can’t control it!” Dormus said. “It is I that controls the dragons. Dragons, come back to me!”

  ***

  A dragon dangled Gorlee upside down with its tail and swung him gently like a chime. The other pair sniffed and snorted at him.

  “Easy, dragons,” Gorlee pleaded. “I’m not worth killing. It’s those orcs—gah!”

  One dragon snorted a blast of hot steam in his face.

  Squawk!

  Squawk!

  Their eyes were intent on him. Intelligent. Murderous. One cocked its great neck. Ran its long tongue over him like wet fingers.

  “Ewww,” Gorlee shivered. They’re going to kill me. But I don’t have to make it easy on them.

  One dragon inhaled a great breath. Another stepped back.

  “No! No! Don’t roast me!” He summoned his magic. Started to change his skin and bones to hard stone.

  Whoosh!

  Fiery dragon breath engulfed him from head to toe. The heat was so intense it felt like he was baking alive.

  When the dragon finished, Gorlee crossed his arms over his chest. His stony skin smoldered, and it hurt, but he lived.

  The dragons growled. The one that held him slammed him into the mud. Up and down. Up and down.

  Smush!

  Smush!

  Smush!

  Gorlee’s breath left him. They were dragons and he was a mouse. Up in the air he went. He saw the sky, then the mud hole they made with him.

  Squawk!

  The dragon’s long-necked head popped up and looked back toward the town.

  Oh, thank goodness!

  Something had their attention. Two of the dragons headed back for town. The one that held him snapped at him, then flipped him high in the air.

  I’m free! I’m free!

  When Gorlee stopped at the zenith, he managed to turn and look down as he fell. The dragon was still there. Its great black tail behind its back was poised like a giant cobra.

  “No, not again!”

  As Gorlee approached the ground, the dragon’s tail lashed out.

  Whap!

  Gorlee screamed and sailed, far and long, head over heels. “Aiiiyeeeeeee!”

  CHAPTER 11

  The tide had turned. The dwarves had routed the soldiers of Barnabus. Nath had the Overseer by the throat and the amulet in his hand.

  “Send the dragons away,” Nath ordered.

  “Never!” Dormus said. “I’ll see our deaths first!”

  Nath took the amulet and smashed it on a stone. The stone cracked.

  Dormus laughed.

  Squawk!

  Squawk!

  Squawk!

  The dragons weren’t far away, and he knew they moved fast. It would be open season on him and the dwarves.

  “Brenwar,” Nath yelled, “get over here!”

  Brenwar pushed his way through the skirmish. Nath tossed the amulet on the ground.

  “Smash it! Hurry!”

  The war hammer went up and came down.

  Krang!

  The hammer hummed like a great chime, but the stone remained intact.

  The dragons arrived. No sooner had they reached him than the dwarves initiated a full-scale assault. The first three of them were flung aside like toys. Others were stomped into the ground.

  A white bolt shot from the sky.

  Ka-Room!

  A dragon roared. A smoking hole gored its side.

  Bayzog hung in the air above. He yelled down. “I can’t hold them off! Do something!”

  The Elderwood Staff sparked to life. White-hot light blasted from it and smacked into another dragon.

  One by one, the dragons’ wings hummed to life, and slowly they sailed up and surrounded Bayzog.

  “Dragon,” Ben said holding arrows, “I need your spit on these.”

  Nath spat on the tips. They glowed to life.

  Ben nocked and fired.

  Whiz—Boom!

  The arrow exploded into one dragon’s neck. It bucked in midair and crashed through the roof of a building below it.

  Above, Bayzog tried to float away, but the dragons cut him off.

  Nath couldn’t get up there. He couldn’t do anything. His friend would be dead any moment.

  He slammed Dormus into the ground.

  “Call them off!”

  Dormus licked his bleeding lips and smiled. “No.” The Overseer might not be that formidable, but he made it clear that he was stubborn as an orc and loyal as a hound to the cause of Barnabus.

  Ben nocked another arrow.

  “No,” Nath said, “Bayzog’s too close.” Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Fang’s dragon hilt glimmering on Ben’s hip. He yanked his sword out.

  It burned hot as a furnace on his fingers.

  “No, Fang! I won’t let go this time!”

  Sweat burst on his forehead. He hefted the sword over his head with both hands. Even though it weighed a ton, resisting him, he brought the blade down on the amulet.

  Dormus screamed.

  The stone shattered with a gale-like blast of air, knocking ever
yone off their feet.

  Nath still held the burning-hot sword in his hands. “You need to trust me again, Fang!” He slid it in back into the sheath. Peeled his smoking hands off the hilt.

  Bayzog floated down beside him.

  “You did it,” the elven wizard said. He pointed skyward. “See?”

  The dragons landed, scurried through the muddy streets, and disappeared into the farmland.

  Nath saw a couple of smaller dragons fly through the night. “Did you see that?” Nath said.

  Bayzog nodded.

  Nath squeezed Bayzog’s shoulder. The elf had a nasty gash on his arm.

  “Is that a flesh wound I see on you?”

  “Better a flesh wound than a death wound,” Bayzog replied.

  “Well, it took you long enough to get here, elf,” Brenwar said. “We blew the Horn of Summons an age ago. What took you so long?”

  “Dwarves are heavy. And the giant bats didn’t like them. But they got them here, didn’t they?”

  “Humph.”

  “Of course, if I could summon dragons,” Bayzog said, reaching down and picking up a shard of the amulet. “That would be fascinating. I need time to investigate this.” He narrowed his violet eyes. “Interesting. It’s warm. Almost living.”

  Everyone leaned in for a closer look.

  “Say,” Nath said, “where’s Gorlee?”

  Glitch!

  Pain erupted in Nath’s side.

  Dormus had jammed a glowing dagger between Nath’s ribs. “Death to Nath Dragon!” the Overseer yelled. “Death!”

  CHAPTER 12

  Narnum. The Free City that wasn’t so free anymore.

  “Any news?” a woman said, looking over the balcony of the tallest tower in the city.

  The tower stood hundreds of feet tall, the proud centerpiece of civilization that housed some of the finest citizens of Narnum and Nalzambor. The Clerics of Barnabus controlled it now. They came. They conquered. They hurled those who resisted from the tower, one right after the other. She could still hear their screams. Their terror. Lamentations.

  A man approached from behind and stood at her side. She was a tall woman, but he was still much taller than she. A great, heavy mace hung by his side. He had tattoos all over his forehead and some on his face. His voice was deep and powerful.

  “Nay, my queen,” he said. “No confirmation that he lives.”

  She turned toward him with narrowed eyes. Her black satin hair spilled over her shoulder. In her robes and décor, she was everything a queen should be. An evil queen. She was Selene.

  “You still can’t help the flattery on your tongue, can you?” she said, placing her hand on his broad chest. “And after all that I have put you through.”

  He bowed his ugly head. “I worship you. That’s why I die for you.”

  Selene chuckled and tipped up his chin. “Kryzak, you’ve done almost everything a queen could ever ask. You’ve conquered cities. Crushed our enemies. But you have not found me Nath Dragon.”

  Kryzak stiffened. His face snarled a little. “I am not the only one to fail. Just let me have one more chance,” he pleaded. “One more chance to kill Nath Dragon.”

  Her black-scaled tail slid over to his cheek and stroked it.

  Kryzak’s hard face showed faint little scales. His great hands were like a lizard man’s. She had killed him decades ago when he failed, and she had brought him back part draykis.

  “These scales have served you well, Kryzak, but I will not waste my creation in vain.” Her tail fell away from his cheek and rested on the balcony’s edge. “We’ve conquered most cities, but now a glimmer of hope remains. Gorn Grattack is not pleased. Dragon Home still stands. Nath Dragon still lives.” Her clawed fingers dug into the rail. “We cannot have this.”

  A dragon swooped by. It was coppery in color, with a black tail and faintly glowing eyes. Bigger than a man, it perched itself on one of the towers nearby. It wasn’t alone, either. Dozens of dragons sat perched and flying through the city like great birds of prey.

  One dove into the streets, snatched a man up from the ground, and dropped him a hundred feet.

  Selene chuckled. It was her way of keeping a firm grip on things.

  “I found him before, Selene. Let me find him again. With the aid of the dragons—”

  “No,” she said. “Come with me.”

  She went back inside her room and made her way to a map of Nalzambor on the wall. Bright spots sparkled in a variety of places.

  “These villages and towns are where it is rumored that he was seen. He’s smart. They move all over this world like ghosts. But now, I’ve placed more dragons inside these nuisance cities.” She frowned. “He’ll hit one of them soon enough, and when he does, we’ll be ready. He can’t hide forever.”

  “Then can I take him?”

  A small feathered dragon flew inside and landed on a large perch that hung from the ceiling above the map. It stretched its neck out.

  “Ah, my pet returns,” Selene said, stroking its feathers. “And it has a little something in its mouth.”

  It purred.

  She removed something from its mouth: a small glass bottle with a note in it. The tiny scroll became larger as she unrolled it. It had an image of a man on it and a map below it.

  “Humph,” she said, handing it to Kryzak. “Is this who I think it is?”

  He took the scroll and stared at it. “Aye, it’s Nath Dragon, and he’s just outside the settlement. This is great news. I will not delay.”

  “No, Kryzak,” she said, snatching back the scroll. “I need you here. I’ll send my own dragons out to play.”

  CHAPTER 13

  “Stay put,” Bayzog said, holding Nath down by the shoulder.

  They were inside one of the homes of the settlement. Nath lay on a small bed with his head propped up by some pillows. For the past two days, Bayzog and some others had been tending to Nath. The wound Overseer Dormus had given him was deep. Nath’s situation had turned grave.

  “I want to see Dormus,” Nath said, brushing the long hair from his face. He coughed. “I have questions I want answered.”

  “Brenwar is handling that,” Bayzog reminded him. “You need to keep your blood down. The poison still works its magic yet.”

  Nath snarled and grunted.

  The healthy gleam he always had in his face had faded, but it had been much worse a day ago. The near-mortal wound had put Nath into a coma of sorts. They had applied salves and administered potions, but nothing took at first. Anyone else struck by the blade would have certainly died from it by then.

  “Have you made anything of that blade yet?” Nath said. He reached over, coughing, and grabbed a jug of water. “How did that sluggard come to acquire it? It’s almost as if that blade was designed for me.”

  Bayzog plucked the blade out of a nearby table. “It’s a Dragon Skinner. You know them well. Usually, the Clerics lend them out to poachers, with strings attached, of course.”

  Nath sneered and held out his hand. Dragon Skinners were made by the Clerics of Barnabus from enchanted and carved dragon claws. It was said that a well-forged one could peel an eyelid from a gnat, and the edge was difficult to notch or chip.

  “Let me see it.”

  Bayzog hesitated. His friend had been in bad shape, the worst he’d ever seen him. Yet it didn’t seem possible that such a small blade could kill him. It was several inches long with a stout blade and a handle with two notches on the end. He handed it to Nath, who eyed it with suspicion.

  “Strange. I remember it had a glow to it. Like a firefly.” He flipped it around in his hand and thumbed the edge.

  “Nath!”

  “What? It can’t still be poisoned, can it?” He coughed again. Harder this time. His face flashed in pain. He stuck it back in the table. “I hate those blades. And those Clerics.”

  “Me too,” Bayzog agreed. He lifted his robes over his toes, sat down in a chair by the bed, and thought about the dragons they’d seen flying awa
y the night of the battle. At the time, he had assumed they were flying off because they no longer were under the power of the crystal amulet. But given the evidence now, he wasn’t so sure. “I think we have some problems that need discussing.”

  “Go on,” Nath said.

  Bayzog leaned forward with his black brows furrowed.

  “They’re on to us. Why else would they let someone like Dormus have an enchanted Dragon Skinner? The evil curse of a Cleric of Barnabus is what poisoned it. The evil courses through the blood and right into the heart. It can kill,” his eyes flicked up at Nath’s, “or corrupt.”

  “I’m fine, Bayzog,” Nath assured him.

  Bayzog wanted to believe it. Nath’s behavior had been nothing short of brave and exemplary of late. Still, it seemed Nath had taken the bait. Placed everyone in danger. He’d been sent to scout, but something had gotten to him. He should have waited. Bayzog let it go. He’s done well. I’ll trust him for now. He reached inside his robes, grabbed something, and tossed it on the bed. It was a shard from the amulet. The light was dim that once glowed.

  Nath picked it up, inspected it, and said, “What do you make of this?”

  “It’s crystal from beneath the cities that float above the rivers.”

  “What? Floating cities?”

  “They’re near the river cities far in the west. I’ve never seen them, but I’ve come across the histories plenty. These crystals store magic and hold it a long time. I believe the Clerics of Barnabus have cast spells in them that control and charm the dragons.” He leaned back. “At least, the dragons who are not willing.” He ran his fingers over the wound on his head. “The dragons, to my good fortune, weren’t entirely evil.”

  “But they had black tails,” Nath said. “Are you saying the black-tailed dragons aren’t all evil? They didn’t have black tails before.”

  It was a good question. Bayzog wasn’t entirely certain about it either. Dragons, good or evil, had personalities of their own. Just because they were aligned with evil didn’t mean they would do everything they were told.

  “I think they had to follow the commands of Dormus, but when the spell was broken, they decided to conduct other business they might have been given.”