The Best Dragon Rider E-Book

Tami Veldura

• Herausgeber: Tami Veldura
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

The Best Dragon Rider

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

The Best Dragon Rider

About The Author

Copyright

The Best Dragon Rider

By Tami Veldura

"They're going so fast!" Neron said as he leaned further out of the stable door. His oversized shirt fell off one shoulder and he hiked it back up absently.

Outside in the distance, over the coliseum walls, dragons swooped and dove through rings, climbed between wooden platforms, and snapped at each other whenever they got a chance. Huge teeth filed down flat still left bruises and tore scales.

Luella grabbed his arm and dragged him back into the safety of the stable. "Careful," she hissed, "Don't let them see you." Their stablemaster Keros stood with his beefy arms folded over his fat belly only a few feet away discussing something with another stablemaster. Probably negotiating rutting for next season.

Still, the lure of the dragon race caught Luella too, and soon she was leaning out of the doorway again with Neron, trying to catch more than a glimpse of bright scales and flashing wings. The coliseum stood like a beacon in the middle of the city: all white stone and shining metal. It would take at least an hour to walk to the outer city from here, and Luella had never been any closer than that. From this distance, the dragons were little more than darting birds.

The dragons trained to race the obstacles were unlike any others. They were tall and long, their wings pointed for fast turns and steep dives. Some had elaborate horn crests they used to knock other dragons out of the race.

And then there were the riders: small, tightly wound people, mostly women, who clung to the backs of their monstrous beasts and guided them with crops and kicks and yanks on the reins pierced through tongues.

Luella was going to be a dragon racer one day. The best there ever was. She'd race in the Tournament in Ferro Amir, miles to the east, and she'd win.

"Hey!"

Luella and Neron both started at the stablemaster's hard voice. He was already marching toward them, arms swinging hard around his belly, face red from the desert sun and his general fury with the world. There was nothing that could please Keros on a good day, and race day was never a good day.

"Hey," he shouted again. "Get your worthless asses back inside. These dragons don't feed themselves--hey!"

Luella and Neron both darted inside, quick to obey orders and avoid punishment, but not quick enough to miss Seager's outstretched foot. Luella hopped the trap. Neron sprawled flat on his belly, hands slapping the cold stone.

Seager snickered over him, arms full of a freshly slaughtered ram.

"Seager, what's wrong with you?" Luella snapped as she helped Neron to his feet. He wasn't quick enough. Keros bore down on them with a tight frown. "We all get extra work when Keros is like this."

"And everyone knows it's your fault," Seager sneered. "Good luck!" Having delayed them enough, Seager turned his back and hoisted the ram carcass, a weight over a hundred pounds, over one shoulder.

Keros grabbed Neron by the back of the neck and threw him further into the stable's main crossway, where the paths from the dorms and paddocks met the stable's biggest hall. Luella backed up, grabbing for Neron but unwilling to turn her back on Keros lest she received the same treatment.

Other stablehands--some as young as six--scattered out of the way. Everyone knew to stay out of Keros' reach. It was the first thing a kid learned at the stables. Just because the stablemaster had lifted them out of the orphanage, it didn't mean he was going to love them. They were effectively enslaved unless they could get into Keros' good graces, like Seager. Running away was the only other option, with a bundle of clothes and whatever food one could steal. Risky, since here at least they had shelter and a meal. Luella knew she could make it one day, though. As soon as she managed to convince Neron it was worth the risk.

"You ungrateful little shits." Keros lunged for Luella with stumpy, fat fingers. She dodged, knowing it would make his anger worse, but too scared of what he might do to her.

"I saved you from starvation. I gave you a home," Keros spat as he yelled. He swung his arms wide to encompass everyone else in the corridor. "I gave you a family." He sneered the word like it was poison in his mouth. "Everyone works until sundown tonight. No breaks!"

Luella heard a scattering of sighs behind her.

"And you." Keros pointed a short finger at Neron. "You get no dinner."

"Wait, Master." Luella tried to step in front of Neron, to protect him in some way. "You know he'll never get stronger if he can't eat."

"Then you can share your meal with him, girl. Oh, but you're on half rashon." Keros' upper lip ticked up a bit, like he was trying to smile but his face didn't know how. Then he roared, "Get back to work!"

Luella stumbled away, dragging Neron with her, and pushing into the flow of other teens and tweens busy hauling sheep, scrubbing hallways, dragging sleds loaded with nesting sands this way and scat back that way. There was no rest in the stables, no end to the work, and Luella feared, no end to their torment.