Dragonia: Dragon Stone (Dragonia Empire Book 3)

by Craig A. Price Jr.

  “My reward was my dragon, Chalce. The reward was open-ended, so I asked for a dragon egg. The emperor hated my request, and so he gave me a blue egg. Blue eggs never hatched. If you’ve noticed, the Dragonia Empire have only red dragons. Well, after I took the egg … she hatched for me.”

  “When he was getting his reward, I had been noticed, as had my abilities …” Zaviana closed her eyes. “The emperor was informed of me, and I was recaptured.”

  “I didn’t know at the time, and when I went back for her … she was gone. I searched for her for a long time … but it wasn’t until years later that I discovered the truth,” Derkas admitted.

  “So, when he finally learned what happened to me, and he’d been hired by the Empire again to track a few traitors who escaped a village burning … he decided to see if he could find leverage.”

  “Leverage to get Zaviana back from the emperor,” he said.

  “That’s when you betrayed us … again,” Devarius snarled.

  Derkas nodded. “Yes. I admit it, that was twice I put a log in your path, and for that—I’m sorry. But Zaviana is very important to me.”

  Devarius’ lips scrunched together and his nose twitched. He didn’t like what Derkas was implying.

  “I have come to you to ask your forgiveness, and to help,” Derkas said.

  “So, what you’re telling me,” Devarius began, “is you’ve betrayed us twice—”

  “I’ve never betrayed you. Betrayal implies I was once on your side. And to be honest, I never thought any resistance would be strong enough to defeat the empire. I didn’t know your abilities or power at the time.”

  “Fine. You’ve worked against us twice … sold us out to the empire, whatever. And now, you’re expecting us to trust you? Not only that, but now you know the secret location of our island full of wyverns, and our hideout, and we’re expected to trust you not to run to the emperor to work out a new payment at your first chance?”

  “I would not—” Derkas tried.

  “And out of all places, you want us to send you alone with Zaviana straight to the capital where the emperor sits?” Devarius asked incredulously. “How foolish do you think we are?”

  “I will not betray Zaviana,” Derkas said through clenched teeth.

  “But will you betray us?” Devarius asked. “What if you feel Zavi is better off away from us and with you?”

  Derkas shook his head. “I have tried to keep Zaviana away from this war. She dragged me into it. If I try to sway her again, she will never forgive me. I couldn’t live with myself if that happened. I love her.”

  “Love?” Devarius growled.

  “Look, in the beginning, I thought you guys didn’t stand a chance. I saw you defeat the empire the first time on the west coast of Kaeldroga. Then I saw you defeat them in the mountains. I was there. I helped Zaviana get back into the city when her and her wyvern crashed outside the walls. I saw the spirit the resistance had. I can see the determination now. I see a chance to finally defeat the tyrannical empire. I want to be a part of that. The empire is corrupt. The way they treat the people is despicable. They must be stopped.”

  “That is why Derkas is coming with me to Melonia. He can help me steal the dragon egg,” Zaviana said.

  “You are foolish,” Devarius spat.

  Zaviana’s eyes widened.

  “You are foolish to trust a mercenary. And you are foolish for thinking you and a mercenary can outsmart the emperor.”

  “How dare you …” Zaviana said.

  “I don’t trust you to go alone with Derkas. I don’t trust him.”

  “Then why don’t you come with us?” Zaviana asked.

  Devarius’ eyes widened. “I can’t. The resistance needs me here. We are rebuilding. We have people learning magic, and we have crazed dragomen addicted to ingesting wyvern oil. I cannot leave.”

  “I am going … with—or without you,” Zaviana said.

  Devarius raised his brows and glanced to Tynaer.

  Tynaer shrugged. “I agree with Zaviana. This dragon stone is important. If we can get our hands on it … it might make all the difference.”

  Devarius stood, slammed his chair under the table, and stormed toward the door. Derkas jumped in front of him, trying to speak. Devarius slammed his fist into Derkas’ jaw. His fist pounded, but his head cleared. An intense rage settled in his stomach and he felt better after expressing it. Devarius snarled as he stepped over the mercenary before walking out the door.

  Chapter 9

  Devarius lay on eastern mountain of Adeth Peak Isle. He watched the clouds. Birds flew across the sky, glistening in the two sunlights. Winter was nearly over as the orange sun began to make its appearance. It was still small, only the size of a small moon is the distance, but it would grow a little larger with each passing day. When the orange mixed with the red, it sometimes gave a gold glow when reflecting. The sky was purple instead of its normal blue. Devarius always thought spring to be one of the most beautiful seasons, and it was nearly upon them.

  “May I sit?” Aquila’s voice asked from behind him.

  Devarius tore his gaze from the sky to look at her. He took a deep breath before nodding. Aquila knew his spot. Every time stress or worry took over, he came to the back side of the mountain to look out to the western sea. The water was beautiful under the purple sky and the two suns as they disappeared across the eastern horizon.

  “I know Derkas makes you uncomfortable. I believe he makes all of us uncomfortable. But, Zaviana’s right. We do need the dragon stone. If we don’t have a way to fight the empire … they’ll overwhelm us.”

  “There’s got to be another way. A simpler way. A safer way.”

  Aquila shook her head. “There isn’t. The only other chance we have is to continue to use the wyvern oil, making most of us addicted to it, and violent toward others. That isn’t the answer.”

  Devarius shook his head, remembering the men who attacked him. They were still in metal cages as their body detoxed from the wyvern oil. The problem was, they didn’t have any more metal cages. There was no prison or dungeon on Adeth Peak Isle. If any more of the dragomen began to act up, Devarius was afraid that there weren’t enough people to stop them, and no way to contain them.

  “I don’t like it,” he said.

  “We will be fine without you here. I do think you should go. I’m going to miss you, but—” Aquila paused, pinching her eyes shut. “I do think you should keep an eye on Derkas.”

  “Derkas,” Devarius cursed in a whisper.

  Devarius didn’t like him, and he definitely didn’t trust him. Even worse was the way Derkas clung to his sister, and the way she clung to him. Love? He claimed to love her. Yet, she’d not made the same suggestion. In fact, when Devarius looked into her eyes after he’d mentioned the word, her eyes had widened with surprise.

  “Perhaps he’s telling the truth. Perhaps he does love your sister. He does look like he loves her,” Aquila said.

  “How can you tell?” Devarius asked.

  “His eyes.” Aquila smiled. “Whenever he mentions Zaviana, or when one of you do, or even when she’s talking, his eyes light up. It’s the look someone gets when they’re in love,” Aquila said.

  Devarius scoffed. “That’s ridiculous.”

  “You do it,” Aquila said.

  “What?” he asked.

  “All those years you tried to keep me away. All the times you tried to push me away, I saw it. Whenever we were together, I saw the way your eyes looked at me. I saw the way your eyes brightened when you talked to me, or talked about me. It’s because of your eyes that I never gave up.”

  Devarius sat up. He reached his arm around Aquila’s shoulders and pulled her to him, hugging her tight. The scent of olive oil in her hair soothed him.

  “I’m glad you never gave up,” Devarius whispered.

  “Me too,” she said.

  Zaviana approached them.

  Devarius frowned as he took his arm away from Aquila.

&
nbsp; “Devarius,” Zaviana said.

  “Zavi?”

  “Will you come with us?” she asked.

  “Does Derkas want me to?” he asked.

  She smiled, shaking her head. “No. But I want you to.”

  “I spent years without you, Zavi. I always wondered what happened to you. You’re the only family I have left. I spent years searching for you. I joined the resistance, hoping to fight against the empire and take you back. Then you appear out of nowhere, and finally our family has reunited. Now, you want to go off into a land that could get you killed. A land where were already imprisoned. If they find you back there, they will surely kill you, or worse if the emperor gets his hands on you.”

  “I know you are worried, brother. I spent a lot of time in that city. But don’t think I took to being a prisoner easily. Like you, I had determination. I waited; I watched; I learned. Even when I was released, and Derkas took me out of there, I knew in my heart that I would have to go back. I knew I would have the face the emperor again one day.”

  Devarius shook his head. “If we’re going to Melonia … you’re not going to face the emperor.”

  Zaviana beamed. “So, you’re coming?”

  “You leave me with little choice. I surely can’t trust Derkas to watch over you.”

  Zaviana knelt to the ground and wrapped her arms around Devarius in a hug.

  “Who are we going to leave in charge?” Devarius asked.

  “Paedyn?” Zaviana asked.

  Devarius laughed from deep in his belly. “Paedyn? Responsibilities? I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

  “He can manage. He does have Tynaer to keep him in check,” Aquila said.

  “What about you?” Devarius asked, looking at Zaviana.

  “What about me?” she asked.

  “You’ve been helping with the spell casters, magic folk, whatever you want to call them.”

  Zaviana’s lips formed a hard line. “Naveen should be able to continue training them. I will pass on my knowledge to her with the wyvern oil. Perhaps she can train them to use the wyvern oil as energy instead of the elements in the atmosphere.”

  “How long do you need to train her?” Devarius asked.

  “Let’s make it three days. That should give us plenty of time to put everything into order.”

  “All right. We leave in three days.”

  Chapter 10

  Devarius stood by the ships along with Derkas and Zaviana. He didn’t know why they chose to be by the ships to depart when they weren’t going to take them. In fact, they were leaving north rather than south, which was where the ships rested. However, it was the typical place for them to leave, and several people wanted to say their goodbyes.

  Their mission was simple in theory, and complex in nature. All they had to do was sneak onto Dragonia, then into Melonia, find the dragon stone, steal it, then depart before anyone caught them. The hard part: not being caught.

  Devarius had no doubt Zaviana could lead them to the dragon stone. The doubt he had was about whether or not they could escape after they took it. The worry ate at him. He wondered if he would return. More than that, he wondered if they were captured … would he break? How much power did the emperor have? It seemed that he was as powerful as Zaviana, if not even more so. And that scared him.

  Paedyn walked over to him, bringing his hand forward. Devarius grasped it in a shake, then pulled Paedyn to himself to clasp his left hand onto Paedyn’s back in a half-hug. Most of Devarius’ life, especially after the death of his parents, he’d been able to rely on Paedyn. Sure, Paedyn was a bit impractical at times, and his mouth often got away from him, but despite all that, Paedyn had Deavrius’ back. Leaving out all the snide remarks and jokes, deep down Paedyn was a good man.

  “Take care of yourself,” Paedyn whispered.

  Deavrius smiled. “Take care of everyone here, and don’t let them falter in their training.”

  “Yay … leading, training … I’m so glad you left all the fun jobs for me.” Paedyn rolled his eyes.

  “What? You’d rather dive head first into the capital of the empire to steal what could potentially be the most powerful weapon ever known, all the while trying to stay hidden from the emperor so you don’t have to face torture and death?”

  Paedyn beamed. “Yes, actually.”

  Devarius snorted. “You’re jealous, aren’t you?”

  “A little.” Paedyn said. “You know me, trouble is my middle name. I don’t know what to do all safe and stuff. I’d much rather be somewhere dangerous.”

  Devarius patted Paedyn’s shoulder. “It’s going to be plenty dangerous here. Remember, you may not have to face the entire empire, but you will have to face the dragomen who are starting to wean off of the wyvern oil.”

  Paedyn’s lips pressed into a hard line. “Yeah … thanks for that order, by the way. I’m really excited about breaking that to them.”

  Devarius winked. “Anytime.”

  Paedyn stepped back as Aquila approached Devarius. She was more beautiful than ever, though, truth be told, every day she was more beautiful than the last to him. His heart sank a little as he looked at her, and he wondered if it was the last time he would ever see her.

  “Devarius … please take care of yourself.”

  He touched her cheek, letting her long black hair rest against the back of his hand. “I will. Don’t worry about me. There’s nothing the empire can throw at me to keep me away from you.”

  Her cheeks darkened at his words.

  Deavrius leaned in as he pulled her head toward him. Their lips touched in a moment of electricity. He kissed her like he wouldn’t be coming back, and for all he knew, he wouldn’t be. They melted together and the rest of the world became a blur. His eyes closed and his mind spun as he clutched her hair tight in his fingers.

  Aquila went weak in the knees, falling into his embrace. When he let go, she held onto his arms to keep herself from stumbling.

  “Devarius … after a kiss like that, you’d better come back.”

  He laughed. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

  He turned around to see Derkas and Zaviana standing by a massive blue dragon. Devarius frowned.

  “You are not riding with him,” Devarius growled.

  “I don’t think you have much of a choice,” Derkas said. “In fact, I don’t believe you should let your wyvern come.”

  Ayla stepped next to Devarius and growled. Even though she was significantly smaller than the dragon, she didn’t back down.

  Derkas glanced at the wyvern, who was less than a third of the size of the massive dragon. “It’s going to be hard enough to keep Chalce out of the empire’s sight. It would be best if we didn’t add a wyvern to the mix as well.”

  Devarius shook his head. “I go nowhere without Ayla.”

  Derkas shook his head.

  “If we can manage to hide your beast, then there should be no problem for Ayla to hide.”

  “Devarius …” Zaviana said.

  “I don’t want you riding with him,” Devarius stated.

  “There’s not enough room on your saddle for me,” Zaviana said.

  “Sure there is—”

  Little one. I don’t believe I’m strong enough to carry the two of you. I know how nervous you are for your sister, but they’re right. It would be best if they rode on the dragon.

  Devarius clenched his teeth. “Fine … but I’m watching you.”

  Zaviana grinned at him as she climbed the ladder to the dragon’s saddle. She slid behind Derkas and wrapped her arms around his waist. Derkas grinned at Devarius as he pulled up the rolling ladder and secured it to the side of the saddle.

  Devarius turned to look at Ayla, who was still a massive beast, but he needed no ladder to mount her. He got on her back and secured himself to her saddle.

  Chalce sprang into the air and began flapping her wings, heading north.

  Devarius took a deep breath, nodded to Paedyn and Aquila, then patted Ayla’s sid
e.

  She flapped her wings more eagerly than the dragon as she tried to catch up. Devarius focused on the dragon flying in front of him. This was going to be a long, worrisome journey.

  Chapter 11

  After two days of flying over the vast ocean, Devarius, Zaviana, and Derkas finally reached landfall. When they approached the land, they noticed a watch tower and circled the west to the far side of the island to land on the beach near a forest. Dragonia was indeed an island, however, it was much larger than Adeth Peak Isle. From a first glance, it looked to be at least five times the size.

  Devarius was impressed the dragon and wyvern were able to travel for two days straight without stopping. They did have to slow down a few times for human restroom breaks, but other than that, they traveled at full speed to Dragonia.

  Dragons flew overhead, and they quickly ushered themselves into the forest to keep from being seen.

  The Dragon and Ayla were exhausted. Chalce, Derkas’ dragon, didn’t show it as much as Ayla, but she still laid on the forest floor once they were well hidden. Her eyes drooped, like she was ready for a long nap. Ayla, on the other hand, showed visible exhaustion. She panted, her mouth open, tongue sticking out, as she tried to catch her breath like an exhausted sheet dog. There were definite disadvantages to wyverns compared to dragons. The dragons were stronger, and had a lot more endurance. It also helped that their wings were so large that they didn’t have to flap them as much. When caught in the right air current, Chalce was able to glide with her massive wings. Ayla, however, had to use her wings more, especially when taking off and landing, which tired her out a lot faster than the dragon.

  “Do you think they saw us?” Devarius asked.

  Zaviana shook her head. “Their patrols are routine. They’ve been doing it for years, more because it is their task than to actually search for someone. The problem with the empire, is they’re so overconfident, that they’d never believe someone would sneak onto their land who wasn’t supposed to be here,” Zaviana said.