Dragon storm the dragonw.., p.1
Dragon Storm (The Dragonwalker Book 5), page 1
Dragon Storm
The Dragonwalker Book 5
D.K. Holmberg
Copyright © 2018 by D.K. Holmberg
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
If you want to be notified when D.K. Holmberg’s next novel is released and get free stories and occasional other promotions, please sign up for his mailing list by going here. Your email address will never be shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.
www.dkholmberg.com
Contents
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
Epilogue
Author’s Note
Also by D.K. Holmberg
Chapter One
The edge of the forest had a certain stink to it, a scent that came from decades of detritus, but it was more than that odor drifting to Fes’s nose that troubled him. There seemed almost a heaviness to the air, a weight that hadn’t been there before. It mixed with the haze drifting out through the trees, a haze they referred to as the Dragon’s Breath, and with that, Fes felt the energy humming within him.
The forest was alive with power. Most of that power stemmed from the dragons, energy, and heat that radiated from their massive forms, helping conceal them within the forest itself. Fes could see through the haze, but doing so required that he use his Deshazl magic—and he wasn’t entirely certain that he wanted to right then.
“You don’t have to sit with me,” he said to Jayell, who sat beside him.
She smiled, taking his hand and squeezing it within hers. She had been something of a constant companion ever since the Damhur had last been defeated. It was almost as if she feared how he might react were she gone.
And he did fear. He worried what might happen if the dragons were attacked. It wasn’t a difficult thing to imagine the Damhur bringing more people across the sea, using their Called Deshazl and throwing countless numbers at the empire. The dragons were enough of a prize that they would do whatever it took to succeed. So far, their absence had been striking. Another attack had to come, but when?
“Would you prefer that I didn’t?”
“I know that you would rather be training with Azithan.”
Jayell only shrugged. “There’s plenty of time for us to be training.”
“Has he been helpful?”
Jayell had left the fire mage temple and had abandoned that side of herself. Only, now with the Damhur attack, there was a need for her to do more—which meant that she had to learn to be more.
Azithan had willingly worked with her, helping her understand how powerful she could be. From what Fes understood, she could be very powerful in time. He didn’t like the idea of using her for that potential, but they would need someone like her the next time the Damhur attacked. They would need to be ready, and it would take everything in all of their powers to be ready.
“You haven’t cared to ask before now.”
“I’ve cared. I just haven’t asked before now.”
“Azithan has been working with me as much as I could expect him to.”
Fes frowned at her, shifting from one foot to another before turning his attention to the forest again. The steady haze reassured him that the dragons were still here. “That doesn’t tell me anything.”
“It tells you that he’s been working with me, and seeing as how it’s Azithan, I can’t really expect much more than what he’s offered.”
“He knows that you have potential.”
“Potential means only a little,” she said. “Azithan cares about results.”
“When it comes to the dragons and what we need to be doing, we’ll need all the potential that we can get.”
There was a moment of silence, then Jayell asked, “Do you miss working with them?”
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, inhaling the smells of the forest. Not only did the decay and earthy scent fill him, but there also was a smoky quality, and he suspected that came from the dragons themselves. The visions that filled him when he slept were likely tied to that, though the dragons would never confirm it.
“I hate that I learned when I did.”
“You hate what you learned or that they were the ones to teach?”
Opening his eyes, he studied her. With her dark hair, she could almost fade into the shadows of the forest, but that didn’t suit her. She was meant to stand out. “Both, I suppose. They taught me how to use my power to harm, and I hate that they were the ones able to teach me so much.”
“Still, it’s useful.”
“It is. The same as you working with Azithan.”
Her brow furrowed and she looked as if she wanted to say something more but refrained. “How long do you intend to remain here?”
“Should I not?”
“There are other things that need to be done,” she said.
“The others can take care of those things.” The Deshazl here were fully qualified to ensure the safety of the village, especially with Arudis working with them.
“The others don’t have your experience.”
“I’m not so certain that my experience amounts to much,” Fes said.
“Your experience is what allowed us to survive the Damhur attack.”
He swallowed. Every so often, he would feel the effect of the Calling, almost a remnant of it. It was likely nothing more than a memory, but it still troubled him, filling him with a sense of dread every time he was aware of it. How long would he continue to have that sensation? How long would he struggle with his awareness of the Calling? Would there ever come a time when he no longer could remember what it felt like to have Elsanelle demanding his compliance?
Even when he had complied, there had been a part of him that had known exactly what he was doing. As likely as not, that had been her doing. She had wanted him to know and had wanted to torment him with that knowledge.
“We got lucky,” Fes said. “I worry what will happen when they bring real power to bear. I don’t think they believed we pose much of a threat. How could they, when the empire has only had fire mages for protection? But they’ve been warring with the Asharn for centuries. They have far more experience fighting than we do and far more knowledge about the Deshazl abilities.”
That might be what bothered him the most. It wasn’t so much that he struggled with who taught him but that with everything he had learned about his abilities, he was still playing catch-up to the Damhur. They knew far more than he did about the kind of magic he could utilize against them. He had managed to surprise the Damhur once, but he doubted he would be able to do so again. Now it was not only the Deshazl who needed protection—it was the dragons.
“The fire mages will keep us safe. They have always done so.”
Fes considered Jayell for a long moment. If only it were so simple. He wished that the fire mages could do exactly what they had always claimed they were capable of doing and that the fire mages really were the protection the empire needed, but he was all too aware of how the Deshazl magic cut through fire mage magic, and with the number of Deshazl the Damhur controlled, it wouldn’t be difficult to do.
“I think we have to be prepared for the possibility that the fire magic won’t be nearly as effective as we hope. During the last war—”
“You don’t know what happened during the last war.”
“I can infer from what we do know. And the last time, the Deshazl hadn’t been controlled.”
“Only the dragons.”
“Which is why we have to hide them. Protect them.” Maybe move them north to the Dragon Plains, though he wasn’t sure how effective that might be.
“The fire mages—”
“That’s not my responsibility. That’s more Azithan, or even you.”
“I’m not sure that I am the right person to participate in that.”
“You’re a better person than me. I might have faced the Damhur, but the fire mages aren’t particularly fond of us.”
“It’s more you than us,” she said smiling. “You did break into their temple.”
“Like you didn’t participate in that.”
“I’m different. I’ve been a part of the temple before.”
Fes grinned at her. “You’re different because they want you to return.”
Jayell looked around, giving Fes the feeling that she avoided his gaze. “For the most part, I have.”
He still wasn’t certain whether Jayell was pleased by the fact that she had returned or whether she still regretted it. When he had first found her, she had abandoned the fire mage temple and had begun to follow the Priests of the Flame, searching for answers that she hadn’t been able to uncover otherwise. What would she have done had Fe
“You’re only in as deeply as you choose to be.”
“When it comes to Azithan, I don’t know that is true. He has a way of pulling me deeper, regardless of what I might want.”
“There is that,” Fes said softly. Azithan had done something of the same with him. How much had Azithan planned for all of this? He had suspected Fes’s ability from the beginning, even using it to ensure that he obtained lost dragon relics. What more might he have anticipated?
A distant rumbling caught his attention, and he turned, looking deeper into the forest.
“You can go,” Jayell said.
“I’m not sure that was meant for me,” he said.
“Still.”
“The timing is strange.”
“The dragons have been gone from the world for a thousand years. I think they are permitted to be strange.”
Fes chuckled. “I suppose you’re right.”
“Go. See what they want from you.”
Fes squeezed her hand and headed deeper into the forest. At the edge of the trees, some of the faint moonlight had managed to filter in, but the deeper he went, the more he encountered the haze all around him. It reminded him of what he had once experienced on the dragon plains, the same haze that had disappeared when Azithan claimed the last of the relics from the plains. That haze made everything difficult to see, but he was able to detect the presence of movement around him. Somewhere nearby, the dragons waited.
The rumbling had been for him, something of a summons. It wasn’t the first time they had summoned him. In the weeks since the Damhur attack, the dragons had asked for him to join them in the heart of the forest. It was the reason he had remained behind, waiting when others had returned to Anuhr. The emperor had departed, though he had made several trips back, wanting to spend time with the dragons, hoping to connect with them in some way.
As he neared the heart of the forest, he slowed. Somewhere nearby, he could find the ancient Deshazl city, but none had spent any considerable time there. Arudis had made it clear that the dragons didn’t want anyone else within the city now that the Damhur had been pushed back. Fes—like everyone else—had visited and had spent considerable amounts of time within the city, but he had never stayed overnight. The sense he had from the dragons was that they didn’t want him to. Even though he had saved them, they were still reserved.
Another rumble echoed through the forest, drawing his attention. He turned to it, heading deeper into the trees. They had veered away from the city and stayed within the forest itself. Other than himself, he didn’t detect anyone else. Maybe the dragons had only called to him. And it was a calling—or a Calling. Whatever else he knew about it, Fes was certain that there was a summons within it, drawing him toward them at the heart of the forest.
But why?
There came a rustling nearby, and he turned to see Arudis joining him. The older woman had her silver hair pulled back, and she moved easily through the forest for someone her age. A gray robe flowed to her ankles.
He should have detected her, though maybe the Dragon’s Breath made that difficult. He hadn’t spent that much time attempting to use his Deshazl ability while making his way through here. Perhaps that was a mistake.
“I wasn’t the only one who received their call,” she said. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.”
“Why do you think they called at this time?”
Arudis frowned. “With the dragons, anything is possible. You know as well as I do that there is very little we understand about these ancient creatures.”
They fell into a comfortable silence as they followed the sense of the summons. After a while, Fes glanced over at her. There seemed to be something of a path leading through the trees, so he followed it, keeping his eyes on what was directly in front of him, as the haze made it difficult to see anything else. “Is it only the two of us?”
“I don’t know. It’s possible.”
“Is the emperor…”
She shook her head. “He returned to Anuhr a day or so ago.”
“And Azithan remained.”
“Azithan and Jaken.”
That last was strange—almost a strange as Azithan remaining. Jaken was the emperor’s son but also the captain of his Dragon Guard, and as such, he needed to be with the emperor, especially given the danger of war, but he had stayed within the forest almost as much as he had stayed with the emperor.
Presumably, he wanted to understand the Deshazl and what it meant for him to have that connection—and possibly, that power. While he certainly wanted to help ensure their safety, the real reason was likely that he wanted to have more time with the dragons. In that, he was much like his father.
“Will either of them have been summoned?”
“I doubt that Azithan will be. He isn’t Deshazl.”
“He’s not Deshazl, but he is a powerful fire mage.”
“I’m not certain the dragons approve.”
“The dragons allowed the fire mages to use their connection, their bones, to protect the empire,” he reminded her.
None had asked the dragons whether there was an issue with the fire mages using the power of the bones, but eventually, Fes would need to know. If the bones could be used to return the dragons, would they risk that by allowing the fire mages to draw power from them? Maybe the priests were right all along.
“They did, but since their return, the dragons have been less than impressed by fire mages. I think Azithan has recognized that and has made no attempt to push them. It’s probably for the best.”
They reached a clearing, and the sense within Fes told him that he should wait there, so he did. Arudis glanced at him, nodding. Her sense of the summons must have been similar, but there was no sign of the dragons. If they were out there—and considering the nature of the summons, Fes believed that they were—they hadn’t yet arrived.
More rustling came, and Fes looked over to see Jaken stalking through the trees. Azithan followed, and Fes arched a brow at him.
“Fezarn,” Azithan said.
“You received the summons?”
“I followed Jaken.”
“I’m not sure the dragons will be pleased with your presence,” Arudis said.
“The dragons don’t get to choose where I go. It is my responsibility to ensure the safety of those within the empire. The dragons happen to be within the empire, so it is my responsibility to ensure the safety of Jaken. Would you have me do otherwise?”
“I would have you recognize the dragons have suffered long enough.”
“And they remain crucial to ensuring the safety of the empire,” Azithan said.
Arudis opened her mouth as if to argue, but she wasn’t given the opportunity. Another rumbling echoed through the forest, cutting her off. This time, it was close, and Fes looked around.
The dragons were near.
He glanced up, but they wouldn’t be coming by the sky. As much as he longed to see dragons flying overhead once more, it wasn’t safe. They preferred to remain hidden within the forest, using the trees and the haze to conceal themselves. It lessened them somehow, though he understood the need for it. There was safety in their concealment, and it was safety that wasn’t found in any other way. If they didn’t remain hidden, if they would have flown overhead, it would have caused chaos throughout the empire. Already it would be difficult enough to convince people that the dragons didn’t pose a significant threat. After centuries spent telling a particular story, changing it to another would be difficult.
The trees bent, and the blue-scaled dragon appeared. He practically slithered into the clearing. He was enormous, though not as large as some of the dragon bones Fes had seen. He kept his wings folded up against his body, and his scales glittered in the moonlight. Heat radiated off him, and there seemed to be almost a faint glow beneath his scales, enough that he practically pushed back the shadows of the forest.
