Dragon Eternal, page 1
Dragon Eternal
Dragon Kings, Book 4
Donna Grant
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
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DRAGON ETERNAL
© 2022 by DL Grant, LLC
Cover Design © 2022 by Charity Hendry Designs
Formatting © 2022 by Charity Hendry Designs
ISBN 13: 978-1-942017-90-5
Available in ebook, audio, and print editions.
All rights reserved.
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Excerpt from: DARK ALPHA’S COMMAND
© 2022 by DL Grant, LLC
Cover Design © 2022 by Charity Hendry Designs
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Sneak Peek from: DRAGON LOVER
© 2022 by 1001 Dark Nights
© 2022 by DL Grant, LLC
Cover Design © 2022 by Charity Hendry Designs
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All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce or transmit this book, or a portion thereof, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the author. This book may not be resold or uploaded for distribution to others. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
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www.DonnaGrant.com
www.MotherofDragonsBooks.com
Contents
Map of Zora
Dear Reader
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Epilogue
Excerpt of DARK ALPHA’S COMMAND
Next in the Dragon Kings Series…
Don’t miss these other novels
About the Author
Dear Reader —
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I don’t remember when I first fell in love with dragons. I might not be able to pinpoint the exact time, but my love is profound and endless. From an early age, I was drawn to all things mythological. For most of my younger years, my room (and everything else!) was unicorns.
While I had access to my parents’ extensive library, where I was encouraged to read whatever was there (and there was everything from all genres), I don’t recall reading too many stories with mythical or paranormal elements. When my father was still alive, he used to ask me often why I wrote PNR. From my very first book I ever wrote, it always skewed to the paranormal. I couldn’t tell you why I started writing PNR/fantasy, only that I loved it. I meshed it with my love of all things Medieval. Trust me when I say that they weren’t an easy sell to agents or editors. But I never gave up.
I still remember the day I got the call for my PNR historical series the Dark Sword. It was with a publisher (and editor) I’d longed wanted to work with. That contract started a working relationship that has given me so many opportunities. It was that editor who came to me and asked me to spin off the Dark Sword/Dark Warriors series. I had pitched dragons to her before, and she passed. But, like I said, I never gave up. So, I pitched them again. This time, she said yes.
She gave me the freedom to do whatever I wanted with the series. Those first three novellas sold amazingly. It was my first time hitting the NY Times and the USA Today bestsellers lists. From those first stories, readers were as eager to read about my Dragon Kings as I was to write them.
The Dark Kings series spanned 18 books, 7 novellas, and 2 short stories. So far.
When I spun off that series to the Dragon Kings, you once again proved that you weren’t finished reading about the Kings. I’m delighted to present the fourth book in this series. There are characters from the Dark Kings series that pop in from time to time, but this spinoff opens up a new world, one that is waiting to be explored—and beings anxiously waiting to be introduced to you. With new characters, new paranormal beings, and of course, Dragon Kings, there is so much coming!
Writing DRAGON ETERNAL was a true delight. I have a soft place in my heart for Shaw that will forever be his. I know you’re going to love him as much as I do.
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Xoxox,
DG
Prologue
Before
She had never been so scared. Or hungry.
The clamor of the city was deafening. Nia wanted to cover her ears with her hands and hide in the small room. But hunger forced her from the safety of her home.
A shiver rocked her as the chill of the winter morning slammed into her the instant she stepped outside. Her bare feet were cold on the stone streets. Her old garments were so threadbare it was like having nothing covering her skin to guard against the frigid wind. She missed the warmth of her younger sister and baby brother, but they were counting on her. Their mother hadn’t been back in days. She had never been gone so long, and Nia knew that something bad had happened.
They’d finished off the last of what meager food they had the day before. Baby Chanler had been screaming for milk. Nia had given up her share of food to her younger sister, Myria, and she had attempted to give Chanler some as well, but he refused it. He had finally stopped crying a few hours ago. That’s when Nia had decided to venture from their home and try to find something for them to eat.
She had no coin. Nor did she have anything to barter. Her only option was to steal. If she were caught… She tried not to think of what would happen. Whatever she did, she needed to do it fast. Her vision swam, and her stomach knotted painfully before making her nauseous. She swallowed and focused on her surroundings. She couldn’t get sick. Her siblings were counting on her. She wouldn’t fail them. Nia had promised that she would look after them until their mother returned.
Nia’s mouth watered when she smelled fresh-baked bread. Her gaze locked on the vendor’s stall to her right. The bread was so close, as if beckoning her to take a loaf. She looked at the baker. He was speaking to others. If she kept low, she could sneak up, take one, and be gone in a blink. Yet, she hesitated.
Stealing was against the law. If she were caught, they could force her to go in front of the priests. Their punishments were harsh and severe. They would take her away from her sister and brother, and then who would look after them?
Nia licked her lips, her stomach cramping at the thought of that soft, warm bread on her tongue. Her mouth watered as she imagined sinking her teeth into it. Just one loaf. That’s all she needed to get her, Myria, and Chanler by until their mother returned. She was resourceful. Her mother had always said that.
And Nia never let her mom down.
Fear mixed with her hunger. She didn’t want to do this, but she didn’t have a choice. She took a deep breath and steeled herself. She stayed low, keeping out of sight of any adults as she crept forward, hiding behind barrels and people until she was right next to the baker’s stall. She could no longer see him.
Nia looked around. Not a single adult met her gaze. Some never saw her. Others pretended she wasn’t there because if they looked too closely at her, they would see that she was starving. Then, they would have to make a decision whether to help her or not. Her mother always said that was too heavy of a choice for someone to make.
The only ones who saw her were the other kids in the same situation as she was in. Some shook their heads, silently telling her not to chance it. Others watched her with wide eyes, waiting to see what would happen.
Her stomach cramped again. Today was the one day she wanted to be ignored by everyone. She desperately wished to be nothing more than a shadow until she could get the bread and return to her siblings.
Nia closed her eyes and whispered a quick prayer as she pressed her back against the stall. The ends of the loaves hung over the side of the table above her head. Within reach yet so far away. The vendor hovered. He was used to thieves trying to steal his wares. He was quick to grab them. She would have to be quicker.
Her eyes opened as she tilted her head back to look up. Her gaze locked on the loaf directly above her. The smell was so heady, she grew dizzy. Her hand shook as she lifted it slowly. She was poised to snatch the end of a loaf and retrace her steps when the crowd began to part. Conversations halted as everyone craned their necks to see who it was.
Nia froze. She waited, wondering if anyone had noticed her, but everyone was focused on whatever was happening. Her prayer had been answered. She smiled as she looked up at the row of loaves hanging off the edge of the table once more. Her fingers nimbly wrapped around one as she yanked it against her. She remained frozen, listening for anyone shouting: “Thief!”
But there were no such words.
She tore off a piece of bread and stuffed it into her mouth as she began her route back to her siblings. All the fear that had churned so vigorously within her was gone. She swallowed the bite and took another, weaving through the crowd. She was so happy, tears gathered in her eyes. She had gotten food for them.
Her smile grew as she spotted the alley that would take her to the back stairs leading to their rooms. She broke free of the crowd and started to run when someone suddenly yanked her off her feet.
“Let me go!” she screamed.
But the strong arm around her remained unmoving. She flailed her arms and legs in an attempt to get free. Suddenly, someone else yanked the bread from her grasp.
“No! No, please,” she cried as she reached for it.
That’s when her gaze fell on the armor of the man who had her food. She stilled and glanced at the arm holding her. More armor. Not just any armor, though. These soldiers wore the dark blue colors of the Divine. Nia felt as if she had been dunked in ice water.
She looked into the eyes of the one who held her meal. His face was expressionless. The two soldiers didn’t speak as they began walking her back to the crowd, which she realized was now staring at her.
“Please. I need to take that bread to my siblings,” she pleaded.
The man holding her made a sound. “She reeks.”
“The poor always do,” the other muttered.
Nia was embarrassed by their words. She didn’t smell anything, but she did feel hunger, and so did her brother and sister. She tried to elbow the man holding her. “Let me go.”
He sighed loudly, her hit glancing off his armor and hurting her more than it did him. But she wasn’t going to give up. She kept struggling, all the while watching the other soldier walking to where eight men with bulging muscles stood holding a covered litter. The curtains didn’t part, but she saw the soldier’s mouth move and then his head nod. He turned to her and the brute holding her and motioned them toward the litter.
“No!” Nia screamed. “I need to get to my sister and brother! They need me!”
The man unceremoniously dumped her to the ground, then pointed a gloved finger at her and stated, “Stay.”
Nia shivered on the cold stone, her heart hammering in her chest. She wrapped her arms around herself and tried to find a way to escape. The two soldiers walked down the alley where she had been, then went up the stairs. She waited breathlessly for them to return. What were they doing with her siblings? She wouldn’t let the men hurt them.
Before she could even dare to grab one of the soldier’s weapons, the men returned, carrying her siblings. Nia got to her feet. She was ready to rush to them when she heard the soldiers’ whispered words.
“The wee one has been dead a few hours.”
“More kids left to starve to death.”
Nia shook her head. No. They had to be wrong. Chanler had been sleeping when she left. Myria had been hungry, yes, but she had been alive. Tears welled in Nia’s eyes. She hadn’t been gone that long. The men were wrong. They had to be.
“No,” she whispered when they handed her siblings off to someone else. “Myria! Chanler!” she shouted, but neither of them woke, neither of them cried for her.
Nia had seen a lot of death in her young years. She knew what it looked like. And she knew her sister and brother were gone.
All the fight left her. She wondered what she was going to say to her mother. How would she explain that she had let her down? Nia wrapped her arms around herself once more, but nothing could make her warm again. She didn’t want to tell her mom about her siblings. That meant she had failed in the one directive her mother had given.
Nia barely realized she had been lifted off her feet. Only when they dropped her into a cart full of other children who looked as hungry, dirty, and scared as she did, did she begin to comprehend that life—at least as she knew it—was over.
She whipped her head around and put the area to memory. She would return one day and let her mother know that she was alive.
Chapter One
Cairnkeep
Shaw stood with his eyes closed on the cliff near Cairnkeep and listened to the dragons. The flaps of their wings, their roars as they called to one another, and the whoosh as they flew. He had missed the sounds the most.
He drew in a deep breath and slowly released it, enjoying the feel of the sun upon his face. The dragons’ peaceful noises calmed the rage inside him. Most of his Dragon King brethren pretended that fury didn’t exist. But it was there.
Always.
Until now. For the first time in ages, he felt as if things were back to normal.
Except, they weren’t.
They were far from it, actually. Yet, for this moment, he could pretend as if they were on Earth, that the dragons had never been sent away, and that they had never heard of humans.
Sadly, all of that was simply wishing. Because the mortals had come, there had been a war, and the dragons had been sent away. For so long, Shaw, like many Dragon Kings, had feared they would never find their dragons again.
He opened his eyes and looked at the mountains around him. Zora. A realm the Dragon Kings only recently discovered that had been the dragons’ home since that fateful day on Earth. Zora was a spectacular realm. Majestic mountains, breathtaking plains, stunning forests, and everything in between. Every vista was dazzling in its splendor. The sky was brighter, the oceans bluer, the grass greener.
Shaw felt whole once more. And it was all because he was with the dragons.
Yet he knew his time on Zora was limited. He and the other Dragon Kings were there simply to seek out something that had been able to attack and killed dragons—something that had never happened before.
The crunch of grass alerted him that someone approached. He glanced over to find Merrill. Shaw had never been much of a talker. Merrill made up for that since he never seemed to shut up. He wondered if Merrill would give one of his pep talks. The thought nearly made Shaw smile, but he swallowed it before Merrill could see.
“I’ll never get tired of this view. Or any view with dragons,” Merrill said. “I saw all of you every day. I suppose that should be enough, but it wasna.”
Shaw grunted. The Kings had hidden their identities from the humans on Earth, only taking flight at night or during storms.
“I missed seeing my Oranges. I missed gazing at my clan,” Merrill continued, his dark blue eyes on the dragons in the distance.
Shaw glanced at him. The pain etched on Merrill’s face was the same every Dragon King endured from the instant they’d sent their dragons away to save them. But this was the first time in ages that he had seen it on Merrill’s face. Shaw frowned, a small niggle of worry taking root. Then he realized who he was thinking about.
If anyone had gotten past the anger, heartbreak, and misery, it was Merrill. He had been born blessed with a sunny outlook. There were times that Shaw had been jealous of Merrill’s ability, but Shaw had accepted who he was long ago.
Merrill pulled his gaze from the dragons and shuttered his agony. “I wonder if they’re changing up our patrol area. The desert area I had was pretty, but I’d love to see some water. Maybe look for some caves.”
Shaw shrugged. He had no idea why he and Merrill had been called back to Cairnkeep. For weeks, each of the Kings had had a designated area along the dragon border in hopes of finding the new threat. It was bad enough that this new invisible foe had killed dragons, but the twin rulers of Zora—Brandr and Eurwen—had also been attacked.
