The Chronicles of Dragon Collection (Series 1 Omnibus, Books 1-10)
Page 132
Kah-Poooooooof!
Nath stared down at Gorn’s corpse, now turned to bone and ashes that the wind quickly took away. He took Fang from Gorn’s disintegrating grip. “I don’t ever want to do that again.”
Booooooooooooom!
Booooooooooooom!
Booooooooooooom!
Everything was collapsing all around him.
“Selene!”
***
He rushed over to the pyre where she had last been and dug his claws into the dirt. He found her out cold in the smoking rubble. He took her up in his arms, spread his wings, and took to the sky. His battered wings kept on pumping, barely keeping him aloft. He heard Selene gasp and cough. “Hang in there,” he said.
Teetering out of control, the Floating City careened toward the ground. An earth-shaking, horrendous crash smote the mountain tops. The city was destroyed, leaving only giant plumes of smoke and rubble.
Nath said to Selene, “Looks like we did it. We’re going to make it.”
Her eyes found his. “Of course we are. I had faith, did you?”
CHAPTER 46
The Apparatus of Ruune stopped firing. Bayzog’s shield collapsed. Dark dragons climbed all over them, the Apparatus, everything. Brenwar swung his hammer into a copper dragon’s nose.
Krang!
“Get off me, lizards!”
There was a blinding flash! A thousand bolts of lightning in one.
Booooooooooooom!
Booooooooooooom!
Booooooooooooom!
The dragon surge ended. The dark lizards shook their necks and flapped their wings. The glowing green lights in their eyes went dim.
“Direct hits! Directs hits!” Pilpin said, sliding down the ladder to the smoking barrel of the apparatus. “Look!” he said, waving his arms. “Look!”
The Floating City split into two massive hunks. It teetered and warbled in the sky, sputtering and smoking. Slowly, it drifted toward the earth, dragging the chained dragons down with it.
BAMmmmmm!
It crashed into the mountains with thunderous impact. Smoke billowed up in huge plumes of dust and rubble.
“I’ll be,” Brenwar exclaimed, mopping the sweat from his brow. “You were right, wizard!” He scanned the area around the apparatus. There were dragons everywhere, some dead, others alive. “Where are you, wizard?”
“Perhaps I can help,” Shum said. The giant-sized Roamer elf began picking dragons up from the pile and tossing them aside. Bayzog and his family lay underneath the pile, unmoving.
“Bayzog!” Brenwar jumped off the apparatus and rushed to his friend’s side. He scooped him up in his arms. “Wake up, elf! Wake up!”
Bayzog’s violet eyes fluttered open. “I was right, wasn’t I?”
“About what?”
“Shooting the jaxite.”
“It was my shot that did it, elf. Not your advice. Your words had little effect.”
Grimacing, Bayzog eyed him, starting to rise. “If you say so, dwarf. Ouch.
“Are you all right?”
“Just a few broken ribs, and possibly my leg. Hardly a wound of note.”
“Hah!” Brenwar said, slapping him on the back. “Glad to see I’m finally rubbing off on you. A wizard turned soldier! Too bad the war might be over.” He helped Bayzog to his feet, and together they gazed into the sky, where all the bright colors of the rainbow lingered.
Everyone seemed to be all right, especially Rerry.
“What kind of potion did you give me, Father?” Rerry said. “I was so fast!” He jabbed his sword. “Quick!” Swish! “My strikes were lightning-filled power! I want to drink that again. Please, please, tell me what it’s called.”
“In Elven,” Bayzog said, “It’s called Cafleiyn. And no, you can’t have any more.”
“Aw!”
Gazing toward the distant mountains, Brenwar frowned.
“Do you think he made it?” Bayzog said.
Kabooooom!
Kabooooom!
The Floating City exploded, shaking the ground beneath them.
“What in Nalzambor is that?” Brenwar said.
“The jaxite. Its energy is activated. The Apparatus of Ruune made it unstable.”
“We need to get Nath out of there,” Brenwar said.
“We need to get us out of here!”
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
A dome of fiery light covered the mountains. Everyone standing fell from their feet. Dust and debris rained down on them, coating everything.
Coughing, Brenwar stood up and wiped the grit from his eyes, gaping. The mountains were gone. He swallowed hard, and through a cracked voice he said, “I guess that’s it then.”
Everyone stood in silence.
Tears streamed down Sasha’s cheeks.
Pilpin sniffled.
The dragons, of all sorts and colors, made sad honks and drifted away until all of them were gone. Almost an hour passed before Brenwar said, “I suppose we need to go and look for him. Come on, Pilpin.”
“Look for who?” someone said.
“Nath,” Brenwar grumbled. “Who said that?”
“I did,” a voice from above responded.
Every chin tilted upward. Nath hovered in the sky with Selene in his arms.
“You get down here, you … dragon!”
Epilogue
Weeks later, Nath stood inside the throne room at Dragon Home. The piles of gold and treasure were as high as ever. Gemstones twinkled and winked in the grand torchlight. Balzurth sat on the throne, resting his great jaw on his clawed fist.
“Why, you’re not even 250 years old,” his father said. “You don’t really think your days of adventure are over yet, do you?”
“Well, we defeated Gorn Grattack. Stopped the war. What else is there?”
“You don’t really think men, elves, orcs, and dwarves are going to start getting along, do you?”
“Well,” Nath said, scratching his mane, “I don’t suppose, but…” He glanced at Selene.
“Son,” Balzurth said, reaching his great clawed hand down and patting him on the head. “You’ve done so well. But evil never rests. Not only must you be vigilant for all, but also yourself. Don’t think for one moment that all the dragons are going to behave.”
“I’ll keep them in line.”
“Ha!” Balzurth’s short laugh shook the throne room, loosening the piles of gold like shale. “Just like I kept you in line, eh, Son?” He turned his great frame and head toward the enormous mural in the rear of the throne room. “Every living thing has a mind of its own. Remember that. It’s their choice to do right or wrong. Same as it was yours. Same as it will be with your children.”
“Children?” Nath said, jaw dropping.
Selene locked her fingers with his.
“You will have children,” Balzurth said. “Nothing prepares you for that. They are full of so many wonderful surprises. They can be trouble as well, just as you were to me, I was to my father, and my father to my grandfather. Be firm, just. But always love them, no matter what. ”
Balzurth turned his great scaly neck back toward him. His golden eyes were watery. “It’s brought me nothing but joy, watching you grow up and become fully dragon, Nath. It aches my heart to have to go, but my time on this world is at its end. I’ll see you soon. Never forget how much I love you, Son.”
Nath’s heart burst in his chest. Tears streamed down his cheeks. He didn’t want his father to go. So much time had been missed, wasted. Now he was going, just like that.
“Don’t go, Father! Not yet!”
“Oh,” Balzurth said, his eyes brightened.
“Stay for a little longer at least?”
“I wish I could, Nath, but there is an appointed time for all, including me.”
Nath fell to his knees and laid his hands on his father’s tail. A flood of emotion overcame him. He trembled.
“Son, have no regrets. It’s quite natural for the child to leave his parents and live life on his o
wn. We’ll be together soon enough on the other side of the mural. Have faith, Son.”
Nath sniffed. Even with all the power he’d mastered, he felt like a child once again.
“Father, can you tell me something?” He looked up in Balzurth’s eyes. “Was I really hatched from an egg?”
A smile cracked on Balzurth’s face. “You need to ask your mother that.”
“My mother?” Nath stood. “I really have a mother?”
“Yes, and when I leave, you’ll have the power to find her.” Balzurth headed closer to the mural.
Nath watched in silence. Stunned, his tongue clove to the roof of his mouth.
With one last wave goodbye, Balzurth slipped into the mural.
“I love you, Father!” Nath blurted out, but Balzurth was already gone.
Nath’s chin dipped down to his chest.
Selene rubbed his shoulder.
He patted her hand. “Well,” his said, lifting his chin and tossing back his mane. “I guess we should search out my mother.”
Selene hugged him and spoke in his ear. “I’ll see you later, Dragon King.” She kissed his cheek, turned, and headed out of the throne room. The great doors sealed shut behind her.
Nath stood gaping for a while before he climbed up on the throne. There he sat, a dragon-scaled man, fist under his chin on a seat meant for someone ten times bigger than him. He contemplated all he had done. All that had happened. He snapped his fingers, and a ball of flame appeared. With a huff, he blew it out. “I’m bored.”
Bong! Bong! Bong!
The pounding on the great doors stirred the piles of coins in the room.
Nath sat up and said, “Open.”
The great doors swung inward. The stout, black-bearded figure standing in the threshold seemed so tiny in comparison.
A broad smile formed on Nath’s lips. “Brenwar! What are you doing back here?”
In a new set of black plate armor, Brenwar marched into the room and took a knee.
“Rise,” Nath said, “and don’t ever do that again.” He hadn’t gotten used to the formalities of being king yet. “Unless you have to. So, what brings you back to visit?”
Brenwar rose to his feet and gazed up at Nath sitting on the throne. “If you get off your hind end and come down here, I’ll tell you.”
“Oh,” Nath said, hopping down out of the massive chair. “Better?”
Brenwar nodded and grumbled, “A little bird called me out. It says to me, ‘We need to find Nath the Dragon King’s mother.’ Unless you’d rather sit on that throne up there.”
“You know where she is?”
“I know enough. Are you coming or not, your majesty?”
“Will it be dangerous?”
“Of course.”
“Then what are we waiting for?”
Author notes
I just wanted to take a moment to say thanks. Thanks for reading. Thanks for reviewing. Thanks for contacting me and telling me that you liked these stories. It all means so much, and it motivates me.
As for ending a series, well, I hate it. Endings are really, really tough, and I know readers who like the characters will miss reading about them. I’ll miss writing them, but remember it’s fantasy, so it never really ends. That’s why I left some options open at the end. I’d think it’s safe to assume at some point, Nath Dragon will return in another series of adventures.
I hope this last book met your expectations. My goal, as always, is to entertain and provide an escape for the reader the best that I can. I want you to have fun but not relax, so you keep turning the pages. As the story was originally designed for younger readers (even though most readers that contact me are much older than I anticipated, which is great), I wanted to adhere the best I could to having a positive message, to stress the importance of trust, friendship, faith, courage, redemption, wisdom, loyalty, and family. I wanted the characters to grow, fight, and overcome the forces of evil. I hope I showed that through the actions of my characters.
Feel free to drop me a line any time, leave a review, and tell me what you think. I always love to hear from you. Your comments are always welcome.
Do good always,
Craig Halloran
Important! Nath Dragon’s adventures will continue in a new series, Tail of the Dragon, Book 1, is available on Amazon! Click here!
Nath meets Sansla Libor (Humor)
About the Author
Craig Halloran resides with his family outside his hometown of Charleston, West Virginia. When he isn’t entertaining mankind, he is seeking adventure, working out, or watching sports. To learn more about him, go to: www.thedarkslayer.com.
Check out all of my great stories …
CLASH OF HEROES: Nath Dragon meets The Darkslayer
The Chronicles of Dragon Series
The Hero, the Sword and the Dragons (Book 1) Free eBook
Dragon Bones and Tombstones (Book 2)
Terror at the Temple (Book 3)
Clutch of the Cleric (Book 4)
Hunt for the Hero (Book 5)
Siege at the Settlements (Book 6)
Strife in the Sky (Book 7)
Fight and the Fury (Book 8)
War in the Winds (Book 9)
Finale (Book 10)
The Chronicles of Dragon: Series 2, Tail of the Dragon
Tail of the Dragon
Claws of the Dragon
Eye of the Dragon
Scales of the Dragon
Trial of the Dragon
Teeth of the Dragon
The Darkslayer Series 1
Wrath of the Royals (Book 1) Free eBook
Blades in the Night (Book 2)
Underling Revenge (Book 3)
Danger and the Druid (Book 4)
Outrage in the Outlands (Book 5)
Chaos at the Castle (Book 6)
The Darkslayer: Bish and Bone, Series 2
Bish and Bone (Book 1) Free eBook
Black Blood (Book 2)
Red Death (Book 3)
Lethal Liaisons (Book 4)
Torment and Terror (Book 5)
The Supernatural Bounty Hunter Files
Smoke Rising (2015) Free ebook
I Smell Smoke (2015)
Where There’s Smoke (2015)
Smoke on the Water (2015)
Smoke and Mirrors (2015)
Up in Smoke
Smoke Em’
Holy Smoke
Smoke Out
Zombie Impact Series
Zombie Day Care: Book 1 Free eBook
Zombie Rehab: Book 2
Zombie Warfare: Book 3
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Table of Contents
The Hero, The Sword and the Dragons Book 1
Dragon Bones and Tombstones The Chronicles of Dragon: Book 2
Terror at the Temple The Chronicles of Dragon: Book 3
Clutch of the Cleric The Chronicles of Dragon: Book 4
Hunt for the Hero The Chronicles of Dragon: Book 5
The Chronicles of Dragon Book 6 Siege in the Settlements
Strife in the Sky The Chronicles of Dragon: Book 7
Fight and the Fury The Chronicles of Dragon: Book 8
War in the Winds The Chronicles of Dragon: Book 9
Finale The Chronicles of Dragon: Book 10
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