Dragon's Prize (Dragons Awaken Book 2) Read online

  Dragon’s Prize

  Maya Starling

  Maya Starling

  Contents

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Also by Maya Starling

  Connect With The Author

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2017 by Maya Starling

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Published by Maya Starling

  Cover design by Panoptic Book Services

  Cover image © by Borna Zezelj

  Edited by Mihaela Marija Perkovic

  Proofreading by AnaMarija Abramovic

  ISBN: 978-953-59366-3-3

  Created with Vellum

  For you. The reader. Smile.

  Be yourself.

  Don’t try to be someone else, because you are awesome and beautiful just the way you are.

  Be yourself,

  and strive to be the best you can be.

  Everything will be alright.

  Acknowledgments

  Again, the acknowledgments. Why do we have to write these? Ah, yes, because we, authors, never get this far on our own. Behind every author there’s a horde of people, and mine are: Gitte, Nat, Mihaela, Anamarija, G., Kitten, Kirsten, Borna, Andro and of course, my wife Z.

  Thank you

  Chapter 1

  Kaden’s eyes popped wide open. He jerked up, sucking in an excruciating breath. Tremors racked his body, a burning ache spreading through his limbs. Shallow, labored breaths filled his lungs with air. At the sudden movement and sound, the wolf cub at his side jumped back and crouched in a defensive position.

  Kaden’s heart beat erratically as he sat looking around in a daze. The trees blurred, the grass soft beneath him. Memories dissolved as he tried to grasp them. What happened, where was he?

  A whine to his right. A wolf. Pup! He remembered then… He recalled the day the curse was cast upon him. And the night he had saved Olivia, his love, from wolves in the forest. Olivia! His chest tightened at the thought of the young noblewoman who had stumbled into his treasure cave and changed the course of his destiny. Brave and beautiful, she was the one to offer him friendship, the one to bring light to his darkness. She reminded him how it felt to care for someone, and taught him to love again. And just as he’d started to live once more, he had to die to save her freedom. Damnation! Why had that damned prince found them?!

  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, gathering his thoughts. The pain hit him then, the like of which he had never felt before. Getting wounded hurt a lot. Dying hurt even worse. But being alive again hurt the worst. He gasped as the pain spread from his core, up his spine, over his shoulders to the tips of his fingers. He shivered. His ring finger throbbed, dripping warm wetness. Sucking in another deep breath through gritted teeth, he raised the hand to inspect it.

  “Shit!” It came out as a croak. One of his fingers was missing! And all of his claws! He examined the rest of his naked body. His human body. Human form. Two legs, two hands, no wings! No scales, only soft skin, not as damaged. He had managed to heal some before becoming a man again. The deep cuts Prince Magnus had left when piercing his wing were just shallow wounds on his human back, although they still hurt.

  Kaden let out a laugh, his eyes moistened with tears of joy, and of pain. Soon, he no longer shook with laughter, but with sobs. Joy blended with pain, overwhelming him. The pain in his missing finger brought him back. Blood was oozing out to the rhythm of his fast heartbeat.

  A lick to his finger focused his attention. He needed to stop the bleeding. He groaned.

  Another lick. Pup was watching him with concerned eyes. The little wolf whimpered, licking the finger in need of dressing. Kaden took the rope that was still hanging around the wolf cub’s neck, and petted the animal.

  “Thank you!” he croaked, unused to a human throat. The wolf sat down behind him. Kaden reached for a piece of branch nearby, fighting against every twitch that tried to ravage his body with onslaughts of pain. He wrapped one end of the thin rope around the wood, and the other end around the stub that was left of his ring finger. Deep breaths! Deep breaths! He put the wood into his mouth and pulled tight. Finger burning and jaw aching, he tightened the rope as hard as he could. Pup’s howl of sympathy joined his muffled scream.

  Taking a couple of deep breaths to calm himself, Kaden then tied up the rope, stopping the bleeding. Exhausted, he leaned back against Pup. The little wolf lay down, serving as a pillow. Kaden closed his eyes and let numbness take over.

  A sharp pain burst in the back of his head, and a thud resounded in his ear. He groaned as his head met the hard ground. Turning to the side, he caught a glimpse of Pup dashing into the forest. The setting sun was turning the sky a darker shade of blue. Pain pulsed through his stump. I have to get moving.

  He rolled over to his knees and paused to let out a breath he hadn’t noticed he had been holding. Teeth gritted, Kaden stood up. As soon as he took his first step, he stumbled forward, and crashed face first into the dirt. He groaned, half in pain, half in frustration. Remember, Kaden, you’re human again. You need to move like one. Only two legs, no tail, no wings.

  He turned onto his back again, and stared through the trees at the darkening sky. He would need to learn how to walk before he could do anything. How am I going to do this? Kaden brushed his uninjured hand down his face, hoping the motion would also wipe away the agony and depression settling deep inside him. Thoughts of Olivia eased his inner pain. Now, he could finally tell her the truth about being cursed to live forever as a scaled monster that cannot stop stealing, incurring the wrath, fear and hate of all intelligent beings, sentenced to a life of misery and loneliness. The tri-fold curse cast by Lilith, whom he once considered a friend… The curse had vanished with his dragon body. Olivia would understand.

  The last thought brought a fleeting smile. Feeling a gentle nudge against his hand, Kaden looked to the left. “You’re back. Not planning on leaving me anytime soon, eh boy?” Kaden reached out, stroked Pup’s fur and tried to cough out the scratching in his throat. He realized how thirsty he was.

  Pup got
closer and nudged Kaden’s side.

  He grabbed the wolf’s fur again and held on tight, helping himself roll onto his knees. Pup endured, emitting an occasional whimper.

  With Pup’s help, Kaden crawled to the nearest tree. He used it as support to stand up on shaky feet. Once he found his footing, he held tightly onto the trunk. Fighting the dizziness, he pressed his face against the rough bark, much like Olivia used to press her face against his scales for comfort. The thought of her was just the motivation he needed. I have to find her. I have to make sure she is safe.

  The wolf cub sat next to his feet, waiting.

  Kaden cautiously pried himself from the tree. He now held onto it only to keep his balance. The pain, he was slowly getting used to. It was still there, throbbing in the background, but it was easier to push through now. Braced for another failure, Kaden took a step, and stumbled to the next tree.

  Stumbling from tree to tree with Pup leading the way and occasionally helping him not to fall face first into the ground again, Kaden relearned to walk. He had no idea where he was or how to get to his cave. He let Pup show him.

  By nightfall, a heavenly sound reached his ears; water murmuring, cascading over the rocks down the mountain. Their stream. He could barely restrain himself from speeding up, knowing he would surely fall on his face again. He did not reach the stream as fast as its sounds reached him. Huh! Some dragon must still reside in me. Or did I completely forget what it’s like to be human?

  When he finally fell to his knees next to the water, he lapped at it. He washed his face, scrubbing some of the blood and dirt from his bare body. Once done, he lay on the soft grass, panting and exhausted. He studied the stars, and with the stream next to him, he knew where he should be headed next - downstream, to reach the spot where Olivia had taken her bath. Once he was there, getting back to the cave shouldn’t be a problem. That was, if he lived through the night. He had to go back and see if Prince Magnus and his men were there. If Olivia had managed to get away.

  “Olivia…” Her name rolling off his tongue sounded like a prayer.

  Kaden turned to lie on his stomach, enjoying the feel of soft grass beneath him. He tucked his right hand under his head, while his left rested next to his face. Even though it was spring, this high up in the mountain the temperature dropped during the night. A chill breeze caressed his skin. He shivered. He couldn’t even move to curl up into himself. He fought to stay awake, afraid of falling asleep. Thankfully, Pup had other ideas. The little wolf laid next to Kaden’s shivering body, offering his own heat to help Kaden make it through the night.

  Chapter 2

  “Don't be such a prude, Delilah!” Lilith said when she saw her daughter sitting at the table, blushing profusely at the sight of a shirtless man following behind her mother. “It’s just sex.” The witch shrugged.

  Delilah had spent the last half hour sitting at the table of the small cabin, while her mother “entertained” the ranger in the other room. It was payment for their stay in his cabin, although Delilah suspected her mother hadn’t minded that sort of payment one bit. Lilith was usually able to persuade people to her cause quite quickly, either with her charming ways or with the help of some magic. Delilah knew her mother was saving her magic, garnering it for something bigger. She wasn’t willing to waste it on someone as unimportant as this ranger.

  “Maybe I can teach her a thing or two, have some fun, eh?” the man winked at Delilah as he paused in buttoning up his shirt. Even though she appeared tired, with dark circles under her eyes, he was sure some time with him would make her feel better.

  “No!” Lilith was fast to respond, saving Delilah the embarrassment of answering the lusting ranger. “I’m saving her for someone special, going to mix some royal blood into the family line. She is going to bear me a granddaughter someday, hopefully soon. She’ll be named Lucia.”

  Delilah’s eyes widened in shock. She had no idea her mother had made such plans for her, even going as far as choosing the name of her future child and naming it after Lilith’s dead twin sister. Delilah was not ready for that. She was barely growing into her womanhood and the thought of bearing a child frightened her. And the conception part… Delilah shivered. She was afraid she wouldn’t be a good mother. She knew the way Lilith had raised her was not a good example to follow.

  “Don’t give me that look, daughter. We’ll talk about our plans later, now is not the time. Go on and get some sleep. We leave early in the morning.” Lilith shooed Delilah into the room she and the ranger had just vacated.

  When Delilah stepped inside with her belongings, the door shut behind her. She jumped at the sound. She studied the room, which was as simple and as bare as the rest of the cabin. Looking at the bed as if it were the bearer of the plague, Delilah made her way toward the window, setting her backpack on the floor underneath it. Outside, she only saw darkness and her own reflection in the windowpane. The trip was taking its toll on her. Diverting her attention from the window, she pulled the curtains closed, afraid of what might jump out from the darkness. This forest wasn’t the one she knew and had grown up in, and she feared the unknown. It was all her mother’s fault.

  Delilah turned around with a sigh. The room was illuminated by a lonely lamp. On the bed against the right wall, the sheets were still rumpled. It was a disgusting thought, having to sleep on a bed where her mother had just… Delilah raised her hand, pointed at the sheets and they levitated towards the fireplace. She checked the door, which was on her left and still shut. Good! Her mother wouldn’t see her practicing magic, even though levitating light objects was among the basic things she had learned from Lilith, and actually mastered. She snapped her fingers and the sheets were aflame in the fireplace. Delilah then added a few logs and the fire burned steadily.

  She eyed the bed with distaste; she would not sleep on it tonight. Walking over to the closet which was next to the door, Delilah found some blankets inside, folded on the bottom shelf.

  After she finished arranging her makeshift bed in front of the fireplace, she settled in for the night. There was only one thing left to do. She listened for the sounds from the other room and when she heard none, she took out her lucky charm. At least that was what she told her mother it was. It was a piece of wood with an intricate sign etched into it; a sign that had come to her in her sleep.

  Grasping it in her hand she spoke, “Shanaya Tok.” The piece of wood disappeared and in its place there was a beautifully crafted journal, also used as a spell book, with the same sign protruding from the leather cover. If her mother were to find out about it, Deliliah would be in a world of trouble.

  Opening it gently, Delilah leafed through her words and doodles. Those always made her smile. When she reached her last entry, from the night before, she read it first before writing about today.

  My dearest book,

  I finally found the time and privacy to write. Mother has us moving at a frantic pace. After she felt the curse break (which saved me from another tongue lashing), she panicked and frantically started packing, ordering me to do the same. I had no choice but to comply… as I always do. We left our cabin in a hurry. Under the pretense of leaving my other spell-book behind, I managed to quickly go back and let the poor animals out of the shed. Who knows when we might be coming back… or if we ever will. I just wish I had more time to heal the poor creatures. I hope they managed to get away alright.

  I caught up with mother and luckily, she didn’t suspect a thing. She was too distracted by being mortal again, so she said. I don’t know why she would want to live forever. It might seem appealing at first… but when I think about it… If life is what this is, it is boring. And if it did by some miracle become more interesting one day, if I met my loving prince or a brave knight who would save me from mother… I wouldn’t want to live forever after he died… and what about my children? After learning everything there is to learn and seeing everyone I love die … what would be the point?

  I digress. Mother found out that the Pri
nce himself had left and gone after a dragon a few months back, so of course, we went straight for the Royal Palace. Only my mother could do that, march in like she owned the Palace. Everybody fears her, and for good reason.

  We found out that the King was actually quite ill and that a regent had taken over temporarily, at least until the Prince comes back. They had sent word after him. Mother left a potion for the King. A simple cough potion, I knew by the color of it… it was pinkish… kind of like… like… I cannot think of anything pink at the moment…so… It is pink, and it tastes rather nasty. I had to drink it once, so I would know to recognize it. It is sweet, but a sickly kind of sweet with a very burpy aftertaste. I had to nibble on mint leaves the whole day, it was that yucky.

  Where was I… AH! Prince Magnus. Yes.

  We found out he was somewhere in the Western Province and mother had a premonition that he was involved in the breaking of the dragon’s curse. So of course, we headed west, hoping to meet with the Prince on his way back. Maybe he’s as beautiful as I heard… and as charming… maybe he’ll take me away from mother so I can finally be free.

  I have a confession to make… my magic is growing stronger, but not the one mother has been teaching me, with the written words, spell components, potions and brews… I never had the concentration for that, my mind always drifting, daydreaming of what ifs… no… this is the magic that feels like it’s coming from inside me, flowing through me. What does it mean? It’s scaring me… I don’t want to become like mother. I’ll just…

  Her entry had been abruptly stopped there. Lilith had burst into her room and Delilah was forced to hide her book under the covers. And then later, when her mother was asleep, she had surreptitiously turned it back into the talisman.

  Delilah sighed. She couldn’t believe how much her life had changed in such a short time. She wondered what was ahead of her. How her life would unfold, what challenges would be put in front of her. The biggest one obviously being her own mother. And she couldn’t stop fretting about the new magic growing inside her.