Courage and the Dragon (Redwood Dragons Book 9) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Courage and the Dragon

  The Redwood Dragons, Book 9

  By Sloane Meyers

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Similarities to actual people or events are entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2017 by Sloane Meyers. All rights reserved.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Thank You For Reading!

  More Books by Sloane Meyers

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  Boom! The sound, much louder than a normal thunderclap, made Zoe’s brain feel like it was vibrating inside her head. Stunned for a moment, she gathered herself together and once again raised her magic ring high above her head.

  “Magicae superarma!” she yelled, just as another boom blasted out and she was knocked backwards. She landed hard on her tailbone and winced. The force of the explosion had been incredible, and she hadn’t been able to fully block it with her shield. But she had deflected the worst of it, and, other than a likely bruise on her backside, she’d remained unscathed.

  She couldn’t afford to rest on the ground for long, though. The wizard attacking her was circling her shield, looking for a weak spot and preparing to launch another blow. Zoe scrambled to her feet and watched the other wizard carefully, waiting until the split-second before he attacked again. With perfect timing, she yelled out, “Superarma terminantur!” and rolled out of the way. Her shield spell instantly ended, and the attack that had been intended to make a dent in the shield hit empty air instead. Zoe made her next move with lightning speed. She had to catch her opponent while his defenses were down, before he could gather his wits to launch another attack in place of the one he’d just wasted on her disappearing shield.

  “Magicae levitate! Magicae obstupefio! Magicae invado.”

  Zoe’s spells hit her opponent before he could react, and he howled in pain as he flew high into the air, stunned and suddenly burning from the heat of the fire that had leapt from Zoe’s magic ring and surrounded his body.

  “That’s enough!” a loud voice called on the other side of the room. “Zoe, let’s end this session here.”

  Zoe nodded at Peter, the old wizard standing several dozen feet away from her. Then she turned back to the wizard she’d just attacked, and canceled all her spells.

  “Levitate terminantur. Obstupefio terminantur. Invado terminantur.” She watched as the flames surrounding the other wizard instantly died out, and he fell to the ground, able to move once again. He was wearing a special suit of magic armor, which Peter had cast a protective spell on from across the room. Because of the armor, the spells Zoe had cast hadn’t caused as much damage to her opponent as they might have under normal circumstances. Still, a group of wizard medics rushed toward him to check for damage and administer any necessary healing spells.

  Zoe felt the beads of sweat that had formed on her forehead trickling down, catching on her eyebrows and trying to push their way through to her eyelids. She wiped at them with the back of her arm, and took deep, hungry breaths. Right now, her lungs felt like they would never again have enough air. She hadn’t noticed the cramping in her side while the adrenaline of the moment had filled her, but now that the training exercise was done, the sharp pangs in her side demanded her attention. She wished she could sit down and rest for a moment, but she felt the pressure of dozens of judging eyes upon her. She had never been one to care much about the opinions of others, yet even she couldn’t pretend that she didn’t want the approval of the Falcon Cross High Council. Not to mention, the approval of the Falcon Cross Military Commander, and the leaders of the Redwood Dragons shifter clan. This room was filled with VIPs whom Zoe could only have dreamed of meeting in person just a few weeks ago. Now, suddenly, she was something of a celebrity. And she wasn’t exactly comfortable with the spotlight that had been thrust on her.

  Zoe saw with relief that the wizard she’d been fighting was sitting up now. The medics had smiles on their faces and were laughing with him. That was a good sign. Zoe had been assured that, thanks to Peter’s protection from the magic suit, the wizard would not suffer any serious harm. She’d been encouraged to throw attack spells at him with full force, so that the High Council could see what she was capable of. But despite their reassurances, Zoe couldn’t stop herself from worrying. She’d fought in several large battles during her short time as a Falcon Cross soldier, so she was no stranger to killing people. But the idea of killing one of her own clan members, even by accident, was too much to take.

  Peter started walking toward her then, followed by the two dragon shifters in the room. Peter was the head wizard of the Falcon Cross High Wizard Council, and he was the one who had decided to have Zoe go through these special training exercises. Not only was Peter the highest ranking wizard in Falcon Cross, but he was also one of the most powerful wizards in the world. His word was as good as law around these parts. The dragons next to him, Knox and Noah, were equally as powerful. Knox was the head of the Redwood Dragons Clan, and Noah was his second in command. Zoe felt her stomach doing nervous flip-flops as three of the most powerful men in the wizard and shifter world walked toward her.

  She tried to stand a little straighter in her uniform. The dark black fabric, designed to offer ease of movement along with maximum protection from attack spells, fit her like a glove. The Falcon Cross military insignia was embroidered into the left chest of the uniform using gold thread, which gave the otherwise plain uniform a bit of glitz.

  “Nice work,” Peter said as he approached. He wiggled his white eyebrows, which matched his long white beard. He wore a dark purple robe today, and no wizard hat. Zoe rarely saw him outside of high court or official battles, where he always wore a hat. It was strange to be able to see the top of his head and the center part in his long white hair.

  “Thank you, sir,” Zoe said. She shifted her weight from foot to foot uncertainly, wondering if the heat in her cheeks was making them visibly pink. This whole situation made her unbearably uncomfortable.

  “I’ve watched quite a few wizards in action by now,” Noah piped in. “But I’ve never seen one move as fast as you did today. Peter was right. Your skills are exceptional.”

  Zoe felt the embarrassed heat in her cheeks growing as Noah spoke. She looked at her feet and mumbled out a thank you.

  “Zoe, stop looking at the floor,” Peter said. “That’s not how Falcon Cross soldiers stand in the presence of high military officers.”

  Zoe forced her gaze up. She wished she could tell Peter that she’d just as soon not be in the presence of high military commanders, but she knew that would only make him angry. Peter expected his soldiers to treat all superiors with the ut
most respect, and, certainly, Zoe should have been honored at the chance to be here. But she felt more confused than prideful at the moment.

  A few weeks ago, in the midst of an intense battle against the greatest enemy of Falcon Cross—an evil dragon shifter wizard named Saul—Zoe had accidentally performed an attack spell so powerful that many wizards alive today didn’t even know the spell existed. Zoe had considered her successful execution of the spell to be a fluke, but it had still caught Peter’s eye. He’d pulled her aside soon after they got back to Falcon Cross, and told her that he suspected she had greater magic powers than many of her fellow wizards. He’d wanted to test how far her powers went, and to train her to perform several high level spells, if she was capable. Thus had begun the longest two weeks of Zoe’s life.

  Every day, Zoe had reported to this training room. It was a special room, magically insulated to withstand the severest of attacks. Training in here was by invitation only, and when you were invited, you didn’t decline the invitation. Zoe had dutifully let the Master Wizards in Falcon Cross put her through a grueling regimen. They had seemed doubtful of her at first, looking skeptically at her short form as she walked in on the first day. But it hadn’t taken them long to change their tune. After her first thirty minutes with the Masters, they had grown excited, and had started feverishly asking her to perform dozens of spells she had never heard of before. She’d managed each one perfectly, and the Masters had spent the last two weeks shaking their head in amazement and calling her a miracle. Zoe, never one to enjoy excess attention, had tried to downplay their unbridled admiration. But their excitement only grew as the days passed, and soon they were declaring that Peter and the rest of the High Council had to see what she could do.

  Which was why Zoe had been asked to put on a show of sorts today for all of the Falcon Cross VIPs. She had no idea how the High Council was planning to use her skills in the fight against Saul, but she’d heard them refer to her several times as their “secret weapon.” The terminology made her want to vomit. She didn’t want to be a hero. She just wanted to be a good soldier, doing good work amongst the rest of the legions of soldiers in Falcon Cross. But the possibility of blending into the crowd was looking less and less likely as the days passed.

  “Your speed is unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” Peter was saying now. “Even though I’ve lived many years—too many, perhaps—I’ve never witnessed a wizard moving as quickly as you moved today.”

  Zoe forced her attention back to Peter, and silently reminded herself not to fidget. “Thank you, sir,” she said. She resisted the temptation to brush off Peter’s praise. Peter would not like to have his words contradicted.

  “Now,” Peter continued. “We’ve seen your speed and we’ve seen your attack skills. But I still haven’t had the chance to witness your use of explosive spells. Can you show us the Crepitus spell?”

  Zoe’s eyes widened. “In here? Are you sure it won’t destroy the training room? I know this place is reinforced with protective magic but still…the Crepitus spell is in a league of its own.”

  The Crepitus spell, in fact, was the spell Zoe had accidentally used during the battle in which she had initially impressed Peter. It was the most powerful explosive spell known to wizards, and even the master wizards who had trained her had warned her against using it in the training room. Peter, however, seemed unconcerned. He merely winked at her.

  “This room will hold, don’t worry. I’m protecting it with all of my magical energy. It might rock the walls a bit, but the building will hold.”

  Zoe blinked a few times. “Okay. If you’re sure,” she said. “But you should all probably step back as far as possible.”

  Peter nodded. “We will. Just aim the spell at the target on the wall over there, and let’s see what you’ve got.”

  Zoe gave Peter a small salute, and watched the old wizard walk back to the opposite side of the room with the two dragon shifters. As soon as they were safely against the wall again, Zoe turned toward the target Peter had pointed out. Taking a deep, shaky breath, she raised her magic ring.

  “Magicae crepitus” she yelled.

  For the briefest of moments, nothing happened, and time seemed to stand still. And then, Zoe felt a powerful rush of energy shooting out from her ring. The force of the spell threw her backwards onto the ground, causing her to land on her sore tailbone once more. She winced, and tried to get her bearings amidst the sudden cloud of smoke that filled the air. The whole room was shaking with the reverberations from the spell, and everything around her was a fiery haze. Zoe glanced behind her to make sure that none of the wizard council or dragon shifters had been wounded in the explosion, but she couldn’t see more than ten feet in front of her. She rubbed at the stinging in her eyes from the smoke, and startled a bit when several of the wizard training assistants ran toward the flames, already shouting out water spells so they could extinguish the blaze the Crepitus spell had caused.

  Zoe stood slowly, wobbling a bit as she found her footing. And then, through the smoke, she heard the sound of cheers, and of her name being chanted. Zoe looked down at her magic ring and sighed. The spell must have gone off quite well, earning her even more praise from the group gathered in the room. Zoe should have been pleased, but she had a strange, uneasy feeling in her stomach.

  This only meant more people would be singing her praises and taking notice of her. Zoe wished she could melt into the wall and disappear, but she knew that wasn’t possible. Even she, with all her mysterious magical abilities, didn’t know of a spell that would make people forget who she was and what she was capable of. She was just going to have to deal with the attention as graciously as she could.

  Chapter Two

  Grayson Pars took half of his chocolate bar into his mouth with one bite. The chocolate caramel goodness, with a few nuts mixed in here and there, eased his hunger a bit the moment it touched his tongue. It must have been some sort of automatic reflex. As soon as he tasted the food, his brain sent a signal to his stomach that food was being consumed, and that it could ease up on the hunger pangs, already.

  Hunger pangs weren’t the only thing bothering Grayson right now, though. His scowl deepened as he walked down the long main hallway of Falcon Cross Military Headquarters. He had just come from a meeting with the top researchers from the team of wizards searching for the powerful dragon ruby, and he had presented them with information he’d found that pointed to a fresh lead on where the ruby might be. The information he’d discovered was something of a breakthrough, but no one had acknowledged that. They’d all just nodded blandly and thanked him for his time, then moved on to the next bullet point on their list.

  Something about those blank stares and unenthusiastic nods had been the final straw for Grayson. He’d been working harder than anyone in his clan of dragon shifters, as far as he could tell. And yet no one seemed to notice him. He’d been passed over for all the good missions so far—missions to get the dragon amethyst, to scope out Saul’s headquarters, and to destroy the bat shifter cloning operation that Saul had been running out of those same headquarters. Grayson had kept his head down and worked his ass off, but everyone else got all the glory.

  Grayson took another, smaller bite of his chocolate bar as he continued to walk. His office was, of course, located at the very back of military headquarters. He’d been stuffed into the least prestigious part of the building and given a small desk that looked like it should have been retired thirty years ago. Still, Grayson had not complained. He’d been brought up to be loyal, and to be a tireless team player. He told himself that everything he was doing was for the good of the wizard and shifter communities at large, and not for the glory. Still, it would have been nice to be given a little recognition now and then. He would have appreciated the chance to go on an actual mission instead of being stuck on a never-ending research loop.

  His clan’s head dragon, Knox, was planning a mission to search for the dragon ruby, and Grayson desperately wanted to be the one chosen
for it. Knox felt that the research on the stone had gone on long enough, and it was time to take action, and Grayson agreed. Four ancient dragon stones existed, and the Falcon Cross Wizards and Redwood Dragons had already recovered three of them—the dragon emerald, dragon sapphire, and dragon amethyst. But the final stone, the dragon ruby, was rumored to be the most powerful stone of all, possibly as powerful on its own as the other three stones combined. If Saul got a hold of the ruby before them, the war might be lost for the side of good. No one wanted to think about how awful that would be.

  And yet, think about it they must. If they didn’t take the danger seriously, Saul would swoop in and take over. Grayson’s clan of dragons, along with the Falcon Cross wizards, were the only resistance standing in Saul’s way. Grayson had never laid eyes on Saul himself, but he’d been told the evil dragon wizard was an awful sight to behold. Grayson’s whole body filled with rage whenever he thought of Saul, and Grayson wanted nothing more than to be the one chosen to go get the dragon ruby and seal Saul’s defeat.

  The odds of Grayson being chosen for the mission were slim, however. Rumors were already flying that his clanmates Holden and Weston, who had just returned from raiding Saul’s headquarters, were going to be the chosen ones. Grayson, of course, loved his clanmates fiercely. But he was also fiercely jealous of them, and tired of them being the ones to get all the attention. His whole life, he’d been the one stuck with the less impressive missions. He’d been the one looked over for the most dangerous jobs. He never seemed able to grab his own share of the glory that all the other dragons in his clan had managed to secure.

  He was, at the end of the day, unremarkable.

  He was just as capable as the other dragons in his clan, but no one saw him that way. Grayson wasn’t sure why. Perhaps it was because he’d always been the quietest one in the group. Sure, all of the Redwood Dragons liked to cut up and tease each other now and then. But Grayson was never as loud or obnoxious as the rest of them. And he was never as demanding as them when missions were being passed out. Perhaps it was time to change all of that, Grayson thought as he slowly chewed his chocolate bar. His strategy of being noticed on the merits of his hard work didn’t seem to be working out too well for him.