Circus of Scales: The Dragon Sanctum, #1

By Constance Roberts

Ivy and her dragon familiar, Celestia, are bound to the Circus of Scales. People flock from all over the Emerald Continent to watch the pair's death defying act.

With the threat of dragon hunters lurking in every town, Ivy knows the circus is the safest place for her beloved dragon. Still, Ivy wishes she could give Celestia the freedom a magnificent creature deserves - instead of having to endure the cruel harvesting of her magic as well as other abuses at the hands of the circus ringmaster.

When Celestia is kidnapped, Ivy risks everything to bring her back. After figuring out the handsome outlaw's true intentions, Ivy is taken to a place no one will ever find her. The farther she gets from the circus, the harder it is to see where the real danger lies.

Circus of Scales is the first novella in The Dragon Sanctum series. Don't miss book two, Isle of Dragons, coming May 2020!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Constance Roberts
• Release date: Mar 3, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393335832

Constance Roberts

Constance Roberts is a retired flight attendant who turned in her wings to stay at home with her wildlings and to write. She is the author of a set of gender-bent fairytales and The Dragon Sanctum series. She and her husband live in St. Louis, Missouri where they spend the weekends playing board games with friends.

Book preview

Circus of Scales

The Dragon Sanctum #1

Constance Roberts

image-placeholder

Copyright © 2020 by Constance Roberts

All rights reserved.

This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

ASIN: B083VXFK3Y

Edited by Jessica Loyd

Cover by German Creative and Digital Curio

Map by Mistumightous

Contents

Dedication

Fullpage Image

1

Written in Flame

2

Life in Chains

3

Fierce Little Thing

4

Horns and All

5

Inferno

6

Rescued

7

Sea & Stars

8

The Sanctum

9

A Perfect Spot

10

Anchor in the Sky

Note From the Author

About Author

Also By

Let's Connect

For my circus monkeys.

image-placeholder

1

Written in Flame

image-placeholder

The night’s chilly breeze teeters the platform beneath me. The plank wood is only wide enough to hold my two narrow feet. I am too high to see anything below, but I can feel it all; the pulse of the crowd, the sting of the whip, the heat of the flames. All the energy from the audience surges through my blood as if it were my own.

That’s why, when the dragon’s flames rise to meet me on the tiny platform, I do not quake in fear.

I dive.

The firestorm that swirls around me is a comfort of sorts. The flames lick me, but I do not feel their touch. No matter what, Celestia will always catch me. Not just because the hours of repetitious training have taught her to, but because she is the truest friend I’ve ever known. In the circus, we fight for each other. Our bond is as unbreakable as the chains that tether her to the center of the ring.

My hands reach, ready to clutch the ivory spikes above her wings in the precise moment before it’s too late and I crash to the ground. Even now, after emerging through Celestia’s fireball, meeting the cold and the black of the night once again, I still do not fear. Even with my eyes closed, I know those white wings will swoop in to catch me.

Celestia is as quick and quiet as a flash of moonlight through a passing cloud. She’s learned over the years what makes a good show and what our master, Gorio, expects of us. Let the crowd believe I have just jumped to my death. Let them believe they are about to witness something gruesome and horrific. Then, at the last second, just as they are about to turn away and shield their eyes from the gory sight of my demise, a miracle saves me. A majestic, opalescent, fire-breathing miracle.

I land with ease on Celestia’s back. She plumes another fireball for effect, and we soar over the crowd. The audience erupts with applause. They are enchanted by the sight of Celestia’s shimmering white scales and crystal-like talons. She flies low, but not so close that anyone is singed as she huffs flames over their heads. Once we make a few circles around the ring, Gorio directs us back to the center where he is waiting with a proud grin on his puffy, pink face.

As we’ve done a thousand times, Celestia poses regally while I slide off her wing into the arms of the ringmaster. I smile brightly as Gorio takes my hand and holds it high, presenting his prized dragon rider to the crowd. I vow to the Stars, it is the only time I will ever let that slimy man touch me. The embrace lasts only as long as the crowd keeps cheering—not a second more.

Our act in the Circus of Scales has been called one of the most dangerous stunts ever performed. Even Gavriel Tarthe, the warlord of the west coast, was said to have held his breath when I plunged from the platform during a special performance in his camp. Our caravan moves from town to town, but people cross oceans to see wild dragons dance and drink the enchanted potions made from their blood. There is no show more spectacular on the Emerald Continent than the Circus of Scales.

As much as the applause fills me with pride, it’s barely enough to keep my feelings of guilt at bay. After the show is over, I will return to my plush dressing room while Celestia will be locked away in her cramped livestock car. From the window in my own vardo style wagon, I will be able to see the folded tips of her wings poking through the iron bars, glistening like moonstone in the starlight. She will be fed her ration of one goat a day and sleep on a bed of soiled hay.

I constantly remind myself that the Circus of Scales is the best place for her. Well, it’s the safest, at least. Out in the wild, if she were not eaten by a bigger dragon, or stolen as an egg from her nest, she would have been hunted for the blazing orange crystal resting in her throat that gives her the ability to breathe fire. Magic crystals and dragon blood are highly sought after and fetch a king’s ransom.

As it is, the dragon species is disappearing. Though I hate to admit it, without the circus, Celestia would have been lucky to live past her second hatchday. At least here, she’s protected by the iron bars that imprison her, as well as guarded by a constant patrol. Gorio goes to great lengths to insure no one snatches his precious meal ticket.

Still, this isn’t the life she was meant for. I see the longing in her ember-colored eyes when she peers at the sky. I feel her pulse race with mine when we are soaring around the ring. She longs to take flight and never look back. She longs to do what she was made for. To do what she deserves.

The second Gorio drops my hand I discreetly wipe my palm on my bedazzled costume. The revealing garment is covered in white sequins to resemble Celestia’s opalescent scales, and my hair is dyed a brilliant orange to match the dragon’s blazing eyes. Together we look like the ware-form of the other.

For patrons, the price of admission includes getting to marvel at the dragons up close after the show. The crowd parts as Celestia and I are led by two guards to our pedestal outside the ring. We pass a parade of other trained dragons and my fellow performers, Luna and Sable. In their act, the pair of aerial artists breathe streams of light and shadow from their throats. Where Celestia and I are fashioned to look alike, Luna and Sable are packaged as complementary opposites; Luna glittering in white diamonds, and Sable robed in black ribbons twisted around her dark skin.

Celestia and I are placed at the end of the procession, right next to a gilded cage of singing hatchlings. The baby dragons are so tiny they could fit in my cupped hands. They flit around like birds, emitting little puffs of purple smoke and emerald glitter that blot the cage. As I pass, I’m careful not to inhale the intoxicating rose scent of the love dragon’s smoke, knowing I’ll risk falling swiftly into infatuation with the next being I see.

At the end of the gallery, my white dragon is perched stoically on her pedestal. Children point and spectators gape at the majestic wonder before them. Unfortunately for me, this is the part of the show where I must answer the