by D K Drake
◊◊◊
Micah tossed a piece of bread to Krystyn, who was sitting tied to a tree across from him. “Eat up.”
“I’ll eat after you untie me.”
“You’re perfectly capable of eating as is, which is why I tied your hands in front of you.” He threw more sticks on the fire and began sifting through the food left in his pack. Not that it did much good. He didn’t feel much like eating anything after the fire bug attack.
“Listen, there’s no point in keeping me with you anymore. Javan’s gone, and the battle’s over. Let me go.”
“Hmmm…no.” Keeping her tied up was the only thing giving him the tiniest bit of satisfaction in the wake of Javan’s untimely departure.
“I’ll tell Omri you’re dead. You can go back to Gibbet and live the rest of your life free from a father who wants you gone.”
“That’s the problem.” He zipped up his bag, forgetting about food. “You know about the village in Gibbet. Letting you go would endanger everyone there.”
“No, it won’t.” She grunted. “What will it take to convince you I don’t care to see people die. Dragons are the creatures I hate.”
“I’m still waiting for you to explain that hatred to me. I also don’t understand why you would want to return to Omri and his oppressive ways.”
She lifted her tethered hands. “He doesn’t tie me to trees.”
“I think there’s more to it than that. I think he’s holding something over you. I want to know what it is.”
“I don’t care what it is,” Taliya stormed into the campsite. “She’s responsible for Javan’s death and needs to pay. Untie her from that tree, Micah. We’re gonna take her to the Zandadorian portal and send her to the Land of No Return.”
“Whoa, Taliya.” Micah inserted himself between Taliya and Krystyn. “I’m not her biggest fan, either, but isn’t the Land of No Return a bit much. She didn’t know Javan was going to get caught in her trap.”
“That doesn’t matter. She should have thought it through. Untie her!” Taliya burst into tears. Micah pulled her into his arms and held her shaking body while she sobbed against his chest.
◊◊◊
Hours later, Taliya still felt cold despite the warm fire. Micah cooked some soup, but she had only eaten two bites. She simply wasn’t hungry. With midnight approaching, she wasn’t tired either. “I’m going to find more fire wood.”
“Taliya, wait.” Micah held up his arms. “Do you hear that?”
“Hear what?” She trained her ears on the woods around her. An owl hooted. Leaves rustled in the wind. Branches snapped. That snapping definitely wasn’t a natural sound of the night. “Something’s coming.”
Micah nodded and drew his sword. She armed her slingshot and prepared to shoot the large animal walking toward them. As it got closer, a rotten odor attacked her nose. “Is that…Azurrior?”
“Looks like it.” Micah put his sword away. “He stinks.”
“You would too if you took a mud bath in the marshlands. Let’s hope Javan’s on him.”
They carefully approached the dragon who was covered in dried mud. The hope in her heart drowned when she saw he had no rider on his back. “I’m glad you made it, boy.” As she choked out the words, she heard a man moan. “Micah, he doesn’t smell that bad. There’s no need to groan about it.”
“That wasn’t me.”
“It was me.” A foul-smelling, muddy Javan sat up in the middle of Azurrior’s curled tail. “Meet the newest dragon in my collection.”
“Aren’t Collectors supposed to ride on their dragon’s backs?”
“Typically, yes. But after they’ve had half their blood sucked out of them by vampire bugs and then nearly suffocated in mud, they find that being dragged along on the tail is a more manageable way to travel.”
“Is that so?”
“Yup.” He waved her over. When she got close, he said, “I never would have had the courage to collect him without you. He’d be dead, and the Land of Zandador would be stuck with Omri for the next five centuries. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” She smiled and hugged him, stinky mud and all. He didn’t have the ability to return her embrace, but she didn’t mind. He was alive!
“Now where’s Krystyn? I need to talk to her. Please tell me she’s still with you guys.”
“She is.” She couldn’t wait to hear Javan rip into Krystyn for what she did. “We’ll take you to her.”
Taliya and Micah helped Javan to his feet. They became human crutches for Javan as they walked to the tree where Krystyn was tied. “How did you survive?” Krystyn asked, her back pressed against the tree.
“By the grace of God,” Javan said. “Now before we leave, you will undo every other trap you set so this territory is once again safe for Starshade. Micah will go with you to make sure they are properly taken apart.”
“I’ll go as well,” Taliya said. “I’ll want to see for myself that the threats have been diffused.”
“That could take a few days,” Krystyn said.
“No problem.” Javan swayed and readjusted his grip on Taliya’s shoulders. “It will take me a few days to regain my strength, anyway. Then the four of us will head to Midnight Territory with our dragons as well as Kenton and Ravier. What I need to know now is this: what kind of traps can you come up with when you have a team helping?”
“They’ll have to be much more sophisticated than anything I put together here. Ayzyd is centuries old and highly intelligent. Luring her into any kind of trap will not be easy.”
“Nothing about this entire process has been easy. Just tell us what you need, and we’ll make it happen.” Javan kept his right arm on Taliya’s shoulders and stretched his left hand to Krystyn. “Welcome to the team.”
“Joining you isn’t exactly my big dream in life, but you did win, and a deal’s a deal.” She shook Javan’s hand with both of hers. “You’re my new boss.”
“Hands in, everyone,” Javan said. “Let’s take a moment to celebrate the unification of the four Dragon Stalker Bloodlines.”
“I never thought this day would come.” Micah placed his hand on top of Javan’s and Krystyn’s. “But I’m glad I’m a part of it.”
“Same.” Taliya added her hand to the pile, but she felt more apprehension than enthusiasm.
Krystyn winked at her. “Guess we’ll have to postpone that trip to the Land of No Return.”
“Guess so.” Taliya did not wink back or smile. She stared into the Destroyer’s wicked eyes, wondering what kind of trouble she would cause in the final stage of the Battle of the Throne.
Epilogue
Krystyn kept a smile pasted on her face as she squeezed Javan’s hand. She wasn’t thrilled that he had survived, but she could make this development work in her favor. She would honor her agreement with the Collector. And she would slay every Midnight Stalker they came across.
Every. Last. One.
Her job was to ensure Omri remained on the throne. What better way to do that than to sabotage the only one who could take it from him?
She would make sure Javan failed and thus earn the power Omri promised her as the Queen of Tirza.
Find out what happens next when the Dragon Stalker Bloodlines Saga continues with THE DRAGON DESTROYER!
In the meantime, dive deeper into the Land of Zandador when you claim your FREE copy of Young Taliya: Childhood Tales of The Dragon Protector.
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Now that you’ve read Taliya’s story, are you curious about a few things? Like how did a Protector from the Land of Zandador end up in Keckrick hiding a Dawn Stalker? Why did she live alone? In a treehouse? Far away from any other people or villages?
How did she become known as a Healer? Where did she get all of her books? Why is a slingshot her weapon of choice?
Those questions and more are answered in this collection of short stories that begins with a four-year-old talkative Taliya and ends with a few scenes told from her perspect
ive when she makes her first official appearance in the Dragon Stalker Bloodlines Saga in chapter seventeen of The Dragon Hunter.
This novella can be yours for FREE when you become a Dragon Stalker Insider.
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You can also expect fun emails from D.K. Drake that highlight some aspect of the Land of Zandador. It may be about dragons, the human characters involved in the stories, or the world itself.
And as Drake develops each new story, she’ll share with you snippets and previews of what is coming. Better yet, you’ll have a chance to join the Beta Reader Team and enjoy a copy of the next book before it’s published.
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Books by D.K. Drake
The Dragon Dimension: Bloodlines
The Dragon Protector
The Dragon Hunter
The Dragon Collector
Book four of the Dragon Stalker Bloodlines Saga, The Dragon Destroyer, is coming to Amazon in 2020.
About the Author
When challenged by a friend to write a story about dragons, D.K. Drake found the concept absurd. Why write a story about creatures that didn’t exist? But that challenge sparked her imagination, and she soon found herself dreaming about Dragon Stalkers who lived in an alternate dimension in the Land of Zandador.
Since she had always been intrigued by the long lifespans of those who lived before the flood, she incorporated the idea that humans could live for centuries into her fantasy world.
And because Drake is a firm believer in God, she made sure to exalt God as the Creator of the world she developed.
When she's not writing about Dragon Stalkers, D. K. Drake enjoys running, hiking, staying active, and just being outside. She hopes to someday experience grand adventures like an African safari, backpacking in Australia, and sailing on the Nile.
But life’s little adventures are fun, too. Like eating at a new restaurant. Playing a new sport. Meeting new people. Visiting a place she's never been before. Adventures are all around her every day; discovering them is what makes life fun.
She is a foster parent and lives with two of her sisters in the great state of North Carolina.
(By the way, D.K. stands for Darcy Kimberly and is a pen name. To discover the true identity of the author and why she chose D.K. Drake as her pen name, become a Dragon Stalker Insider.)
A Personal Story
from the Author
Ilove making up stories and living in the world of my imagination. But the story I most enjoy sharing is the true story of the day I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior. So I want to share that story with you now…
As I listened to my mother read the Bible to me and my three older sisters before bed that night, I realized something important: I was a sinner.
I may have only been four years old, but I knew right from wrong. I knew it was a lot easier to choose to do the wrong thing than to do the right thing. I knew when I did something wrong, I got in trouble.
I knew my natural tendency was to tell lies to cover my mistakes. I knew my natural tendency was to be impolite to those in authority over me. I knew my natural tendency was to be selfish rather than look out for others.
So when I heard that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23),” I knew that verse was talking about me. I had sinned. That meant I had fallen short of God’s glory.
When I heard that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23),” I knew I was deserving of death but wanted God’s gift of eternal life.
When I heard that Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me (John 14:6),” I understood that believing in Jesus was the only way to experience that eternal life and see the kingdom of God.
So when my mother finished reading the Bible that night, I asked her what I needed to do to be saved.
She sent my sisters to bed and sat down with me with her Bible open. She made sure I understood I was a sinner in need of God’s forgiving grace. She made sure I understood that salvation comes by grace through faith, not by anything I do.
I told her I understood and wanted to ask God to save me. We thus knelt side by side along the couch, and she prayed with me as I asked God to forgive me and save me.
Then something wonderful happened: God saved me! The instant I asked for salvation, I felt His presence wash over me. I felt different. Renewed. Alive. I didn’t quite understand it at the time, but now I realize that presence I felt was the Holy Spirit. He came to reside in my soul at that moment, and He has never and will never leave.
I was still a sinner, but now I was a sinner saved by grace. My sin nature still lived in me, but now so did God in the person of the Holy Spirit. Now I was equipped to fight my sin nature, and the battle between my fleshly desires and my Godly desires is a battle that will rage within me until the day I die.
As I fight that battle, I have learned to structure my life in such a way that allows me to stand strong in Christ. I do that by making seeking Him, serving Him, and sharing Him my number one priority in life.
I find great comfort, joy, and delight in living for God and obeying His commandments. I am far from perfect and still get derailed from time to time. I have made more mistakes in my life than I care to admit and have disappointed my God in ways that break my heart to recall.
But I serve a gracious, forgiving, loving God. He made me. He saved me. And he gave me gifts to use, dreams to pursue, and people to love along the way.
That’s what makes life fun. Seeking God. Serving God. Sharing God. And loving others.
If you haven’t experienced the kind of fun, peace, and joy that comes from knowing God, I encourage you to open your Bible and seek Him today.
Don’t have a Bible or aren’t sure how to seek God? Then contact me by sending an email to [email protected]. I would love to hear from you!
DragonStalkerBloodlines.com
