Old Dark (The Last Dragon Lord Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

dignity,” Tessa said. “Don’t act like this is a surprise. I’ve already told you my thoughts.”
    “Your thoughts were worthless, which is why I chose not to acknowledge them.”
    Tessa pursed her lips. She said nothing, and Dark hated the silence as it deepened between them.  
    “How long, Tessa?” Dark asked.
    “Months, maybe another year.”
    “Then there is time.”
    “It has been two hundred years since the curse,” Tessa said. “A few more months will not make a difference, My Lord. We are out of time.”
    “Thank you, Tessa,” Dark said, ending the conversation and turning to Norwyn. “Where are we with the rune?”
    “We’ve located the village.”
    Dark cocked an eyebrow. “Then what are we waiting for?”
    Tessa blocked Dark’s path. “You can’t run away from this.”
    “I don’t have the mental clarity to think about this right now, my dear.”
    “When you appointed me to take care of your parents, remember what you told me?”
    “That I wanted your brutal honesty, even if it meant overstepping your bounds. I’m aware, Tessa. And you are overstepping your bounds right now.”
    “Good. Then I know you’re listening. My Lord, you need to make a decision. It doesn’t have to be today. Or tomorrow. But it needs to be soon. Don’t think about revenge. Don’t think about yourself. Think about their comfort. That’s all I ask.”
    Dark spread his wings. “My parents are not going to die disgraced.”
    He flew out of the palace before Tessa could respond.

V

    Dark and Norwyn landed in a courtyard. The sky above was black, painted with orange flames from the vigil outside the palace walls. The crowd was singing hymns now, their voices swelling with each new verse. The smell of wax was still thick in the air.
    The courtyard was bare compared to the gardens—mostly dirt, dead grass, and matted clumps of clover. The palace’s bone walls reflected against the grass, adding to the desolate feel.  
    That was another aspect of his parents’ design: everything outside had the appearance of being dead—to instill respect and fear. Dark had no intentions of changing that anytime soon.  
    “She’s right, you know,” Norwyn said.  
    Tessa’s words were on Dark’s mind, but he didn’t want to think about them. “Not you, too.”
    “It’s what they would want. They’ll never tell you outright, though.”
    Norwyn was always talking about right and wrong. It made for a good advisor, but not a confidante.  
    The white dragon sensed Dark’s anger. But unlike Kimber, he said nothing and waited for Dark to respond instead. He did not back down, and he did not avert his gaze.  
    “What would you do?” Dark asked, reluctantly.  
    Norwyn exhaled, relieved that he could speak freely. “We have a lot of problems right now. Security issues with the assassination attempt. Monsters on the trade routes. The blights in the fields and the food shortage. Humans and their declining faith in our authority. Elven rebellions. And amidst all of this, we have your parents.”
    “You make them sound like liabilities.”
    “If you were the dragon lord, and you woke up one morning and your body was broken and without power, wouldn’t you feel like a liability?”
    Dark considered the question. Norwyn always had a way of drawing an ethical line, even when the situation was difficult to discern. His blue eyes radiated confidence, empathy, and sadness.  
    “I don’t know,” Dark said, finally.
    Norwyn started to say something, but he was interrupted by rapid footsteps in the grass.  
    “My Lord, My Lord, My Lord!”
    A young green dragon ran into the courtyard. He had a chubby, round face with warts on his neck, webbed feet and a tail that was unusually short. He got hiccups whenever he was nervous, and he reminded Dark of a frog. So Dark nicknamed him Frog; he never knew what the boy’s real name was.  
    Frog slid to a stop at Dark’s feet.
    “What is it, Frog?”
    The young dragon panted and