by Mike Shelton
THE DRAGON Rider
The Alaris Chronicles Book II
By Mike Shelton
The Dragon Rider
Copyright © 2017 by Michael Shelton
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without written permission except in the case of brief quotations included in critical articles and reviews. For information, please contact the author.
ISBN: 0-9987935-0-7
ISBN-13: 978-0-9987935-0-4
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017905002
Greenville, North Carolina
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Cover Illustration by Brooke Gillette
http://brookegillette.weebly.com
Map by Robert Altbauer
www.fantasy-map.net
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book is specifically dedicated to all my readers. You are what drives me forward in writing new books.
My wife and family have always supported me to the fullest and I couldn’t do this without them. I cannot say enough about my editors at Precision Editing, my wonderful beta readers, my illustrator and mapmaker. All have worked hard in helping me make my stories come to light.
The Dragon Orb is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the products of my imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. I alone take full responsibility for any errors or omissions in this book.
-Mike
BOOKS BY MIKE SHELTON
The Cremelino Prophecy:
The Path of Destiny
The Path of Decisions
The Path of Peace
The Blade and the Bow (prequel novella to The Cremelino Prophecy)
The Alaris Chronicles:
The Dragon Orb
The Dragon Rider
The Dragon King (Summer 2017)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
Books By Mike Shelton
Map
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty One
Chapter Twenty Two
Chapter Twenty Three
Chapter Twenty Four
Chapter Twenty Five
Chapter Twenty Six
Chapter Twenty Seven
Chapter Twenty Eight
Chapter Twenty Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty One
Chapter Thirty Two
Chapter Thirty Three
Chapter Thirty Four
Chapter Thirty Five
About the Author
Other Books By Mike Shelton
MAP
CHAPTER ONE
Riding atop his dragon, Abylar, Bakari grabbed another wooden disc out of his side pack and prepared to fling it down toward the ground. Melded with the dragon’s mind, Bakari saw, felt, and knew things his young, fifteen-year-old mind hadn’t known even two weeks previously.
Sharing sight with his dragon, he spied the small target his trainer, Zaire, had set up far below. Bakari flipped the disc out forehand and watched as it spun in a graceful and controlled arc. With intense power, it hit the target in the center and fell to the ground. Bakari smiled and steered his dragon back up higher in the air.
Abylar’s sleek, blue body had grown a few more feet in the last two weeks—now, Bakari needed a rope ladder to climb up onto his substantial, spiked body. The dragon’s wingspan was at least forty feet.
Bakari, who’d become used to the heights, enjoyed flying high over Mahli’s countryside. The valley below sat covered in fertile fields and fruit trees and included picturesque winding roads, branching out from the main highway. Seeing the snow-covered peaks of the mountains to the north and to the south reminded Bakari that the fall weather in the valley would soon be colder than in Alaris, the country he had grown up in.
Breathing in deeply, Bakari still relished the newness of the bond with his dragon. He laughed out loud, and Abylar seemed to join in with a loud roar and spit of blue fire across the air in front of them.
Enjoying yourself, Dragon Rider?
Oh yes, Abylar. Bakari held on tighter as the dragon turned in a sharp circle in the air.
As his trainer, Zaire, signaled him to throw again, Bakari nodded, though he knew his new friend wouldn’t be able to see his nod from so far below. Grabbing another disc, he took Abylar straight up, higher than before. Leveling out only slightly before the dive, he focused their shared sight on the target and, this time, threw it backhand. The newly made wooden disc spun rapidly, the grained wood causing a dizzying pattern. Signaling to Abylar to follow the disc, the dragon rider and his dragon dove after it, racing it to the intended target.
After a slow fade to the right, the disc came back to the left and hit the target, with Bakari and Abylar only moments behind it. Pulling back his wings at the last moment, the young, intelligent dragon flapped a few times and then lowered the two of them to the ground.
“Amazing, once again!” shouted Zaire. Dark-skinned, like Bakari, Zaire was taller, bulkier, and about ten years older than the young wizard. His size, however, did not appear menacing but rather protective and solid. Long, braided black hair hung down from his head, with the tips resting just above his shoulders.
“I never thought to use something like this as a weapon,” Bakari said, patting at his head, even though the wind had hardly messed up his short, dark, curly hair. He absentmindedly put a hand up to adjust his glasses—glasses that were neither there nor needed any longer, due to the increased senses he had received from his dragon. “They could definitely do some damage in battle.”
“Not all dragon riders have been wizards, so a unique weapon was developed for them to use.” Zaire walked over and helped Bakari dismount. “Although it has been over one hundred and fifty years since the last dragon riders, the craft has been kept up all these years.”
Bakari stroked Abylar’s nose and, with a silent communication, sent him on his way. A rumbling growl emerged from the dragon’s stomach. The growing dragon’s appetite was horrendous. Abylar flew up into the air, blowing a strong wind over the two men. Bakari watched wistfully as Abylar shrank into the distance. He was always anxious when his new charge flew too far away.
Freeing Abylar from the Dragon Orb, two weeks earlier in Celestar, a northeastern city in Alaris, Bakari had bonded with the young dragon. Now, this bond remained always present in the back of Bakari’s mind, and he spoke to Abylar most anytime he wanted. Upon certain occasions, such as looking at the target from far away, Bakari could actually see and feel what his dragon saw and felt.
“The Mahli ruling council is meeting again this afternoon,” Zaire said.
Bakari nodded. “I know. I hear that some of the other searchers have returned.”
Zaire patted Bakari on the back. “Bak, you have been prophesied for many years. Fifteen years ago, men left Mahli to search for you. They traveled out to all the neighbori
ng kingdoms, even as far north as the Realm.”
“I know.” Bakari frowned, not used to being the center of attention. “But I’m afraid they want me to be more than I am. I am just a minor scholar wizard.”
“One that also happens to fly on and control a dragon!” Zaire’s laugh boomed along the trail they were taking back to the city.
Bakari was indeed the first dragon rider in living memory. Having grown up in the Citadel with the wizards in Alaris for most of his life, Bakari recently served the Chief Judge in Cassian. After he had been sent to investigate the failing of the barrier around Alaris—a barrier that had previously kept the kingdom isolated for one hundred and fifty years—Bakari had discovered and had freed the dragon from its egg. An act that brought down the barrier for good. The failure of the barrier caused others in the land, especially Kanzar Centari, the self-proclaimed High Wizard, to begin to assert power over Alaris. Kanzar’s power might eventually reach its neighboring kingdoms. So Bakari had traveled to Mahli, his ancestral homeland, to find out more about who he was and to warn them of the barrier’s demise.
Today, as Bakari and Zaire walked through the gates of Amar, the capital city of Mahli, many of its citizens bowed in respect to Bakari, the supposedly prophesied dragon rider that would bring their kingdom out of obscurity and would help to establish peace on the continent. Nodding back, to be polite, Bakari cringed inside once again.
He didn’t deserve their bows or devotion. Who was he, to deserve such attention, but a young man in his sixteenth year and of little consequence in the larger world? Many other wizards possessed greater power and deserved much more accolades than he, including his friends—Roland, who ran the Citadel now, and Alli, the newest battle wizard.
Zaire motioned him in through a side door of a three-story building, the tallest one in this small mountain kingdom. The wooden materials used for their buildings seemed appropriate, due to the many forests throughout the mountains here. The city itself, smaller than most in Alaris, sat in a small fertile valley fed by a river running down its center.
Seeing so many of his distant kin around made him think of Kharlia. He moved his head lower to hide the tears now forming at the corners of his brown eyes. Breathing in deeper, he reached out mentally to Abylar for comfort and strength. Bakari didn’t know how he could have coped with this loss without their bond.
Bakari had met the young woman less than two months earlier and had quickly developed strong feelings for her. Something that, as a quiet scholar, he never had anticipated finding in his life.
On their way together to Celestar, to discover the secrets of the barrier, a beast had attacked them and their guide, Harley. In the ensuing battle, Kharlia had purposely dropped from a cliff, down into the swiftly flowing Dunn River, rather than let herself be caught and killed by the evil barrier beast. That was the last time Bakari had seen her.
Zaire put his arm on Bakari’s shoulder. “Are you all right, Bak?” He was one of the few who treated Bakari with respect but gave him room to be a normal boy also. He preferred being just Bak sometimes to always being seen as the dragon rider.
Bakari nodded his head and took control of his emotions. “Just thinking of my friend and wondering if I’ll ever see her again.”
“Kharlia?” Zaire had been told the story. “Sounds like a strong, independent lady to me.”
Bakari smiled. “Ahh. That she was.” He let out a small laugh at so many memories of him trying to leave her behind, due to the potential danger. But she had always clung fiercely to him and believed in his quest.
“Perhaps you will see her again,” Zaire said.
When Bak and Zaire entered the room, the gathered group grew quiet. The local council and other visitors stood and, once again, gave reverence to their new dragon rider. Bakari noticed one man, someone he hadn’t seen before, rising slower than the rest, a scowl on his harsh face, his dark brown eyes shooting daggers at Bakari.
Bakari winced and turned from him to look at the rest of the group. It still seemed strange to see so many dark-skinned people—the predominate color of skin in Mahli. It comforted Bakari in one sense, knowing that he was among his distant family, but he wished some of his friends were here with him also.
“Dragon Rider,” said an older man from the gathering, “welcome back to our council.” He signaled for Bakari and Zaire to seat themselves around the tables that were arranged for the meeting, with Bakari being given a place of eminence, near Regent Nagasi.
“Sire,” Bakari said to Regent Nagasi’s welcome.
“Some of our searchers have returned from our neighboring countries to greet you. Their life’s work has been in search of you,” the regent began. One by one, they came up and greeted Bakari, touching their foreheads and then bowing to him. Bakari copied the greeting back, his face growing hot at all this attention.
The regent continued, “My son Kolo has returned from the northern mountains.” He indicated the man in back, whom Bakari had seen scowl at him. “Kolo, please come forward and greet our dragon rider.”
Without removing his expression of dislike, Kolo, about a decade older than Bakari, stood and walked in slow steps toward the regent. “Father,” he began, “I will greet our visitor, but he has done nothing to warrant my respect or reverence. He is a young boy—and a scrawny one at that.”
Silence filled the room, and Regent Nagasi’s face reddened. “Is this how you were taught to greet the one we have been waiting for? The dragon rider who will one day be our king?”
Bakari winced at the mention of that idea. He’d heard that prophecy so many times in the last week and was sure they had gotten something wrong. He had admitted to riding a dragon, but, about him being a king—they had indeed made a mistake.
Not one to cause problems, Bakari stepped up to Kolo instead. “I am pleased to meet the son of Nagasi. These events come as a surprise to all of us, I am sure. I hold no ill will toward you.” There, that sounded as good as what Roland, his counselor wizard friend, would say in a tough situation.
Kolo only gave a slight nod and then turned away without saying any other words. The meeting continued, and the men returning from other lands, to the north and south, gave reports of what they had found. Soon it was Bakari’s turn to discuss the situation in Alaris.
He stood and faced the august gathering, dressed in simple Mahlian robes of green. “As you know, the barrier around Alaris is indeed gone. We in Alaris were taught for one hundred and fifty years that the barrier was there to protect us from other kingdoms. Lately, I learned that this was untrue. One hundred and fifty years ago, some greedy wizards from Alaris began to attack her neighboring countries. So the barrier was put in place by some enterprising wizards that did not agree with Alaris’s expansion. Somehow they found a dragon egg—or the Orb as it was called—and created the barrier to protect other kingdoms from Alaris’s aggressors. This barrier has stood for all this time without us knowing anything about the outside world or you knowing about us.”
“And it should stay that way,” voiced Kolo.
His father shot him a dark look.
Bakari continued, “Recently, one of our wizards, Kanzar Centari, decided to elevate himself and accelerate the failing of the barrier—a failing that I think would have occurred anyway. Then he displaced our rightful leader, Chief Judge Daymian Khouri, and demanded to be named King of Alaris. He now controls Cassian, our capital, but the Chief Judge is calling men to himself in Orr. Civil war is sure if something doesn’t happen fast.”
“What should we care about your civil war?” Kolo said. Many of the others in attendance nodded their heads in agreement with this question.
“There is no end to Kanzar’s greed, at this point. He is mad with the quest for power.” Bakari spread his hands out. “If he wins Alaris, he will turn his plans for conquest to Elvyn, Tillimot, Quentis, Solshi, and, I am sure, eventually to Mahli.”
“What about your own wizards?” asked Nagasi. “Is there no way to control him?�
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“Many of the older wizards have sided with him,” Bakari said. “However, a friend of mine, a newly promoted young wizard, is recruiting apprentices and young wizards at the Citadel. He has not taken sides in the altercation yet, but hopes to remain neutral and to raise his own power base. I don’t think he would be a threat to you, but…” Bakari paused. He didn’t know what Roland would do. The man wanted power so much that he was sometimes blinded by it. But Bakari hoped, for the sake of their friendship, that Roland would help them keep Alaris in peace.
The regent stood. “Dragon Rider, you have given us much to think about. We will adjourn and discuss this separately among ourselves and will reconvene in a week’s time.”
Bakari frowned. “A week might be too long, Regent.”
The man smiled at Bakari but appeared to stay firm in his decision. “These are not matters to take lightly.” With those words, they were dismissed.
As Bakari left, Kolo bumped into him, almost knocking him down.
“Stay out of my way, boy. You are messing with things you are not ready for.”
Bakari lifted an eyebrow. “What things are those?”
Kolo shot him a murderous look. “You are not the only dragon rider prophesied of. I will find an egg and become the prophesied king. Do not get in my way.” Then Kolo proceeded to push his way through the rest of the crowd.
Nagasi came up beside Bakari and pulled him to the side. “Please excuse my son. He is a good man. However, he has been trained his entire life so that he can follow me as regent. I think he sees you as getting in his way.”
“Sire,” Bakari said. “I am new to your prophecies, and, yes, I am a dragon rider, but I do not know if I am the dragon rider that is prophesied to be the king.”
