Dragon Dodgers (Wounds in the Sky Prequels Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

key, then turned around to unlock her own room. Targon
didn’t move.
    “ What do you mean, my room?”
    “ Not tonight, Targon.” She said.
    “ Ok…” Targon’s unfailing
frown seemed to somehow get heavier. “Why?”
    Anweh was already midway into her
room.
    “ Because I don’t know what is going to happen once you have
all that gold in your pocket.”
    “ You know what’s going to
happen. I need to go home, Anweh.”
    “ Then take me with
you.”
    Targon sighed and squeezed his burn
scar.
    “ Anweh, I’m married…”
    “ No, you’re not. You told
me yourself, she’s with another man.”
    “ Because I’m away!” Targon yelled. “I’m a Surface Runner. I
haven’t seen her in years, of course she’s with another man.” He
exhaled loudly and regained his composure. “I have to repay them
for what I did. A man can’t just walk away from his wife and son.
With this money…” He hesitated. “The least I can do now is make
sure they never need for anything again.”
    “ Good for them.” She
said. Then slammed her door shut.
    Targon stood for a
moment, pushing back a curse, then turned away clenching his teeth.
He climbed the rock-carved staircase and punched the walls. He used
to make his own knuckles bleed with those same punches, in Awam,
years ago, in the months after marrying Shalim. It was as if he had
been trying to fight the city itself, the confinement, the rotten
taste of humidity, the never going anywhere. He had Ran the Surface
with his previous company, The Burning Striders, since he was a
little kid. And while leaving them for Shalim had been easy, soon
all he could think about was the Surface. The sprawling, bright,
wind shaken surface. No amount of Dragons could have changed his
mind. He had packed his things and left. The first years were
glorious, he had even founded his own Company, but then, as the
years passed, sunlight burned his skin and guilt burned his soul.
Surface Runs became longer, the wind became colder and daylight
became darker. On every city he visited, every wailing woman
sounded like Shalim, and every boy of every age ran and laughed and
cried like the son he had never even met.
    What choice do I
have?
    The thought was
interrupted by something around his neck. At first, he didn’t even
realize what was happening. When his mind finally caught up with
his senses, it was already too late. Two men were pinning him
against a wall, while a third one held a knife to his
throat.
    “ Out for a walk, Captain?”
Said the man holding the knife.
    It was
Serak’s voice. As soon as Targon’s eyes adjusted, he recognized him
and the other two – Daviel and Thaeus.
    “ Just stretching my legs,
boys. How about you?” He asked.
    “ Oh, just wondering if we really need you as our Captain.
You know, the usual.”
    Targon
glanced sideways at Thaeus. The boy was trying to look
fierce.
    “ Do you remember when we met? You were begging on the
tunnels of Aparanta. You ate your first piece of meat after I
recruited you.”
    “ And now you’re trying to get me killed.” Thaeus
said.
    “ We’ve been thinking about
those ten thousand Spades, you know.” Serak said. “It’s worth a lot
more than your talk. And killing a royal butler sounds a lot easier
than slaying a Dragon.”
    “ I’m not the only one who thinks that is a stupid idea,
Serak.”
    “ Why? The king knows who you are, but I can take care of
that.” He said, pressing his blade against Targon’s throat. “Then,
I can just change our name. We can be the Dragon
Ditchers."
    The other two laughed.
    “ That’s a good point.”
Targon conceded.
    “ This is what we’ll do.” Serak said. “You’re going to tell
me everything about that plan of yours and then I’ll decide if I
like my plan better. Because let’s face it, Captain, there is no
poison. Is there?”
    “ Fair enough,” Targon said. “But I need to reach into my
pocket.”
    “ Let him go, Daviel.”
    Targon ’s hand
disappeared into his jacket