The Ruby Dragon of Nital

By Vik Walker

With a slip of the tongue, Nathan lands himself in serious trouble. He'd thought living with Zaaz was bad, but finding himself stranded in a dimension filled with the cat-like creatures brings a whole new meaning to the word! Now Nathan must find his way home, hatch the next baby dragon, and figure out how to correct all of the mistakes he'd made along the way.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Vik Walker
• Release date: Jan 27, 2019
• ISBN: 9781370245406

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...

Book preview

The Ruby Dragon Of Nital

Written by: Vik Walker

Illustrations by: Vik Walker

Text copyright © 2019 by Vik Walker

Illustrations copyright © 2019 by Vik Walker

All rights reserved

http://www.katvikbooks.com

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Table of Contents

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

Translations

Chapter One

Here We Go Again

Nathan groaned, falling back on the bed as the opening credits for the movie Zaaz had selected began.

Seriously? he groused at the cat-thing.

Nathan still didn't know what Zaaz was, he looked like a cat, but was actually some sort of magical being that wasn't a cat???

What? Zaaz asked, looking all innocent.

As if! he thought, not buying the cat-thing's act.

"We are not watching Stuart again." Nathan grumbled.

Seriously, they'd watched that stupid movie so many times now that Nathan knew all the words by heart. Like it wasn't bad enough that Zaaz now had a TV in his room - a better TV than Nathan had! - or that his mom had even gotten the ruddy cat-thing a Netflix account - Nathan didn't even have one! - but to have to watch Stuart Little, over and over again, was just too much!

Of course, Zaaz ignored him, even going as far as to turn the volume up.

Aaarrrggghhh! Ruddy cat…er…thing!

Nathan glared at him, shaking his head. He totally understood now why Nessie, the actual Loch Ness Monster (just don't let her hear you call her that!), had bitten a chunk of his ear off. Nathan, who'd never hurt anyone, or anything, in his life, seriously considered doing bodily harm to that cat-thing on a regular basis.

Just then, Zaaz's pet hamster darted out from under the bed, doing that weird rodent waddle-run along the wall, then disappeared behind the dresser. Nathan rolled his eyes at the sight. The battle between his mom, who insisted the hamster be kept in its cage, and Zaaz, who insisted it be allowed to run free, continued to rage on.

Have you thought of a name for that thing yet? he asked.

Zaaz looked at him, eyebrows all scrunchy. For what? he asked.

The hamster.

The cat-thing shrugged. He already knows his name. When he's ready, he'll tell me. Then he went back to watching the movie.

Nathan looked from the dresser, to the screen, then back to the dresser. You know that rodents can't actually talk, right?

Zaaz looked back at him, sighing loudly as he rolled his eyes. Like he thought Nathan was too simple to understand things that everyone else just knew. Then he shook his head sadly, as if pitying him, and went back to watching the movie.

Eyes popping out of his head at the implied insult, Nathan sputtered. No. Seriously. That, he pointed at the TV, "is just a movie. It's not real. Mice can't actually talk. And neither can hamsters."

Zaaz just shook his head again, as if to say 'poor sad, sad little boy'.

Nathan threw up his hands, flopping back on the bed. There was just no talking to that cat! Er…thing.

Nathan!

Nathan laughed aloud as Zaaz jumped, then flew off the bed and dove underneath it at the sound of his mother's voice. Yeah, to get him back for some of the stuff he'd pulled, like having his mom make lobster for breakfast and roast beef and asparagus for dinner, almost every day, Nathan had convinced her that Zaaz just loved belly rubs. Now, every time she managed to get her hands on the cat-thing, she cuddled him while cooing about what a sweet kitty he was, then flopped him over on his back and rubbed away like mad.

Being as that he wasn't actually a cat, was in fact a high ranking member of the Grand Council in Nital, and that he was offended at the very idea of 'subjugating' animals, having Nathan's mother treat him in such an 'abominable' manner offended the snot out of him. Nathan thought it was hilarious.

Yeah? he shouted back.

Phone for you!

I hate you, Zaaz hissed from under the bed as Nathan hopped off it and left the room.

Giggling to himself, he made his way down the stairs, where his mom waited for him with the cordless phone.

Hello?

Whot be wrong wi' ye that ye canna be answerin' the ruddy phone that we magic'ed 'specially for ye, ye ruddy Muidimid Aimis! Bortbach shouted at him through the earpiece.

Due to some difficulties they'd had with Nathan not being able to contact the Nitali when he needed to in previous dragon hatching jobs, the old Trolls who were responsible for helping him in his role as Dragon Guardian had given him a specially magic'ed cell phone that they could use to reach him no matter where he was. More importantly, the phone allowed him to call them in the magical world of Nital, which, obviously, was impossible to do with regular phones in the human world, as they could use magic to call him, but he didn't have any magic - not really - so couldn't call Nital.

Nathan gulped, stammering, Um…er…ah…

Dinna ye be startin' that! the grumpy old Troll shouted.

Nathan winced. Trolls sure did hate it when he stammered. But seriously, it wasn't like he could help it!

I…ah… Bortbach grumbled some more. I sorta left it in my room, he admitted.

Then he winced some more as the Troll went off, cursing and shouting insults at him in Nitali. Thank goodness Nathan didn't understand half of what he said.

Ye be needed in Nital, Bortbach finally barked. The next wee bairn be ready ta 'atch.

A shiver of excitement when through Nathan, quickly followed by a shudder of dread. On the one hand, hatching dragons was way cool, they were so cute and funny, and…well…dragons! Hanging out with Trolls, and Elves, and meeting other really amazing creatures of myth - like Nessie - was also totally awesome, despite the fact that the Trolls were totally grumpy and tended to call him names. But then there was the fact that an evil Fairie named Levithius was after him, who had tried to kill him, had kidnapped his friend, and threatened to turn him into a zombie. That was sooo way not cool!

Um…ah…

Ach! Fer oilitrepsev sirua arec!

Nathan rolled his eyes, while shaking his head.

Trolls.

I'll be right there, he muttered into the phone, then rolled his eyes again as the Troll hung up on him.

Nathan handed the phone to his mother, before turning back to the stairs.

Oh, Nathan? she asked.

Turning back, Yeah?

Did you bring in the mail today?

He just shook his head.

Odd, she pursed her lips in confusion. We haven't gotten any mail in ages.

Oh rats!

They'd magic'ed the house with a protection, so that only those who were invited could cross the property line. Apparently they'd forgotten to invite the mailman. Nathan made a mental note to ask one of the Nitali to fix that little oopsie.

Smiling with feigned innocence, Nathan just shrugged, then turned and trudged back up the stairs, where he went first to his room to grab the magic'ed phone he'd forgotten there, then to Zaaz's room to let him know about the new baby dragon. Once Zaaz was assured - then reassured - that the coast was clear, they left the house and headed to Gimblet's.

Since Nathan had to keep everything about Nital, and the fact that he was the Dragon Guardian, a secret, he wasn't allowed to use his Portal Stones just anywhere. Humans, or as the Nitali called them, Sinimoh, tended to freak out when they saw people appear and disappear, so Nathan was only allowed to use the Stones in special circumstances and in certain Nitali approved places. Like Gimblet's, a shoppe that was in the human world, but was owned by a Troll.

Hey, Gimblet, Nathan called out as the bell above the door jingled upon their entry.

Whot took ye so long? the old Troll gruffed at them.

Nathan just hooked a thumb in Zaaz's direction.

That woman… Nathan assumed he was talking about his mom, …is a menace! Zaaz complained.