Riders of Fire Complete Series Box Set books 1-6: YA Epic Fantasy Dragon Rider Adventures

by Eileen Mueller

  Beside him, Kierion wheeled on Riona and Fenni blasted another dragon. Kierion’s arrow hit another beast in the head, but the flailing beast nicked the edge of Riona’s wing.

  Shrieks rent the air—Dragons’ Realm’s dragons wounded and in pain. It was hard to see who, with everything bursting into flame around him. Giddi swung out his arms, and blasted another diving shadow dragon, knocking its fake mage into the air.

  Ahead, a blue dragon roared as it bowled into a dark dragon. Wings wrapped around each other and talons thrashing, they clenched their maws around each other’s necks, plummeting to the ground engulfed in fire. The blue rider leaped free, to be swooped up by another blue and flown off to safety.

  Giddi swallowed—that noble blue dragon had sacrificed its life to bring the dark beast down. But many more stunts like that, and they wouldn’t have any dragons left.

  Aidan blew a battle horn. Archers released arrows from dragonback. Some of the archers split off from the formation to fly high, some low, and some charging at the center of the mass of dark dragons. Their formations and tactics could be an advantage. The dark dragons were flying in snapping, warring, disorganized chaos.

  Jael and Tomaaz bucked and thrashed on Maazini. Something was wrong, but Giddi had no time to ponder what because a black dragon soared past and shot a volley of flame at his dragon. A blue charged in to blast the dark beast as Giddi’s trusty dragon swerved to rejoin the troop.

  Screams from dark dragons sliced through his thoughts—and he was an experienced mind blocker. Hopefully the other mages were holding out. Despite the noise in his head, Giddi mind-melded with each mage, one by one, buoying them up. “You’re doing well. Be careful to stay out of the range of their eyes. Slowly but surely, we’ll get there.”

  When he melded with Fenni, Fenni replied, “Riona saw shadow dragons heading over the city. Kierion and I are going to track them down. Watch out for the swarm advancing on the horizon.”

  Giddi glanced up. A seething mass of shadow dragons was racing toward them. “Stay safe,” he answered, ducking in his saddle to avoid a yellow ray. He melded with Aidan, “We’ve killed nearly all of this lot, but more are coming. I’ll get to the front with a group and face them, head on. You take any that get through.” He cut through the swarm of chaos, a group of riders following him. The mass of dark dragons loomed.

  Giddi melded with all the mages at once. “Incoming shadow dragons. Work our plan.”

  Danion peeled off from their formation, sweeping up, a handful following to blast flame at the foul beasts from above. More swooped low, staying together. Still more shot out to each side.

  “Hold steady,” Giddi told his mages. “And now, fire.”

  A wall of mage flame sprang up in front of them, obliterating their view of the dragons.

  The top troop blasted a ceiling of fire at the beasts, and from below the low-flying group sealed them in with a floor of fire. More fire erupted from the sides. These creatures had to retreat or be burned.

  “And push,” Giddi yelled in their minds. Above the dragons’ screams in their heads, shrieks and howls rent the air. Giddi’s head wanted to explode.

  The heat was blistering.

  “Hold fast!” Those stalwart mages held the line.

  A gust of orange fire burst through the mage’s crackling wall of green flame, taking down a blue guard. The dragon’s flaming carcass plummeted into the snow-topped trees with a sizzle and plume of steam.

  Sweat ran down Giddi’s brow. The heat singed his hair. His throat was parched. And still, he pushed out the sathir, trying to burn the invading dragons to a crisp. Gradually the screams in his head died down, and only a faint echo remained.

  Nothing was alive in that inferno.

  “Stop now.”

  The walls of crackling, green mage fire flamed out. Chunks of char and cinder fell down onto the forest, spattering the snow with dark flakes.

  Giddi’s magic was nearly drained. He flicked his gaze to the North and South where only a few dark dragons remained, chased down by the remainder of the blue guards and Danion’s troop.

  It was over. They’d beaten most of Zens’ onslaught.

  Giddi slumped on the neck of his dragon, exhausted, and wrapped his arms around a spinal ridge. He melded with Aidan. “Lead the troops back to Montanara. Send three or four riders to patrol the forest and make sure there are no more shadow dragons or fake mages and pick up any stranded mages or riders.”

  “And you?”

  “I’ll do one more patrol to make sure there are none left. I’ll see you back at Kierion’s farm later, for a well-deserved ale.”

  §

  The snow on the Montanarian rooftops was gouged with black and red. Cries of the wounded carried on the air to Kierion, Fenni and Riona. They patrolled the outskirts, hunting for dark dragons, then flew over the center of town. Down in the square, bodies littered the streets. Tharuks were fighting Montanara’s warriors, roars and the clash of weapons punctuating the cries of the wounded.

  “Look. What’s that?” Fenni pointed from behind Kierion’s shoulder at a dark blob on a distant rooftop, snow blazing orange in the sunset.

  “Over there, Riona, swoop closer.” Riona let out a weary rumble and angled her wings to dive.

  A dark dragon was feasting on the body of a dead civilian. Kierion nocked his bow and aimed.

  “Wait.” Fenni clenched his shoulder. “Who’s that?”

  A figure clambered onto the rooftop and crept up behind the dark dragon. It was the captain of the Nightshaders. He drew his cutlass and sneaked up on the dragon, raising it to hack at the beast’s throat.

  The black dragon spun its head and belched flame at the captain’s boots.

  The captain nimbly leaped aside and ran across the rooftop. Snarling, the dragon chased him. The captain leaped to the next roof. The dragon pounced and landed a body length behind the captain.

  The Nightshader leaped again, feet churning up snow as he slipped on the steep rooftop. He slid down the incline, his legs slipping over the edge, his hands leaving gouges in the snow. The captain caught the gutter, and hung suspended over Nightshade Alley.

  The dark dragon let out an unearthly, roof-shaking roar. Clumps of snow drifted down to the alley. It perched on the edge of the adjacent rooftop and opened its mighty maw, lowering its head toward the captain.

  Kierion stowed his bow and arrow and whipped out his sword as Riona swooped. Landing on the dragon’s back, Riona shredded its wings with her talons. Chunks of wing fluttered down, one landing on the captain’s shoulder, like a cloak. The captain’s hand slipped, and he hung from the gutter by one arm.

  Riona belched fire, fastening her jaws on the beast’s throat. Fenni blasted its body with mage fire while Kierion slid along Riona’s neck. He leaned out and plunged his sword through the beast’s thrashing head. He hung on with his legs locked around Riona’s neck and drove the sword through the beast’s brain until the quillions smacked its skull. Panting, Kierion hung on.

  The beast groaned and slumped to the rooftop.

  Kierion straightened. “Captain,” he called.

  The captain glanced up, shock on his face—the first real emotion Kierion had seen from the leader of the Nightshaders.

  Riona turned and held her tail out, laying it on the neighboring roof, forming a bridge between the two buildings. The captain hoisted himself up and clambered along her tail. He scrambled onto the roof and fell to his knees, gasping. “You? A dragon rider?” His eyes narrowed. “Flames and golden dragon heads, now I owe you a life debt.”

  “Indeed, you do.” Kierion hoisted him into the saddle. “What were you doing up here?”

  “I hate it when dragons land on my roof.”

  Riona tossed her head, and took to the sky. The dead dragon’s blood dripped down the side of the building, already forming a dark pool in the alleyway.

  §

  Zens rubbed the ring and felt the sathir vibrate. But something was missing. Something es
sential for opening a portal.

  This wasn’t what he’d been searching for—this wasn’t a talisman to a world gate like Master Giddi had opened with Mazyka all those years ago at Mage Gate. The gate that had let Zens into this realm.

  And then closed, trapping him here forever.

  He held the ring to the light, sensing its sathir.

  This was something more subtle. Smaller magic. As 000 had said, perhaps this would take him through Dragons’ Realm.

  These mortals often used passwords to activate talismans. He gave a bemused smile. These people often went for simplistic words, like names. Perhaps Mazyka’s name. He tried it. Nothing happened.

  Perhaps the new Queen’s Riders name? “Ezaara,” he murmured, but still nothing happened.

  “Zaarusha.” Nothing again.

  “Anakisha.” Sathir hummed faintly in his mind. Then flickered and died.

  “Ana… kisha,” he said, slowly rolling each syllable off his tongue. On the first half of the name, a shimmering glow enveloped him. He flinched at the brightness and dropped the ring. The glow disappeared.

  Zens picked up the jade talisman and turned it over in his hands. Interesting find.

  All he had to do now was fetch his methimium ray.

  §

  Giddi slumped over his dragon’s spinal ridge. He was bone tired. Weary, right down to the vibrations in his bones. It was worth it. As reinstated leader of the Wizard Council, this time he’d saved Dragons’ Realm. The war wasn’t over yet, but at least, this battle had been won.

  A crack, like a quiet clap of thunder, sounded above him. Wearily, Giddi gazed up.

  Bathed in a blaze of golden light, a dark dragon loomed.

  It’d appeared out of nowhere. A vaguely-familiar rider was perched in its saddle. An unusually large rider with a bald head and bulging yellow eyes. Commander Zens—grinning triumphantly.

  “Master Giddi, I’ve long awaited the opportunity for us to work together. I appreciate your talents. I would never ban you from the Wizard Council or force you to lock out your beloved wife. Come, work with me. Let’s better Dragons’ Realm.”

  Giddi mind-blocked as the next barrage of Zens’ insidious thoughts hit his head. He locked Mazyka’s beloved face in his mind. It made no bones—Zens knew who she was, and she was now safe in Zens’ old world. Zens hammered his head relentlessly, trying to get in. Sweat beaded on Giddi’s brow.

  Not now, when his reserves were low and he was exhausted. He gritted his teeth, staving off Zens’ commands.

  Another dark dragon shot through the glowing clouds, a fake mage on its back with a nocked arrow. The dragon wheeled behind Giddi, but the dragon mage didn’t dare tear his gaze from Commander Zens. Clutching the dragon’s spinal ridge, his forearms corded with tension, Giddi pushed Zens out of his head.

  Sharp pain pierced Giddi’s shoulder. Then his lower back. And his other shoulder. Something sharp and painful dug inside his body. Three somethings, burrowing into his skin. Searing burning paths through his flesh and muscle. Gods, by the flaming holy dragons gods. He screamed, arching his back. Giddi’s mind block shattered. Mazyka’s face exploded into thousands of tiny shards which were swept away by dark tendrils.

  Shadows whirled through Giddi’s mind, mist lurking at the edges of his vision.

  “Listen to me, Master Giddi. I now control you.” Zens’ voice was the most alluring thing Giddi had ever heard.

  Commander Zens descended from a gate of billowing golden clouds upon the large dark dragon with fiery yellow eyes. Zens extended a hand.

  “Welcome to my army, Master Giddi. Climb upon my dragon.” His melodious voice slithered inside Giddi’s mind and wrapped itself around his senses like soft dark velvet.

  Giddi’s arms dropped to his side. His legs moved, clambering upon his dragon’s saddle in a crouch.

  His body tensed.

  No. He fought it, trying to withstand Zens’ command.

  “Jump, Giddi. Come with me.” Zens smiled, beckoning him with a welcoming hand.

  Giddi sprang, landing on the back of Zens’ saddle.

  And wrapped his arms around the monster he’d been fighting for years.

  Even as he struggled to withstand Zens’ commands, pain radiated from the new channels in his back and shoulders, darkness spreading through him. Bit by bit, he summoned his magic. Tiny lights flitted inside him. But darkness smothered them and they winked out.

  He’d wanted to face this monster for years. And now he couldn’t even summon a spark. Slumping against the commander’s back, Giddi held on, his arms not his own.

  Commander Zens rubbed one of Anakisha’s travel rings and muttered, “Ana.”

  A pop sounded and Spanglewood Forest and Montanara disappeared.

  The Brothers’ Arms

  The Brothers’ Arms got busier than she’d expected that evening. A steady stream of patrons came to drink—or do business with the captain in his back office. Most of them were clientele Adelina would rather not face on a dark street alone.

  When the first tharuk stormed into the bar demanding a free ale, Adelina resisted the urge to whip out her dagger. She turned the tap, frothy, amber beer spilling into the tankard, and passed it to the monster with barely a glance. It was a rough tavern, all right, but the only thing she’d managed to glean about Kierion since the morning was that lately he’d frequented the tavern. More tharuks followed and soon they were three-deep at the bar. She raced back and forth, serving beer to the tusked monsters.

  At some stage in the evening, there was a terrible clatter on the roof—a dragon, she guessed. The captain muttered and stomped out. Roars shook the tavern walls and thuds rattled the rooftop—maybe two dragons fighting. Patrons paused for a heartbeat, glancing at plaster dust raining from the ceiling, then their raucous laughter broke out again and they kept drinking, playing cards and nukils.

  “Linaia?” No answer. Her dragon must still be out of range. Or hunting after fighting. Hopefully she was all right. Adelina should’ve been riding her today. She’d pledged to fight to protect Dragons’ Realm, not stand here with aching feet in some shrotty bar serving beer to her enemies.

  The door swung open, and three soot-covered men and a woman stalked inside, hoods up. She readied a tankard, but they didn’t even glance her way, sweeping through the bar to the captain’s lair.

  “You. More beer.” A tharuk blasted fetid breath over her.

  Trying not to wrinkle her nose, Adelina poured another ale.

  §

  Danion had his arm slung around Gret again. He tilted his head and murmured something in her ear. She giggled.

  Fenni stifled a snort. She didn’t have to make it look so realistic. He battled to control the magic sizzling at his fingertips.

  Kierion nudged Fenni. “Watch it, you’re leaking.”

  Fenni curled his hands into fists. They were heading toward the Brothers’ Arms. As if they weren’t exhausted enough after battling dark dragons and mages, the captain had called a meeting. Fenni wondered idly what it was about.

  His eyes slid away from Gret. Did she have to put her arm around Danion’s waist? Their body language was too familiar—good enough to fool anyone. Even him, and he knew Gret didn’t like Danion. At least that’s what she said. The leader of the Montanarian dragon corps had broad shoulders, thick dark hair, a ridiculously handsome face, and an easy laugh. So different from him.

  Fenni kicked a lump of snow at the edge of the alley. It flew against the facade of a bakery with a thwack, crumbling. He couldn’t assume Gret liked him as much as he liked her. It’d been an age since they’d danced together at Ezaara and Roberto’s hand-fasting ceremony. Maybe she had fallen for the flashy rider.

  Although, when the three of them were together, planning, or with Danion’s men, Danion never laid a hand on Gret.

  But that didn’t stop her eyes from following him around the room.

  These thoughts did him no good. They only stoked the jealousy burning in his gut. Fenni trudg
ed up the steps behind Kierion, Danion and Gret, and entered the Brothers’ Arms.

  §

  Kierion strode across the busy tavern, past a window that had been boarded up, toward the captain’s back room. The captain was alone, pacing behind the table. In the bright glow from the candles on the candelabra, Kierion noticed a yellow dribble down one of the walls. Not that it was dribbling now. Something runny had dried and hardened there. He edged toward it, curious. Egg. That, and the broken window they’d just seen in the taproom were sure signs of a brawl here earlier today.

  Face as dark as a thundercloud, the captain glowered as he sat down at his table.

  Thank the Egg, Danion let go of Gret, guiding her to a seat between Danion and Fenni. Kierion didn’t want Fenni burning the whole place down.

  The captain’s obsidian eyes glittered, raking over Kierion. He addressed Danion, “Seems this boy’s been hiding things from us.”

  Danion palmed his knife and twirled it. “Has he, now? We can’t have that.”

  Even though Kierion knew Danion was acting, sweat still broke out on his neck.

  “Yes, he’s a dragon rider.”

  Danion’s eyes were mean slits. “Want me to deal with him, boss?”

  The captain snarled. “It just so happens that this dragon rider saved my life. I owe him a rutting life debt. Make sure he’s not harmed in any way.”

  Danion’s face froze. “Yes, Captain. I’ll protect him.”

  “These dark dragons and mages are bad for business,” the captain said. “We’re losing trade. People are afraid to come out of their homes. We need to defeat or kill them.” The captain thumped a fist on the table. “Find me more dragon riders, Kierion.”

  Danion leaned back, rubbing Gret’s shoulders. He gave a winsome smile. “How do you propose he does that, sir?”

  “You can help him, by any means you please.” The captain flashed an ugly black toothed grin.

  Danion gave him a matching grin, but not nearly as ugly.

  Gods, if Kierion didn’t know better, he’d think Danion was out to murder dragon riders. Kierion’s head spun. Luckily, Fenni kept his mouth shut. Kierion whipped his dagger from his belt and spun it on his fingertips. “What if I brought more dragon riders into the Nightshaders? Would that please you, sir?” He flicked the dagger under his fingernails, soot flying onto the captain’s scarred table.