MANA DRAGON

  DRAGON KEY BOOK 3

  MAC FLYNN

  CONTENTS

  Copyright

  Author’s Note

  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

  Sneak Peek: Rune Assassin

  A Small Favor

  When’s the Next Book?

  Series by Mac Flynn

  About Mac Flynn

  COPYRIGHT

  Mana Dragon (Dragon Key Book 3). Copyright © 2024 by Mac Flynn.

  Published by Crescent Moon Studios, Inc.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, disseminated, or transmitted in any form or by any or for any use, including recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written consent of the author and/or artist. The only except ions shirt excerpts or the cover image in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All the names, characters, organizations, places and events portrayed in this novel or on the cover are either products of the author’s or artist’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author or artist.

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you so much for joining me on a journey through my imagination. If you’re looking for romance and adventure with a guaranteed Happily Ever After, then you’ve come to the right place. My books contain paranormal plotting and fantastical action, and I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them.

  You can keep in touch with me by joining my newsletter or checking out my website for the latest updates.

  Check out my website

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  Thank you for giving my book a chance, and Happy Reading!

  - Mac Flynn

  CHAPTER ONE

  Air! I needed air!

  My brain chanted that mantra as I took one step after another. I paused and glanced over my shoulder. A steep slope stared back at me and a green valley stretched out far below my feet. To add to the view, a wispy cloud floated between the valley and where I stood.

  “Show off,” I muttered as I turned my attention to the path ahead of me.

  A steep set of steps led upward into a large cloud bank. Tegan had stopped at a small plateau where a bench sat ready to welcome my gasping ass. I gladly plopped myself down and took in some much-needed air.

  “How. . .much. . .further?” I wheezed.

  Tegan smiled down at me. “The air is a little thinner up here, but you’ll get used to it in a day or two.”

  “Not. . .if I. . .don’t make it,” I countered.

  He plopped himself on the bench beside me and admired the view with glistening eyes that bespoke the remembrance of adventures long past. “I remember the first time my father took me down this path. I was five at the time and had barely come into my wings.”

  My ears perked up at the mention of his past. “Oh?”

  “Dragons aren’t born into their wings,” he explained as he leaned forward and draped his arms over his knees. “The magic takes time to grow and even when they sprout the dragon has to practice. My father took me here to practice there.” He nodded at an outcropping a few yards off the path. The rock overlooked a patch of grass. “I must have jumped off that a hundred times before I finally glided, much less flew.”

  “So your dad caught you?” I guessed.

  Tegan grinned. “No, he tossed me over. The first time, that is. The other times were easier than that.”

  I snorted. “So a man who believed in tough love?”

  “He wanted me to succeed,” Tegan countered as he stood and turned to me. “Now how are you feeling?”

  I blinked at him. “What do you-oh.” I set a hand on my chest and felt the steady thump of my chest. A sheepish grin slipped onto my lips. “I’m breathing a lot better.”

  Tegan offered me his hand. “Then let’s get going. It’s not too far off now.”

  I accepted his hand and he helped me to my feet. We had barely gone a few steps when a voice shouted out of the clouds.

  “Watch out below!”

  I didn’t have time to duck before something green mist swooped past me. The fog was quickly followed by a man of about fifty speeding past on a broom. The mad driver swooped and zipped around after the faint mist. He held a bottle attached to a stick in one hand and grasped the broom handle with the other.

  Tegan caught me before I spun clear off the mountainside. I ended up in a bundle of confusion in his arms with him smiling down at me.

  “What the hell was that?” I asked him.

  He grinned. “Our local sport and occupation. Spirit catching.”

  My mouth fell open. “Ghosts? You guys are ghost catchers?”

  Tegan laughed and shook his head. “Nothing that macabre. The ‘spirits’ they catch around here are green wisps of magic that-” The green fog flew past us so close it tickled my nose.

  “Make way!” the man shouted as he zoomed past us.

  He swung his bottle and captured the mist inside the glass. The man took a sharp turn and headed back to us where he landed not more than a few yards away. I had my first good look at him and could see he sported a clean-cut beard and mustache. His clothes were a heavy cotton tweed jacket and pants with hiking boots on his feet. He wore his hair short and tucked underneath a cap that resembled a deerstalker hat but with flaps on the sides as well as the front and back.

  He quickly pulled out a cap and threaded it onto the glass before he puffed out his chest and grinned at us. “A fine catch, if I do say so myself.”

  “And you would, Frae.”

  The man’s eyes lit up before he squinted them at Tegan. “Bael! In all the seven caverns, what are you doing here?”

  Tegan pulled out his empty coin purse. “I have some necessity for being here, but it’s been a while since I visited my mother.”

  “More than eight moons!” Frae scolded him as he clapped a hand on Tegan’s shoulder. His attention fell on me. “And who do we have here?”

  Tegan puffed out his chest a little. “Frae, this is Miss Kate Harrow.”

  Frae leapt forward and grasped my hand. He placed a gentle kiss on the back. “A most wonderful pleasure to meet you, Miss Kate!”

  “And you, too,” I agreed with a smile.

  Frae backed up and looked us over. “Well, why don’t we head up to home?” He held up the bottle. “I have my catch for the day.”

  I leaned forward and studied the ‘spirit.’ “So what exactly is that?”

  “Just some loose magic,” Frae told me as he tied the bottle to his waist. “It’ll sell well in the valley and the cities. Now then, let’s get going before this blasted fog chills these old bones.”

  Frae led the way up the stairs and I reluctantly followed with Tegan at my side. A question lingered in my thoughts and I caught Tegan’s eye.

  “Bael?” I repeated.

  He sheepishly smiled at me. “My nickname around here.”

  “Aye!” Frae piped up as he twisted his head around to nod at us. “His real name’s Baelwyrm, and a good one it is. Mean’s ‘fire worm’ in our tongue.”

  I lifted an eyebrow. “So Tegan really isn’t your name?”

  “It’s the one I take when I leave the mountain,” Tegan assured me.

  “That’s enough chatter, you two,” Frae called to us as we crested the steps and found ourselves on a plateau. He turned to face us and put his hands on his hips. “Welcome to Glistnia!”

  I looked about myself and my heart fell a little. “It’s, um, very nice.”

  He chuckled. “Just wait a minute. I feel a breeze coming up.”

  True to his word, the calm was disturbed by a gentle wind. The breeze stirred the mist that surrounded us and blew it away to reveal the full extent of the plateau and its hidden secret.

  A town stood before us, its glistening low walls creating a gentle border around the stone-and-mortar houses tucked inside. Most of the houses had two floors and featured balconies that overlooked well-kept gardens. Businesses offered shade with their awnings to the passerby who shopped for their myriad of goods. The laughter of children echoed up and down the street and wives gossiped at the fountains.

  I looked up at Tegan. “This is where you grew up?”

  His soft eyes admired the view as he nodded. “Yes.” He turned his attention to me and offered me his arm. “Now allow me to introduce you to my mother.”

  I accepted his arm and he guided me down a brick road toward the idyllic town. Little did we know the dangers that lay ahead for us and the trouble that waited below.

  CHAPTER TWO

  To say I was nervous was an understatement. I had avoided thinking about any family introductions but there was no getting out of it now.

  Still, my mind craved distraction and I found one as we neared the stone gate that led into the city proper. A wide dirt path led off to the left and up a steep slope to a grove of trees growing on a small plateau. I glimpsed a flat rock near the front edge of the plain.

  “What’s up there?” I asked my local companions.

  Tegan looked up at where I indicated with a finger and a strange reddish hue accented his cheeks. “That’s one of the viewscapes of the plains.”

  “I’d like to go up there and see the view sometime,” I suggested.

  Frae cast a bemused smile us them while Tegan coughed into his hand. “That’s a rather special area where people swear their, well, allegiance to one another.”

  Frae chuckled. “That’s one way to put it, but let’s not dawdle out here so close to sunset.”

  Tegan lifted an eyebrow. “Is there some problem with the night?”

  Our guide’s good humor faded and he stared ahead with tightly pursed lips. “Aye. There’s been trouble on the roads of late. Bad trouble.”

  Tegan frowned. “Scima?”

  Frae nodded. “Of the worst kind. They’ve waylaid the peddlers and the other folk who bring us the goods we can’t make ourselves.”

  “But not the broom brigade?” Tegan wondered.

  Our guide shook his head. “Not yet but I wouldn’t put it past them to recruit some flyers to help them harass us.”

  “Flyers?” I spoke up.

  Frae lifted his broom and smiled. “You’re looking at one, Miss Kate. I’ve been flying since my hands could grasp a broom.” He nodded down at the sweeper in my hand. “I’m guessing you do some of it yourself.”

  I clutched the broom close against my chest and sheepishly grinned at him. “I’ve only tried once.”

  “And made a spectacular landing,” Tegan teased.

  “Well, we’ll just have to work on that while you’re here,” Frae insisted as he looked Tegan up and down. “How long were you planning on staying?”

  “As long as we needed to get a good rest away from trouble,” Tegan told him.

  Frae laughed. “You’ll not find any of that, Bael. You were born under a troubled sky.”

  Tegan grinned. “So my mother told me every time I came in after a scuffle.”

  “Which happened a lot,” Frae mused as he wagged the wooden end of the broom at the dragon. “You were always getting into scrapes for this reason or that. Never a dull moment with you around.”

  “You must be glad I’ve returned to liven up the town again,” Tegan teased with a twinkle in his eyes.

  “I’ll be glad for you to visit your mum,” Frae scolded him. “She won’t say it, but you can see in her eyes that she misses you.”

  Tegan’s face fell a little. “I see. Fortunately, I have a good way to make it up to her.”

  I lifted an eyebrow. “What’s that?”

  He dropped his eyes to me and a smile teased the corners of his lips. “Introducing her to you.”

  A faint blush accented my cheeks. “I-I’m not sure that’s what she needs.”

  Tegan grinned. “I think she’ll find you a superb apology for my absence.”

  Frae used the bristle end of his broom to paddle our butts. “Not if you two don’t stop your yammering and get walking faster. I’ll be dead and buried before you get even halfway there.”

  Tegan shot to attention and with his hand in mine he quickened our speed. “Yes, sir, Mr. Brunger.”

  We soon arrived at the arch and I slowed to admire the wonderful carvings that adorned the stone. The symbols were very well-worn, but the notching could still be made out. I recognized people with arms raised in supplication to the central figure, a huge dragon that stood in the very top center of the bow. The ancient creature’s wings were stretched above its head and it had lifted its snout in the air in an imperious stance. A few diamond-shaped symbols lay beneath one raised claw.

  I pointed a finger upward as we strode beneath the arch. “So is this the reason why so many people think there’s treasure around here?”

  “The prime one,” Frae mused as he wrinkled his nose at the cavings. “The fools seem to think there’s something to those nicks and go mad searching for it. Some of them have.”

  I was about to ask him for an explanation when one shambled toward us. He was a man of about seventy-five with white matted hair that hung down to the back of his knees and a beard the ragged edges of which reached to his waist. His skin was weathered by many years of outdoor exposure and his face was a mess of deep wrinkles. He wore a ruined and soiled sack across his thin frame and thick bands of leather covered his feet. A bag was slung over one bony shoulder and he had the most blissful expression on his face. He also had a slight limp on his right leg.

  The stranger tipped his head to our guide. “Good evening, Brunger.”

  “Evening, Gy,” Frae returned as he stopped us in front of the man. “How did things go today.”

  “Fair. Pretty fair,” Gy replied as he stroked his impressive beard. “I might find something tomorrow that’ll make everyone’s eyes bug out.”

  Frae had to suppress a bemused smile. “I look forward to it.”

  Gy’s attention fell on us and he narrowed his eyes. “Who are these folk? More diggers?”

  “Don’t you recognize me, Mr. Gy?” Tegan asked him.

  Gy leaned in close and squinted at Tegan. He started back and wrinkled his nose. “You’re that one rascal that was always digging in my spots!”

  “I was only helping you,” Tegan argued.

  “Helping, my foot!” Gy snapped as he tightened his grip on the coil that held his knapsack shut. “You were trying to get to the treasure before me!”

  Frae clapped a hand on the man’s shoulder and nearly toppled him. “That’s enough of that, Gy. You’ve been warned about your temper before.”

  Gy shrank beneath Frae’s gentle words. “But he was digging around my holes. . .”

  “And found just as much as you, and Bael would have shared everything with you, anyway,” Frae insisted as he stepped to the side. “Now how about you get home before it gets too dark?”

  “Dark doesn’t bother me. . .” Gy mumbled as he shuffled past us and out of the town.

  “Is it safe for him to be out there?” I asked my companions.

  Frae nodded. “There’s nothing worth stealing off of him and he’s too old to be stolen away for hard labor.”

  “I didn’t expect to see his grizzled face again,” Tegan mused as we continued on our way.

  Frae chuckled. “Folks like those last a lifetime longer than anyone, but he did take a nasty tumble a few years ago.”

  “The limp is proof of that?” Tegan guessed.

  “He broke his leg in the fall,” Frae mused as we passed down the road and toward the center of town. “The old man was right back to work within a couple of days so his leg never quite healed.”

  I winced. “Are there many people like that around here? Ones who want the treasure that badly?”

  “He’s a rarer breed than they used to be,” Frae told me as he took on a pensive expression. “When I was a lad we’d get those kinds of folks every couple of years. Now it’s rare to see one once a decade. Still, that’s better than being overrun with the lot. It’s a sad sight to see a man reduce himself to such a state for the promise of gold.”

 

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