The Crystal Dragon of Nital

By Vik Walker

It's time to hatch the third egg. Only problem is, Gimblet is missing, and the portals are closed! Nathan has less than a day to find the egg, transfer the magic into the shell (that's also missing!) and hatch it on Ocard Sitnom. With the help of the Loch Ness Monster and...Elvis?...can Nathan pull it all off in order to hatch the Crystal Dragon of Nital?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Vik Walker
• Release date: Mar 27, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370012053

Vik Walker

Not so very long ago, a storyteller was born, one might even say, a fantasy weaver (oooh, I like that – kinda rolls off the tongue, dontcha think?). Hand in hand with her most trusted friend, an imaginary boy named Charlie (awww, I miss Charlie), she wove many a tale of aliens and evil clones who impersonated her elder brothers (for certainly she wasn't actually related to those wretched boys who teased and taunted her mercilessly) while growing up in Ontario, Canada. Even when Charlie faded away, she continued to live in her own fantasy world, telling her stories to her stuffed animals, and finally writing them down when she was old enough to know how...

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The Crystal Dragon of Nital

By Vik Walker

Copyright 2017

KatvikBooks

http://www.katvikbooks.com

Chapter One

His Royal Highness

Rubbing his eyes sleepily, Nathan trudged down the stairs on his way to the kitchen for breakfast. Until he turned the corner.

What the heck?

He stopped dead in his tracks, barely believing what he saw. Zaaz smiled up at him from the cozy looking purple pillow he was lounging on on the dining room table as Nathan's mom put a plate of lobster and bowl of melted butter in front of him. Was that a velvet pillow? With gold tassels on it?

Not right. Not right at all!

Nathan narrowed his eyes at Zaaz, while his mom patted the cat...err...whatever he was on the head. Here you go, pretty kitty, she practically sang.

Not cool, he hissed at Zaaz under his breath, as soon as his mom was out of hearing range.

What?

Zaaz gave him a big-eyed innocent look, that actually almost made him look cute. Almost. If not for the bedraggled, patchy fur, the scar through his left eye, and the fact that a chunk was missing out of one ear, he might have even pulled it off.

You know what, Nathan hissed again, then plastered a fake smile on his face for his mom when she returned to the room carrying...

So not cool!

How was is that Zaaz, the sort-of cat, got lobster, while he, Nathan, her own son, got oatmeal?

Not cool at all!

And why were they eating breakfast at the dining room table, instead of in the kitchen like they always did?

I hope your cushion is warm enough, his mom cooed at Zaaz. I can put it back in the oven for a spell if you want.

Nathan glared at the cat-thing, while Zaaz snuggled deeper into the pillow, giving his mom one of his rare (as in almost never) smiles. Well, that explained why they were eating in the dining room.

Apparently, his royal highness, Zaaz, believed he was too good for the kitchen, and had, no doubt, suggested to Nathan's mom that he should receive the royal treatment.

Zaaz was a one of the magical beings from Nital who were dream weavers. Which meant that all he had to do was sit on someone's chest while they were sleeping, and he could suggest anything he wanted to them. Nathan had no idea how he did it, but when that person woke up they believed that what Zaaz had suggested was their own idea.

A skill that had come in handy when Nathan's mom had wanted nothing to do with the 'mangy flea-ridden stray', as she'd called him, and had been determined to get rid of him back when Nathan had first brought him home. The next day she'd been all, like, 'what a pretty kitty'.

As if!

In the months since Zaaz had moved in, though, his talent for suggesting things had gotten way out of hand. It was bad enough that he had managed to get Nathan's mom to let him sit at the table for meals. Or, that he had convinced her to get rid of the litter box, allowing him to use the bathroom, like they did.

Nathan still blushed with embarrassment when he recalled the time he'd accidentally walked in on that. He shuddered now, just thinking of it. Nobody should ever have to see what he'd seen. Then, after listening to Zaaz yell at him, for like, an hour, he'd explained why there was a lock on that door. Thank goodness, Zaaz had been using it ever since.

But over the last few months, Zaaz's suggestions had gotten more and more over the top. Roast beef and asparagus was now cooked for dinner at least three times a week. Zaaz had his own bedroom, (with a bigger bed than Nathan!) his own computer, (why his mom thought a cat needed a computer, Nathan would never know) and even his own pet!

For a being who was once so against 'owning' and 'subjugating' (whatever that meant) poor 'defenceless' animals, it was awfully strange that he now 'owned' and 'subjugated' a hamster. Whoever heard of a cat having a pet hamster? Not that Zaaz was a cat, exactly. Nathan didn't know what he was. All anyone would tell him was that he was Zaaz.

Now, apparently, Zaaz was suggesting he be served lobster while he sat his royal, mangy, butt on a velvet pillow. If Nathan hadn't already thought he'd gone too far, he definitely did now!

Nathan dipped his spoon into the boring oatmeal in the bowl in front of him, still glaring at Zaaz, who was dunking his lobster in butter, totally ignoring him, then took a bite. Yuck. Oatmeal sucked.

Are you going to Gimblet's today? his mom asked.

Nathan made a face at Zaaz, who was still ignoring him, then put the fake smile back on before turning to answer her question. Uh...um...yeah, he sputtered.

You spend an awful lot of time there, she said, making one of her 'mom' faces. The one she used when she was worried about something.

Ducking his head, Nathan pretended like his oatmeal was the most delicious thing he'd ever tasted, scooping up big spoonfuls and shoving them in his mouth to avoid answering.

What could he say? 'Gee mom, that's 'cause I'm not actually spending time at Gimblet's. I'm really training to avoid dragons and Evil Fairies in the land of Nital, because I'm the Dragon Guardian.'

Yeah, like that would go over well. Not that he could even tell her that. When he'd become the Dragon Guardian, he'd been made to swear an oath that he wouldn't tell any Sinimohs (or, as he called them, humans) anything about Nital. So, like, even if he wanted to, which he soooo didn't, he just couldn't.

Hmm.

Uh oh. That was the sound she made when she was going to say something he wouldn't like, 'for his own good'. So Nathan gobbled up the rest of his oatmeal, then shot out of his chair as fast as he could.

Gotta go, he called out over his shoulder as he dashed out of the room. Running late.

Nathan... she called out, but he cut her off before she could say anything more.

See you later!

Then he ducked into his room, closing the door on her next words. Okay, maybe Zaaz needed to make one more suggestion, just to get his mom to change her mind about whatever she thought was wrong with Nathan spending so much time at Gimblet's. But then that was it! No more suggestions!

Which was the first thing he said to Zaaz when the ruddy cat-thing caught up to him halfway to Gimblet's.

Great, now I'm starting to sound like