Though it was quickly smothered, pain lanced briefly through the link. I–I did.
Chanté closed his eyes. Please. Please, don’t let it have been a dream. Is . . . is it still so?
Confusion swirled. Is what still so?
He opened his eyes and placed a hand on her shoulder. Nantli. Check again. Do you still feel as if something is not right with you?
She tilted her head. I do not understand. It could not have chan— Shock surged through the link.
Nantli?
Her eyes grew large. The sparkling in them was more than just the play of light. How? How am I now complete?
Chanté raised his arms. “YES!”
“Good gods, what are you doing in there?”
Chanté turned to the sound of footsteps in the passage.
Quillan walked out and stood yawning. “What’s all the yelling?” He scratched his cheek. “And how are you not cold? I feel chilly and I’m wearing something.”
Chanté smiled. “Nantli can have children!”
Quillan blinked. He turned and headed back to the bedroom. “Come back to bed. And can you wait until morning before you tell me more amazing things, like, ‘Water is wet.’”
He’d forgotten that Quillan didn’t know about her previous condition. Chanté laughed and wrapped his arms as far around Nantli’s neck as he could.
Chanté. How?
He hugged tighter. Alandra made whole what Garathel created incomplete.
She does have a merciful heart.
That she does.
A feeling of hesitation, of nervousness came through the link. Quillan has been thinking about being a candidate.
What? Chanté turned to the passage. I guess he really is getting more comfortable flying with you.
I was worried about it because I could not bear young. Would any dragon want to be my mate?
He turned to her. Hey. There is more to a person than being able to have children. I loved you even when you couldn’t.
She touched her nose to his head. It is a little different when it is a mate choice, but I take your point.
At any rate, you no longer have that concern.
“Chanté. For the love of all that is good, come to bed! It’s late and you promised to help me bring over the last of my things before your patrol in the morning.”
“I’ll be right there.” He smiled and turned to Nantli. From what memory remains to me, I think I had always been an observer, watching from afar, not even devoting a thousandth of my existence to my presence here. Perhaps that is why I’d never seen any of what is truly important.
He twisted his lips. At least, I don’t remember doing so. But I am positive I did not. I would have brought myself here fully if I had.
He looked at his hands, flexed his fingers. It is astonishing to the me I am now that I created all this. Were all these things planned down to the tiniest detail? Did I plan the feeling of being in love? The astonishing beauty of Suule rising above the horizon at dawn? The joy of seeing two beings joined by the Bond? Or is much of what is incredible with this universe just happenstance, or something akin to emergent behavior?
Does it matter?
Chanté looked at her and chuckled. No, lovely dragon, it most certainly does not.
She chirped. All we need do is live.
And live we shall, my lovely. He leaned over, kissed her nose, and made for the bedroom, where Quillan and their warm bed awaited.
Dragonlinked Chronicles
Thank you so much for reading Of Gods, Trees, and a Sapling, Dragonlinked Chronicles Volume 4!
Want to know when the next book comes out? Click the Follow button on the Adolfo Garza Jr. author page to be notified when his next works are available from Amazon.
If you enjoyed this book, you may like the other books in the series. At this time, titles are only available in English. Some links are included below, but all titles are also available at amazon.fr, amazon.es, amazon.it, amazon.nl, amazon.br, and amazon.mx.
Dragonlinked, Volume 1 of the Dragonlinked Chronicles series
Fourteen-year-old Aeron is dealing with bullies (if running and escaping can be considered ‘dealing’), he’s trying to make his dad proud (though he’s failing at that), and when he hears any rumor about deadly nahual attacks, for some reason it makes him very nervous. Progress on the ‘making dad proud’ front (he finally gets invited to train in Magic Craft) comes with its own strangeness. How is he so good at sorcery? Then he rescues a baby dragon.
He didn’t know it was a dragon, but the poor thing couldn’t seem to break out of its egg, and unable to ignore the piteous whimpers, he helps her hatch. Powerful magic bonds them together, mind and soul, making them friends for life, and he wonders how he is going to care for her. He is doing really well at sorcery and worries about risking his studies. On the other hand, he’s got this adorable dragon who needs him right now. When he learns she will eventually get to be twenty feet long and weigh around four thousand pounds, he panics. How in Yrdra’s deepest hells is he going to keep her a secret?
Direct amazon links: US UK AU DE CA IN JP
The Bond, Dragonlinked Chronicles Volume 2
A mysterious enemy works against the masters’ plans and tension with his friends makes life tough for Aeron. When a mysterious dragonlinked arrives bringing startling news, it becomes even more important that their plan succeeds. Everyone must mend their differences and prove they’re capable of their expanded purpose because their future, the future of all dragonlinked, rests on their shoulders.
Direct amazon links: US UK AU DE CA IN JP
A Storm in the Desert, Dragonlinked Chronicles Volume 3
An unknown dragonlinked arrives, bold as brass, with an enormous dragon, but with so much on their plates, the dragonlinked don’t think they have time to address her concerns. When a manis tries to kill Anaya, however, all illusions of normalcy are shattered. If she isn’t safe, even in Caer Baronel, then none of them are. The Corpus Order will have to be dealt with after all. For there is deep hatred rotting away inside the Order, and powerful factions, each willing to do anything to advance their own interests. Everyone will have to work together if they want to stop the senseless prejudice and enmity that threatens all their lives.
Direct amazon links: US UK AU DE CA IN JP
Moonflower (includes Brilliant Points of Light) [Short Story set just before the Chronicles]
Millinith has always lived her life following others, doing as she was told. When a deadly nahual attack shakes up Caer Baronel, the horrifying event opens a door for Millinith. But will she have the strength of conviction to walk through, even if it means crossing the threshold alone?
Direct amazon links: US UK AU DE CA IN JP
About the Author
Adolfo Garza Jr lives in central Texas, so only rarely sees the phenomenon called rain. Graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (and with a minor in English), he is apparently one of the rare few who actually get a job that has anything remotely to do with their major. He worked as a computer programmer (also filling in, sometimes for years at a time, as a customer service representative, a merchant service representative, and as the graphics designer) and as a systems analyst before moving to IT Manager. After nearly two decades at the same company, Mr. Garza left to pursue his writing career. It hasn’t always been easy, as most worthwhile things are not, but he is slowly gaining knowledge about this art of writing thing and will be crafting worlds for the foreseeable future.
You can read about his writing exploits at Adventures In Lethera where he posts news about life, writing updates, book release dates, fan extras (maps, sketches, etc), as well as things he’s learned about the whole writing craft thing.
Pronunciation Guide
Note: The IPA symbols listed below may not render properly on all eReaders, particularly older models. Other than e, the symbols are part of the IPA Extensions and Combining Diacritical Marks font subsets. A PDF version of this guide is available
in the Library section on the author’s blog.
International Phonetic Alphabet Symbols
ɪː - Long E, as in eel, read
e - Short E, as in men, ten
ɑɪ - Long I, as in kite, my
ɪ - Short I, as in bit, writ
eɪ - Long A, as in ate, day
æ - Short A, as in cat, sat
ʌ - Short U, as in bus, rut
eə - Wear, air [if no ‘r’ follows, leave off the ‘r’ sound]
ə - America, collide
ɔː - Sort, ore [if no ‘r’ follows, leave off the ‘r’ sound]
ɒ - Short O, as in ox, not
uː - ooze, too
ɜː - bird, word
əʊ - Long O, as in go
g - as in glorious
j - as in jet
ʔ - Glottal stop, a sudden pause while speaking. In the word ‘that,’ for example, you may notice that you only actually breathe out air during the first three letters ‘tha.’ As you shut off airflow, you lift your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your front teeth to make the final ‘t’ sound happen. The sudden stop, the blocking of your glottis, is called a glottal stop.
A list of some names, by location, is shown below. Where ‘ts’ is shown, it sounds like the ‘ts’ in cats. If an apostrophe is shown, its syllable is stressed. If none is shown, no syllable is stressed more than another. Pronunciations listed are how the author pronounces the names himself, and may not be the most frequently used pronunciations for names entirely or partially based on Earth names.
Dragon Craft Guildhall
Aeron - eər ʌn
Ahiga - ə hɪː’ gə
Anaya - ə nɑɪ’ ə
Balam - bə’ ləm
Chanté - chɒn te’
Citlali - sɪːt lə’ lɪː
Coatl - kɔ:’ ət
Elah - e’ lə
Ikan - ɑɪ cən’
Itzel - ɪː’ tsʌl
Liara - lɪː ə’ rə
Nantli - nɒnt’ lɪː
Nelli - ne lɪː’
Quillan - kwɪl’ ʌn
Tenoch - te’ nɔːch
Xoc - shɔːk
Xochi - sɔ:’ chɪː
Zolin - zɔ:’ lɪn
The Departed
Chuki - chuː’ kɪː
Karu - kə’ ruː
Matlal - mət ləl’
Uchu - uːk’ uː
Votan - vəʊ’ tən
Caer Baronel
Caer - kɑɪr
Baronel - bæ’ rʌ nel
Doronal - dɔ:r’ ʌ nəl
Huemac - weɪ’ mək
Bataan-Mok
Bataan - bə’ tən [Extend the ‘a’ in the second syllable]
Mok - mɒk
Cirtis - sɪr’ tɪs
Daelon - deə’ lʌn
Fala - fə lə
Hurit - hyɜːr’ ɪt
Isandath - ɪ’ sən dæth
Jaci - jə’ sɪː
Kwatoko - kwə tɔː’ kɔː
Lonato - lɔː nə’ tɔː
Polandra - pɔ: lən’ drə
Renata - re nə’ tə
Takatin - tə’ kə tɪn
Tevah - te’ və
Yiska - yɪ’ skə
Pashi
Pashi - pə’ shɪː
tłizi - tlʔe’ ze’ [tlʔe, is almost one and a half syllables]
House Yaot
Yaot - yə wɔ:t’
Atoc - ə tɒk’
Chel - chɪːl
Ixtab - ɪːsh’ tɒb
Malina - mə lɪː’ nə
Nenet - ne’ net
Tototl - tɔ: tət’
House Peku
Peku - pe’ kwə
Kon - kɔ:n
Mazat - mə’ zət
Nayra - nɑɪ’ rə
Caer Ilan
Ilan - ɪlən
Bertram - bɜːr’ trʌm
Eldin - el’ dɪn
Caer Tengish
Tengish - ten gɪsh
Saoirse - seər’ shə
Toran - tɔːr’ ən
Delcimaar
Delcimaar - del’ sɪ mər [Extend the ‘a’ in the third syllable]
Erindia - ɜːr ɪn’ dɪːə
Gella - gelə
Hasana - hə sə’ nə
Kaiden - keɪ’ dɪn
Komako - kəʊ’ mə kəʊ
Oran - ɔːr’ ʌn
Smarkel - smər’ kʌl
Stronghold
Cadoc - kædʌc
Dima - dɪː’ mə
Elke - el’ kə
Fiske - fɪsk
Jord - jɔːrd
Koen - kəʊ en
Preeti - prɪː’ tɪː
Tobin - təʊ bɪn
National Transportation
Pivin - pɪ’ vɪn
Tiberius - tɑɪ bɪːr’ ɪːʌs
Copyright and License Notices
OF GODS, TREES, AND A SAPLING © 2016 Adolfo Garza Jr.
Dragonlinked Chronicles © 2016 Adolfo Garza Jr.
Tales of Lethera © 2016 Adolfo Garza Jr.
Cover design © 2016 Adolfo Garza Jr.
Photographs adapted for use in the cover design under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) license:
‘***’ by Artur (RUS) Potosi / (modified)
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/arturtula/16001403159/)
‘lightning’ by youniversall / (modified)
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/youniversall/10136453263/)
The CC BY 2.0 license is viewable at:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Photographs adapted for use in the cover design under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0) license:
‘Engagement Ring’ by Hideyuki KAMON / (modified)
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/hyougushi/2901671052/)
‘Tree’ by William / (modified)
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/evilnickname/5632398495/)
‘For children's play by colours’ by Haabet / (modified)
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/haabet/4389850279/)
The CC BY-SA 2.0 license is viewable at:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
This is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real people, places, or events, is entirely coincidental.
Of Gods, Trees, and a Sapling: Dragonlinked Chronicles Volume 4 Page 111
