Rise Of The Dragon King (Book 5)

Read Rise Of The Dragon King (Book 5) for Free Online

Book: Read Rise Of The Dragon King (Book 5) for Free Online
Authors: M. R. Mathias
shelf the men used as a camp last year. It’s about two-thirds of the way down. We’ll camp there and not risk unpacking our gear in poor light while everything in the area is trying to get a sip.”
    “Aye,” Rikky added, glad to have picked Captain Willian. Rikky’s arse was as sore as it ever had been, anyway. He would rather be off the horse sooner than later, and since the cat was out of the sack about his dragon being near, he decided he might just ride Silva in the morning to scout the area.
    “How far is Crimzon’s cave?” Prince Jericho asked.
    “On the far western side of the lake,” Rikky replied, pointing ahead of them and to the left.
    “It looks like we will have to take the eastern shore and go all the way around to the north.” The prince’s voice was a thin squeak, but the boy possessed a certain quality of confidence that Rikky knew had been passed down from Jenka. He was impressed by both of the lads and the way they were coming along.
    Truth be told, he’d expected a lot more whining, and hadn’t expected the boys to keep as much company with Linux as they did. It wasn’t surprising, though. Zahrellion had moved the royal family to Clover’s castle for the first few years of Jericho’s life. Linux had assumed the role of castellan there, after he escaped Richard, and had helped with him since he was born.
    “Just so.” The captain nodded back at the prince, and Rikky was starkly reminded of Herald.
    The sun was almost gone from the sky, but there would be dusky light for awhile yet. They were winding down a fairly steep switchback grade, and the captain seemed as if he were trying to hurry and beat full dark. This put the experienced men slightly on edge, leaving the boys to speculate about what they might find in the caves and what sort of lake creatures might eat the baits they put out on Linux’s lines.
    The boys were laughing shrilly at something Linux had just said, when the captain suddenly stopped his horse and hushed them.
    “What is it?” Brawn called. Apparently the man wasn’t close enough to hear the urgency in Captain Will’s voice, for had he been, he might have held his tongue.
    Rikky was reaching for Silva with his mind, but his eyes were on the two boys. They were right in front of him. Pascal’s normally brown skin was pale, and Prince Jericho was as white as snow. Both had seen the captain’s expression when he turned back, and now they were seeing what Rikky was seeing.
    Brawn’s bow thrummed as he loosed an arrow that went right past Rikky’s ear. The shaft went over the first of the two silhouetted forms lumbering toward them. A howl that sounded more angry than hurt came out of the second troll as it struck.
    They
were
trolls Rikky saw, and there were more than just the two. Worse,they were coming out of the cave in which the group was supposed to camp. The sunlight was gone, and Silva had gone scouting the lake. The silver dragon was so far away that this situation could become really messy before she could get there to help them.
    Rikky started to cast a protective spell, but the fresh burst of dour into his being sent his mind reeling for a heartbeat or two, then a head-sized rock slammed into Pascal’s horse. The animal went bucking and kicking. As Pascal went falling from his saddle, the horse slipped and tumbled down the mountainside. Rikky couldn’t see Pascal and was so intent on grabbing the prince that he fumbled his spell.
    Another rock came flying in, this one twice as large as the first. It hit Olly and his animal both. The young man screamed until the rock smashed him into the ground. An orb of magical light flared forth above them then, revealing that the situation was far worse than they could have imagined. Olly was a gruesome sight as two trolls dove for him and then dragged his body into the dark in separate directions. Another troll leapt in and sank its teeth into the flank of Olly’s twitching horse. There were more than a dozen of

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