The Sorcerer's Absolution: The Dragon Keepers, #2

Chapter 1

Dragon Eggs

The dragon, huge and hulking, loomed over the smaller dragon. His pale yellow sides heaved with anger, and a low growl emanated from the back of this throat. Torrid, a warrior with the sunrise clan, looked at the smaller dragon with pure malice. His voice was merely a hiss and drool dripped from his fearsome fangs. You are a travesty. You have been nothing but trouble since you brought that summer dragon home. You and your wife spread divisiveness among the clan. I’m warning you, Nick, shut up all your little friends, or there will be consequences. I don’t care if you are a Prince of Dumara.

Nick Chuvash, in his dragon form, was pure red with a golden streak down his back. He had a short golden mane and, like the rest of the royal family, piercing blue eyes. How dare you speak to me like that! he roared, puffing his chest out. I do not spread divisiveness. I have gathered the small, the lame, the outcasts, and you and my brother would do well to listen to them. But my brother is only interested in mating recently, isn’t he?

Torrid had enough. With a mighty roar, he swiped at the Prince, rising on his hind legs. With his massive body, he pushed into Nick, forcing him back into the wall of the cave. It was the ultimate show of domination, and no one but Torrid would dare use this technique on a Prince of Dumara. Do not speak of your brother and my daughter like that! Your brother Alex is the Crown Prince, and he is one hundred times the dragon you are, you cowardly little cuss. Now, remove yourself from my sight before I do something I regret, he roared, and light rays flew from his mouth, striking a glancing blow to Nick’s hindquarters. With a whimper and a squeal, Nick retreated down the corridor without looking back.

Torrid glared at him in anger, slowly calming himself. No one spoke badly of his daughter or her new husband. When he was quiet, he slinked back down the cave until he reached his daughter’s nest. He needed to talk to her dragon mate, Crown Prince Alex, and tell her what he had done.

Just down the hallway, Nick slipped into his own nest. He was a sunrise dragon, but just three months ago, had married his love, Sadie Diya. Sadie was a summer dragon, and her father was King of Terrek.

Their marriage had been fraught with controversy. Never had shifter dragons from different clans taken each other as formal mates. Their wedding had been a disaster. Forced to have a joint wedding with his older brother, the two brides had fought tooth and nail through every detail.

The ceremony had done nothing but make Nick and Sadie even more bitter. Forced to share their special day, they felt they had been upstaged by his older brother. And it didn’t help that the sorcerer was obviously in on it. He had done some kind of mumbo jumbo with his staff, causing blue light to flow over his brother and his bride, and declaring them blessed by the Dragon God.

No such light had been delivered over Sadie and Nick, and it had been humiliating. Combined with what Nick could only assume was an unfortunately timed earthquake, and some shenanigans in which a disembodied voice from the crowd had declared themselves the Dragon God and had shouted into the crowd, I withhold my blessing. I am angry. I am coming! they had been left in disgrace.

Honestly, if it was in his power, he would throw that sassy sorcerer, Darius Fletcher, into the dungeon. But he did not hold the keys, and it wasn’t in his power. Soon, though, he could take revenge on all who stood in his way or wronged him, and he would take the throne of Dumara. 

These past three months, he had been plotting and planning, growing his base of dragon malcontents. Later, he would change into his human form, and go hang out in the Rusty Shield, the preferred hangout of the soldiers of Dumara when they were off duty. He had been building his base of human malcontents as well. He would need every person and dragon possible to pull off his coup. It was all coming together.

He entered his cave. It had been the Chuvash family cave before his mother’s sudden death. It contained three rings of boulders. The large middle nest had been his parents’, the one on the left his brothers’. Right before the wedding, his brother and Dahlia had moved down the hall, and their father had not occupied his nest much since Queen Cassandra’s death, preferring to stay in his human form most of the time.

The assassination attempt that Nick had so carefully planned with their enemies to the north had gone wrong. His mother, instead of his father, had flown out to meet the sun that morning and had been attacked. She had died of her wounds, and his father had been grief stricken ever since.

Nick had not meant for his mother to die, but she was a necessary loss. He missed her, and she had been the one to always smooth things over between his older brother and him. She had made excuses for her youngest son, calling him moody. In reality, she had been the only one who really cared for him, and now she was gone.

He had his Sadie though, and she was resting in their nest, to the far right. Her dark green scales looked almost black in the gloom of the caves. She opened her orange eyes, and they were full of love. My mate. Come, keep us warm, she demanded, scooting over to make room for him.

He smiled. In the middle of their nest was the egg of their dragonling. Normally, dragon eggs were the colors of the sun, red, orange, yellow, gold, or on rare occasions, a pink color. Their egg was a dull bronze color. Nick assumed it was because their son would be a hybrid, a mix of summer and sunrise. Light and fire. He couldn’t wait to meet his dragonling. The egg would hatch soon, just a few more weeks.

He carefully lowered his hulk into his nest, settling carefully around the egg and Sadie. He licked her neck, and she settled her head on his flank, content. 

Nick grimaced a little when she inadvertently touched his burned spot. He would have to have his Dragon Keeper put some balm on it later, before he shifted into his human form to go upstairs.

Oh, what happened? You’ve been singed! Sadie exclaimed, looking at the scales on his hindquarters, which were charred and curled up on the edges.

Torrid wanted to have a little talk with me. Things got heated, Nick said, not wanting to tell his mate that Torrid had dominated him, and he had run away.

Dahlia’s father. I hate that family, Sadie said, spitting and looking cross. Love, you probably haven’t heard. Dahlia laid a dragonling egg today.

Not surprising. That has been my brother’s goal to come up with an heir as quickly as possible. The two have certainly been working hard at it. Nick smirked.

Sadie looked smug. Our son will be older by three months.

Nick growled, Not that it matters. But soon, my father and brother will be out of the way. The first thing I will do after my brother’s last breath is to smash that egg, and then I think I’ll give Dahlia to Quartz. He needs a mate, and no other female will take him.

Sadie chuckled. I would love to see Dahlia forced to take Quartz as a mate, but he’s so small and feeble, I think she would crush him. She’s a big drakaina, after all.

You could take her, love. Well, you might need to cheat a little, but all’s fair in love and war.

It certainly is. She blinked her eyes adoringly and settled in for a rest.

Alex Chuvash, the Crown Prince of Dumara, couldn’t be prouder. It wasn’t a surprise that Dahlia had produced an egg, as they had known for a few weeks now that a dragonling was on its way, but the placement of the egg in the nest was a big occasion in the clan. People had been coming by all day to give their congratulations.

The egg was golden yellow and streaked with red, and Dahlia told him it was a male dragon. Already, the egg was larger than normal, a good sign. 

He was delighted when the Dragon Keepers, Mila and Aswin, had come in earlier. They looked over the egg, tapping it a few times, and declaring it fit and fine. Congratulations, Mila said with excitement, genuinely happy for the pair. Technically, Mila was HIS Dragon Keeper, bound to him. They shared a telepathic link that allowed them to speak across distance and share thoughts. They were very close, and early on, love had blossomed between the two.

Since his wedding, she had distanced herself, mostly to protect her heart, but also out of respect. She adored Dahlia and wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize her position as Dragon Keeper. She loved her job and tended to her charges every day with a smile and tenderness.

Her father, Aswin Fletcher, had been the Dragon Keeper since before she was born. He was bound to King Rand and shared the telepathic link with him. When King Rand died, he would retire, and Mila would become the full-time Keeper.

Very good, Dahlia. King Rand is thrilled. He will come down in a bit, to give his congratulations, Aswin said, running his hand over the gold and red egg, shining in the dim light of the cave.

I wish my mother could be here to meet her grand dragonling, Dahlia said sadly. Her mother had died two weeks after her wedding of a wasting disease. She had lasted longer than most had thought, but when she died, she was just a shell of her former self. They had interred her with great sadness and fanfare in the dragon catacombs, deep within the mountain, next to the bones of her ancestors.

Just then, Torrid came in, looking perturbed. Ahh, the Dragon Keepers. You may need to pay a visit to Nick. We had a little meeting in the hall, and I lost my temper. He may be slightly singed.

Torrid, Aswin said disapprovingly, shaking his head.

Aswin felt King Rand in his thoughts. The name Torrid had caught his attention. What has Torrid done, Aswin? Rand thought to his Dragon Keeper from his study in the castle. He had court today and was just putting his notes away after a meeting with the diplomat from Norda.

It appears Nick and Torrid had a heated discussion about his little group of friends. Nick continues to sow discord in the caves, and Torrid called him out on it, Aswin said, after listening to the explanation given by the fierce warrior.

I should really spend more time in the caves. I’ll come down tonight, Rand thought, closing up his notes. He stood and took off his crown and his ermine robe and glanced quickly at the decorated mirror that stood just outside the attached bathroom.

He was an older man, nearing fifty. He had brown, graying hair, with a short beard. His striking blue eyes looked wise, and he thought he didn’t look bad for a man his age. He shifted and flew every morning with his clan, and it had kept him in very good shape. He was muscular and lean, even though he was no longer a young dragon.

What he really needed to do was to talk to Nick. The boy needed a diversion. He had entirely too much time on his hands, and he wasn’t using his time in any positive way. Rand kept Alex busy, helping him with official functions, but Nick was pretty much left to his own devices.

He looked back over his correspondence from Norda, the human kingdom that covered the entire southern continent. They were a fierce seafaring race, and they had the biggest navy in the world. They had been begging him to meet with them. It appeared pirates were plaguing the trading routes to the south. He knew they wanted firm agreements as to safe passage to Dumara and all lands east and west.

He had been building a small fleet of ships to fight the privateers and protect Sunrise Bay, but he didn’t know if he wanted to reveal his plans yet to Norda. He could send Nick to Norda, as a diplomat. It would get him out of the way for the time being and allow Alex to firm up his support in his absence.

It was perfect. He just needed to convince Nick of it, which would be his biggest challenge. With a sigh, he put down his notes and headed downstairs. Maybe he would sleep in his nest tonight.

Chapter 2

The Sorcerer of Dumara

Three months ago, on the fateful day that both Princes had married in a joint ceremony, Darius Fletcher, Sorcerer of Dumara, had hightailed it out of that cathedral so fast he left people’s heads spinning.

Aware he had just been a part of the most scandalous wedding in hundreds of years and had invoked the wrath of his boss, the Dragon God, he had been hiding out for the past three months. He really hoped that everyone would forget his involvement sooner rather than later, especially King Rand and his festering blight of a son, Nick Chuvash.

For the last three months, he had been hearing two distinct death drumbeats. He thought about brewing up another batch of noctum, a powerful potion that bestowed visions or caused instant death, but thought he might be pushing his luck. It was apparent things had been set in motion. He was in his workshop, with his staff firmly clamped in a vice on his bench. He was trying to scry into the veta stone sat on the top, but the murky depths of the jewel refused to give up its secrets.

All the sudden, his early warning spell went off, and he cursed. It had been a quiet few months, and he did not want guests today, or any day really.

He glanced out the door and quickly changed his mind. It was Gayle, the Dragon Keeper of Fresthav. The pair has spent a memorable night together, about six months ago.

In a panic, he ran to his bathroom, washed his face, brushed his hair, and even threw on a clean robe. Luckily, he had taken a bath just a few days ago, so he didn’t even smell rank.

Acting nonchalant, he walked to his door and threw it open just as she came up the walk. Linnea Stellen, Crown Princess of Fresthav, was sitting in his front yard. She was a sky-blue dragon with a white tail. She looked bored, and sat down, tucking her wings close to her body, and then spreading out in the snow. Soon, it would be spring, and the ice dragons would retreat to their kingdom, where it was cooler all year long.

Gayle, a pleasure, he said, giving her a little bow.

Oh, Darius. How are you today? she said, giving him a quick grin and a peck on the cheek. His heart started hammering, and he felt a flush creep to his cheeks. 

Gayle was wearing a pair of tight-fitting black riding pants. She threw off her white furs, revealing a form-fitting white sweater.

I’m uhhh, good, he said, stammering. Please come in. Have some tea, stay a while.

She smiled and accepted his invitation, moving into his space with grace. As she brushed by him, he caught the sweet scent of astra flowers, and it hit him square in the gut.

He put the kettle on the woodstove and set out two mugs. Soon, they were sipping them, and Gayle was looking at him intently.

I need a little something stronger than tea. I hope you don't mind. She pulled a flask out of her boot, and then with a shrug opened it and gulped it down, nearly in one pull.

Darius’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. What is that? he asked. He had never seen a woman drink like that.

Iseiki. Give me about fifteen minutes for this to take effect, and then I’ll tell you what I came here for.

Well, if you're drinking at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, maybe I’ll have a drink as well, he said, getting up, and grabbing his jug of Blythe’s Best from his workbench. He poured a little into his tea and took a sip with a grin.

I don't know how you drink that stuff. Gayle laughed. It was a belly laugh, and it sounded like it came from her soul. Darius thought she looked impossibly beautiful. She was, in fact, the only girl he had been attracted to since Leah. His first doomed love.

I really don’t. I’m just trying to keep up with you, and obviously failing miserably.

I have a reason for getting ugly drunk so early in the day, but you’ll have to wait a minute. Tell me, while we are waiting, about these drumbeats I’ve been hearing. Everyone just brushes them off, but they feel wrong somehow.

So you hear them too? Darius said, shocked. He thought he was the only one.

"I have heard them every day for about three months. Princess Linnea and Queen Thora hear them, although no one else seems to. That is one reason I came today. They sound ominous and make my skin