Shadow of the Dragon 3_ Dragon's Rise - Tielle St. Clare.pdf - A Little bit of Everything - smerry

DRAGON’S RISE

An Ellora’s Cave Publication, October 2004

Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.

1337 Commerce Drive, #13

Stow, OH 44224

ISBN MS Reader (LIT) ISBN # 1-4199-0044-7

Other available formats (no ISBNs are assigned):

Adobe (PDF), Rocketbook (RB), Mobipocket (PRC) & HTML

This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. They

are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.

Edited by Briana St. James.

Cover art by Syneca.

Warning:

The following material contains graphic sexual content meant for mature readers. Dragon’s Rise has been rated E–rotic by a

minimum of three independent reviewers.

Ellora’s Cave Publishing offers three levels of Romantica™ reading entertainment: S (S-ensuous), E (E-rotic), and X (X-treme).

S- ensuous love scenes are explicit and leave nothing to the imagination.

E- rotic love scenes are explicit, leave nothing to the imagination, and are high in volume per the overall word count. In addition,

some E-rated titles might contain fantasy material that some readers find objectionable, such as bondage, submission, same sex

encounters, forced seductions, and so forth. E-rated titles are the most graphic titles we carry; it is common, for instance, for an

author to use words such as “fucking”, “cock”, “pussy”, and such within their work of literature.

X- treme titles differ from E-rated titles only in plot premise and storyline execution. Unlike E-rated titles, stories designated with the

letter X tend to contain controversial subject matter not for the faint of heart.

DRAGON’S RISE

Tielle St. Clare

Prologue

Kei stepped cautiously toward the dragon’s lair, his sword bared and held loose in his right hand. He

hated to enter a dragon’s home with a sword drawn but with this particular one, he needed to be prepared.

The dragon had kidnapped four women in the past two weeks, snatching them from fields and farms, even

the center of town. The creature had become the terror that legends warned. And Kei needed to stop him.

He had to see if he could talk to it first. He didn’t want to destroy the dragon but there might not be

another choice. He stopped at the entrance to the cave, marveling again that he himself might have ended

up in a place like this, if Lorran hadn’t saved him. Accepted him. Seduced him, really. He smiled at the

memory and Nekane rumbled pleasurably inside his head. In the ten years since Kei had been bitten by a

dragon and the animal had become a part of him, he’d learned to adapt to the creature who shared his soul.

They’d adapted to each other.

Kei tilted his head to the side and listened, hoping for some sign that the dragon was sleeping or

pacing. Any sound that the dragon was in his lair.

Instead, there was a rustle of leaves behind him.

Kei whipped around, crouched, sword ready.

Wide green eyes met his and both froze. Kei was the first to recover.

“By the Hells, Bren, what are you doing here?” he demanded of his oldest son. The boy, serious even at

this young age, pulled his shoulders back and faced his father directly.

“I wanted to meet another dragon. A real one.”

Nekane growled softly at the unintentional slight.

“Nekane is a real dragon and so is Tynan.” Kei reprimanded gently, referring not only to the dragon

who shared his mind but to the one who had been born a part of Bren.

Bren’s cheeks hinted red and the boy nodded. “A wild dragon then. Whenever a dragon is causing

problems, the villagers call you to handle it. I want to see what you do when you meet with them.”

Kei nodded then paused. “How did you get here?”

“Tynan.”

Meaning he’d turned into a dragon and flown across the land.

“You could have been seen.” Dragons were so feared that if a villager saw one, it was considered brave

and wise to fire arrows at the passing creature.

“I stayed in Nekane’s shadow.”

Kei had no answer for that. He’d turned into his dragon to fly to the location as well; he couldn’t very

well fault his son for it. Of course, Lorran was going to be royally pissed when she discovered what he’d

done. “Fine, you can stay. But you get to explain this to your mother when we return.”

The ten-year-old blanched. Lorran was definitely the fierce one in the household when it came to her

children.

But she’ll still blame me , Kei thought. Nekane quietly agreed.

“Come on. Let’s go see what this dragon has to say.”

With his son beside him, Kei knew he couldn’t kill the dragon, so he returned his sword to its scabbard.

Bren, like Kei, was dressed only in a loincloth. More for propriety’s sake than modesty. If they should

happen along a villager, a naked man walking through the woods would arouse comment.

They walked to the very entrance of the cave, where the light was swallowed by the dark. Kei placed

his hand on Bren’s shoulder and knelt down to look into his son’s eyes.

“I don’t know what we’ll find in there. His fire can’t hurt us but his teeth can. This is an angry, possibly

wounded dragon. I want you to stay back.”

Bren nodded. Kei stood and led his son into the dragon’s lair. Though dark, he knew both he and Bren

could see equally well. The dragon senses they shared allowed them clear night vision. Kei listened as he

moved. There was no sound of rustling of scales. No low growls of warning to the invaders. And the scent

of blood was strong.

They entered the wide cavern. Like many dragons, this one had collected bits of metal and jewelry—

treasures—and stored them in his lair. Kei was pleased that Bren observed the jewels and gold cups but

showed little interest in them. He wasn’t a greedy child. He took his rank and position in life very seriously.

The dragon lay in the corner, huddled against the far wall. Blood poured from wounds across its hide

and a spear stuck out of its back. The creature wasn’t breathing.

Kei walked over to the beast, placing a hand on its cold carcass. The villagers had bragged that they’d

managed to wound the dragon. No, they’d killed it.

“We’re too late,” Kei announced. He turned. Bren was no longer behind him. “Son?” Nekane quickly

searched and sensed the boy not far away. Though Nekane didn’t indicate that Bren was in danger, Kei

didn’t like that he was out of his sight. He followed Nekane’s guidance down a short tunnel and found his

son.

Staring at the naked, broken body of a woman.

Bruises and blood marred her flesh and fear was etched into her pale face and open eyes.

“What happened to her?” Bren asked, suddenly sounding very young. “Did the dragon do this?”

Kei dropped to one knee and tried to answer. “Yes, he did. You remember how we talked about the

dragon seeking a mate—looking for the right woman to accept him?” Bren nodded but didn’t look away

from the woman’s body.

“He hurt her.”

Kei nodded.

“A new dragon’s understanding is limited and if the woman he considers his mate rejects him, he

becomes angry. He probably didn’t even know what he was doing.” Kei stared at the woman as well. “She

could have been his mate who rejected him or another woman he’d taken and the instincts of the animal

just consumed him.”

Finally, Bren turned and looked at his father. The boy’s lips were set in a tight line and his eyes were

filled with determination. It seemed as if Bren had made a decision.

Chapter One

Prince Bren of Xicanth sat back in his chair and listened to his assistant recount the latest developments

with the dragon proposal while he mentally calculated the hours until dinner. Not with anticipation. With

dread. He had a long night ahead of him. As the host, King Ashure’s idea of an evening of entertainment

involved an elaborate banquet where wine flowed freely, causing normally rational people to behave in

embarrassing and outrageous ways—followed by a night spent in a brothel. Definitely something Bren

would have avoided…but he didn’t dare refuse. Ashure saw his brothels as his kingdom’s finest natural

resource. And Bren couldn’t afford to offend Ashure right now. He needed his support.

A rare gathering of the King’s Council would occur in four days’ time. Bren’s father, Kei, would be

arriving along with the other rulers of the seven kingdoms. The purpose of the Council was primarily to

eliminate wars between the nations but every ten years the group gathered to discuss changes in their

charter. The work done this week by delegates and diplomats from each kingdom would be finalized when

the kings arrived. Though they officially made the decisions, almost everything would be decided before

they arrived.

And Bren was intent on making sure that the ban on dragon hunting was included in the list of

approved proposals. He didn’t have time to spend three hours watching other people drink themselves

stupid—but Ashure would be expecting his attendance.

Bren sighed, mentally resigning himself to a long night with a woman he didn’t know and couldn’t

fuck. Maybe I could bring some documents to read, he thought. It would give me something to do if the

courtesan Jaqis selected isn’t interesting. That was highly unlikely. Madam Jaqis’ pleasure workers were

trained to serve princes and kings. They could converse about many subjects, dance, play instruments and

were willing to perform most, if not all, of the known sex acts.

Not that the last item on the list impacted Bren in the least. Still he hoped she assigned him a woman

who was well versed enough in the political climate that they could have a decent conversation. One who

might have some insight that would help him on his quest.

“I really don’t think we’re going to get King Evelant’s support. He’s stalwart in his dislike of dragons.”

Wrea’s comment interrupted Bren’s musings.

“Yes, he’s had a fear of dragons ever since my uncle accused my father of becoming one.” Bren tapped

this fingertip against his lower lip as he thought. “Still, I’m not quite ready to give up.” He sat forward in

his chair. “He has a son Kayla’s age. It’s really too bad I can’t offer him my sister in exchange for his

support.”

Wrea laughed softly and Bren looked at him. Wrea’s lips bent up in a hesitant smile. “That was a joke,

wasn’t it, Your Highness?”

“No,” Bren replied in all seriousness. If only Kayla had been willing to ignore the dictates of her

dragon, she could have been married by now—and most advantageously to their family. Princes and kings

from across the lands had come to meet her but none had pleased her dragon. So none had pleased her.

She was waiting for the damned creature to select her mate. “But it doesn’t signify. She’s not available. I’ll

have to find something else to sway Evelant.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Closing the thick parchment book he used for his notes, Bren stood. “I’m going take a walk. I probably

won’t be back before the banquet so just finish these notes and I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Enjoy yourself tonight, Your Highness,” Wrea said, his eyes twinkling with the light of males bonding

over the thought of pleasures of the night.

Bren didn’t respond. Wrea wouldn’t understand. No one could understand, except perhaps his brother

and sister…and Rainek was so happy fucking his mate he’d have no sympathy for Bren’s situation.

The thought of Rainek almost made Bren reach for the amulet he wore around his neck. Created by

dragon blood and wizard’s magic, the amulets connected the three siblings across long distances. Bren

could contact Rainek or Kayla merely by holding it and concentrating on whichever sibling he needed to

reach. If he called on Rainek now, he would no doubt interrupt a lovemaking session between his brother

and Tiana, his brother’s new wife. Though it might be entertaining—a minor payback for years of being

tortured by his younger brother—Bren knew he wouldn’t do it. The amulet wasn’t used for games or

playing tricks. It was designed to help when they were in danger.

Instead, Bren walked toward the south entrance of the castle. A forest lay just beyond the castle

grounds and there was a secluded spot where he could release Tynan. Though he continually battled with

the dragon who shared his existence, Bren understood the creature’s need for space—for time in his true

form.

Shadow of the Dragon 3_ Dragon's Rise - Tielle St. Clare.pdf

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