The Onyx Dragon Read Online Free PDF Page A

the digit appreciatively.
    As the Dragons descended in a great kafuffle of wings and a blast of wind and dust, Pip spied Casitha and Mistress Mya’adara slipping into Master Kassik’s rapidly overcrowding office. Briefly, through the doorway, she marked her three Jeradian trees. Great. No escape.
    Mya’adara tossed a key into Pip’s lap before finding her seat. “Yah can free yah friends–Ah use the term loosely–when they’ve laid down a meaningful stretch of humble-rug.”
    Pip blinked at the Mistress’ phrasing.
    Opposite, Kassik stood to greet Casitha, a pretty Fourth Year student who had recently become his Dragon Rider, only to have her boot him firmly in the right shin. “No burning my paintings when you’re in a mood, Dragon,” she greeted him acidly.
    The Master’s eyes bulged as though he had been made to swallow his own fireball.
    Pip smothered a chuckle behind her hand as his apology turned into a tender kiss. If ever there was rightness in the Island-World, their romance embodied it. Kassik had been so determined to maintain propriety. He was Master of the Academy. Consorting with a student could not have been further from his thoughts when he had been ambushed by a spate of oath-magic, which swept them both off the proverbial Island cliff. Now they soared together. Beautiful.
    She wondered at Hualiama’s Gift, as the oldest scrolls called her magic–the magic which invited a Dragon and Rider to burn the heavens together. The Dragon-Rider oath was clearly made in the heart before ever a word trembled the air. How could this be? A meeting of destinies, of souls, even? A fate sealed by a form of words which released a power of magic unlike any other in the Island-World? This power which linked a draconic fire-soul to a Human soul so fundamentally, the bond gave a Rider the power to live decades longer than an ordinary Human life. Therefore, the oath was life-affirming, or even life-augmenting. This insight captivated Pip like the cool stillness of a forest pool.
    Casitha slipped into the seat beside Pip. She tossed her honey-dark curls irately. “Dragons.”
    Ay. Dragons. Pip grinned at Silver. Thou.
    The Silver Dragon’s muzzle whipped around so fast, he thumped Emblazon’s mighty flank and earned himself a nip on the neck by way of censure. An image of multiple overlapping rainbows flashed into her mind. Thou … uh, girlfriend.
    His mental stumble accompanied waterfalls of silver fire that swept across his eye-fires, a colour Pip had seen in no other Dragon. Mesmerising.
    Kaiatha pricked Pip’s leg with her fingernail. “Pay attention.”
    The Master waited for the Dragons, busy arranging themselves muzzle-to-muzzle while their enormous bodies fanned out upon the balcony. There was much shuffling and wriggling before every beast had his or her claws tucked in and wings not snagging upon each other, which was highly insulting in Dragon circles, Pip had learned. Lined up, the disparity in sizes amazed her. Tazzaral was massive, but Emblazon, the strongest of all Dragons, was one and a half times larger again–surpassing even his father, Blazon. Shimmerith made a svelte, gleaming contrast to her muscular mate, overshadowed but never outshone.
    Without warning, the Dragons all settled in perfect concert. Mental command, Pip wondered? Their eye-fires blazed against the deepening night.
    “The most sulphurous blessings of the Great Dragon, Fra’anior, be upon you, my Dragon-kin, and all gathered here today,” said Kassik, suddenly formal. “Three hours ago, I received a coded missive sent by messenger hawk from our agents at Tyrodia Island.” His deep tones carried to everyone present. Rising, the Master began to pace up and down, explaining, “Marshal Re’akka’s Dragonwings have descended upon the Crescent Islands in force, quartering the Islands in a methodical search for what we conclude must be information about the Order of Onyx. Emblazon suggested he seeks Dragon lore that will allow