Chronicles of Den'dra: A Land Torn: Ancient Powers Awaken Read Online Free PDF Page B

a possible Dragon Lord.” Rothlt settled down on his haunches and rested his chin on his crossed fore limbs.
    “ This leaves us with humans. They were the ones that abandoned her in the first place.” Ovesa mused. “How could we ever trust them with raising her?”
    “ We could bring a human female here to raise the child. We would be able to protect the child. The female could be returned to her kind after the child is grown old enough.” The third elder spoke quietly.
    “ And let her take all our secrets with her? That would not work. We could always dispose of her but that that brings its own problems.” Rothlt dismissed the idea. “The probability that we could capture one without killing her with fright or injury is slim at best. Besides that, humans are a fragile race. I have seen some fall dead simply from seeing us let alone being captured. Those we tried to capture took their own lives.”
    “ It does give me an idea though. Below the snowline is a new human settlement. We had no use for the valley they colonize so our patrols left them alone. The mountains on the other side of the valley could be said to be part of the Vaulwar Mountains. We could place the child in that settlement.” Iradaemi offered a new option.
    “ That might work if we severed their contact with the Braebach Empire.” Ovesa agreed with Iradaemi.
    “ Humans never do anything without gain or fear.” Rothlt stood. “We will give them both. Zhel, bring me a sack and our softest skins.” In short manner the child was securely stowed in the warm skins and protected from the frigid mountain air.
    The legends of the dragon lords had persisted for thousands of years. Few were the dragons that remained from that time and dim was the memory of the dragons that walked as men. Of these Rothlt was the only one not hibernating. The mention of the legend and the appearance of the great black dragon had been all that was needed to convince all the guard patrol of the plan. Rothlt, Iradaemi and three of the dragons from the patrol were now circling high above the aforementioned human settlement.
    *****
    Encer stretched his back. Today he had been helping one of the villagers in his town finish their house. Winter was coming and with it snows and cold winds. This valley was sheltered from the worst but it was still subject to the Vaulwar’s fury from time to time. There were no more than a couple dozen people that had been convinced to come. Most were young couples like the ones he helped today. They had come with the promise of land and rich soil. No one had farmed these lands for generations. Even before the dragon wars no one had felt comfortable this close to the draconic kingdom. Lesser sons of freemen with no hope of inheriting even a pitiful scrap of land comprised most of the company. There were a couple who dodged the law and had seized the opportunity to leave the Braebach Empire with their skins intact. In reality, they hadn’t left it, only were in a place that was rarely frequented.
    The reason that there were no previous inhabitants occasionally could be seen soaring through the sky on clear days. Encer had fought in the dragon war and had seen the majestic creatures up close. Only then they had been whirling creatures of death. After numerous battles he had come to an appreciation of the creature’s intelligence. The platoon he had been with had fallen into ambush on countless occasions. Their commander had maintained that the dragons were mere predators but Encer believed differently. On the day that a dragon had silently dropped out of a thick fog and slain the commander Encer had watched as the black creature had ignored any who fled and crushed any who threatened him. Encer had seen intelligence in the eyes of that dragon that day.
    He now hoped that his beliefs were not unfounded. After the main dragon campaigns had crumbled, Encer had left the army and returned to this valley. He had called his settlement Dragon’s Hamlet.