Dragon Bones And Tombstones (Book 2) Read Online Free

Brenwar sauntered back.
    “Let’s go, Laughing Dragon.”
    I held my finger up.
    “Certainly, but my question remains unanswered. You only told me part of the answer. You told me the circumstance, but I still don’t understand why having to relieve yourself took so long. Hours, at least?”
    He grumbled and kicked at the ground. 
     
    “Did you have to go really far away? Were your bowels bound up? Was there—”
    “No! No! And No!” he said, looking as if he wanted to hit me again. “I’m a dwarf! We don’t go all the time. We can hold our water weeks at a time if we want to! And when we go, it takes some time, concentration, and privacy. Happy are we now, Nosey Dragon!”
    “Ah!” I held my finger up once more, not my dragon finger, mind you. “One more question, though.”
    He folded his arms across his chest and sighed. 
    “What is it?”
    I reached out and he helped me to my feet.
    “Is that why you’re always so grumpy?”
    ***
    Up the stream we went, hour after hour, from dusk until dawn. Brenwar was speaking more, well maybe a few words per hour. When he’s onto something, he’s all business about it, and according to him, he had heard long ago that many dragons were held captive deep in the Shale Hills.
    "How many?" I asked him.
    He shrugged and said, “How should I know?”
    Well, I hoped it wasn’t too many. In most cases, we only rescued one dragon at a time, but I’d rescued as many as three on one occasion. Little ones: one bronze, one green, one red, their scales like shiny mineral stones.
    But dragons weren’t all just one color. They had different abilities, as well. Some could fly. Others could swim, and some could even cast spells. That’s right, and you shouldn’t be surprised because they are magical creatures, after all. Even I had magic like that, but I didn't have the hang of it, yet.
    I stopped in the stream, the waters rushing over my boots. Some loose shale was sliding down a hill. Brenwar was looking at me and I at him. Something was coming down the hill. Something big. I made my way into the reeds along the bank. Brenwar did the same. I readied my bow, Akron, and waited.
    Whatever caused the disturbance on the hillside wasn’t moving now, but in my bones I could feel that something was coming. It was dusk, and many creatures in the forest came out at that time to hunt. I filled my nostrils and exhaled in relief. It wasn’t one of the giant races, but I wasn’t comfortable that I couldn’t smell anything, either. That left me uncertain. Curious, too.
    I shifted around in the reeds and water, trying to get a better look up the hill. It was dim, the time of day that the dipping sunlight casts the darkest shadows. There was no moon or sun to adjust your sight. That’s when your other senses come in. You can’t always trust your eyes, but your nose and ears can serve you just as well, if you let them. I stepped farther out of the reeds. The wind rustled the leaves in the trees. The waters gurgled at my feet, but I heard the faintest sound. A heavy step. Two heavy steps. I thought what was coming was big, certainly bigger than me, which doesn’t mean much.
    “Dragon,” a voice said in a hushed whisper, “get back here.”
    It was Brenwar, but I wasn’t going to listen. I had my bow, and I was fast, so if something was going to try and eat me it would have to catch me first. Up and down stream I noticed the last glimmers of sunlight. I was more than halfway across when something emerged from the woods. A dark mass on two legs with arms as long as its feet crept through and huddled by the waters. Its head was large, more shoulders than neck, almost the size of a horse's, but more like a man. It looked right through me then scooped a handful of water into its mouth. The icy look in its eyes froze me, and how it did not see me, I didn’t know. It just wasn’t one of those things I recall ever seeing before.
    I held my arm out behind me and made a sign of caution. I was