Dragon Souls #1: The Black Dragon E-Book

Pernille Eybye

• Herausgeber: Tellerup
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Serie: Dragon Souls
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Seitenzahl: 42

Beschreibung

Milar is a shepherd boy from a small village, who dreams of one day becoming a great warrior. His country is ruled by the greedy Queen Inis, who exploits her people through steep taxes. For years, she's been hunting dragons and harvesting their souls for her own purposes. One day, the Queen's emissary, Lord Grogan, pays a visit to Milar's village to collect taxes, and soon, Milar's life takes an unexpected turn.

Leseprobe

The Black Dragon

Dragon Souls #1

by

Pernille Eybye

Translated by

Chapter One

The dragon’s wings are enormous.

I look up at it and squint in the sunlight. The light makes its scales shimmer and shine so brightly that it hurts my eyes. The dragon flaps its wings as it gets ready to land.

It makes a lot of noise and tiny grains of sand sting me as they fly in my face.

Lord Grogan has arrived.

Every year, he and the other dragon riders fly to all the towns. Their purpose is to collect the Queen’s taxes.

But not this time. Not today, I think and touch my sword lightly. It hangs heavily on my hip, and it feels good. Powerful.

I’m ready to fight Lord Grogan. After all my training, I want to prove that I’m the greatest warrior this country has ever seen. It’s time to bring the Queen’s greed to an end.

No longer will she rob us of the best things we have. The finest wool. The best livestock. Most of our crops. All the things we need for our own survival.

A smile forms in the corner of my mouth. I’m calm. I’ve trained for this moment all my life. Lord Grogan may be older and bigger and stronger than me. But I have warrior blood in my veins.

I was born to fight!

I feel the vibrations in the ground as the dragon lands. It folds its wings while it stares at me. Its eyes are yellow and cold. Dead.

Soulless.

“And who have we here?” Lord Grogan slides down the dragon. His suit of armour rattles as he lands on the grass, and his cape billows in the wind. He wears the Queen’s insignia on his chest: A star with a stone at its centre.

I straighten up and meet his gaze.

“My name is Milar! And I want to challenge you to a duel!” I rest my hand on my sword.

“You?” Lord Grogan leans his head back and laughs. “But you’re just a boy!”

I grit my teeth and glare at him. Everybody thinks I’m still just a child, but I’ll show them.

Without hesitation, I draw my sword and hold it up in front of me.

Lord Grogan’s laughter dies out, but he’s still smiling. His eyes are just as cold as the dragon’s.

“Very well.” He sweeps aside his cape and draws his sword. The little hairs on my body stand on end as he unsheathes it. Its metal sings.

But it doesn’t scare me. I’m used to the sound. It’s like music to my ears.

He looks at me and opens his mouth to say something. I wait in tense anticipation, more than ready to engage in a sword fight.

“Baaaa!” Lord Grogan says.

“Baa?” I repeat in total confusion and blink. And suddenly, Lord Grogan and the dragon are both gone. Instead, I gawk at a flock of sheep. In my hand, I have a shepherd’s staff. I’m still holding it as if it were a sword.

The sheep baas again before biting off a whisk of grass and munching on it.

With a sigh, I let my body fall back onto a big rock and look out at my flock.

I’m not a warrior. Not, yet, anyway. What kind of warrior tends sheep? None the ones, who work for the Queen, I expect.

Annoyed, I toss the staff onto the ground.

A couple of sheep baa in surprise and leap away. Fortunately, they stop before they get very far away, because I can’t be bothered to chase them.

A moving figure in the landscape catches my attention. I sit up straight. The sun blinds me and I have to squint.

It’s my brother, Siman.

“You’re late!” I yell and slide off the rock. I grab the staff and run off to meet him halfway.

“I’m sorry,” Siman smiles. He doesn’t look like he means it, though. Not really. “You’ll make it, Little Brother. You have a fast pair of legs on you.”

He’s right about that, but I’ll have to run very fast to make it back in time.

I use the staff to give Siman a push in the chest and he stumbles backwards. He laughs and catches the staff before it hits the ground.

I feel like taking back the staff and knocking him on the head with it.

Instead, I start running.

I must get back in time to see Lord Grogan’s dragon!

Chapter Two

The sky is clear and blue. I don’t see any dragons, when I run into the village. I made it back in time!

Short of breath as I am, I slow down and proceed into the cluster of houses. The street is very crowded today. Everybody’s preparing for Lord Grogan’s visit.

“That’s my best sow,” old Mrs. Dinne sighs. She pats the pig with her crooked hand. “She bears a lot of piglets.”