Three Quest Deal (Tales of Former Dragons Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

in brightness. Once the light completely enveloped the darkness of the cave, they all disappeared.

CHAPTER 5
    When Drakor awoke, he was lying on his back in a small clearing of short grass surrounded by trees. He raised his body to sit, but it made him dizzy, so he lay back down. When he looked to the west, he saw a setting moon, one day past full, just above the tree tops. To the east, he saw the early light of the sunrise. He saw other bodies nearby, but they weren’t moving. He cleared his throat.
    “Is anyone else awake?”
    “I am,” a voice said, “but my head seems to be spinning.”
    “Mine too. I’m Drakor. Who are you?”
    “Toshen.”
    “Where we are?”
    “I don’t know. This place doesn’t look familiar.”
    Drakor was able to sit after a while, and stand after a few minutes.
    In his new form his head was shaven and his eyes deep set. He was dressed in a long, black, hooded cloak, its edges decorated with an elaborate gold pattern of small runic letters. When he opened it, he saw he wore a steel chest plate over a long-sleeved leather tunic, and leather pants, boots, and gloves—all black. The leather’s texture looked like dragon hide, but felt supple and more flexible, and the chest plate bore a raised image of a dragon. From his belt hung a short sword and a dagger, and a satchel was slung across his chest.
    He tensed his muscular build and stretched his arms up in the air. He checked on Xan and Aesus, who were still in a deep sleep. Then he crouched next to Toshen.
    “How do you feel?”
    “I’m adjusting to this new body.”
    Toshen had black shoulder-length hair, a mustache, and goatee. He wore a cloak similar to Drakor’s, with the same gold pattern around the edges, and a full set of leathers, his in dark-blue. Like Drakor he had a satchel and a dagger, but an ornamental bow lay on the ground next to him.
    He sprang up, picked up the bow, and admired its craftsmanship. “This must be mine.” He checked his back and the ground for a quiver, but didn’t see one. “How am I supposed to shoot without any arrows?”
    “You don’t need arrows,” Drakor said as he stood. “It’s an enchanted elf bow.”
    “An enchanted bow doesn’t need arrows? I don’t understand.”
    Drakor extended his hand. “Let me show you.”
    Toshen handed Drakor the bow.
    Drakor stood with his feet shoulder length apart, arms stretched out at his sides, and bow in his left hand. He bent his knees slightly and turned his head.
    “Just look in the direction the bow is pointing, and pull back on the string as if you had an arrow,” he instructed. As he pulled back on the bowstring, a transparent glowing arrow appeared and turned into a solid arrow.
    “Aim. Fire.” He released the bowstring, and the arrow whizzed past a tree trunk at chest level.
    He handed the bow back to Toshen.
    “Amazing,” Toshen said as he admired the bow. “How do you know how to use an elf bow?”
    “The Darvish elves used it against me many times. The arrows are practically useless against dragon armor, but if one gets between the plates, it’s painful. Most enchanted bows can shoot different types of arrows. I just don’t know how to do that.”
    “Different types of arrows?”
    “Some bows can shoot flaming arrows. I’ve seen others shoot arrows that freeze things. There’s another arrow that does magical damage – and those can really hurt us.”
    Toshen pointed his bow at the tree Drakor had missed, pulled back on the bowstring, and released the arrow. His arrow missed too. He lowered the bow and gave Drakor a puzzled look.
    “What am I doing wrong?”
    “You can’t just point the bow at something. You have to aim. It’s like seeing a straight path between the arrow and the tree.”
    Toshen sighed, raised the bow, pulled back on the bowstring, and sighted the arrow in parallel with its shaft at the tree. After a long pause, he released the arrow. It hit the tree trunk dead center. He took his time firing four