Dragons Box Set

By John Arthur Betts

This is a value priced box set which includes four complete books, three from the Dragon Queens Series and one stand alone for your pleasure.
Aria, Golden Dragon Queen
Dragon Queens Series, book 1
A kingdom ruled by Aria, Queen of Dragons is attacked and defeated by Dark Wizards. After one thousand years the Dragons fight back.
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Death of the Queen
Dragon Queens Series, book 2
At an Age of just over one hundred thousand years, Aria, Golden Dragon Queen is reaching the end of her physical life. The Dragon magic is already receding, but she has much work to carry out before she dies. The dark wizards will soon discover the weakening Dragon magic and start another war
***
Dragon Riders Return
Dragon Queens Series, book 3
Two hundred and fifty thousand years after the death of Aria, Golden Dragon Queen, the earth magic finds an unborn child strong enough to carry the full magic of the earth and sets in motion events that will lead to the return of the dragons
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Mia's Legacy
When a human colony spacecraft crash lands on a planet ruled by Dragons and populated by mythical creatures, they mistake the creatures rush to assist them as an attack, this mistake leads to years of war until a truce is forged by the Red Dragon, will it last, can they all survive.
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• Language: English
• Publisher: John Arthur Betts
• Release date: Jun 19, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310633355

John Arthur Betts

Enjoyment is writing fantasy fiction,Pleasure is spending time with my long suffering and wonderful wife

Book preview

Dragons Box Set

John Arthur Betts

Published by John Arthur Betts at Smashwords

Copyright 2015

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Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase another copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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This Value Priced Box Set contains three books from the Dragon Queens Series and one stand alone for your enjoyment.

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Aria

Golden Dragon Queen

Dragon Queens Series, book 1

John Arthur Betts

Published by John Arthur Betts at Smashwords

Copyright 2013 John Arthur Betts

***

A kingdom ruled by Aria, Queen of Dragons is attacked and defeated by Dark Wizards. After one thousand years the Dragons fight back.

***

Death of the Queen

Dragon Queens Series, book 2

John Arthur Betts

Published by John Arthur Betts at Smashwords

Copyright 2013 John Arthur Betts

***

At an Age of just over one hundred thousand years, Aria, Golden Dragon Queen is reaching the end of her physical life. The Dragon magic is already receding, but she has much work to carry out before she dies. The dark wizards will soon discover the weakening Dragon magic and start another war

***

Dragon Riders Return

Dragon Queens Series, book3

John Arthur Betts

Published by John Arthur Betts at Smashwords

Copyright 2015 John Arthur Betts

***

Two hundred and fifty thousand years after the death of Aria, Golden Dragon Queen, the earth magic finds an unborn child strong enough to carry the full magic of the earth and sets in motion events that will lead to the return of the dragons

***

Mia's Legacy

John Arthur Betts

Published by John Arthur Betts at Smashwords

Copyright 2013 John Arthur Betts

Acknowledgement

Cover design includes a photograph called Yosemite Winter by porbital, supplied by freedigitaldesign.net

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When a human colony spacecraft crash lands on a planet ruled by Dragons and populated by mythical creatures, they mistake the creatures rush to assist them as an attack, this mistake leads to years of war until a truce is forged by the Red Dragon, will it last, can they all survive.

***

Table of Contents

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Aria, Golden Dragon Queen

Prologue

Chapter 1-book1

Chapter 2-book1

Chapter 3-book1

Chapter 4-book1

Chapter 5-book1

Chapter 6-book1

Chapter 7-book1

Chapter 8-book1

Chapter 9-book1

Chapter 10-book1

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Death of the Queen

Chapter 1book2

Chapter 2book2

Chapter 3book2

Chapter 4book2

Chapter 5book2

Chapter 6book2

Chapter 7book2

Chapter 8book2

Chapter 9book2

Chapter 10book2

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Dragon Riders Return

Chapter 1book3

Chapter 2book3

Chapter 3book3

Chapter 4book3

Chapter 5book3

Chapter 6book3

Chapter 7book3

Chapter 8book3

Chapter 9book3

Chapter 10book3

Chapter 11book3

Chapter 12book3

Chapter 13book3

Chapter 14book3

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Mia’s Legacy

Chapter 1book4

Chapter 2book4

Chapter 3book4

Chapter 4book4

Chapter 5book4

Chapter 6book4

Chapter 7book4

Chapter 8book4

Chapter 9book4

About the Author

Connect with the Author

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Aria, Golden Dragon Queen

Prologue

Ten Thousand Years Ago

For ten thousand years the Dragons had protected man and beast against predators and evil, their magical powers made this land a haven of happiness and contentment. The Golden Dragon, Aria, Queen of all dragons looked far into the future and saw the darkness approaching.

With only fifty years before the evil started to encroach on this Utopia she summoned her royal guard, this consisted of twelve blue dragons and their riders, the Elite and most experienced of all.

She divided the land into twelve areas and gave each rider a dragon’s egg to hide and protect with their lives until such time that it was safe to emerge again into the light.

Protected by its own magic, each blue dragon and rider left the Queen for their assigned area and disappeared.

The Queen built a chamber beneath the mountain that served as their home and over the next 20 years filled it with eggs, this she protected with a powerful enchantment.

The Queen knew that if she did not survive the battles to come, each dragon that hatched would instantly have the knowledge and history of all that had gone before, but for an egg to hatch it must have a human rider born at the same time, the rider would have an instant mind link and would also know all the knowledge of the dragon lore.

Finally the day arrived when the evil king Petska with his dark magic attacked the borders of this great land, squadron after squadron of the brave dragons were overwhelmed as his dark forces took town after town until the final battle, the Golden Dragon Queen Aria was last seen sorely wounded, plunging into a deep lake, never to be seen again.

Legends say that both Queen and rider died on that fateful day.

Chapter 1

The darkness has ruled now for one thousand years, this once happy land shrouded in misery, the population treated like slaves with barely enough food to survive.

The families of the Dragon riders fled to the wastelands in the four corners of the kingdom but not before many were killed by the evil king.

The old king Petska long dead had passed the evil reign to his son, who was now succeeded by a pompous overweight and arrogant great grandson Gustav.

The dark magic although still strong had weakened through each reign as each son of the son considered himself more invulnerable than the last.

New wizards were trained every ten years by the old mage, nobody knows his age but they say he was old when he led the dark forces against the dragons always at the side of King Petska.

***

Chapter 2

Aria saw the last of her red warrior dragons destroyed as she was hit by a massive bolt of dark magic, her rider Jokim was unconscious, unable to maintain flight she shielded her rider and plummeted into the lake.

The ice cold water tore at her tattered wings as she sank to the bottom of the deep lake, struggling to breath she pushed off the rocky bottom towards a dark passage, with every ounce of remaining energy she clawed her way up the rocky tunnel, finally emerging in a large cavern, she heaved herself out of the water, not having much strength left she placed Jokim on a ledge shielded from the cold then collapsed.

The shield around Jokim would heal him and reduce but not stop the natural ageing process, but for every year that passed Jokim would only age one minute.

One hundred years passed, Aria slowly opened her eyes, her mind reached out and found Jokim, his body was restored to full health, she flexed her wings, stiff but repaired, the pain in her side where she was hit by the dark magic was healing slowly.

She was aware of the pain and misery on the surface of her land but the dark magic was far too strong, she reached further with her mind and checked all the eggs, they remained safe, stretching her mind to the edge of her kingdom she located the elite blue dragons, they were safe, one final thing she had to do, find the families of the riders, she found only half of them.

She listened and heard the stories her riders families told their children, they were frightened and poor but still spoke in the dragon tongue in the privacy of their own homes, these were in small villages scattered throughout the land.

Then it happened, an old lady sitting in a dark hovel called her family to her, Aria is alive I feel her touch a young boy, no more than twelve years old took her hand and said I know great gran, I feel her also but she is in pain and in a dark place, her rider is in good health but in a deep sleep, she hears us.

The boy’s father shouted at the boy, stop this nonsense boy get back to your chores Aria gently caressed the boy’s mind and spoke slowly, Ask your father to go to the root cellar and bring in what he finds, tell him it is from Aria to a family of the elite guard this the boy did, his father’s mouth dropped open, how do you know of the elite guard, it has never been mentioned Aria told me, please do as she asks father.

More to humour the boy than to belittle him, the father went to the root cellar knowing it was empty, he opened the door and was about to close it again when a sack caught his eye, in shock he entered the room and opened the sack, it was full of vegetables, he heaved it onto his shoulder and took it to the kitchen.

As his wife started to prepare a meal he returned to the boy and the old woman, Thank Aria for all of us, what can we do? the boy closed his eyes and thanked Aria, then he listened, Aria said quietly pass on my thoughts to all the rider families but carefully and quietly, regain contact with all of those that survived the darkness, tell them that at the right time the dragons will awake, wait for a rider to call after the birth of a child, this time is a long way off but will come to pass

The boy recounted what Aria had told him, the legend was born and the stories told to generation after generation of families.

Aria drew in her thoughts and then slept.

Two hundred years had now passed when Aria awoke, she was now fully healed, she laid her last two eggs and placed them safely in an alcove in the cavern, again she reached out with her mind, finding a mind that could hear her and she whispered let all the families know that Aria’s gift is in the root cellar.

She listened as the message was passed to all the families, each family found the gift and thanked her

Then she slept.

Every one hundred years this was repeated, after eight hundred years Aria awoke and felt a weakening of the darkness, when she passed on the gift this time all the families felt her warmth, word spread that the time for the dragons to emerge was drawing closer.

***

Chapter 3

One thousand years after that final battle Aria awoke with a start, every nerve buzzing, something was different.

Jokim slept, the cavern was safe and protected, why did she feel this way, her eyes rested on the two slowly rocking eggs, she felt both joy and despair, was it time? Was the darkness weak enough?

Aria reached out with her mind and found two families about to give birth, both babies were strong and healthy, one male, one female, yes they would be riders.

As the families were at different ends of the kingdom, Aria had to wake two of the elite guard, as the Blue Dragons awoke they were flooded with the events of the battles that raged one thousand years ago, Aria soothed them, they were given the location of the two new riders that were about to be born, Aria then turned her attention to the rocking eggs in the cavern, it was with great pride that she prepared for the hatching, soon she would need to revive Jokim.

The blue dragon Shanay in the West province searched the location Aria had given and found the unborn rider; she placed a protective shield around the house and then revived her rider Talgar.

Inside the small house husband and wife held hands as the intensity of the contractions increased, the wife’s mother fussed round the room making preparations for the birth, Calar felt his wife relax she looked into his eyes and said I feel something different, I still feel the contractions but I no longer have any pain her mother dropped a dish and spun round to look at her, do you hear a voice listen carefully she said, no I! Wait, who said that, somebody said relax be calm her mother sat heavily in a chair it is time she said softly, her daughter’s waters broke and a baby girl was born.

Calar looked on so proud to be a father, the baby opened her eyes, they all saw the reptilian yellow eyes that changed instantly to vivid blue normal eyes; they all jumped when there was a knock on the door.

Calar opened the door and saw a tall man wearing a leather coat, the man spoke in dragon tongue, I am Talgar of the Elite Guard, Aria sent me As if stunned Calar retorted in Dragon tongue welcome rider please enter the tall man entered the room, looked round take me to the child he said softly.

Hundreds of miles away to the East, Clarrisia commander of the elite guard, knocked on the door of a remote cottage, she was a petit blonde dressed in her blue dragon scale riding suit covered by a riders full length leather coat she could out fight and outwit most opponent’s, there was a mist in the air but it did not penetrate the shield around the cottage.

The door was opened by a large woman holding towels in one hand What, I’m busy Clarrisia smiled lightly I am Clarrisia of the elite guard, Aria sent me she stated in the dragon tongue, What, I don’t understand said the woman, a male voice from inside answered in dragon tongue, Welcome rider please enter, mother she is a dragon rider sent by Aria, let her in the woman tried to curtsy because it seemed the right thing to do and moved aside take me to the child said Clarrisia softly.

In the cavern Aria watched as both eggs hatched at the same time, she felt the telepathic bond form with the riders, she saw the knowledge transfer between dragon and rider but then she saw something she had never seen before, the transfer of magic, but this was from the riders to the dragons, a very powerful magic the likes of which rivalled that of the brown dragons, before she could stop it the young dragons transferred dragon magic to the riders.

Her thoughts reached the two blue dragons instantly their riders heard the warning loud and clear use caution, our new riders possess very strong magic, this must be trained correctly

At both East and West the old riders were taken through to meet the new riders, at each of the separate locations the old riders found that they could not approach, something was preventing them from getting any closer.

Aria felt the apprehension in the two young dragons, she looked at them and said look to the blues, the elite guard, you will see after a small hesitation the young dragons dropped their riders shields allowing the old riders to approach, words were spoken in dragon tongue that nobody else understood, both old riders told the new parents that they would return in the future and left.

The young dragons, one male blue and gold and one female red and gold, curled up by Aria’s feet and slept.

Aria gently revived Jokim from his deep sleep, she knew that she must send him to the new riders; he would be away for a long time.

Jokim prepared for the journey carefully, his golden dragon scale suit freshly oiled; this like most other dragon rider suits was made from the scales shed as a dragon grows and fused with dragon magic. His two swords forged in dragon fire slid easily into the scabbards on his back, six throwing knives, a small crossbow and quiver, and a long bow with quiver, each quiver held twelve arrows, he placed a pouch of food on his belt and was ready.

One moment Jokim was standing in front of the giant golden dragon Aria, the next second he was standing in a damp forest on the edge of a small settlement of four wooden barns and a small stone house, his mind searched out Aria, this is your family’s home, you are in the north district, if you require assistance I can awake two blues in your area, good luck Jokim and remember that I see all that you see

***

Chapter 4

The Evil King Gustav sat at the oak table in his courtroom having sentenced another beggar to ten years in the castle cells for daring to walk in front of his guard.

He picked up his goblet of wine where is that wizard that wanted to see me the sorcerer standing beside him beckoned to a small man in the doorway, the man in a dark robe ran forward and bowed to his King,

Sire, I come from the West Province, yesterday there was a ripple across the land that stretched to the eastern Province, I have never felt anything like it before, the king looked at his sorcerer, Is this something that concerns us Daaro, No your majesty, I have sent two patrols out to both provinces each one accompanied by a wizard to check for anomalies but I have felt no danger.

Return to your home and keep alert said the king, the small man backed out of the room still bowing and left.

King Gustav snapped Assemble the court of wizards now, bring them to the sanctum Daaro rushed out of the building to find all of the wizard court.

Two hours later King Gustav paced round the sanctum as the last wizard shuffled through the door, the old wizard closed and sealed the door with a wave of his hand, would you sit Gustav the court is in session growled the wizened old man as he lowered himself into a large padded chair and waved his staff over the black onyx table, an image of the whole kingdom appeared.

Daaro pointed to the west district it started outside the west of the kingdom and left by the eastern border his finger traced a line through the centre of the kingdom, but what was it said King Gustav, the old wizard took a long while to stand up, muttering about his knees, it can’t be magic, we would know, possibly the alignment of the stars, a young wizard cleared his throat could it be dragon magic the other wizards round the table laughed, they died over a thousand years ago, impossible said one, King Gustav pondered a moment then stood up nothing is impossible, set up a watch for any unusual events, I want to know if anything else happens, now get the door open I am hungry.

The court of wizards followed the king out and went their separate ways; the king had roast pig for dinner.

The watch tower was a cold place to be, this is where Daaro found himself at midnight, his turn to watch for the next eight hours, a small fire burnt brightly in the fireplace but any heat was taken by the icy wind, but the highest point in the castle gave him a full view of the kingdom, he linked his mind to the dark magic and watched with his eyes closed, he found nothing all night, nor did any of the others, After two months the watch was called off.

***

Chapter 5

Jokim stood in the mist for some time watching two children playing outside the house, he saw a woman come out of a barn with vegetables and enter the house, a large muscular man was chopping wood beside the house.

Jokim put on his brown full length riders coat to cover his gold suit then advanced across the field towards the house, he was almost across the field when one of the children saw him, she yelled at the top of her voice Daddy stranger both children ran into the house as their father turned and ran towards Jokim still carrying his axe, I am Jokim rider of the Golden Queen Aria he said in dragon tongue, the father stopped running and raised his axe in warning, I don’t know what you said but strangers aint welcome here, clear off, I am Jokim rider of the Golden Queen Aria" he repeated in his normal language.

The father lowered his axe, how is this possible, Jokim died over one thousand years ago when Aria was killed a voice in his head said I am not dead and this is my rider Jokim he is your kin Jokim smiled now do you believe he said as he opened his coat revealing the golden suit, yes, yes, come into the warm please he said guiding Jokim into the house.

The room was large and homely, a quick look round and Jokim noticed two children, mum and dad, two grandparents and two great grandparents, he took off his coat and laid it over the back of a chair, his gold suit glittered in reflected firelight and the glow of the oil lamps.

Jokim was seated at the large oak table with the rest of the family for the evening meal, after the meal Jokim sat with Tobar and talked until the early hours.

As the sun crept above the horizon, Jokim said his goodbyes and left for the east.

Keeping to the forest and rarely travelled paths Jokim made his way towards the mountains, these he could follow all the way to his destination in the Eastern Province, as night fell he had reached a small cave at the base of the mountain range.

After covering the cave entrance with brushwood and branches, he lit a fire to keep the chill night air out and then slept.

He awoke just before dawn, a light covering of snow was on the ground outside, he heated some water on the fire and added some herbs, the resulting drink warmed him inside, his suit kept him warm outside, dousing the fire he took a last look round the cave and left.

Aria told him that three blues dragons were hidden on his route; Jokim would pass close to these and would be able to communicate with each as he passed.

All the Elite Guard of blue dragons had been wakened by Aria, their riders still slept, all bar two that is, the dragons now waited patiently, watching.

***

Chapter 6

Jokim hugged the mountains and deep forest for three weeks before he came upon a small village at the edge of the forest next to a small river that ran quickly from the mountains.

The snow was calf deep on the ground and still falling, Jokim could see the poverty and misery that existed here, he saw a young man collecting wood from his woodshed, Do you know of an Inn that I may stay the night at he said to the young man, we have no Inn but you are welcome to share our fire and what food we have the young man showed him into the hovel he called home.

A young woman was peeling a few vegetables sitting by the fire, a pot of water was bubbling in the hearth beside the burning logs, We have company Mavon and we need to stretch our food a bit more said the young man, the young woman stood up, hello stranger I am Mavon this is my husband Tael, please sit by the fire and warm yourself, I am Jokim, I do not wish to put you out, Tael took Jokim’s coat, the gold riding suit made him and his wife gasp but said nothing, Please sit Jokim, you are welcome to share what we have , Jokim thanked them and sat by the fire, Aria spoke