by Devin Hanson
Unlike the wild and voracious males, the young female dragon Meriakossi grew more slowly, and rarely left Avandakossi’s side. Like the other female dragons, she had no interest in eating humans. As she grew older, it became common to see her about Vanali with the Speaker or Michael Esterforth, and occasionally in the company of Jessa Abbot and Otto Morse. It was Meriakossi’s obvious good nature that did more than anything else to convince the new denizens of Vanali that dragons were to be respected, not feared.
As for Andrew Condign, he got what he had always wanted. After a few weeks of relative quiet, Vanali began to turn into a booming metropolis. Vanali was his city, and he structured it as he saw fit. Anyone who wished to learn runes was given the opportunity to learn. The Maar brought their culture of open knowledge, and Andrew saw to it that runes and their use were added to that pool of intellectual wealth.
Dragon scales dropped by the adult female dragons were owned exclusively by Andrew, and he sold them to build the city’s wealth. But it wasn’t gold plating or rich foods that Andrew was interested in. He used the wealth to attract artists and builders, scientists and engineers, alchemists and inventors.
Vanali was slowly becoming the city he had always dreamed of. It wasn’t perfect and it wasn’t complete. There was a lot of work to do, and a new way of life to work the kinks out of.
Nain wasn’t a world free of strife and danger. Not anywhere close. But in Vanali, one could stand on the cliff and listen to the river rushing below, see the dragons flying overhead without fear, and be at peace.
It was a start.
Author’s Note
Thank you for reading Rune Master! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
If you did enjoy the book, please take a few minutes and write a review. You would make this author a very happy man.
What’s next for Andrew and friends? Andrew’s story arc is more or less complete, but Nain is a large world with many dangers and discoveries waiting to be explored. There will be more books to follow.
My website, http://devinhanson.com will have the latest news about new books. Sign up for the newsletter there to get alerts about new books and access extra content. I promise I won’t spam you.
Until next time!
Devin Hanson