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

the healthy-looking bastards, and they were closing in from seemingly everywhere.
    “I’m after him,” Brawn said, as he leapt from his horse, pushed his way pastRikky, and started down the slope into the dark, looking for Pascal.
    The green forester in the rear screamed as he was grabbed by one of the trolls. Rikky and the prince both saw it happen, and even though Rikky had killed a hundred or more of the crazed vermin, the sight of something twice as big as a grown man, and as wild as a rabid wolf, never ceased to scare him witless. He had the reins of the prince’s horse in one hand and was going through his spell again in his head, when the next rock came in. It was the size of a man’s fist, and when it hit him, it felt like getting walloped by a club.
    Rikky went flailing, only to feel another mind-jarring thump when his head hit the ground. Jericho grabbed a hold of him, and he heard Captain Willian scream out in agony, but everything after that was black.

    “What do you mean he is gone?” Zahrellion answered the question Clover had just asked Jenka.
    Clover wanted to hear what Jenka had to say, but even now he still hadn’t acknowledged that she was standing before him in the new Three Forks Palace.
    Clover looked at him for a time and then shook her head and turned to Zah. Apparently, he was getting worse. Clover wondered if the fountain that had restored Crimzon and her to their finest form could restore his mind. “I heard arumor that a king from the New World is to marry a Vikarian, so I went to Serpent’s Isle. Richard is not there. He has not been there for some time.”
    “Where is this Vikaria?” Zahrellion asked.
    Clover hadn’t told her the worst of it yet. She was waiting, hoping that Jenka might come around and hear her, too.
    “It is one of the many kingdoms that make up the greater land of Kar.” Clover looked at Jenka again. “Is he like this often?”
    “He will focus when he needs to,” Zahrellion sighed.
    Clover noticed that Zahrellion’s once frail-looking body had both thickened and rounded slightly. She was beautiful, there was no doubt. She didn’t dislike Zah, but she didn’t really like her, either. Crimzon was the supreme fire drake and hers was a frost dragon. A bit of natural revulsion seemed to taint all their past conversations. Though the feeling wasn’t as potent now, it was still there.
    “What would you have us do, Lady Clover?” Zahrellion asked, reminding Clover that the girl was smart, probably far smarter than she. “I’m certain Rikky would love the task of hunting him down and extinguishing him.”
    “He…saved…us…thrice…Zah.” This came from Jenka and was spoken slowly, in clear, emotionless words. Jenka then shook his head and sat forward. His coral-green eyes sputtered and flickered in a fluttering pattern that was confusing tothe senses, and his gaze, when it turned on them, was more than a little hypnotic. “My brother might have done bad things, but none of us would be here without him. None of us.” His eyes bored into Clover then, filling her mind with a bit of masculine force that caused her to quiver but made her understand. Clover wouldn’t be here if Richard hadn’t saved Jenka.
    It didn’t change the part of all this she hadn’t told them yet.
    “Jenka, a flotilla is sailing here as we speak.” Clover made sure that her tone didn’t convey too much worry, for she wasn’t that concerned yet. She and Crimzon could probably destroy the whole lot of ships on their own with minimal effort, but only before they landed. “They do not represent the Greater Kingdom of Kar, but the Karian royalty is aware of them.”
    “What do they want?” Zahrellion asked. “To make war? Who do they represent, then?”
    “They say in the Ports of Kar that the ships sailed to negotiate trade, but I fear they may have something else in mind. I fear an order of nasty sorcerers, who are most likely in disguise among them, are involved, but may