Wrath of the Dragon King

Chapter One

Old Friends

The red-maned dragon coiled in the courtyard, rippling scales flashing in the sunlight, tail swishing lazily. Prowling forward, the lengthy body unfurled, several sets of legs working to bring the leonine head ever closer to the lone boy. Yawning, the dragon displayed a jagged array of yellowed fangs surrounding a fat tongue.

“What’s the matter?” the dragon inquired in a slightly mocking tone. “Speak. Move.”

Large nostrils approached the boy’s face and flared, sniffing. The nearby mouth was probably big enough to swallow him whole. Or at least to bite off the top half of his body.

Seth willed himself to lean away. To lift an arm. To murmur a reply.

His body refused to respond. He could not twitch a finger. He could not glance away. He was utterly paralyzed by dragon fear.

“Nothing?” the dragon asked. “You’re not really in any danger.”

I know, Seth wanted to say. You’re my assistant. Marat usually stayed in human form, but he had made an exception today after Seth had requested a chance to test his ability to resist dragon fear. If his sister, Kendra, could do it, there had to be a way!

“Come on, Seth,” chimed a little voice from his pocket. Calvin, champion of the nipsies, could keep his composure in the presence of a dragon, and he was only a couple of inches tall. “Try smiling. When I was just a boy, I remember my papa could smile his way out of anything.”

Seth could hear Calvin but couldn’t turn his head to see him. Seth could breathe. He could feel his heart beating. But his mouth refused to form words. His muscles would not budge, not even to pull his lips into a smile. He was a dragon tamer while holding Kendra’s hand. But now he was speechless and immovable. This wasn’t fair. She could maintain her composure while confronting a dragon alone—even in the presence of Celebrant, the Dragon King.

What made all of this even more humiliating was that this encounter was staged! Seth knew the dragon was a friend and meant him no harm. There was no rational reason to fear. Why couldn’t his intellect overpower his instincts? Was he really this spineless?

The long body reeled in as the dragon shrank into a mild Asian man in elaborate silken robes. The climate of fear evaporated and Seth could move.

“I wasn’t scared,” Seth insisted.

“Very few can resist dragon terror,” Marat said.

“Sure, I was frozen,” Seth admitted, “but I wasn’t afraid.”

“Your mind was free?” Marat asked. “That is something. But I still could have killed you at my leisure.”

“Am I just not desperate enough?” Seth asked.

“Petrified people are routinely devoured by dragons,” Marat said. “They remain immobilized throughout the process. Trust me, all of them are plenty desperate.”

“What made the difference for Kendra?” Seth wondered.

“She is fairykind,” Marat said. “She found a way to bring her power to bear. As a shadow charmer, you might in time do likewise.”

“Any tips?” Seth asked. “I need to master this. The dragons are madder than ever, especially at me after we got the scepter.”

“I’m no shadow charmer,” Marat said. “And I don’t feel dragon terror. You need a different tutor. Have you asked your sister?”

“No way,” Seth said. “Her power is different from mine. What’s she going to teach me? How to befriend fairies?”

“Kendra could teach anyone a great many things,” Marat said. “Perhaps your reluctance relates to her being your ­sister?”

“Of course it does!” Seth said. “Who wants their sister to teach them anything?”

“My sister helped me learn arithmetic,” Calvin piped up from his pocket.

“Big deal,” Seth said. “That’s just math. Kendra can talk to dragons alone! And I can’t.”

“Your nipsie might have ideas,” Marat said.

“I’m not sure I can help much,” Calvin said. “I don’t have techniques like holding my breath or crossing my ­fingers. My only advice is not to get scared.”

“You don’t get scared of dragons?” Seth asked.

“Not to where it freezes me,” Calvin said. “I can’t explain how or why except I don’t really get scared of anything.”

“Really?” Seth asked.

“I know dragons could kill me,” Calvin clarified. “I don’t want to die or get maimed. The danger makes me alert, not scared.”

“Marat, I want to try again,” Seth said. “Get ready for alertness.”

“Could you perhaps pause your exercises for a moment?” a voice asked from behind Seth.

He turned to find Agad emerging from a door into the courtyard. The wizard, dressed in traveling clothes and a cloak, was followed by Newel, Doren, and Tanu.

The arrival caught Seth so off guard that he hardly knew where to look first. It had been longest since he had seen Tanu, so his eyes settled there. The Samoan potion master wore a large pack, and several pouches dangled from his belt. Still broad and thick, he looked a tad leaner than when Seth had last seen him.

“Tanu!” Seth cried. “Have you lost weight?”

“Not on purpose,” he replied with a pained smile. “I have been swimming in choppy waters. Things are messy out there.”

“We’re here too,” Newel said with a wave.

“Been eating well,” Doren added, patting his belly.

Seth had seen both satyrs just a couple of days before when he had gone back to Fablehaven through the tele­portation barrel. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Things were getting dull without you around,” Newel said.

“We like to be where the action is,” Doren said.

“Since when?” Seth challenged. “You guys run from everything.”

Newel squinted one eye. “We like to be in the vicinity of the action. Not necessarily getting our hands dirty.”

“Or chopped off,” Doren added.

“Life can be like television from the proper distance,” Newel explained.

“Bringing the satyrs was my idea,” Agad said. “Seth, I thought you would find value in their companionship during these troubled times.”

“You told us there were acres of food,” Doren accused.

“The storerooms beneath this keep are all I promised,” Agad mumbled.

“Remember our road trip to see the Singing Sisters?” Newel asked Seth. “You introduced us to fast food! And convenience stores! Any time we get permission to leave our designated preserve is a thrill.”

“Especially if the food is good,” Doren said. “And the company.”

“Any news about Bracken?” Seth asked.

Agad exchanged a glance with Tanu. “No glad tidings,” the wizard said. “He had been captured, and we found where he was being held, but he was already gone by the time we arrived. We have no idea who took him.”

Seth hated to hear Bracken was lost, and he knew the news would devastate his sister. “Do you think he’s alive?”

“I suspect so,” Agad said. “A quick examination of the horn he left with Kendra will confirm.”

Seth walked up to Tanu. “Did you help find him?”

“I helped find his empty cell,” Tanu said. “We were trying. Soaring Cliffs has become a perdition of rampaging dragons. We were lucky to get out alive.”

“Sounds like the kind of adventure best viewed from a distance,” Doren commented.

“That’s one way to put it,” Tanu said. “The world is turning upside down. I understand there has been commotion here as well.”

“The dragons tested our defenses,” Seth said. “It looked bad for a while. Kendra and I recovered a scepter that strengthened the keep’s protections.”

“And you made a firmer enemy of Celebrant in the process,” Marat said.

“The Dragon King’s enmity was inevitable,” Agad said. “We are facing a global rebellion.”

“Wait a minute,” Newel said. “You told us there was unrest. Not a worldwide rebellion.”

“Unrest here,” Agad said. “A global rebellion is under way. We’re laboring to stop it. By no means is the uprising complete.”

“You can tell because we’re not all dead yet,” Tanu said.

“But Blackwell Keep is secure,” Doren checked. “And the storerooms.”

“Locked up tight,” Agad said.

A long, low note was blown on a horn, the hollow sound gradually growing deeper before fading.

“What was that?” Doren asked.

“Start of the satyr hunt,” Tanu said with a grin.

“The proudhorn,” Marat said, turning his gaze toward the sky. “An unexpected dragon approaches.”

“I think I may have left a scarf back at Fablehaven,” Newel said, edging back toward the door. “A real important one. Striped.”

“I’ll lend a hand,” Doren offered.

“The dragon can’t harm us,” Agad said. “I told you the keep is protected.”

“What dragon?” Seth asked.

“Let’s find out,” Marat said.