Last Dragon Standing
Page 36
“The rest of the team,” Alicia repeated, heart pounding. “You mean…you mean I’m in?”
“I said you got the job, didn’t I?” Marci flashed a grin over her shoulder as she opened the door, which led to another door. A heavy, wooden one, its surface battered by age. It was a door Alicia had seen countless times in textbooks and movies but never thought she’d see in person.
“Oh my god,” she whispered, practically vibrating in excitement. “Is that the Merlin Gate?”
“The one and only,” Marci replied as her smile grew even wider. “You wouldn’t believe what I had to go through to get this shortcut set up, but miracles happen when you’re friends with both of the world’s greatest dragon mages. It’s the only stable portal to the Sea of Magic in existence.” Her grin turned sly. “Want to go inside?”
Alicia had never wanted anything more in her life. “Yes, please.”
Marci laughed and threw open the door, filling the room with the scent of magic. “Welcome to the jungle,” she said as she stepped inside. “I just hope you weren’t kidding about that personal-safety requirement.”
Alicia was too excited to answer. She just bounded through the door, leaping after the Merlin—her Merlin now—and into a shining world she’d never seen.
Thank you for reading!
Thank you for reading Last Dragon Standing, and extra special thanks to all of you for sticking with me to the end! If you enjoyed the story, I hope you’ll consider leaving a review. Reviews, good and bad, are vital to any author’s career, and I would be extremely appreciative if you’d consider writing one for me.
Last Dragon Standing is the final book in Julius’s series, but it’s not the last you’ll see of the Heartstriker dragons! I’m already working on a trilogy set in the new DFZ slated for 2019, so I hope you’ll all join me for more adventures in the years to come. If that’s too long to wait, I’ve got a lot of non-DFZ books coming out in 2018, including my officially licensed Attack on Titan YA novel, Garrison Girl coming in August from Quirk Books, and a new secret project that should be dropping soon! If you want to be the first to know when I put out anything new, sign up for my New Release Mailing List. List members are always the first to know about everything I do and they get exclusive bonus content like the list-only Heartstriker short story, Mother of the Year. Joining is free, and I promise never to spam you, so come join us!
If you need more books right now, you can always check out one of my completed series. Just click to the next page or select “Want More Books by Rachel?” in your e-reader’s table of contents or also visit www.rachelaaron.net for my full bibliography, large shots of my covers, links to reviews, and free sample chapters. If you want to know more about me IRL, follow me on Twitter @Rachel_Aaron or like my Facebook page at facebook.com/RachelAaronAuthor for updates on all of my books, blog posts, and appearances.
Again, thank you so, so much for reading! I couldn’t do this without you. You are the best fans an author could ask for!
Yours always and sincerely,
Rachel Aaron
Want more books by Rachel Aaron? Check out these completed series!
THE LEGEND OF ELI MONPRESS
The Spirit Thief
The Spirit Rebellion
The Spirit Eater
The Legend of Eli Monpress (omnibus edition of the first three books)
The Spirit War
Spirit’s End
"Fast and fun, The Spirit Thief introduces a fascinating new world and a complex magical system based on cooperation with the spirits who reside in all living objects. Aaron’s characters are fully fleshed and possess complex personalities, motivations, and backstories that are only gradually revealed. Fans of Scott Lynch’s Lies of Locke Lamora (2006) will be thrilled with Eli Monpress. Highly recommended for all fantasy readers." - Booklist, Starred Review
PARADOX (written as Rachel Bach)
Fortune’s Pawn
Honor’s Knight
Heaven’s Queen
"Firefly-esque in its concept of a rogue-ish spaceship family... The narrative never quite goes where you expect it to, in a good way... Devi is a badass with a heart." - Locus Magazine
"If you liked Star Wars, if you like our books, and if you are waiting for Guardians of the Galaxy to hit the theaters, this is your book." - Ilona Andrews
"I JUST LOVED IT! Perfect light sci-fi. If you like space stuff that isn't that complicated but highly entertaining, I give two thumbs up!" - Felicia Day
To find out more about Rachel and read samples of all her books, visit
www.rachelaaron.net!
About the Author
Rachel Aaron is the author of thirteen novels as well as the bestselling nonfiction writing book, 2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love, which has helped thousands of authors double their daily word counts. When she’s not holed up in her writing cave, Rachel lives a nerdy, bookish life in Athens, GA, with her perpetual motion son, long suffering husband, and grumpy old lady dog. To learn more about Rachel, her work, or to find a complete list of her interviews and podcasts, please visit rachelaaron.net!
Nice Dragons Finish Last, One Good Dragon Deserves Another, No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished, A Dragon of a Different Color, and Last Dragon Standing Copyright 2018 by Rachel Aaron. All rights reserved.
The Legend of Eli Monpress Copyright 2010 by Rachel Aaron and Orbit Books. All rights reserved.
Cover Illustration by Tia Rambaran, Cover Design by Rachel Aaron, Editing provided by Red Adept Editing.
As always, this book would not have been nearly as good without my amazing beta readers. Thank you so, so much to Michele Fry, Jodie Martin, Kevin Swearingen, Eva Bunge, Beth Bisgaard, Christina Vlinder, Judith Smith, Rob Aaron, Hisham El-far, and the ever amazing Laligin. Y’all are the BEST!