Chronicles of Den'dra: A Land Torn: Ancient Powers Awaken Read Online Free Page B

still a mortal like the rest of mankind. My father’s elven blood only granted me a longer life than a normal human.”
    The blood froze in Skeln’s veins. He was looking at the most powerful and ruthless man in the kingdom. The only one with more power was King Illiad of the Braebach Empire. He knew there was no escape from this man. Skeln watched as Reigns put the piece of metal in a brazier of coals. After a couple minutes the rod was glowing red hot. Reigns picked it up and turned to Skeln. After seeing the sizzle a piece of spittle caused he smiled.
    “Now for the fun and games. I'm anxious to see if you really are as powerless as you say. To think I had heard of the man appearing from nowhere and setting in a no name town in the Garoche mountains all those years ago. If only I had sent my agents sooner we could have been acquainted years ago.”
    Skeln closed his eyes as the brand waved closer to his face. Suddenly everything felt different and he found himself in his bed. Breathing hard he rubbed the wrists that had only a moment ago been bleeding in the restraints. Sitting up he shuddered with the relief that all that had happened was a dream.
     
     

 
    Chapter Three
     
    Iradaemi scrutinized the snow below her. Her gray wings melting into the grey clouds that hung low over the Vaulwar Mountains. She enjoyed this part of her duties. The patrols along the eastern borders of the dragon held lands. She caught a glimpse of movement and silently swung down for a closer look. Satisfied that it was only a mountain goat she regained her original altitude. Iradaemi’s hunger had been sated only hours ago and the need to feed would not present itself for days yet.
    The dragons were at war with the humans that dwelt in the Braebach Kingdom. The dragons had been more than able to withstand any invasion of their mountain holdfasts. Their rugged, mountainous and desolate lands were of use only to the winged reptiles. The war had not always been. There had been a time when a peace had stood between the draconic races and the human kinds.
    The peace had been broken shortly after King Illiad’s father had died. With his rise to the throne had come begun the descent of the kingdom once the crown of the Den’dra continent. Legends of an older time ignited a search for ways of regaining their old glory. One way the humans had sought to do this was to tame dragons. Naturally they chose to steal the fabled dragon eggs and hatch mindless domestic beasts. Humankind had woefully underestimated dragon kind. The men were struck dead before they had crossed out of the eternal winter snows and the eggs had been returned to the caldera where they were warmed by heat from the bowels of the earth. Born of fire and earth but masters of the air. Mankind had made numerous attempts over the intervening years but had failed every time.
    Humans never knew what they faced. They assumed that the giant creatures had been merely a race of winged predators. That they had no more intelligence than the instincts for survival imparted. They conducted their attacks as such. First came the hunting parties. Many of these were lost to the Vaulwar Mountain’s fury. Any hatchling could have triggered the cascades of snow and ice that buried many humans. Unwilling to soil their lands with the corpses come spring the dragons had dropped the hapless hunters into the fiery heart of the smoking mountain.
    Despairing of success after many fruitless expeditions into the white mountains where perpetual winter reigned sparked a new tactic. Armed groups of a few dozen made raids into the dragon realm. These the dragons took a more direct hand in eliminating. Survivors escaped and told of the horrors that prowled the mountains. Human kind declared a war and attempted to settle their fears with violence. Dragons had an edge over the invading armies. A single dragon was capable of more violence than a hundred men. A dozen of the King’s advisors were not a match for the