Read A Dragon's Honor for Free Online Page B

no fear, just awe, in
her eyes, and they reflected that she saw him as beautiful. Her strength
reminded him of his brothers’ wives—Valencia, Ginna and Daisye . Three women he had the honor of knowing
and now there was Raven. How easily she could capture his hand in her much
smaller one and hold on tight. But then he would be in the position that Orin, Kalv and Hawke were in, the same as his father. The love
would be amazing, but loss would cripple them all. How could he set himself up
for that kind of pain, and if he could avoid it why shouldn’t he? His father left
him, and had wandered away and died in the barrens somewhere. His bones were never
found and he was not given an honorable burial. Raul put all his thought on the
back burner and focused on his task. More than anything right now the Shen was the priority. If they had a cell in Wisconsin, he
wanted to find it and would relish their destruction.
    He
trained his eyes on the darkness, looking for anything unusual or out of place.
The Shen were attracted to heat and damp. Wisconsin
had big sewage systems, but they would not have enough heat to sustain the king,
which made Raul think the king serpent was not in the city. But something was
still not right in his sector. The abominations were up to something. He caught
movement in the sky ahead of him, so far away that no one would be able to see
it. He was able to because his dragon eyes could see some of the most miniscule
details. He lifted his snout to the wind and turned to follow the figure in the
sky. He snorted in disgust as he caught the scent of a Shen .
One a few days ago and one now, in the same area, was no coincidence. This time
he would get some answers.
    One
in every five Shen had the ability to fly. They were
mostly ground dwellers and that was good for the Paladin dragons. Even though
they all had wings, they were paltry flyers. Raul soon caught up with the
figure and confirmed it was a Shen . With a low growl
he picked up his flying speed and barreled into the Shen serpent and used his body weight to pull it out of the sky. Its serpentine body
coiled and twisted, trying to snap at him with its filthy teeth. Like the Komodo
dragon, all kinds of germs infested a Shen’s mouth
and the bite was deadly to humans. When he was bitten, his body threw off the
infection while he healed. That didn’t mean he wanted to add another to the
list though.
    The Shen abomination
spit its venom at Raul’s eyes. He dodged the stream of yellowish-green liquid
and kept his hold. He used the serpent’s body as a barrier as they crashed into
the ground, breaking tree branches and causing night creatures to scatter in
fear. The landing stunned Raul’s opponent and caused him to shift to his human
form, so Raul shifted as well. He looked down at the man with disgust. Even in
human form, they had the scales of their serpent form. They covered his torso
and parts of his legs. The abominations could not even take a pure human form.
Raul caught sight of a medallion around the Shen’s neck, one that made his heart jump. Raul shifted into human form and used the
chain of the medallion to yank the man up to his feet.
    “Where
did you get this?” Raul snarled. “What are you doing in Wisconsin?”
    The Shen abomination laughed weakly. “Which question do
you want me to answer first, dragon?”
    Raul
kicked the man in the knee cap and heard it shatter. The Shen screamed in pain and Raul waited for the noise
to fade into a whimper.
    “Answer
them both, serpent. You have many bones I can shatter before I kill you, and,
yes, I do plan to kill you.” Raul’s voice was deadly. “It’s only a matter of whether
it will be quickly or slowly and with as much pain as I can cause you.”
    “What
makes you think I will tell you anything?” the man whimpered.
    “My
people believe a man should face his death with honor. You will answer my
questions, or I’ll take my time and break you into bits.”
    Raul
grasped his hand to snap