The Dragon King Read Online Free PDF Page A

Artie’s name.
    Artie smiled and his heart filled. He’d never felt like this. Never. Not back home in Shadyside, not in battle, not even when he’d put that school bully, Frankie Finkelstein, in his place.
    “That’s right, guys,” Artie said. “Welcome home. Welcome, New Knights of the Round Table!”
    There was more cheering and backslapping and hugs and smiles, as all of them were infected with the joy of having achieved a goal that not five months earlier had been unimaginable. As the noise died down, Kay found herself next to Artie and said, “We did it, Bro. We freaking did it.”
    “Yeah, we did.” He turned to the group. “We need to talk about what’s next. We’ve got to help Kynder, and we need to deal with Merlin, as much as I don’t want to.”
    “Aye, lad.”
    “And we need to open this King’s Gate thing, wherever it is.”
    “That we do, Artie,” Numinae said quietly, holding out a hand to guide Artie to his throne.
    “Great,” Artie said, following Numinae’s direction. “Everyone, let’s grab some Round Table pine and talk things over.”
    They sheathed their weapons and made their way around the table. As Artie walked to his throne he passed a simple stone chair pushed against the wall. It was so small and out of the way that he didn’t give it a second thought. But Numinae, who walked alongside him, said quietly, “Remind me later to tell you something important about that chair.”
    “Roger that,” Artie said.
    Finally he reached his throne. It was large but also very plain. Its rough finish was reddish brown and it had two simple flourishes: a blue velvet seat cushion and a plate-size circle cut out of the apex of the chair back. Inside this cutout was a lens of pale glass that caught the room’s meager light.
    Artie scooted between the table and the throne. He placed Excalibur on the table with a clunk. He grabbed the armrests and lowered himself onto the cushion.
    His heart filled even more. This was it. They were now King Artie Kingfisher and the New Knights of the Round Table.
    But as soon as his full weight rested on that ancient chair, the hall filled with the sound of a tempest and Artie’s banner whipped up and battered the air. The others gasped and had to catch their breath as a wind swirled through the room. What was happening? A high-pitched howl pierced their ears. It came from behind Artie, and he spun to look, half expecting to see the ghostly bodies of his long-gone parents staring down at him. Instead, he saw an opening in the wall behind his banner. Before he could say anything, a bright-green flash blinded all of the knights. Some raised their weapons, others their hands. But not Artie. Instead, Artie was being whisked into the air on invisible strings and dragged into an unknown portal.
    Artie reached out to try and grab something—anything—that would stop him. But nothing was there. He heard his friends calling out in desperation and caught sight of Sami bounding over the Round Table, his massive arms outstretched. The light grew very bright, and Artie yelled, but no sound came.
    And then, just like that, the world was dark.

3
IN WHICH ARTIE MEETS A FAMILIAR-LOOKING PERSON
    Blackness. Utter and complete. Artie’s body was suddenly weightless. It was like he was in a dream. . . .
    He tumbled through this featureless abyss, the thump-thump of his pounding heart the only sound he could hear. But he was not afraid. Because Artie knew with total certainty that he had just passed through the King’s Gate.
    He didn’t know how he knew; he just did. Like so much that had happened to him, it was magic.
    He drifted for an indeterminate amount of time.
    Then a loud noise came like a thousand doors opening all at once. Artie blinked as images appeared before him. A tree. A car. A television. A sword. An Xbox controller. A bird. A dragon. A waterfall. A thin blue line. A white stag. His sister’s red hair when it was still long. The Seven Swords. The