Ted's Castle

By Douglas Child, Vinny K and Clabert Gypsy

In a world where magic is real and dragons once lived, a new force emerges. Can Ted and friends defeat the pale rider? Or will darkness prevail? Join Ted as he teams up with Victor, Ani, Jester, and more as they embark on an epic quest. What will become of Ember? And will you fight alongside the dragons?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chilmer
• Release date: Apr 13, 2024
• ISBN: 9798869217417

Douglas Child

37 years old male, father/ husband

Book preview

One

The dream

On the cold and lonely night, our hero was dreaming, dreaming of dragons. He was falling from the sky, and it was as if he were a dragon. He could see everything from far away to up close in perfect detail. There were dragons everywhere, dragons of all kinds and of all sizes. It was as if it were raining dragons. Not one of them was flying. It was as if they were all just paralyzed there.

He felt outraged that he could just sit there and not do anything. And just before the dragons hit the ground, everything stopped... and he wasn't a dragon anymore. He stood there on the ground surrounded by dragons. He fell to his knees and cried, for as far as the eye could see, destruction. He didn't know if the beasts were good or evil, but still he cried. He screamed to the moons and stars. How could they let this travesty happen?

His eyes opened in a flash. He was back in his room. Home again in his own room. He sat laying there, wondering what was that. It was so surreal, yet it was so real. Even though he had never seen a dragon, they were stuff of legends. But now he had seen thousands, tens of thousands.

He got up to greet the day with an odd feeling and a smile on his face. He lived on a simple farm with his aunt and uncle. His mother died in childbirth and his father was away at war and never came back. But he loved his uncle Xander and his aunt Ellie. They raised him as if he was there own. They taught him everything they knew, from farming, understanding the stars, and the legends of old. They taught him the seasons, and how to read them in the weather.

He couldn't get his dream out of his mind, but it was time for breakfast, then the chores.

Xander asked, Did you sleep well Ted?

Ted answered by telling them about his dream and all he had seen in it. Xander was dumbfounded. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Xander opened his mouth ready to speak, but aunt Ellie interrupted.

That's enough of this! It's time for breakfast, said Ellie.

Uncle Xander was short and stocky with red hair and green eyes. Aunt Ellie was slender and shorter with blonde hair and blue eyes. Ted had always thought they made an odd couple, and what an odd family they all were. Ted himself was nearly six feet tall with black hair, slightly pointed ears, and had purple eyes.

After they finished breakfast, Ted and Xander got up and went into the fields. Ellie stayed inside to clean up. As they weeded and hoed and irrigated the field, Xander told the tales of old. From the night of black fire to the days of dancing rain. Ted could barely concentrate on his work, with all of Xander's stories and his dream still picking at his brain.

Xander noticed Ted's preoccupation.

Still thinking about your dream? Xander asked.

Yes. I just can't get it out of my mind, Ted replied.

As they sat back against the old oak tree, Xander turned to Ted with a foreboding look on his face.

Your dream reminds me of an old old story, one that is almost forgotten to time. The day it rained blood and fire. The day dragons died, said Xander.

Ted was shocked! He didn't know what to think.

Do you know more about the tale? Ted asked.

No, not really... but from what I remember from when I was a boy. It's almost what you described in your dream. Dragons falling from the sky, blood and fire raining down. Chaos and mayhem everywhere. No one knew what to do. No one knew what happened. It was just one second, everything was normal and the next... dragons were falling from the sky. Bloodied fires ran rampant as far as the eye could see. Yep, no more Dragons in Dragonia. But more was lost than the dragons that day. The entire land almost burned to ash, said Xander.

Uncle Xander paused with a strange look on his face.

From what the legend says, that was nearly 5,000 years ago, Xander added.

Ted was flabbergasted. He couldn't believe his ears. It was exactly what he saw in his dream.

Ted asked, Uncle Xander, you've told me every story you know. Why have you never told me this?

Xander wiped the sweat from his face, looked down at his feet and said, It was your mother's dying wish.

Ted wondered why that was his mother's dying wish. He pressed and prodded and questioned his uncle, but Xander would speak no more of it.

They got up and went back to work. They fed the daffux and watered the torses. They worked the rest of the day barely saying a word. As they finished up and the sun was setting, they picked up their tools and went inside to eat.

As they walked in, Aunt Ellie exclaimed, Cleanup before you eat! And take off your dirty boots! The field stays outside!

After they finished eating, Ted went up to his room... It really wasn't a room. It was the attic loft. It was hot during the summer and cold during the winter, but the heat and cold never bothered Ted. Xander always joked that Ted wasn't warm-blooded, he was hot-blooded. As Ted sat on his bed he heard a rustle as he was attacked by a small dragon-like creature!

Ted laughed and said, I love you too Drake! Are you hungry boy?

He gave Drake some scraps of meat and bone. Drake gobbled down the meat and gnawed on the bone.

Ted has had Drake for nearly two years now. Drake is a fire-rat. They are pretty much miniature dragons, but cannot breathe fire, though their breath is hot. And they can barely fly, even though their wings are quite large.

Ted raised Drake from an egg. Drake is fully grown now, about a foot long and about nine inches high. He is black with green highlights on his wings, back, tail, and head. Most people consider them pests and would kill them any chance they got. That's how Ted found Drake's egg. Some villagers had found a nest and crushed the eggs. They beat Drake's parents with hoes and shovels.

Ted heard the commotion through the bushes. He went to investigate and saw the pitiful sight, the mother fire-rat clinging to her last little egg. She snarled and growled at him.

Don't worry, Ted said, I don't want to hurt you or your child. Let me help you.

She still clung to her egg as life faded from her eyes. Sadly, Ted scooped up the egg and took it home. It hatched a few days later.

When Drake hatched, he was no bigger than a baby bird. Ted was at a loss because he did not know how to care for such a little thing. He knew that fire-rats ate all kinds of rodents and insects. But what did the babies eat? After days of trial and error, he discovered they didn't eat... they drink blood. Ted found this out when he was sharpening his knife and accidentally cut his finger. Drake's head went up, and his mouth opened, and he screeched.

Ted said to himself, Well I've tried almost everything else, as he put his finger over Drake's mouth.

As the blood dripped between his teeth, Ted could see life returning to his sickly little pet. So for a few weeks Ted fed him with his blood until he was big enough to hunt insects. During this time Ted tried many names for his pet. The fire-rat did not seem to like any of them.

Finally Ted said, You are a strong-willed one and strong hearted. So I shall name you for the king of dragons in the great legends, Drakenfire. I shall call you Drake.

Drake seemed to love it since he jumped up into Ted's lap and nuzzled into him.

After a few months, Uncle Xander and Aunt Ellie still had neither seen nor heard Drake. They were happy their home was pest free. They just didn't know why there were no bugs or rodents as there usually was.

One day when Xander and Ted were working in the field, they heard Ellie scream. The two stopped what they were doing and ran inside. Drake was chasing a mouse around the table, and Ellie was standing on top of it. Xander went after the little dragon. Drake, in a fright, flew up onto Ted's shoulder. Xander and Ellie were speechless as they had never seen such a thing, a fire-rat get on someone. The little creatures usually stayed out of sight.

As Ted tried to explain, his aunt and uncle were no longer speechless. They were outraged... but over time, Xander came to really like Drake. Ellie, however, never really got used to him, though she let him stay.

And that was good enough for Ted.

In his spare time, Ted would go into the forest to hunt... although he wouldn't always hunt. He would go to the old ruins that Xander and Ellie forbade him to go to.

They were the ruins of an old castle. Ted was told that the castle was destroyed long, long ago. But since he had been going there, he knew it couldn't have been too long ago. The paintings that still hung were barely faded, and the books he loved so much were just a little dusty.

When Ted was younger, he would go into the village to learn to read, count, and do arithmetic. But ever since he discovered the library in the old ruins, it was his favorite place to be. He learned more there than he ever could anywhere else. Xander and Ellie taught him well, and so did his teachers, but there were things in these books and scrolls that none of them knew. There were books on science, history, calculations, all the creatures of the world, and there were books of stories about everything you can imagine... and some you couldn't.

One of Ted's favorite stories was found in a simple picture book, Eleven Elvin Elefins. He wondered how many generations had used it to learn Elvish.

Ted had been exploring the old ruins for many years now. He knew the place like the back of his hand. He understood the castle well, but one thing always puzzled him. It was an extravagant oil painting. It was torn and tattered, but from what he could piece back together, the man in the painting looked a lot like Ted himself. He wondered if this was a distant ancestor. No one ever wants to talk to Ted about the ruins, so all he could learn of the place was what was inside of it, which was surprisingly very little. For all the books and knowledge this place held, very little was about the castle itself. Ted knew it was built in the time before the dragons fell, and he knew its name.

It was the Castle Dragonhead. And in it's time, the rulers of this land lived here. All of the paintings were of the rulers. Some were men, some women. Some were related, and yet some were not. It seemed anyone could rule if they proved they were worthy.

The painting which puzzled Ted so much was of the last ruler. It sat at the end of a long hallway which was now open to the sky, as is much of this old castle. One day in the library, he discovered a secret passage which led to a room deep underground. This room held scrolls and tablets written in ancient languages, such as Old Dragonic and Early Frogonian. Ted learned