A Rose Amongst the Dragons Read online

  Amongst the Dragons series

  Book 1

  A Rose Amongst the Dragons

  By

  Stephanie Daich on Smashwords

  Text Copyright ©2012

  Stephanie Daich

  All Rights Reserved

  Smashwords Edition

  Cover Design:

  Amber McNemar

  www.ethinkgraphics.com

  Dedication:

  For Emily; who inspired me during our first race together.

  For Natalie; she cheered me along and provided feedback.

  For Dixie; who planted the seed.

  For Nate; because of everything!

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  About the Author

  Other books written by Stephanie Daich

  Chapter 1

  Freedom is defined for men in many different ways. To some, it comes in the form of wealth and riches, having the ability to satisfy every basic pleasure. Others find it in fighting against the system. For Thelton, freedom was derived in the forest. He was raised there and it was in the wild that his spirit seemed to align with the universe. Because he considered all outdoors his home, he knew the ways of the animals, and he had learned the best methods to capture and kill them. Just as important, he had learned how to survive and not get eaten by vicious beasts. He was a mighty hunter, one of exceptional skill, and with that craft, he eventually learned to kill dragons, becoming the beloved Dragon Slayer!

  …

  Thelton ducked down as another fireball sizzled past his broad shoulder, the scorching flames igniting a frayed edge of his sleeve. The small blaze didn’t burn long because the wind extinguished it as he ran. It was way too close. Usually, Thelton didn’t run from dragons, he slew them. But with his bulging arms grasping a severed dragon head, it was hard for him to do much else. Above him, a loud screeching sound came from the green dragon. It was flying dangerously close to him.

  “Ahhh!” he screamed. The sounds coming from the dragon made his ears pulsate, feeling like they were going to explode. The high-pitched noise almost deafened him. While the dragon flew directly above him, Thelton could feel a huge gust of air flow out from the dragon’s wings. The dragon was so close that his arm hairs stood up. Since he was holding the butchered dragon head, he had no way to defend himself. He had to make a choice; either risk being attacked by the green dragon, or drop his newly acquired dragon head and fight.

  “Oh, I hate to do this,” he said as he dropped his prized dragon head on the ground and took off into a sprint. Above, the dragon descended to the ground next to the detached head of its sibling. It sniffed around, smelling the sweet aroma of dragon blood. It licked the head of its dead brother. With fury in its eyes, the dragon let out a booming roar and propelled itself toward Thelton, accelerating as it came. Just as it reached Thelton, Thelton tucked in his muscular body and rolled to the ground. He tumbled backwards, whirling in a heap while the dragon hurdled over him. The dragon tried to stop its momentum and turned back toward Thelton, but its speed propelled it forward until its head slammed into a tree. Thelton found the advantage he had been looking for as he jumped onto its scaly tail, pulling himself up.

  “You think you can best me.” He said as he scurried up the dragon. After gaining his balance, he scampered the length of the green tail, all the way to the neck. The dragon could feel Thelton on it, and it began rolling around in attempts to shake Thelton off, but it didn’t work. Thelton had a firm grip and kept his place around the neck. He held so tight that his veins bulged out of his neck.

  “There is nothing you can do to me now,” he challenged, using his toughest voice.

  The dragon didn’t like Thelton there. In order to rid itself of Thelton, it suddenly shot up into the sky. Once a good distance above the ground, it flipped around and flew upside down. Thelton grasped his arms tighter around the neck. As much as the thick beast tried to drop Thelton, he couldn’t. When the dragon spun back around, Thelton heaved himself up to the dragon’s head. He had a plan. Reaching into his boot, Thelton retrieved his emerald dagger and plunged it into the dragon’s left eye. The pain immediately overtook the dragon. Fire flew out of its mouth. The piercing was too much. The dragon began rolling back and forth as it flew. Thelton worked against the dragon’s acrobatics and pulled the dagger out and slammed it in again. The dragon’s struggle became too much, causing Thelton to lose his grip when it jerked back and its force launched him off. With nothing to stop his speed, Thelon’s body crashed with a thud into the hard forest floor.

  “Oh the pain,” he snorted. “I don’t think I can move.” His body ached in agony. He closed his dark eyes, eyes with iris that looked almost black.

  “That probably wasn’t a wise move.” Several bones on his body ached. “I hope I didn’t break anything.”

  He noticed that his head throbbed, for he had banged it hard. His body bid him to fall asleep, despite the pain.

  He knew he couldn’t fall asleep, for if he did, he surely would become food to the green dragon. He forced his dark eyes open. At first, all he saw was black. Slowly, shapes started to form. When his vision fully returned, he searched the sky to see if the dragon was anywhere around. He saw nothing but darkness and stars, stars that filled the expanse.

  Usually dragons would return for their prey.

  Cautiously, he slithered his sore body into some bushes where he rested for most of the night. Agitation steamed within, for he felt like he was being a coward. “Dragons hide from me, not the opposite,” he thought. Just before sunrise, he decided to get up. He had to push himself, but finally he stood, trying to ignore the pain. Once standing, he staggered around a bit until his equilibrium settled.

  He limped back to his treasured dragon head, relieved to find it still where he had dropped it. The head was enormous as its black and green scales reflected the moon above. The head was rather plain compared to the other heads he had decapitated in the past, regardless; it would still fetch a nice prize from the king; 10,000 Tretos.

  Thelton hoisted the head up into his arms.

  “Oh yes, you will make a nice head for the king. I just wish I would have been able to kill your brother dragon. I am going to have to learn how to kill more than one dragon at a time.”

  Thelton lugged the head along.

  “I wish I could have harvested more of you,” he said as he looked into the flat red eyes of his dragon head. Not too long ago those same eyes glowed in a brilliant red, but not they were dull from death.

  It was satisfying to have the head, but he wished there had been time to glean the rest. Dragon organs brought in good money. The head was always worth the most, the king paid for that. After a dragon was killed, Thelton broke it down and sold the other various parts. The medicine woman bought the scales, for they were very valuable to her. She desired the other parts, but Thelton could sell the rest of the dragon for much more at market. Wastefully, Thelton never took a dragon’s carcass, which he always left behind to rot. He wanted the carcass, but he never had the means of carrying it out of the forest. He had often thought about bri
nging along a cart, but he knew that if he did, the dragon would hear him coming and he’d lose the element of surprise. It would also make the risk to his life much greater.

  “How could I have left so many of the parts behind?” Even more regret filled him as he thought about the wasted dragon. He hadn’t had a chance to harvest everything because, just after he had removed the dragon’s head, the green dragon had come along. Without enough time to prepare to fight, Thelton had to just grab the severed dragon’s head and run from the green dragon.

  The green dragon looked much like the other dragons he had killed, the size slightly smaller than most, but the fury just as strong. Thelton wished he could kill that dragon and have two heads to take the king; wouldn’t that increase the king’s pride in him?

  He should have just killed the green dragon, but what chance did he have? His success for killing dragons came from his stealthy ability to sneak up on them. If he could do that, then the dragon was as good as dead. He had done that to the black dragon, whose head he now carried. He had snuck up on it and quickly killed it by piercing its heart with his sword. But, when the green one surprised him, all he could do was run.

  …

  Being left an orphan at a young age, he had felt so utterly alone. Sometimes he would have dreams about his mom, and it would leave him very depressed. She meant the world to him in his dreams, but when he was awake, he refused to think about her. His father had been a hunter of the forest, taking Thelton with him even as a babe. When his parents had died, he was left to use what they had taught him to survive on his own. As he got older, he pushed out the memories of his parents because they hurt too much. Because of the risks he took, he had met death on multiple occasions, always escaping.

  At eleven, he found Gremell the Dragon Slayer hunting in his forest. Gremell was a thin man in his forties, and he preferred to be alone. He was the first person Thelton met many years after his parents had died, and Thelton was hungry for attention. He clung to Gremell’s side, refusing to leave it. Eventually Gremell succumbed to Thelton and agreed to let him be his apprentice. He used Thelton as a slave in exchange for teaching him.

  Thelton tagged along and learned from him over the next three years. When Thelton was fourteen, Gremell was killed by a dragon. It almost destroyed Thelton to lose Gremell, because he had been such an influence on him. He felt so empty with him gone. He had no one. He never wanted to feel that kind of hurt again, so he built a big wall around his emotions, deciding never to care for another human again, because all humans that he cared for died.

  Continuing to build his reputation as The Dragon Slayer, he worked on his own. The more dragons he killed, the more he had been brought into society. The kings of Andleburg, Candleshaw, and Cloats always paid Thelton for the dragon heads, and when he would deliver them, two of the three kings expressed their thanks to him by giving him a feast or some type of recognition. It took a lot out of Thelton to attend those tributes, because he was a hermit, he didn’t like being around others.

  Thelton pushed aside the thought of his parents and Gremell and he began walking again. He had a dragon head to deliver. There was no point entertaining memories of his dead loved ones, for they were gone, never to return again. As his arm muscle’s ached, he repositioned the dragon head and made his way through the forest, heading toward the castle.

  …

  Trevor of Andleburg, First Position Advisor sat at in the middle of the horseshoe table in the royal planning room. Gathered around him was his panel of 11 other advisors. They were finishing up their meeting for the day. It had been a very heated one and there was still a strong charge of negative energy in the room.

  “Well, I do believe we were able to accomplish a great deal today. I will be taking all your concerns to the king. I have other things to get to. We shall meet again in two days. Everyone remember their assignments.” The advisors at the table stood up. “I need advisor 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, and 11 to stay, the rest of you are excused to leave.”

  The advisors that weren’t called quickly bolted from the table, happy to be released from a place of such intense debate. When the advisors had left, there was still one guard mingling at the door.

  “You may go now!” Trevor barked at the guard.

  “Yes, Sir Trevor of Andleburg, First Position Advisor,” he said as he ducked his head and bowed, leaving the room.

  “That was a horrible meeting today,” Trevor said to the men who had stayed. “Let’s get on with the important business.”

  “Do you think the king knows what we are up to?” Welsh of Andleburg, Third Position Advisor asked.

  “No, there is no way that he knows. He is too stupid and complacent to ever look into the happenings of his kingdom. That is why he has us here, to do what he refuses to do himself. His apathetic attitude plays well into our plans.” Trevor looked at his weary advisors. “I heard the 50% tax increase has started. How is it coming along?”

  “The people are very angry. They are complaining and some are even refusing to pay. We told them they have a week to get their goods in order. If they don’t pay by the end of the week, we will seize their property and put them in jail?”

  Trevor turned to Welsh. “Is the new jail’s construction complete for the influx of people it will be getting?”

  “Yes sir, it is.”

  “Great,” Trevor said as he rubbed his hands together.

  “May I have the chair?” Noah of Andleburg, Seventh Position Advisor asked.

  “Yes, go ahead.”

  “Are you ready to grant audiences to the people who will come to the castle and complain?”

  “I am very ready. I have made ALL advisors aware that I am the only one to be granting audiences at this time.”

  “Are you sure that the rest of the advisors and the king will not catch wind of what we are doing?”

  “There is no way that they will. I have the other advisors assigned to tasks that keep them here at the castle. I will be the only one sitting in on audience. There is no way that word will make it to the castle.”

  “What about the friends and family of the guards, advisors, and workers. They shall surely hear of the complaints and take them to the king,” Noah said.

  “But that is not how the chain of command works. The king will only grant audience to me. Obviously I won’t let any of it get to him. We can make this work. Abraham of Andleburg, Eleventh Position Advisor, do you have the secret treasury secure?”

  “Everything is in order, Sir.”

  “Good, good, good. Now men, must I emphasize the utmost secrecy of our project? Let me remind you, if any of you are caught divulging our plans, not only will I personally kill you, I will kill your entire family line. Let us make our secret sign, and then it is time to dismiss.”

  The men put their hands together in their secret sign, and then they went about their business in the Andleburg Kingdom.

  …

  It was the rainy season, and Thelton’s strapping, muscular body was covered in mud from head to foot. With sludge dripping around him, he stood at the castle door waiting for the guard to let him in. He was a sight with his rugged appearance and tattered clothes, not looking fit to enter the Andleburg Castle. James the guard looked intently at Thelton. He knew the lad, the whole kingdom was buzzing about him. He was only nineteen and he had already killed twenty-two dragons. The guards had been given strict instructions about always letting Thelton in. Although James knew the orders, he couldn’t get past Thelton’s sodden appearance. Instead of following the orders, he sent an inquiry to Trevor of Andleburg, First Position Advisor. Shortly, Trevor appeared.

  “What seems to be the problem?” he asked James the guard.

  “Well Sir, this here is The Dragon Slayer and I believe he should be bathed before he greets the king, however, the king has commanded that the very moment The Dragon Slayer arrives, that he should be brought to the king.”

  Trevor wrinkled his nose in disgust as he looked over Thelton. Trevor had ne
ver done work outside and he did not like dirt. He looked at the dragon’s head that Thelton carried. The sight of it made him want to puke, just looking at it made him nauseous. He looked back at Thelton. Trevor despised The Dragon Slayer. The king always seemed to get stupid in the head when Thelton was around. He was only a hunter. That put him at the bottom of the social ladder in Trevor’s eyes.

  “I will not have this man tracking his filth into the king’s castle. He will bathe first and then be presentable to meet the king.”

  “My very thoughts, indeed,” James said.

  Thelton just listened to them discuss him as if he wasn’t there. He didn’t care, for he really didn’t want to talk with them. He really wished he could just leave them the head and have them deliver the reward money. He didn’t need to talk with the king.

  King Wolfgang had been going over his maps in the war room when he heard the news. He was a stately looking king, his face held a wisdom that demanded attention. As he rubbed his chin, he thought about The Dragon Slayer, what would the kingdom do without him? It was a good thing that dragons were pretty good at staying in the forest. It wasn’t often that they came to nearby villages, but when they did, they left a huge trail of destruction. Sometimes they would come alone, and other times they would come in groups. When they came out, they often burnt up multiple farms, homes, and fields. They would also deplete a whole flock of sheep or a herd of cows. They stuck around for days or weeks, feasting on anything they could find. It was imperative to have them killed.

  Dragon slayers were hard to come by. It wasn’t a profession that many were willing to go into, because the majority of dragon slayers eventually got killed by dragons. There had been a time when King Wolfgang was a boy that the kingdom had gone ten years without a dragon slayer. No one was willing to do it. When a dragon would come into the kingdom, his father would force his men to go out and fight it. They rarely met success. Before Thelton appeared, there was a dragon slayer named Gremell. He was like all the others, not very good. He eventually got eaten by a dragon. King Wolfgang remembered when Thelton came along. He had been learning from Gremell before Gremell’s death. Thelton seemed so young at the time. It was astounding how incredibly skilled he was, because he never failed at killing unwanted dragons. His reputation quickly spread and the other kingdoms in the tri-kingdom started calling on his services as well.