Path of the Flame (The Dragon Thief Book 1)
Page 26
The idea that his brother was the Dragon Thief had left him shocked, but he couldn’t deny what he’d seen. He looked over to Gayal, waiting for her to say something more or argue with him, but she was silent.
Ty raced down the Path of the Flame, bolting along the stairs and trying not to fall. Only after he stepped free of the jungle, toward the city, the quiet of Ishantil almost overwhelming, did he catch up to Roson. He was leading Albion, who stood stiffly—likely wrapped in bands of Dragon Touched power.
Ty darted toward him.
Roson merely glanced at Ty, looking over to him, then heat bloomed along Ty’s arms, chest, and back—then he froze. He couldn’t move.
Two other Dragon Touched were there, the dragon between them.
What was I thinking?
“No, Tydornen,” Albion said.
“Do not intervene, or the same will happen to you,” Roson sneered.
“I’m going to get him free,” Ty said.
Roson watched him. “Will you? You are not the Dragon Thief.”
He turned away, dragging Albion with him. The two other Dragon Touched—and the dragon—went with him.
“Keep looking, Tydornen,” Albion called. “The answers are out there. I never stopped.”
Ty was forced to stare after him as Albion was dragged away. His brother was going to be taken from the city, away from him. But his brother had never abandoned their parents, not the way Ty had believed.
Somehow, that seemed to make everything better—and worse.
Ty made his way into the city, hurrying after Roson, but lost him in the crowd that still lingered. He found himself near the temple, looking up at it. He lost track of how long he was staring at the Flame burning.
“What happened?”
He turned and looked over to see Bingham. How much should he tell him? Olivia must’ve gotten to him, which he appreciated, but there was still the issue of how much he could trust Bingham.
“My brother was the Dragon Thief,” Ty told him.
Bingham glanced over, a deep frown on his face. “Albion?”
He nodded. “And he brought the egg up to the lava lake, where I dropped it in.”
Bingham said nothing for a long moment. Ty wondered if he’d be upset. That was a prize Bingham had hoped to keep for himself. He surprised Ty by laughing. “I imagine that didn’t sit well with the Dragon Touched or the Tecal.”
“That’s just it,” Ty said. “I think the Tecal knew what was going to happen. Now Albion is going to the king, a captive, the Dragon Thief.”
Bingham took a deep breath and clasped Ty’s shoulder. “I’ll help you. Whatever you need. You know I’ll help you.”
Ty looked over at Bingham. It surprised him that he would be so willing to help, but hadn’t Bingham offered his help ever since Ty had first met him? He was his mother’s friend.
“I think I’m going to have to go after my brother in the capital.”
“It’s going to take money,” Bingham said.
It wasn’t as if he was starting from scratch. He had money—at least, he had a way to get money, even if it meant selling the dragon pearls he’d stolen from the temple. And there was still the gold he had under his floorboards.
“I still need to figure out what happened to my parents, but at least I know I wasn’t the only one looking for them. Albion was too. That’s the reason he became the Dragon Thief.”
“Where do you think we should start?” Bingham asked.
He glanced over at Bingham. “You’re asking me?”
“It’s your family, Tydornen.”
Ty looked back, toward the jungle. “The Tecal claims she’s going to release Eastley. We need to make sure she does that first, but then I think it’s time to find my brother.” He looked over to Bingham and recognized the conflicted expression in his eyes. He had always known that Bingham cared about Ty’s mother, and with their shared interest in dragon relics, it had to be more than just a passing familiarity; in fact, Bingham’s anguished look left Ty thinking it was perhaps even more than what he had believed before. “I’m going to save Albion.”
“It’s going to take a skilled thief to do it,” Bingham said.
“It’s going to take the Dragon Thief.”
Bingham snorted. “I’m not so sure. It might just take you—and whomever you’re willing to work with, assuming you don’t intend to do this alone.”
He wasn’t sure. Not yet. But for now, it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that Zarinth was safe. Eastley would be freed. And despite his brother getting dragged away by Roson James, Ty strangely felt as if he had him back after all these years.
Ty suspected he would have to track back up the side of the mountain, but only after he learned a little more. To understand how to help his brother and parents, he needed to know more about what he’d seen on Ishantil: the fiery form of the dragon, the relics and the egg—all of it.
Uncovering those truths might be the Dragon Thief’s greatest accomplishment. And Ty would be the one to live up to that name as he did it.
Pick up the next book in The Dragon Thief: Within the Dragon’s Jaw.
A captured thief holds the key to the kingdom.
Having learned the truth about the Dragon Thief and saving Zarinth, an impossible decision will bring Ty away from the only home he’s known.
When a dangerous priest demands his help finding something the Dragon Thief failed to find, Ty must finish the job even the Dragon Thief had failed to complete, but must stay ahead of Roson James and the Dragon Touched.
The prize will secure the Dragon Thief’s freedom, but there’s even more at stake than Ty can imagine.
If he succeeds, he might stop a war—and learn a truth long hidden from him about his connection to dragons.
Author’s Note
Dear Reader,
Thank you so much for reading Path of the Flame. I hope you enjoyed it. If you would be so kind as to take a moment to leave a review on Amazon or elsewhere, I would be very grateful.
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All my best,
D.K. Holmberg
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Series by D.K. Holmberg
The Chain Breaker Series
The Chain Breaker
The Dark Sorcerer
The Dragonwalkers Series
The Dragonwalker
The Dragon Misfits
The Dragon Thief
Elemental Warrior Series:
The Endless War
The Cloud Warrior Saga
Elemental Academy
The Elemental Warrior
The Dark Ability Series
The Shadow Accords
The Collector Chronicles
The Dark Ability
The Sighted Assassin
The Elder Stones Saga
The Lost Prophecy Series
The Teralin Sword
The Lost Prophecy
The Volatar Saga Series
The Volatar Saga
The Book of Maladies Series
The Book of Maladies
The Lost Garden Series
The Lost Garden