Dragon Blood 4: Knight Read Online Free PDF Page A

that?”
    “Yes.”
    Dominic stared at her a moment longer before he shrugged. “Come on then.” He led her through several more corridors, stopping in a room with about twenty kids. “Rec room.”
    Remaining by the door, Amber glanced around. There were several couches placed in front of a television at one end. Some kids were sitting in them, but there were more sprawled on the ground, using large cushions. At the other end was a kitchenette, three kids standing around talking. “How many families live here?”
    “None. During school term it’s like a boarding school.”
    “But some of those kids look really young.” Amber eyed two of the kids sitting on cushions.
    “Nah, they’ve been here a couple of years now. The youngest we’ve got at the moment is eight.”
    “Eight.”
    Dominic nodded. “Yeah.”
    “What age do you start here?”
    “Six.”
    “Six?”
    “Yes six. Do you have to repeat everything I say?”
    Amber shook her head, trying to imagine what it’d be like to leave home at six. “Don’t they get homesick?”
    “Knights do not succumb to weaknesses like that.”
    She didn’t know what to say. Her grandmother telling her daughter not to be weak and cry came to mind. Maybe there was no difference between the Knights and dragons. Other than one had the ability to shift out of human form. “So what do you do around here for fun?”
    “We learn to kill dragons.”
    “No, I mean after classes or whatever you call them.”
    “Killing dragons is fun.”
    She felt like rolling her eyes. Was he being deliberately annoying? “What do you do when you’re taking a break from learning to be a Knight?”
    “We never take a break from being Knights. We’re always Knights.”
    “But surely you do other stuff.”
    “We’re here to learn to be Knights. Isn’t that why you’re here? To learn how to become a Knight and fight dragons.”
    ‘Not exactly’ didn’t seem like the right thing to say to Dominic. Not when he had an expression that clearly said any answer other than yes wouldn’t be acceptable. Unless it was, hell yeah. “They didn’t tell me what to expect.”
    Dominic grinned. “No wonder you’re so confused. You’re going to love it here. In our weekend classes we learn different styles of fighting. All the mainstream classes are during the week until two p.m. and then we have more fighting classes every afternoon until six.” He gestured towards the kids in front of the television. “We’ve not long finished for the day.”
    “Why weren’t you in your fighting class when I arrived earlier?”
    “I had permission to leave the class early to greet you.”
    She almost felt like she should apologise. “Oh.”
    “But that’s alright. It was just a practice session.”
    “Okay.”
    “So did you want to watch some television before we go in to dinner?”
    She really didn’t feel like meeting anyone else and if she joined the group in front of the television, they’d probably expect an introduction. “What else is there to do?”
    “I could show you the library and you could pick out a book to read in your room.”
    “Uhm, okay.” Anything had to be better than sitting amongst a group of kids she didn’t know and had nothing in common with. Killing dragons wasn’t fun. She thought of Paili and Queran. Not in the least like fun.
    “This way.” Dominic led her down more corridors, pushing open the door of a large, book lined room. Bookcases took up every wall and there were several rows down the centre of the room. He gestured inside. “Help yourself.”

Chapter Four
    When Amber entered the room and started looking through the books, she found they were all about killing dragons and fighting techniques. She flicked through one of the books that talked about dragon anatomy and where they were most vulnerable. Maybe it’d help her be a better healer.
    “That’s a really good book,” Dominic said.
    “Thanks.” What else could she say? I hope you never get the