The Blood Stone

by Jason J. Nugent

  The large Garnet roared again, commanding the attention of all within the wall of flame. Lailoken heard a voice in his head that he hadn’t heard in nearly eighteen years, though it was slightly deeper than what he remembered.

  Myrthyd, leave this madness alone! You must not continue with your course of action. You cannot wield the Blood Stone. The power is too great. It was never meant for man to use.

  Lailoken stared at the dragon. Myrthyd must have heard it, too, as he whipped his head toward her.

  “Etain?” Lailoken whispered. It couldn’t be. It was impossible!

  The Garnet lowered her head as if ashamed.

  Myrthyd, stop your evil plan. Nothing good is to come.

  “Shut up you, evil beast! Get your magic out of my head. Your manipulation won’t work on me!”

  “Evil plan?” Lailoken asked.

  “What plan?” Driano added.

  “What are you people talking about?” Ori asked. “Who are you talking to?”

  The guards looked as confused as Ori.

  “It’s her,” Lailoken said pointing at the Garnet. “It’s Etain, my wife!” He didn’t know how or why, but the dragon in front of him had to be her! It was impossible, but it had to be! The dragons forced this on her. There was no other explanation!

  Myrthyd growled. A bright blue flame shot from his hands and bore into Driano. A large hole erupted in his chest, evaporating his heart.

  Driano’s face flushed and his hands clutched at the cauterized hole in his chest. His eyes rolled back in his head and he fell backwards, slamming to the ground.

  A fierce madness grew in Myrthyd’s eyes.

  “No!” Lailoken shouted. “You’re the Kull!”

  “Yes,” he growled, “and I’ll do things my way. The Drakku cannot bring harm to Tregaron. Our people are in danger. Give me that gem!” His stone glowed and Lailoken felt the warm sensation again.

  The dragons moved in closer, roaring and clawing at the ground.

  Give up this madness! Lailoken heard in his head. It was Etain!

  “Get off me!” Jor shouted. Lailoken turned and caught a glimpse of Jor fighting off the guards. She lunged at one, piercing his midsection with her sword. He groaned and fought back. Jor kicked him and pushed him off with her sword. The other guard tried to help, but she kicked him away. Then she withdrew her sword and swiftly spun, avoiding the other guard’s attack and severed his head from his neck. It flew in the air, screaming, and landed near the foot of one of the smaller Garnet dragons.

  Etain roared loudly, beating her wings, and rose up on her hind legs.

  Enough! This must end now!

  “Give me the gem! Hurry!” Myrthyd said to Lailoken. He felt the gem vibrate and warm in his pocket.

  No! Etain howled in their minds. The sound was so loud that Lailoken pressed his hands against his ears to try to silence it.

  “Now, slayer! Give me the Blood Stone!” Myrthyd waved a hand and Lailoken felt the warmth press against him again.

  Your spells have no effect on him, Lailoken heard Etain say in his head.

  Myrthyd peered at the large dragon. “Very well.”

  He turned to Jor. “Get the gem for me. Kill Lailoken,” he said, his stone pulsating. Jor shook then lunged at Lailoken. He fell to the side, rolled, and jumped to his feet where he held his sword in front of him.

  “Jor, stop! He’s using a spell on you! Resist him!”

  “He needs the gem. I’m told to give him the gem,” she replied. Jor snarled and attacked.

  Myrthyd moved back from the fight, turning his attention to the dragons around him.

  Your evil ways are done, Lailoken heard in his head moments before Jor struck at him. He parried the blow and knocked her to the side, but her fury intensified and she righted herself and went after him again.

  Stop this! Let go of her mind! Etain screamed in Lailoken’s head. Myrthyd must have heard it, too, as he swatted at the air.

  The Kull let loose a volley of flames at the dragons, but they were weak strands that dissipated once they struck the thick hides.

  Jor growled. She sliced at Lailoken and he parried the attack. Swinging her sword back, she caught his leg and pulled, the blade tearing through his pants above his boots and biting into his flesh. Lailoken fell to the ground clutching his leg.

  “Jor, stop! It’s me!” he yelled. She gave no response.

  “Kill the slayer and bring me that gem!” Myrthyd yelled, motioning with his hands. “The Drakku must pay for what they’ve done to our people!”

  The smaller Garnet dragons leapt into the air and breathed fire down at Myrthyd, the flames circling the young Kull Naga.

  Do not kill him! Etain screamed, her voice reverberating inside Lailoken’s head. Her voice, welcoming yet distant, forced his attention away from Jor. When he looked up, she stood above him.

  “No, Jor! Please!”

  “I must give him the gem.”

  No! Etain screamed.

  Jor slammed her sword into Lailoken’s chest, pinning him to the ground. He screamed in agony. The blade slid through his body, the metal piercing his flesh and his insides. It was the most horrific pain he’d ever felt.

  Sound drifted away. Thoughts of Alushia pummeled his brain. Images of her as a young girl, Brida at her side, frolicking through fields comforted him. Etain, his lovely Etain, dancing during the summer celebration and giggling, always giggling. Darlonn and Jor, the three of them united in purpose and fulfilling their duties. Mugs of ale. Friends. Laughter. Blood. Dark crimson, thick and warm.

  He felt a tug at his chest and barely recognized Jor reaching into his cloak. The gem, he thought. She pulled it free and turned to Myrthyd. He walked through the flames, unharmed and smiling.

  “You’ve done well, my dear. Now be gone. You are of no more use to me.”

  The dragons circled in the air, their loud roars bursting in Lailoken’s ears.

  Leave him! The gem is too powerful! he heard Etain say in his mind. Flee now! We will have our time!

  “Etain,” he tried to say, but the words wouldn’t come. Warmth spread across his body. Menos. Alushia. Etain.

  Lailoken closed his eyes and dreamt of death.

  CHAPTER

  Forty-Two

  Lailoken stumbled in darkness, aware only of his feet striking a solid surface. He was alone. Nothing felt real yet it was all he had.

  Where am I? Etain, what happened to you? What did the Drakku do to you?

  He walked carefully forward, concerned that he’d strike something. The blackness was oppressive as it bore down on him.

  A distant light called to him and he froze. It was the first thing he’d seen in this strange place. He then strode slowly across the unknown.

  A dragon’s roar broke the silence. He felt warmth and agony.

  Suddenly his chest exploded with pain and forced him to bend over, clutching at it. When the pain relented, he straightened and watched as the light grew larger.

  He heard a woman’s scream. Alushia? Etain? Jor?

  It was familiar, but his strained mind couldn’t piece it together. He was at the edge of understanding, but then it flew away from him.

  The light expanded quickly and he found himself standing on a windswept field with heavily wooded mountains in the distance. They were unfamiliar to him and called him closer.

  Overhead, a black streak caught his attention. A dragon with tattered wings flew by, leaving black streaks in its wake. Near the mountains, another black dragon did the same, leaving tiny lines of black behind it.

  “Who are you? What is this place?”

  The dragon ignored him. Reaching back for his sword, he found it was gone. Remembering the Blood Stone, he grasped his pocket.

  “No! The Blood Stone is gone!”

  He fell to his knees and sobbed. Alone and defenseless, he knew he’d failed to save Tregaron. By following his duties, he had given Myrthyd the means to unlimited power.

  The Drakku had lived and somehow
forced his wife to become one of them. The moment the thought crossed his mind, he knew it was a mistake. She had to have been Drakku when he met her. She took her human form to dupe him.

  All these years of searching for her, of slaughtering dragons in his quest to return her home and now…she was one of them all along?

  The Etain of his memories was a different woman. She was the love of his life, the flame of his heart. There was no way she was truly a dragon, yet…yet he heard her voice. The dragon spoke with her voice!

  The searing ache in his chest returned and he fell to the ground. The black dragon in the sky roared again but he didn’t care. His life was pointless now. The family he hoped to bring back together was now lost, never to reunite.

  He failed his family. He failed Tregaron. He failed Darlonn.

  The Drakku were the enemy. Myrthyd was the enemy. He had no one left to trust.

  The fields shifted and darkness swallowed him. The dragon roared again and then called out a name, a word he heard Myrthyd speak—Nightwraith. He had unleashed a beast with powers over halflings.

  Alushia!

  All went black and his mind went silent.

  Then, in a whisper, he heard a voice.

  I’ve got you, my love. You’re safe.

  BOOK TWO

  Dragon’s Blood: Curse of the Drakku Book Two

  A fractured world reveals a bloody truth.

  Lailoken’s past haunts him. Kidnapped from his homeland, he’s angry and ready to kill. But a mighty Garnet dragon presents a problem he cannot ignore.

  Awakening to the possibility he dedicated his life to evil, he struggles to accept his new reality. Will he choose the Drakku whom he’s slaughtered all his life or will he uphold his honor as a dragonslayer?

  Time is running out. The gray-souls roam once again and a dark force grows powerful. He must choose a side before the realm descends into chaos he cannot control.

  The future of Tregaron rests on his decision.

  Dragon’s Blood is the second book in the fast-paced Curse of the Drakku fantasy series.

  Available August 2019.

  Pre-order today!

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  SPECIAL THANKS

  Acknowledgements

  Thank you, dear reader, for your time spent with me. I hope it was entertaining and you come back for more. If you’d do me the favor of leaving a review, I would be ever so grateful.

  I’ve wanted to explore and create a fantasy world for a long time now. The name Lailoken is one I’ve used in gaming for over twenty years, and it’s in my Twitter name, too!

  The original impetus for this story is two-fold. If you’ve read my short story collection, Moments of Darkness, you’ll no doubt be familiar with the Nightwraith idea, as it’s one of the stories (though called Dreamwraith.) I wanted to build on the concept in this series.

  The second driving force was a shared world project I was involved in with twenty authors from around the world. We created stories in the same world to write a loose series. Sadly, it fell apart, but it got me started with this series. I’d personally like to thank fellow authors Mirren Hogan, Greg Aldredge, and Stephane Barr for all of their hard work in building this world, which I have now co-opted for my story (with their permission, of course!)

  I want to thank my family for their unending support. To my wife, Jenny, thanks for your love and encouragement when I want to throw it all away.

  My words are enhanced exponentially by the deft hand and sage advice from my editor, Jodi McDermitt. Thanks for all you do!

  My cover artists, MIBL Art rock! Thank you for your amazing work.

  A few readers were instrumental in helping me make the story better. Leland Lydecker, Tib Plants, and Simon Bleaken all gave me excellent advice and pointers…and let me know when things didn’t work! Your input was super valuable to me.

  Thanks again for reading. Look for Dragon’s Blood: Curse of the Drakku Book Two coming soon!

  About The Author

  Jason J. Nugent has been a paperboy, pizza maker, dishwasher, restaurant manager, promotional products sales rep, Chamber of Commerce director, and one-time BBQ champion. He has skated with Tony Hawk, had a babysitter with a serial killer brother, and is followed by rapper Chuck D on Twitter. He and his wife share a home in beautiful Southern Illinois with their son, two cats, and two dogs.

  He's the author of the thrilling young adult sci-fi series The Forgotten Chronicles (The Selection, Rise of the Forgotten, The War for Truth), and two collections of horror/dark fiction short stories: (Almost) Average Anthology and Moments of Darkness. More information can be found at jasonjnugent.com, where you can also sign up to receive monthly newsletters and new release alerts.