Dragon Bow

by Angelique Anderson

  Dragon Bow

  The Dragon’s Call, Book 2

  Angelique Anderson

  Craig A. Price Jr.

  Edited by

  Monique Johnson

  Illustrated by

  Mihaela Voicu

  Craig Martelle, Inc., Fairbanks, Alaska - 1st Edition, 2019

  Dragon Bow © 2019 Craig A. Price Jr. and Angelique Anderson

  All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

  Cover Design by Mihaela Voicu

  Editing by Monique Johnson @ https://www.fiverr.com/moniquenjohnson

  Published by Craig Martelle, Inc., Fairbanks, Alaska - 1st Edition, 2019

  Formatting by Craig A. Price Jr.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  1. Astrid

  2. Svana

  3. Hekla

  4. Astrid

  5. Svana

  6. Hekla

  7. Astrid

  8. Svana

  9. Hekla

  10. Astrid

  11. Svana

  12. Hekla

  13. Astrid

  14. Svana

  15. Hekla

  16. Astrid

  17. Svana

  18. Hekla

  19. Astrid

  20. Svana

  21. Hekla

  22. Astrid

  23. Svana

  24. Hekla

  25. Astrid

  26. Svana

  27. Hekla

  28. Astrid

  29. Svana

  30. Hekla

  31. Astrid

  32. Svana

  33. Hekla

  34. Astrid

  35. Svana

  36. Hekla

  37. Astrid

  38. Svana

  39. Hekla

  40. Astrid

  41. Svana

  42. Hekla

  43. Astrid

  44. Svana

  45. Hekla

  46. Astrid

  47. Svana

  48. Hekla

  49. Astrid

  50. Svana

  51. Hekla

  52. Astrid

  Also by Angelique S. Anderson

  Also By Craig A. Price

  About Angelique Anderson

  About Craig A Price Jr

  1

  Astrid

  War isn’t always easy. To watch a life drain away, it is gut-wrenching; it is heart-breaking. But, remember this—for each life you take, how many lives do you save?

  Voadria, The Life Giver, First Dragon Elder, Second Age of Verdil

  A strong Tellurian wind blew across the battlefield, whipping Astrid’s wild emerald hair around her face as she watched the interaction between Svana and King Armand. She could not hear the words her fiery-haired sister spoke, but even from a distance, she could see the anger on her face.

  “Should we advance?” Hekla spoke, breaking through Astrid’s line of concentration.

  “Not yet, Hekla. It’s not time. Remember, we want to protect the lives of our people, and of the Tellurians for as long as we can.” Astrid watched in dismay, as a pale woman with brilliant white hair rode away from them.

  “Who is that, and where is she going?” The blue-haired beauty looked genuinely concerned.

  Astrid turned to her sister and saw the uncertainty on her face and could only hope that whatever Hekla had encountered on the road had strengthened her enough that she could battle and hold her own.

  “Worry not,” Aronus said, his voice circling around her from his hiding place within the bow. “Hekla has shared in her own battles while on the journey to Aequoris.”

  “I assumed as much, Aronus, but that doesn’t mean I don’t worry,” Astrid retorted.

  “For goodness sake, what is he on about now?” Hekla gave Astrid a sympathetic look.

  “Don’t worry about it. How are you and Speltus getting on?”

  “Well enough, I suppose.” Hekla rolled her eyes.

  Astrid laughed.

  A sudden movement from the road where their sister, Svana, stood opposite the Tellurian King Armand, grabbed their attention.

  The king had dismounted his horse and was moving toward Svana. Astrid’s heart raced as it pounded harder in her chest. Her love for her sister surged through her, and though she knew Svana had plenty of training, as well as Lingaria by her side, Astrid still felt the need to protect her. After all, Astrid had always looked out for both of her sisters. It was her duty as the oldest child.

  He’s going to attack her! she screamed in her head.

  “No! Svana!” she warned, knowing that her sister would not be able to hear her.

  “Attack!” she immediately screamed out to her army.

  The Caelestan’s did not hesitate as they began advancing forward. It wasn’t what Astrid had wanted, but there was no way around it. The king himself would attack, which would just evoke the Tellurians, so they had to act quickly.

  “Sister!” Hekla cried out.

  Astrid didn’t know if Hekla shouted for Svana, or herself. It didn’t matter. Astrid couldn’t allow herself to be distracted. She had no idea what she was up against with the Tellurian Army, and she wanted to protect her sisters. Behind her a horn blared, along with another. Whatever happened now, all armies were advancing. Astrid could only hope that the Caelestan’s and Aequoran’s would remember that they were fighting together.

  Hekla was side by side with her now, and their people had joined in unity to advance upon the Tellurian army. She stole one more glance to her younger sister, hoping against hope it wouldn’t be the last time, and then she readied her bow.

  “Ready, Hekla?” Astrid whispered.

  “Ready as I’ll ever be,” Hekla raised her scepter and let out a war cry. They ran toward where the roads converged, and the battle was beginning. Astrid’s focus was on getting to Svana and attacking the king. She would not kill him… not yet, but he needed to be stopped. She knew that to be true. She loosed an arrow at a burly tellurian soldier who was running straight toward her. The arrow sank into his thigh, causing him to yell out, and fall to the ground. Astrid didn’t cast a second glance at him, as she ran past him. He reached out, locking his fingers around her ankle, tripping her to the ground.

  Astrid flipped into the air and let loose another arrow at his shoulder. He winced and released his grip on her ankle as he yelled out again and she crashed to the ground on her back.

  “Serves you right!” she yelled at him.

  She jumped to her feet, her arrows loosing as fast as she could release them. She fought over the sea of people to try to see how Svana was fairing, but they were in full on battle, and her sight was blocked by the chaos around her. The echoing of sword against sword deafened her ears, clanging echoing over and over, like a bell that continuously rang. A flash of blue ran past Astrid, and she was grateful that for the moment, Hekla seemed to be faring well. She saw a flash of light, and a brilliant blaze of fiery magic blazed forth, knocking several soldiers ont
o their backs.

  Every arrow from her bow, never failed to meet flesh, but Astrid was specific on never aiming at the chest. She refused to cause death if she could help it. However, there were many places she could aim an arrow to do a multitude of damage without killing the target.

  “We are in battle, Astrid” Aronus reminded her. “There will be bloodshed, it is impossible to avoid. That is what battle is.”

  “I don’t care!” she yelled out. “I refuse to take life until it is absolutely necessary, we can still win this!”

  “Astrid, you stubborn human! If there was ever a time when it was merited… now is that time. Do not risk the lives of your fellow soldiers simply because you are to headstrong to listen to me. One life for another is not right, either!”

  “Aronus! I don’t have time to argue this with you!” She loosed another arrow, striking a soldier in the shoulder just as the Tellurian soldier raised his sword to bring it down on one of the Aequoran people. She felt something whizz past her ear and turned to aim her bow on whoever had loosed at her.

  “Sorry!” One of the Caelestan’s mouthed, as loosed another arrow, this time it struck its target square in the chest. The soldier dropped to the ground. Oh, he hadn’t been aiming at her, he had been trying to help.

  Thank you, she mouthed back, thankful that she had looked before just loosing the arrow she had nocked. She turned back around, and a flash of red raised above the sea of heads.

  Svana!

  Svana was in the fight of her life, Astrid could tell because she was near enough to see the King going to head with her red-haired sister. Their swords clashing against each other first to the right, then swinging to the left. Svana anticipated his every move, and their fight looked like some well-orchestrated dance.

  Just then, Astrid felt a searing pain up her arm, then warmth drizzling down. She turned her head to see, just as the glint of a sword came down on her. Her bow was not quick enough, and she closed her eyes, bracing for its impact.

  “Occulari Invisitum,” Hekla shouted over the battle cries and clanging metal that had grown to near deafening amounts.

  A brilliant orb of light spiraled out, hitting the man square in the eyes. He swung around awkwardly, swinging his sword as he did so. It met another soldier right in the leg, which stopped the momentum.

  With the roar of both ringing out, they now attacked each other.

  “What did you do, Hekla?” Astrid asked.

  “I rendered him temporarily blind!” she yelled, laughing loudly as she continued fighting.

  Astrid raised a brow, impressed. Hekla had learned some things. Astrid was superbly proud of her younger sister and wondered what other surprises the woman hid in her magical scepter.

  “Well played, sister!” Astrid yelled back, rushing forward, her focus on reaching Svana once more.

  I must protect her... I must protect my sister.

  The moments seemed to melt into hours, as she clambered over bodies, and thrust her bow out against impending sword attacks. Everything around Astrid blurred as she rushed forward. Arrows soared out of her bow faster than she’d known was possible. Astrid was unsure if it was all her, of it if it was Aronus guiding her hand.

  She’d always excelled at the bow, long before she’d been gifted the dragon bow, but she’d never remembered being this accurate, or this fast at loosing arrows. Each arrow separated by less than a second, and each one struck a different target. Astrid noticed that her aim grew more careless as she rushed toward her sister. Instead of each arrow striking an opponent in an area to injure them, they crept closer and closer to fatal wounds. She wanted to stop, to focus her aim toward injuries rather than casualties, but a force drove her forward as she struggled to reach her sister.

  A man jumped in front of her, a claymore in his grasp. Astrid sidestepped as his massive weapon struck the air where she’d just stood, slamming into the ground, and bursting a cloud of dirt into the air. She turned, nocking an arrow, but before she could release, his claymore struck the arrow, knocking it to the ground where it burned green then disintegrated. He barely paid the magic arrow any heed as he charged toward her.

  Astrid, terrified, raised her bow in the air to deflect the incoming strike. She made sure to angle it so the limb of the bow blocked the claymore rather than the bowstring. Miraculously, the claymore didn’t slice through the bow. Astrid knew the weapon was important, and possibly enchanted, but it still surprised her. She reached for another arrow, Aronus’ tail glowing as she prepared to nock it. Instead, she shoved the arrow forward, jamming the arrowhead into and through the gauntlet of her opponent. He snarled as he stepped backward. Wasting no time, Astrid removed the arrow from his gauntlet and nocked it. She released. The arrow sank into the man’s shoulder. She reached for another arrow and aimed for the other shoulder.

  As quickly as the arrows penetrated the man’s shoulders, they disappeared. Astrid wondered if the magical arrows were as effective as normal arrows, or if them disintegrating into thin air was making the damage less long term. The man still charged after Astrid, and she resorted to fleeing. Astrid may be talented with a bow, but she couldn’t face brute strength and determination. As she ran, she noticed several orbs of brilliant blue light strike the man who tried to chase her, and after the third strike, the man fell to the ground.

  Astrid exhaled a long breath she’d been holding, and she thanked the creator for her sister, Hekla. She avoided as much confrontation as she could the remainder of her sprint toward Svana, but she continued to loose arrows all the while.

  By the time she reached her sister, Svana and the king had traveled farther away, engaged in their own battle.

  “Aronus, what do I do?”

  “Astrid, your sister is clearly holding her own. You need to stay and protect Hekla and your people. They are the ones who need you!”

  “Yes, but Svana is fighting him all by herself. What if he hurts her?”

  Astrid breathed heavy, nearly hyperventilating as she worried for her sister. Svana was skilled, Astrid gave her that. The swordsmanship Astrid saw from both Svana and the king was unlike anything Astrid ever witnessed.

  “Svana is not alone, she has Lingaria to help her,” Aronus said.

  “Yes, well... all three of you seem to be keeping yourself meticulously hidden from battle.”

  “And what do you think would happen if we showed ourselves?” he said, his voice taking on a tight, high-pitched level of frustration.

  “Hmmm, well I’m sure it would be enough to scare mostly everyone into backing down, so maybe we have some chance of putting an end to this battle with the least amount of lives lost,” Astrid said.

  She looked around the battlefield, taking note of how many people had fallen. Every army had lost people and it didn’t seem like there was any sort of end in sight.

  “Yes, then what do you think would happen?”

  “I don’t know...” she admitted.

  She loosed her arrow at a particularly large Tellurian, whose sword acted like a hedging tool, slicing back and forth at the people around him who tried to take him down over and over to no avail. The arrow in his side barely phased him, but it did make him turn his attention to her, and as he turned to rush after her, one of her Caelestan soldiers brought his sword down into the Tellurian’s back.

  The Tellurian swung his blade wildly, catching the Caelestan in the side. They both fell to the ground. The Caelestan soldier gripped his wound attempting to stop the blood that pooled around him.

  Astrid yelled out, “Noooooooo!”

  “Astrid, it cannot be stopped... if you attempt to put an end to this battle, it will only cause more death of your people and the Aequorans. The Tellurians will not stop just because you have!”

  “I don’t care! We cannot continue on this way!”

  Forgetting about Svana for the moment, Astrid rushed back into the heart of the battle, screaming at the top of her lungs for them to stop, to think about what they were doing and the live
s they were destroying in the process. Nothing she said or did mattered, all around her, bodies fell. The ground now splattered with the blood of all people as each fought to protect the land they loved.

  “Please! I’m begging you! Don’t you see!?” Astrid demanded.

  No one listened to her. They didn’t care. They didn’t want to stop. This war had been a long time coming and as much as Astrid hated it, it had been her and her sisters that had hurried its arrival. She had to wonder if any of them would make it out alive.

  “Aronus, can you do nothing to help?” she called out in desperation, wondering what Palladin, The Great, would think about the battle that was occurring between the three kingdoms.

  As she let loose arrow after arrow, her focus on stopping as many as she could from attacking her people. She wondered if she had done the right thing leading her people there. There would be much blood on her hands, and no one to blame but herself for the death toll that rose higher by the moment.

  “That’s not true, Astrid! And you know it! We fight to stop the kings from their wickedness. We fight so that one day… peace will prevail.” Aronus said out loud, as his tail flickered into another magic arrow.