Dragon Realms: Order and Chaos
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The first book of a new epic-fantasy trilogy.
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Read a sample below!
As the afternoon drew late, Kori began to overhear people talking about some sort of trouble. He caught the words “dragonkin,” “red,” and “attack,” but was unable to really figure out what it was that had happened.
He supposed it had something to do with the roped off area he’d come across. There was a soldier standing guard, clad in armor so bright it almost made Kori’s eyes hurt. He tried to see past the fellow, but whatever was being blocked off was far enough away that he couldn’t see what it was. He nodded to the guard, was ignored in return, and moved away, noticing that his mug was empty.
He was standing in line for another beer, when the noise hit him. It came from overhead, and he jumped and looked up, the same as everyone else nearby.
There was nothing he could see, but the noise had been terribly loud. It was a mixture of a roar and a screech, and he couldn’t imagine anything other than a dragonkin that could make a sound like that.
“What do you suppose that was?” he asked the man in front of him.
“It had to be a dragonkin,” the man replied. His eyes were as wide as Kori was sure his own were. “What else could sound like that?”
They stood frozen, listening for the sound to come again, but it didn’t. After a few moments had passed, people began to relax and talk again.
“Buy you a beer?” Kori asked the man. Even that short exchange had made him realize that he was tired of walking around by himself. The guy he’d spoken to seemed decent enough. From his dress, he was a farmer or laborer of some sort, taking some time to enjoy Festival.
“Sure, why not?” The man stuck out his hand. “Astley Watkins. Nice to meet ya.”
“Kori Hordsson. Pleasure. What brings you to Festival, Astley?”
The man grinned and shrugged. “Same as most, I guess. Just to see the sights. The beer doesn’t hurt either. This booth has the good stuff, brought all the way down from Usturg. I’d like to shake the hand of the man who brought it.”
“You just did,” Kori said. “Well. Sort of. I don’t know if it’s this beer, but I was a caravan guard on the most recent shipment to come down.”
“You don’t say?” Astley’s grin grew even wider. “Then I should be buying you a beer! Tell you what, I’ll get the next round.”
“Now that sounds like a plan!” Kori couldn’t have been more pleased. Not only someone to talk to for a while, but a man after his own heart, at that. Maybe Astley knew more about Festival than he did, like where the next thing he should eat was, or where the best music could be found. Or…
“Hey,” he said. “Do you know if there’s a place like those little towers from Droy Thus, only with Usturg buildings? I’d like to see that if there is.”
Astley laughed. “No, I don’t think there is. For some reason, Droy Thus is the only other realm that has something like that. Obristan has several buildings, but they’re really more like places for their people to stay. But Usturg? Usturg has the best role of all.”
Kori cocked his head, sure that Astley must be making a joke. But his new friend didn’t finish his thought quite yet. They’d reached the front of the line. Kori ordered the two beers, then moved off so those behind them could get theirs.
They’d gone a couple of steps when Astley knocked his mug into Kori’s, spilling a little of the foam from the top.
“Usturg!” he crowed. “The best part of Festival!”
Kori got what he meant, then, and downed half his mug again in one long swallow.
“Hey, let’s go down this way,” Astley was saying as he lowered his mug. “There’s music in one of these buildings and the serving girls are—”
Whatever hit Astley happened so fast that Kori didn’t even have time to blink. One second, the man was walking away, motioning Kori to follow him. The next, he was gone.
In his place was a mountain. Or at least, that was what it first looked like to Kori.
Then, he realized that the mountain was red and scaled.
A dragonkin, bigger than any he had yet seen had landed on Astley.
No. That wasn’t right. The dragonkin hadn’t landed; it had fallen from the sky.
And from the looks of it, it wasn’t any more alive than his new friend now was.