A Land Of Fire (Book 12) Read Online Free PDF Page B

the
wailing baby. She looked up and saw, hardly a hundred yards away, a dozen
fierce dragons, with huge glowing eyes, all turning and looking at her. They fixed
their eyes on her with delight and fury, and she could see that they were already
preparing to kill her.
    The dragons launched into the air, flapping
their great wings, so enormous from this close, heading her way. Gwen braced herself,
standing there, clutching the baby, knowing she would never make it back in
time.
    Suddenly, there came the sound of drawn
swords, and Gwen turned to see her brothers Reece, Kendrick, and Godfrey, along
with Steffen, Brandt, Atme, and all the Legion members, standing beside her,
all drawing swords and shields, all rushing to protect her. They formed a circle
around her, holding their shields up to the sky, and they all prepared to die
with her. Gwen was so deeply moved and inspired by their courage.
    The dragons bore down on them, opening
their massive jaws, and they braced themselves for the inevitable flame that would
kill them all. Gwen closed her eyes and she saw her father, saw everyone who
was ever important in her life, and she prepared to meet them.
    Suddenly, there came a horrific shriek,
and Gwen flinched, assuming it was the first attack.
    But then she realized it was a different
screech, one she recognized: the screech of an old friend.
    Gwen looked up to the skies behind her,
and she was overcome as she spotted a lone dragon racing through the skies,
hurrying to do battle with the ones approaching her. She was even more elated
to see, on its back, the man she loved more than anyone in the world:
    Thorgrin.
    He had returned.

CHAPTER SIX
     
     
    Thor rode on the back of Mycoples, the
clouds whipping his face, going so fast he could hardly breathe, as they raced
for the host of dragons and prepared for battle. Thor’s bracelet throbbed on
his wrist, and he felt that his mother had infused him with a new power which
he could hardly understand; it was as if there were little sense of space and
time. Thor had barely thought of flying back, had barely lifted from the shores
of the Land of the Druids, when he was suddenly here already, above the Upper
Isles, racing into the nest of dragons. Thor felt as if he had been magically
transported here, as though they had traveled through a gap in time or space—as
if his mother had launched them here, had somehow allowed them to achieve the
impossible, to fly faster and farther than he ever had before. He felt it was
his mother sending him off with a gift of speed.
    As Thor squinted through the cloud
cover, the immense dragons came into view, circling the Upper Isles, diving
down and preparing to breathe fire. Thor looked down and his heart dropped to
see that the island was already engulfed in flame, razed to the ground. He wondered
with dread if anyone had managed to survive; he did not see how they could
have. Was he too late?
    Yet as Mycoples dove down, came ever
closer, Thor’s eyes narrowed in on a single person, drawing him in like a
magnet as he singled her out in the chaos: Gwendolyn.
    There she was, his wife-to-be, standing
in the courtyard proudly, fearlessly, clutching a baby, surrounded by everyone
Thor loved, all of them encircling her and raising shields to the sky as the
dragons dove down to attack. Thor watched in horror as the dragons opened their
great jaws and prepared to breathe flames that Thor knew, in but a moment,
would consume Gwendolyn and everyone he loved.
    “DIVE!” Thor screamed to Mycoples.
    Mycoples needed no encouragement: she
dove down faster than Thor could imagine, so fast he could hardly catch his
breath, and he held on for dear life as she did, nearly upside down. Within
moments she reached the three dragons about to attack Gwendolyn, and with a
great roar, her jaw opened wide, her talons out before her, Mycoples attacked
the unsuspecting beasts.
    Mycoples smashed into the dragons, her
downward momentum carrying her, landing on their backs,