Read The Coming of Dragons: No. 1 (Darkest Age) for Free Online

voice. Aagard stood above them, looking ghostly in the dawn light. He shook his head, his brow furrowed with concern. ‘Edmund is right, child. The sword has chosen you, and it will not change its mind. Nor do I have the power to take it from you. But if you stay here awhile, I can at least help you to discover its purpose, find out why it has returned – and why it has chosen you to bear it.’
    As soon as Aagard said this, Elspeth felt the tingling in her right hand, the press of the hilt in her palm. She made a fist to crush it, and glared at the man.
    ‘The sword needs to choose someone else!’ she cried. The old man looked so kindly at her that Elspeth’s eyes prickedwith tears. ‘I’m sorry, sir,’ she mumbled. ‘You’ve been good to me, and I have little to repay you. I’ll give the sword back … for how can I use it? I’m a seafarer not a soldier.’ She wiped the tears away. ‘And I have to find my father. If he’s not in Medwel, I must return to Kent and tell the people in Dubris what has happened.’
    But Aagard was turning to Edmund. ‘And you?’ he prompted. ‘Are you set on going also? Your gift is no more welcome, but if you wish to stay here, I will help you with it as much I can.’
    Elspeth frowned. What gift? What did the boy have? She saw Edmund stiffen, his pale face translucent with strain. When he spoke there was a hint of the old haughtiness, though his tone was polite.
    ‘Thank you, sir. I am most grateful to you. But I must leave too. I have family in Noviomagus. They will think I am dead when news of the shipwreck reaches them.’
    Aagard sighed. ‘I wish I could change your minds,’ he said gravely. ‘I fear you are going into more danger than you know. Your destinies will follow you both no matter where you go. But perhaps it is best for you to return to your homes first.’ He walked across the cave to two big storage jars. Elspeth saw him scoop a handful from each into skin bags. ‘We had better stock up for the journey,’ he muttered, half to himself. ‘I’ll go with you as far as I can, but from then, your gods and your God will have to watch over you.’
    *
    The sun was a bright line on the horizon as they descended the coastal path to Medwel. Aagard took the lead, neither age nor the rocky track slowing his steps. On their right hand the sea spread below them, calmer now and lapping at the sand like the tongue of a patient dog. Already the last night’s storm seemed beyond belief, as hard to recall as a distant nightmare.
    Aagard had given Edmund and Elspeth a bag each of dried fish and barley bread and their blankets from the night before. When Elspeth tried to give him her knife in payment, the old man had waved it away. Edmund had felt deeply ashamed because he didn’t even have a knife to offer. He gritted his teeth. Nothing was the same since he set sail on the
Spearwa.
    I should have told Aagard about the dream
.
It seemed so real – the village, the fire, the soldiers, the callous slaughter, that man I killed
– Edmund’s heart banged against his ribs as the sense of savage joy surged once more in his mind. Gods save him! It was the same feeling he’d had looking down on the foundering
Spearwa
. The same flood of cruel pleasure when he’d watched through the dragon’s eyes …
    Edmund clenched his fists. No! He would not even think the word. He noticed Elspeth watching him with a worried look. Curse her, she was always watching him. He quickly bent down to pull a gorse thorn from his leggings. He couldn’t let her see him being cowardly again, not like on the ship. He was a king’s son. What if they could see him now in his father’s great hall? Edmund the Puny! Edmund the Frightened Mouse!
    He took a deep breath as his Uncle Aelfred had taught himyears ago, when he had woken from a screaming nightmare. ‘Remember, little Whitewing, if you pretend to be brave,’ Aelfred had said, ‘you will
be
brave!’
    Edmund straightened his bruised back and