Read Key of Living Fire (The Sword of the Dragon) for Free Online

found some solace in meeting her daughter.
    Patient the shepherd had spoken of her curse, but with a twinkle in his eye had added, “God rejoices in giving his children all the desires of their hearts. Do not cease to hope, child. We serve a merciful Creator of love.”
    Dantress Starfire slept.

     
    As Specter strode down the highway through Netroth, the white dragon loomed out of a tomb with the linen-wrapped body of a giant under its arm. Kneeling, Specter waited. The creature’s footfalls shook the street, and it roared as it approached. When it stood before him, he gazed up into its pink eyes. The creature set the body on a nearby stone.
    “I sense something is wrong.” The dragon slapped its tail on the highway, cracking the stones. “Tell me. Is the traitor dead? Did he turn on us once again?”
    “Yes, my master. Auron turned upon us as soon as he left the city. But he . . .”—Specter clenched his fist—“he escaped.”
    The dragon raised its eyes and cocked its head to the side, returning his gaze. “A traitor who once escaped my justice and was spared it by thee. Tell me where he roams, and I will bring you to him so that you may end his miserable existence.”
    Specter shook his head. The portal into which Auron had passed to that strange land of ice and snow—to his knowledge no such place existed in this world. Either he’d seen an illusion, or some part of the world lay beyond his knowledge. With all the journeys he had taken, he found that hard to accept.
    A warm dragon claw touched the side of his head, and he watched Albino’s eyes close. “A forest—Auron fled there.” Smoke wafted from the dragon’s nostrils. “Underground? No, he went farther—a portal to—” The dragon’s eyes sprang wide open, and he pulled back his claw. He blasted a nearby stone block with flames. Around he paced, smashing huge stones with his scaled fist. Then he roared with such force that the highway seemed to resonate with the sound, and Specter covered his ears.
    For a while longer the dragon fumed. Specter cowered. Never had he seen the mighty creature respond this way to a dredged-up memory.
    “Bring me to him, Master, and I will slay him!”
    Albino growled. “No, Specter, for the place that traitor has entered is far beyond your talents. Auron has escaped, for now.”
    “Then you know that place? The mountains of ice?”
    “Indeed I do. But I fear nothing can pull the traitor from those mountains.” Smoke puffed from his nostrils, and flames played between his teeth. “Ancient are those mountains and deadly powerful is the adversary who dwells therein. But I will not speak of him now.
    “Auron has escaped, and I have a task for Starfire. Letrias, it seems, has learned of a well-guarded secret and has made advances to take advantage of his knowledge.”
    “Letrias!” At last, Specter thought, an opportunity to confront the master traitor.
    “Letrias sent a minion, a sorceress, to an ancient portal. Patient and I had thought only we two knew of its existence, but somehow the sorceress knew, and she used my own flames to open a passage to a hidden realm.”
    Specter stood and frowned.
    The dragon continued. “Long ago a key was forged by the greatest prophet, the Key of Living Fire. Do you know of which prophet I speak?”
    Specter nodded slowly.
    “After I killed Hermenuedis, the dragon Valorian led the remainder of his armies in an assault that destroyed a once-beautiful human city.” The dragon growled. “He wanted the Key of Living Fire but was instead entombed in the city by the power he sought. The prophet placed Valorian and his host in a state of endless sleep from which he is meant never to awaken. All the wizards believe Valorian was killed, but Patient and I know the truth.
    “Besides this, the key controls the power of Living Fire and, should it be taken, the weapon that I gave to Ilfedo Matthaliah will fail him. The sword would be like any other, and he would fall.”
    “What