Stone Dragon (The First Realm) Read Online Free Page B

eh?”
    “Exactly. The point is to maintain continuity!” Valandil now paced excitedly about. “It won’t even be difficult to get you on the throne. I have powerful allies, and when you fulfill the prophecy our position will be rock-solid.”
    “Wait, the prophecy?”
    Everyone knew that weird old poem. It had supposedly come to the best seers of the age, who had all written it down in exactly the same way.
    “You do mix with the other races, don’t you?” Valandil asked.
    “I consider myself fairly cosmopolitan,” I said. “But I don’t have a silver hand, and I certainly don’t know any dragons.”
    “Not yet, anyway.”
    * * *
    I should’ve run screaming, because it’s never a good sign when somebody starts waving around prophecies. The best you can hope for is that it’s some kind of swindle, which means you’re only going to lose your shirt. The worst you can hope for (because you’re some kind of masochist) is that it’s some kind of cult, which means you’re about to become their virgin sacrifice.
    Prophecies are never simple. They’re always right, but you never understand them until they happen. Did you hear it properly? Is it in plain language, or is it in godawful verse? Can you try to prevent it, or will doing so actually fulfill the prophecy?
    If the prophecy is about you, you’re screwed. It sucks being The Chosen One. Your life isn’t your own anymore.
    “Any chance someone else fits the description? Maybe a long-lost sister or something?” I asked.
    Valandil said nothing, only continued walking ahead of me. We were going deeper underground. I’d said something about dragons being extinct (nobody had seen one for a century) and he’d picked up the lantern and motioned me to follow.
    I remembered what I’d said back in the alehouse, about the dragons having help dying out. “Master, are there no more dragons because of this prophecy?”
    I thought quickly. It was possible that some of the same people who had supported the revolution had also reacted badly to the prophecy. They wouldn’t be eager to see another king overturning their hard-earned status quo, so they’d… Wipe out an entire race to invalidate a prophecy?
    Mind you, a dragon was a fifty-foot-long armored death machine. It flew, it spewed fire, and it ate people. Not because it didn’t know better (it could talk!) but because it liked how we tasted.
    A single dragon would be a tough objective for an army, let alone a few self-appointed dragon hunters. The great scaly beasts were very hard to kill, all the books agreed on that. Yet the books also agreed that they had somehow disappeared over the last few centuries. From a stable population of several thousand, down to a handful, and down to nothing.
    Suddenly I knew what it felt like to have true enemies.
    “Master, are you trying to get me killed?” I said, and then stumbled on a rock.
    “Get up, boy,” Valandil said. He crouched and hauled me to my feet. Frail as he looked, my boots nearly left the floor—I remembered how strong earth mages could be.
    “Don’t you understand?” he said. “I am trying to restore this kingdom as well as your birthright. Brandish needs a king, whether or not you like it.”
    He put me down and picked up the lantern. “Anyway, if I’m right about this you’ll have the best bodyguard in the world.”
    We continued down the tunnel. Dammit, how do I get myself into these situations? The passage widened into another chamber. It was a huge space, but the thing it contained was nearly as large. The massive shape crouched in the darkness until my master raised his lantern.
    “Behold,” he said, and I beheld a dragon.
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 4
    Findecano Elanesse, Lord Governor of Drystone, could do nothing as the soldiers attacked his daughter.
    There were four of them. Each was fully-armored and carried his weapon of choice. There was a saber, a longsword, and two spears. Against this Meerwen fought barehanded, and all the