Dragonbound III: Copper Dragon

By Rebecca Shelley

Nightmares of destruction in his homeland set Raahi on a quest to save his family, his people, and his ancestors from slavery and torment.

He crosses the ocean with Kanvar and a Great Blue dragon. But when a hurricane separates him from his best friend, Raahi must team up with a Great Copper dragon to face his oldest enemy and overcome his greatest fears.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wonder Realms Books
• Release date: Jun 4, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301755929

Rebecca Shelley

Rebecca Shelley writes a wide variety of books—everything from picture books to spy thrillers.She especially likes to write about fantasy creatures such as dragons and fairies.Her children’s books are written under the Rebecca Shelley name.Her thrillers and other books for adults are written under the R. L. Tyler pen name.She also has two books out under the R. D. Henham pen name—Red Dragon Codex and Brass Dragon Codex.

Book preview

Dragonbound III: Copper Dragon

Rebecca Shelley

Copyright © 2013 Rebecca Shelley

Second Edition

Published by Wonder Realms Books

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any print or electronic form without permission.

All characters, places, and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual places or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Cover art © Fernando Cortés | Dreamstime.com

Interior art © Rocich | Dreamstime.com

Dragonbound

Dragonbound: Blue Dragon

Dragonbound II: White Dragon

Dragonbound III: Copper Dragon

Dragonbound IV: Red Dragon

Dragonbound V: Silver Dragon

Dragonbound VI: Green Dragon

Dragonbound VII: Gold Dragon

Dragonbound VIII: Black Dragon

Map

Table of Contents

Books in the Series

Map

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

About the Author

Acknowledgements

Dragonbound IV: Red Dragon Preview

Books by Rebecca Shelley

Prologue

Raahi clenched his fists and edged to the brink of the churning water.

He stood with his mother and father, the Great Stonebiter, on the banks of the River of the Dead. Twisted mordis trees bent over the water and trailed cadaverous roots into the current.

Raahi wished his thumping heart would stop so he could join his sister's silent body on the death boat as his father pushed it away from shore. A black shroud, adorned with gold vines and glittering diamonds covered Breena, but the splendid treasure from the heart of the mountain could not bring color to her dead face or breath to her frozen lips.

The deep current caught the boat and pulled it out to the center of the river with a slow grace. The scent of death carried on the wind.

Raahi's breath caught in his throat as he watched his sister float away.

His father knelt beside him and gripped his arm. It is only her body that leaves us, Raahi. Her spirit goes now to the Hall of our Ancestors. She is one with us and the mountain. While the Hall stands, those who have gone on before watch over us and this land.

Raahi pulled away from his father. His breath frosted in the chill mountain air. I don't believe you. She's dead. She's gone. Spirit and body.

Just because you can't see her spirit doesn't mean it isn't here. Father stood and adjusted his tool belt and the heavy blacksmith hammer strapped across his back.

I don't care what you say. I will not believe what I cannot see. Raahi pushed past his father and raced into the trees, climbing the steep trail away from the river. Rocks crunched beneath his sturdy boots. Mountain rocks—the foundation of life, the bringer of death in the mines and above ground. A landslide had taken Raahi's sister. A mass of rocks tumbling unexpectedly onto the High Trail where she'd gone to take supper to their father in the mine.

Father, Raahi said, if our ancestors really watch over us, why didn't they keep Breena safe? How could they let her die? But he'd left his father far behind at the riverbank.

The trail ended at the base of a cliff, but that didn't slow Raahi. He'd been climbing rock faces since he'd first been allowed out of the stone hut where his family lived in the village. He hauled himself up the gray shale, hand and foot, moving swiftly so his father wouldn't catch him. He had to get away and stay away for a while until his anger cooled. He didn't stop until he found a ledge, overgrown with prickly vines that grew in front of a low cave. He pushed through the vines, unhindered by the thorns that tore at his leather clothes, and ducked into the cave.

The rocks sheltered him like a giant hand. The Rocks, foundation of life, bringer of death. The ancient chant marched through his mind. The bitter taste of shale clung to his lips. As long as he remained on the mountain, the rocks would be part of him, and he a part of them. Muscles like stone. Body like iron ore. Blood like veins of silver and gold.

Why? he screamed at the dark rocks. "Why Breena? You could have taken anyone. Why my sister?"

His voice came back to him in a mocking echo. Why, why, why?

Raahi slammed his fists against the uncaring stone.

The rocks hissed and rattled.

Raahi spread his hands and lifted them away from the stone. Fear took him. From the depths of the cave, a dragon head appeared, a Great serpent with jaws made for crushing rock. The dragonstone in its forehead glowed the color of burnished copper. Raahi yelped and bolted from the cave, but the serpent's front claw shot out and caught his leather tunic, dragging him back.

A man appeared at the dragon's shoulder. Sunlight glinted off his scaled armor, which rippled over his muscled body as he stepped toward Raahi. Karishi, the Naga Lord of the mountain, lifted an armored hand.

Raahi screamed and thrashed to get away, but the dragon claw tightened on his tunic without touching his skin.

Hold now, the Naga's voice flowed like molten silver. Little Raahi, what good does it do to ask a question and run away before you get the answer?

Raahi stilled. The scent of polished copper hung in the air. My Lord, Raahi said. Forgive me, I . . . How could he tell the Naga Lord that his sister had laughed with him in the mornings and sung him to sleep at night? That she had taught him to break rocks and climb and hunt for geodes? That she had taunted him playfully less than an hour before the rocks had crushed her body? That he felt his own soul had floated away with her on the River of the Dead?

You loved your sister, Karishi said. I see that in your mind. It is hard to lose those we love.

You killed her, Raahi blurted out before he could stop himself, then he clenched his teeth in terror of what the Naga would to do him for saying it.

I didn't kill your sister. Neither did Tazeran. Karishi rested his hand on the dragon's shoulder.

Tazeran inched forward so more of his lizard-like body and low wings grew visible in the light from outside the cave. Acid dripped from his mouth.

Raahi buried his face in his arm and wished he could turn to stone.

The rocks give life and take it away. Taz and I don't control this mountain. We just live here, the same as you do. But you asked why your sister was taken. I can give you an answer. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was an accident. The rocks fall at no preordained command. Wind and weather wear them away. The mountain is always moving and changing because of these forces. You cannot control them or predict them. There is no why. It just happened. Karishi rested a hand on Raahi's shoulder. Come with me. I have something to show you.

The serpent's claw withdrew from Raahi's tunic, and Raahi pulled away. He thought about trying to escape, but doubted he could move faster than the Great Copper serpent. And no one in the village would dare defy the Naga Lord.

Karishi patted Taz's shoulder, and the serpent slid back into the cave. Karishi followed, motioning Raahi to come behind him.

Raahi found himself in a low passage. If he were an adult, he would have had to bend almost in half to traverse it. Being young, he merely had to duck. Karishi ran bent over in front of Raahi and just far enough behind the serpent so Taz's tail wouldn't trip him as it whipped back and forth.

The tunnel led deep into the cliff face and then split left and right to follow the mountain along the length of the river. Raahi had never seen these tunnels before. The walls were smooth, as if the stone had been polished by the serpent's metal body passing through it for hundreds of years. It was not dug out by the villagers with their picks and chisels.

The hair prickled the back of Raahi's neck as he realized he had crawled into the Great serpent's burrow. He was surprised the serpent hadn't eaten him on the spot, and even more surprised that Karishi had shown himself. The Naga was worshipped by the villagers, but only out of terror of his powers.

Karishi only met with the village elders, though Raahi had seen his handiwork. Surely no normal man could fashion metal and cut jewels the way Karishi did. The merchants who came to the village would part with almost a years worth of food supplies for even one of his suits of armor, swords, or more artistic pieces. Ancient tales claimed that Karishi had saved the village from famine on more than one occasion and rescued people trapped in the mines from cave-ins even more often.

But Karishi was a Naga, and all men by nature avoided him.

If Raahi had not been so frightened, he never would have followed Karishi through the serpent's dark tunnel. Many passages led off deeper into the mountain, but Karishi led him straight along the path parallel to the river, never stopping though Raahi's muscles burned and his breath came in big gasps. He wondered if his parents were out looking for him. They had to be worried and could not know Raahi was with the Naga Lord.

If they had known, they would have feared for him even more than if they thought he was lost on the mountain with wild lesser dragons hunting him.

Raahi stumbled and fell and could not force his spent muscles to rise.

Hold up, Taz, Karishi said. I think we're moving a little too fast. You forget that humans can't run forever.

Raahi felt Karishi looming over him but could not see the Naga in the thick dark. He'd brought no lantern or torch with him.

Please, don't hurt me. I just need to rest.

Of course you do, Karishi's soft voice answered. Karishi helped Raahi sit with his back up against the side of the cave and pressed a water skin into his hand. Drink a little. Rest. We are almost there.

Raahi gulped the cool water until his stomach hurt from the sudden intake. Almost where? he got up the courage to ask.

You will see, as soon as you are rested enough to walk again.

I'm sorry I disturbed you. I didn't know that cave was an entrance to your lair.

Karishi chuckled. No one climbs that cliff. When the villagers come to the water's edge it is to mourn not to explore. But I don't mind a visitor now and then. It happens so seldom.

Is your serpent going to eat me?

Taz? No, of course not. He eats metal, not human children. You can probably guess by his color that he has a sweet tooth for copper, though I keep telling him he'd look magnificent if he ingested enough silver to tip the base of his scales with it.

A rumble that sounded almost like a laugh came from Taz who had stopped a little way farther up the tunnel.

Raahi handed the water skin back to Karishi. Are you going to take over my mind?

No. I can't help reading your thoughts, but I have no intention of interfering with them. You don't need to be frightened of me or Taz. We could be friends, if you choose not to hate us. Can you walk now? He helped Raahi to his feet.

My father would be furious if he knew I was with you. Raahi followed the sound of Tazeran slithering through the tunnel and Karishi's boots as they led off again, this time going slower.

By the Fountain, don't tell him. What I show you is for your eyes alone. You must promise never to bring anyone here except perhaps your own son to show him just before you pass down the River of the Dead yourself. The sound of dripping and gurgling water mixed with Karishi's words.

Raahi stopped. You didn't say anything about a promise. I can't give my word on something I don't even know what is yet.

Tazeran growled, and Raahi figured his life was about to come to a sudden painful end.

Now, Taz, Karishi said. Raahi has a point. He didn't ask to be brought here. You suggested it.

A copper glow flared to life from the crystal in Tazeran's forehead, and Raahi found himself standing with Taz and Karishi in front of an arched door made of obsidian, carved to show the peaceful spirits of the dead.

Raahi gasped and drew back.

You're right of course, Taz, Karishi said. We've waited long for the right person to bear this burden with us, and Raahi is more open-minded than the rest of the villagers. Still—

The copper light flashed.

Yes, I know. Just give me a minute to talk to him.

Tazeran hissed, pushed open the door a crack, and slithered inside, leaving Karishi alone with Raahi.

He sounds angry, Raahi said, shivering. He never should have run away from his father. He'd stumbled into a nightmare from which he wished he could wake.

No, he's not angry. Firelight flared to life, shinning through the crack in the door from inside the chamber. He's frustrated. And lonely. And . . . it doesn't matter. Not to you, anyway. You are not one of us, but you are all we have.

Karishi folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the stone. His armor was magnificent, beyond anything he'd traded to the villagers for food. Each small copper scale flexed and moved with him as if he too were a serpent and the armor were his own skin. Blond streaks highlighted his brown hair. His broad chest and muscles were those of a blacksmith and artisan of stone, but he was more than a head taller than any of the villagers.

Raahi blinked up at the Naga, feeling small and clumsy next to his refined elegance. What's in there?

"The answers to your other questions. I won't make you swear an oath before entering like