The Dragons of Argent and Silver (Tales from the New Earth #6) Read Online Free

woman
was listening intently and nodding occasionally. She barely took any
food and seemed to have the appetite of a bird. Perhaps she was still
suffering from a touch of the flu.
    Miriam, the castle's only
cleric, was cheerfully joking with Malcolm. She said something that
made the big man squirm and blush like a schoolboy and sent Aiden
into gales of laughter. Liliana smiled in spite of herself and the
current crisis. Any time she was down, being around that couple
always cheered her up.
    Virginia and Anna entered
with Eric and Gerard trailing behind them and the paladin greeted
them with a nod as she ate her breakfast. Sitting in armor for any
length of time wasn't all that comfortable, so Liliana stood next to
the table to eat.
    The four young people
smiled and said good morning to her and to everyone else. They then
eagerly began to fill their plates and the paladin watched them
speculatively.
    The quartet were the most
unusual of all of the castle's inhabitants, in Liliana's opinion.
Kept as virtual slaves by mundane humans for several years after the
dragons had destroyed humanity, they had developed magical abilities
that only functioned if the four of them worked together.
    Virginia was a healer and
the leader of the group. She was also as beautiful as a cover model
with her waist-length blond hair and perfect features.
    Anna was quite small, with
bright red hair that hung heavily over her shoulders and a sprinkle
of freckles across her nose. She could actually turn members of the
group invisible if they held hands.
    Gerard, with his small
frame and shaggy, white-blond hair, looked almost elvish compared to
the others. His large brown eyes darted around the room curiously. He
was inherently cheerful at all times, except when discussing his own
powers. Gerard was the only member of the quartet whose talent was
offensive. He could use magic to smash things with incredible force.
Unfortunately for him, he was a pacifist by nature and he hated that
power.
    Eric was the tallest of
the group. He was pale and thin with dark hair and eyes and was
almost always serious. His talent was the ability to cast a force
shield around himself and his friends. The shield was as strong as
any cast by another magic-user, even Simon O'Toole.
    Once everyone had settled
in and eaten their breakfast, Tamara stood up and tapped a glass to
get their attention. She was sipping a cup of tea and looked relaxed
and rested.
    “ You all know why
we've gathered, correct?”
    There was a general
nodding of heads.
    “ Good, then I won't
have to explain things again. It's quite worrying that our most
powerful ally has possibly turned his back on us. Now before I get a
chorus of objections, I agree that it's all circumstantial evidence.
Simon is a busy man, of course. He has responsibilities of his own
that have nothing to do with Nottinghill Castle. I know, for example,
that he's assigned several air elementals to track the dragon queen,
in case she approaches too closely to any human habitation, including
ours.”
    “ That's a relief,”
Virginia said in her husky voice. She glanced at her three friends.
“We've been discussing options on that front ourselves. I'm
glad to hear that Simon has it covered.”
    Tamara nodded.
    “ Exactly. So that
proves that he's still taking his duties seriously. Plus there was
the happy discovery, also by Simon and his elementals, that there are
indeed other human settlements out there, including that ridiculous
ship that's sitting off the west coast of Africa.”
    There were several
chuckles from the others and Tamara frowned.
    “ C'mon Tammy,”
her brother said with a grin. “Doesn't it appeal to the
romantic inside of you that a bunch of people are living on a cruise
ship like pirates from a storybook? And using magic to make it move?
That's awesome.”
    “ It's absurd,”
she replied in a clipped voice. “Using the powers of a mage to
keep that bloody boat afloat is...a waste.”
    “ I disagree,”
Liliana