by Craig Askham
But is everybody in the group really there just to observe the dragon, or do some of them have more sinister objectives? With an ex-special forces veteran one of the only friendly faces amongst the mix of off-duty Stillwater bounty hunters, a potential Russian gangster, and a mage who seems to prefer communicating with animals, who exactly will Ben be able to rely on if and when things go south?
It quickly becomes clear that this isn’t a game. There’s no option to Save and Reset when the swords start swinging and the blood starts flowing. Stillwater will do everything in their power to keep them all alive but, at the end of the day, that just might not be enough. Especially if they disturb that dragon…
Dragon Quest: An Excerpt
Ben opened his eyes, and finally remembered to breathe. Mount Asahi loomed over him, framed at an angle that would have made a perfect social media snap for anyone with an ounce of artistic flair. Ben wasn’t an arty type, though. He was an idiot, lying on his back with his shoulder blades wrapped around his oxygen tank and his legs folded behind him like a yoga instructor experimenting with a new position. He was afraid to move, wasn’t even sure he’d be able to, but his feet were still bound to his snowboard so staying put all day wasn’t an option his body was prepared to consider. A quick glance to the bottom right of his heads-up display showed him he still had over half a tank of air left, but he knew something had come loose somewhere on his helmet because he could smell the awful fumes being belched out of the volcano he was supposed to be sliding down.
Without warning, and somewhat ironically, the chorus to an ancient Joe Esposito song started playing in his ears. His first thought was that someone had installed the computer in his helmet with a comedy AI, then half a second later the words Incoming Call - Lydia flashed in front of his eyes.
“You’re the best! Around! Nothing’s gonna ever keep you down.”
“Answer.” It came out as a whisper, and his voice recognition software decided not to hear him over the music.
“You’re the best! Around! Nothing’s gonna ever…”
“Answer call.” Louder this time. A brief pause, and then Lydia’s tinny voice crept hesitantly into his ears.
“Ben? You there?”
“Oh, hi Lydia.” He tried to sound as nonchalant as possible.
“Excellent. You’re not dead.” Ben pictured her back at the hotel in Tokyo, lying on the bed in her severe white blouse and black pencil skirt, sucking fake coffee through a straw as she flicked away calls from important people with a lazy, perfectly manicured finger. His instructions had been clear; no calls, whatsoever. He was taking some much needed time off, appeasing his inner adrenaline junkie in the aftermath of his latest break-up with Talia. “Why are we doing audio only, Benjamin?” Even playing through speakers, her clipped British tone was suspicious. She knew him too well. As if by magic, the words Enable Video? popped up on his visor. Almost without thinking, he lifted his right arm in front of his face and shooed the question away with his hand. Hell, no. Belatedly, he realised he’d been able to successfully move his arm without setting in motion a chain of events that ended up severing the final threads of his spinal chord. His day was looking up.
“I’d hate for you to feel guilty because your face caused me to crash into a tree, Lydia. I’m concentrating. You know I’m snowboarding on an abandoned mountain, right?”
“Illegally, I might add.”
Ben sighed, then screwed up his face as he tried to push himself up onto his elbows. Mount Asahi still filled his vision, beautiful against the bright blue sky. Not many people were lucky enough, or wealthy enough, to ever see this view. High above the poisonous smog that blanketed the rest of Japan, the air still wasn’t safe to breathe but at least the view made up for it. He was lucky to be alive, in more ways than one.
“What part of ‘no calls’ did you not understand, Lydia? Have I gone bankrupt in the few hours since I left you?” A serious thought slipped suddenly into his head, and the question escaped his lips before he had time to stop it. “Is Talia trying to get through to me?”
Lydia didn’t answer, and Ben imagined iced coffee coming to an abrupt halt halfway up her straw as she tried to think of the tactful route to take with her answer. Ben already knew she would fail, miserably.
“No, and definitely not.”
“Great. Thanks for breaking it to me gently.”
“Not being bankrupt isn’t something I thought needed to be broken to you gently, if I’m honest.” He could clearly hear the amusement in her voice, mostly because her voice was right inside his ears and therefore significantly easier to interpret than it might have been if they were face to face. “Stillwater has been in contact, though.” She spoke those words so nonchalantly that it took a moment for him to process them.
“Uh-huh…wait, what?”
“Stillwater. Has been. In contact.” She spoke the words slowly this time, dragging them out as if she was talking to a child.
Ben forgot all fear of being paralysed, rolled onto his stomach, and pushed himself expertly back to a standing position.
“Well, what the hell did they want?”
“To let you know about an excursion they’re putting together.” She paused, and her next words sounded reluctant. Embarrassed, even. “Er…something about a…dragon? Or something. I kind of switched off after that. Thought they were winding me up.”
Ben grinned, tried a little victory dance, and ended up falling on his backside. His sturdy coccyx protector absorbed most of the impact, but it still hurt.
“Damnit.”
“Ben, did you just fall over?”
“No.”
“You sure? It’s just that I was worried, so I sent a drone to keep an eye on you. I just watched you fall over. I saw your major wipeout a few minutes ago, aswell. That’s why I sounded so surprised when I said excellent, you’re not dead. Left a bit, dear. Other left. That’s it. Higher…higher…hi, here I am.”
He looked straight up into the sun, and his visor immediately darkened to protect his eyes. For a long time, there’d been no need to teach children not to look directly at the sun; unless they were rich, the only time they ever saw it was on a television screen. And Ben had definitely not been a rich kid. And there it was, a little black speck in the sky. Lydia’s eyes, paid for by him.
“Lydia, you’re fired.”
“What, again?”
“You definitely said dragon, right?”
“Somewhat unbelievably, I definitely did.”
“Where do I need to be, and when?”
“Stillwater Beijing, in a little over two hours.”
Ben’s heart nearly leapt out of his chest. Oh my God, I’m finally going to see a dragon!
“Well don’t just lay there drinking coffee, Lydia! Get the jet ready, we’re going to Beijing!”
“Does this mean I’m no longer fired?” She was trying to sound as bored as possible, but he knew she was just teasing him. He’d been waiting a very long time for this, and she knew damn well that seeing a real dragon, in the scales, was at the very top of his adrenaline-dominated bucket list. He laughed, and was immediately aware it was the most childish sound he’d made since he was an actual child.
“Get me there on time, and I’ll give you a frickin’ promotion. See you soon, Lids.”
“Don’t call me th…”
He ended the call with another giggle, rolled onto his knees, and pushed himself up onto the toe edge of his snowboard. Stretching out his back and marvelling at the complete lack of pain, he cast his helmeted gaze down the deserted piste so that he could plot his course a little more carefully this time. Shifting onto the flat of his board, he leaned his body over his left knee and started gaining momentum over fresh snow. Quickly gathering speed, he moved from toe edge to heel edge and then back again, weaving his way down the mountain with a lazy grace that masked his speed. High above, and completely forgotten, Lydia’s drone kept careful watch.
Dragon Quest: Pre-Order
&nbs
p; Well. What do you make of that, then? Wide awake now, aren’t you? Great. Go right ahead and pre-order Dragon Quest. If you don’t, you’ll move on to the next author on your reading list and forget all about little old me, your favourite imaginary tavern owner. And then you’ll miss out on my dragons, and literally nobody wants that!
Order here for Amazon US
Order here for Amazon UK
And here’s one last shameless plug for the newsletter, while I’m at it.
You won’t regret it, I promise. Actually, that’s an empty promise. I only really know drunk you, and sober you might be a totally different person. You might regret it. So buy it now, while you’re drunk on feijen. And then grab your sword, because I think that Shadziri mercenary over in the far corner is giving you the eye. And if there’s one thing we all know about Shadziri mercenaries, it’s that you never enter into carnal relations with one unless you have something sharp to hand. Whoa there! Drag your mind out of the gutter…
Yep, he’s coming over. I’ll stall him. Just hit one of those Amazon links and you’ll be out of here in the blink of an eye. Until next time, my friend.