Lady Dragon, Tela Du Read online

  Lady Dragon,

  Tela Du

  The Rizkaland Legends

  Book 2

  Kendra E. Ardnek

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons or events is purely in the author’s imagination.

  Copyright © 2016 Kendra E. Roden

  Cover Design Copyright © 2017 Alea Harper

  All rights reserved.

  No portions of this book may be reproduced without the author’s permission, or without proper credit, except in written reviews.

  DEDICATION

  For Jori. This story has come a long way from the play we wrote together as children – thank you so much for beginning this journey with me.

  CONTENTS

  Cast of Characters

  Prologue

  Part 1 – The Lady Dragon

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Part 2 – The Tela Du

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Part 3 – The Bookdaughter

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Part 4 – The Final War

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Part 5 – The Aftermath

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Epilogue

  Reference Guide

  Glossary

  The Islands

  The Water

  The Eight and Ten

  Alphego’s Hill

  Through the Mountain

  Ear of the People

  Cast of Characters

  Adnama: Ritis’ sister, Bookdaughter in Klarand.

  Alphego (all-FAY-go): Creator and Keeper of Rizkaland and Klarand. He appears as a white lion, with the head and wings of an eagle. His body is covered with lamb’s wool and His head and wings with dove feathers, with rainbow feathers edging His wings.

  Amber: The Lady Dragon, a terrible sorceress.

  Ashna: A Bookdaughter. Known as Ashley when sent to live on Earth during Amber’s reign.

  Austila (Awe-STEE-la): The name that Laura gives Ashna’s mother.

  Brent: The young king of Klarand.

  Delta: Ritis and Rintaya’s younger son.

  Granite: Amber’s husband

  Jillina: The young queen of Klarand.

  Karyn: A mysterious woman from another world.

  Laura: The Doorkeeper, a traveler between worlds

  Linette: Noraeto’s mother.

  Lorkon: The Roaring Lion.

  Marno: Noraeto’s grandfather, who has been employed by the Dragon since his youth.

  Mels: A young girl whose home Amber first visited, and the first girl that Amber hired.

  Nia (NIE-ah): The youngest of the eight kings and queens at the time of Amber’s arrival.

  Noraeto (Nor-AY-toe): A young elf who happens to be the first person Reuben and Petra encounter when they arrive in Rizkaland.

  Petra: The Tela Du. A girl from our world tasked with defeating the Lady Dragon because she shares Amber’s face, but who is more interested in finding her lost sisters.

  Quena (KWIN-ah): Ashna’s childhood friend, younger sister to Marno.

  Reuben: Petra’s best friend, who happens to look just like Granite.

  Robert (elf): Noraeto’s father.

  Robert (human): Reuben’s identical twin brother

  Rintaya (Rin-TAY-ah): Ritis’s second wife.

  Ritis: The Bookholder during Amber’s reign. Ashna’s father. His gift is forgetting.

  Ruklow: Ritis and Rintaya’s elder son.

  Summer: Reuben’s younger sister.

  Tyler: Petra’s older brother

  Prologue

  6,000 Years Before

  “You have faced the challenges of Courage and Honesty. Are you ready for the most difficult challenge of all?”

  Amber stiffened and her stomach twisted at Laura’s words. What could be more difficult than that corridor of death that had been the challenge of Courage?

  “The challenge of Love will test both your courage and honesty,” Laura continued, “as well as your commitment and fortitude. Binding one’s life to another is no easy task, especially when done with the bond that you must take.”

  Granite took Amber’s hand as he stepped up to her side. So they had reached this stage. “We are ready and prepared.”

  “We shall see if your words are true,” said Laura, taking a step backward. The Hall rumbled, and from the floor where the Doorkeeper had stood, a red table rose. Its top opened to reveal two knives, one with a blade of jade, the other of jasper.

  “These are the only weapons that can pierce the immortality that shields your parents,” Laura explained. “Step forward and take them up.”

  Amber let go of Granite’s hand as they each stepped to opposite sides of the table and did as Laura bid. Amber took the jade knife; Granite, the jasper.

  “But before they can claim your parents’ lives, they must taste your blood, that your bond may be formed,” Laura continued.

  Amber gave a small gasp and glanced at Laura in all-but fear. “Blood magic? But you forbid my experimentation with this foul art!”

  “Experimentation, yes, but this is no experiment,” Laura answered, her voice suddenly heavy. “Blood magic creates bonds, and should not be done lightly. However, this bond that you create today is necessary. I wish there could be another way, but for now, there is not. It is foul, indeed, but you could be bonded to worse things.”

  Amber gave a sharp nod, met Granite’s eye, and then bit the knife into her thumb. Immediately, an orange blush spread over the blade from where her blood stained it, turning it from jade to amber. Granite’s knife similarly changed from jasper to granite. To Amber’s further astonishment, as soon as she withdrew the knife, the wound closed and healed immediately.

  “These weapons have now reserved the right to kill you,” explained Laura. “Now, hold them with the blades together and speak your vows. You must be one before you can gain the pure immortality that your parents possess. The words must be your own, say what you find in your heart.”

  Swallowing firmly, Amber placed the blade of her knife against Granite’s, shuddering as a shock ran through her.

  He spoke first, his voice calm and even. “I pledge my life to yours.”

  Amber frowned. Blood magic was tricky and binding, and the broadness of his words was dangerous. But there was no way to take them back now. It was her turn, and she considered her words carefully before she spoke.

  “I shall be ever faithful unto you. I shall never abandon you for any cause.” She wrote further vow
s upon her heart, but she didn’t want magic to make her fulfill them.

  Another shock ran through them, forcing the knives apart. They both staggered back, gasping. For one long, painful moment, Amber’s heart stopped beating, but then it began again, slower, stronger.

  “You are now of one heart,” said Laura. “Your lives, for better or worse, are bound together. Now seal your vows.”

  The table between them vanished back into the floor, leaving them with the knives. Amber took a deep breath and closed the distance between her and Granite, and he took a step to meet her. His empty hand slid around her waist, hers cupped his face, and they shared their first kiss. She felt his heart hammering in unison with hers.

  There was no time to discuss that detail, however. That discovery could wait until after Jade and Jasper had met their end. They turned to Laura as one, and Granite nodded. “We’re ready,” he said.

  Laura nodded, and her face was grim. “Very well. It is time for your parents’ final war.”

  The door behind her opened, and Amber and Granite stepped through, gripping their knives tightly, ready for battle.

  Part 1

  The

  Lady Dragon

  Chapter 1

  “I allowed the Fire Prince and Water Princess to take that victory a thousand years ago,” Amber mentioned over lunch.

  Her husband, Granite, glanced up from the knife he was polishing. No matter how many times she told him not to bring weapons to the dinner table, he had as yet to break the habbit. “Indeed?” he asked. “Just as you knew full-well that Laura intended to banish us the moment we stepped into that chamber, five hundred years before that battle?”

  Amber brushed his comment aside – he never appreciated the full depths of her plots. “Indeed. My fifteen years in Klarand were at their end. The Klaranders had tasted my power and had cowered before me appropriately. It was time to withdraw and prepare for the Final War.”

  “You’re still obsessed with that, are you?” asked Granite, sliding the knife into his sleeve and picking up his fork. “Why can’t you be content with the realm we’ve been given, the task that has been asked of us?”

  “A barren land peopled with the cast-off criminals from the other islands?” asked Amber. “Perhaps such a place is good enough for you, but I remember when we were greater than that.”

  “As do I. Oh, how far you’ve fallen, Amber.” Granite stabbed a chunk of his steak and thrust it into his mouth.

  “No thanks to you and your insistence in undermining every forward step I take. Come now, my dear husband, don’t deny that you do it. How many of my prisoners have you helped to escape? It is fortunate that I prepare for it accordingly, or else where would we be?”

  “I dare say not much worse off than we are now, my dear wife,” said Granite, staring hard at her. “After all, you tailored the Water Princess and Fire Prince’s prison specifically for their escape. They hardly needed my help.”

  “I meant for them to escape the prison, yes, but if it weren’t for your meddling, they wouldn’t have made it out of the city.”

  “I thought you allowed that victory.”

  “I didn’t want them to gain it so easily,” Amber pointed out. She shook her head to focus her thoughts again. “However, it is time to move forward to better and grander horizons – Rizkaland itself shall be ours – no shadows to lurk in for us this time. We shall be king and queen!”

  “You, at least, shall be queen,” said Granite. “But I fear I shall always be in your shadow for the rest of our life.”

  “Perhaps if you weren’t so bent on being a thorn in my side, things would be different,” Amber retorted, standing up and slinking over to his side. “As it is, I don’t dare let you have any glory, no matter how desperately I wish to share it with you.” She leaned on the back of his chair and wrapped her arms around his neck to whisper in his ear. “Just imagine the power we would wield if we worked together, my dear husband. No one would stand in our way.”

  “And that is precisely what I fear, my dear wife,” said Granite, patting her hand. Then with one deft motion, he lifted her arms up over his head and stood up. She instinctively tried to pull away, but his grip on her wrist was too tight. “But why must things be this way? Why can’t we live simply and not have whole worlds under our thumbs?”

  “We tried it once,” Amber spat, “and look what happened – Lintooalintae fell apart when we let them rule themselves.”

  “But it plunged into misery when you assumed full control,” said Granite. His gray eyes bored into her, deep and sad. Before she had time to move, his other hand wrapped around her head, and his lips crushed against hers.

  She flailed. She didn’t have time for this today. She had to…

  He released her and retreated, only looking back when he reached the doorway. “I shall be in the courtyard. Do what you think you must. Let me know when we’re ready to fly to the mainland.”

  “We – we won’t be flying this time,” she informed him, as soon as she caught her breath.

  He said nothing but raised an eyebrow.

  “I have another, a grander plan for our arrival in Rizkaland, but you can be sure that I’ll come get you when we’re ready to leave,” she informed him, summoning every bit of her dignity. “Do me a favor, however, and make sure there are none but ourselves in this castle – I would hate to have anyone interfere with my plans. As you know, you and I are the only ones who can leave this Isle.” Then she turned and swept out of the room before he had a chance to say anything in reply.

  Since she had lived her whole life in this terrible castle, Amber scarcely needed to watch where she went. Instead, she focused on a much more pressing task as she walked. Reaching into a pocket, she pulled out a black dragon scale and peered deep into its depths.

  The scene it showed her began as it always did, a cheering crowd – silent of course, for the scale’s magic was pictures, not words – as she herself stood there, drinking in the attention. Ah, to have that cheering crowd today! Then the sky grew dark as the people turned away from her, towards the horizon and the silhouette of a mysterious rider, astride a richly purple haranda. The crowd parted to allow rider and steed to pass through, and cheers rose for her, not Amber.

  They reached Amber’s stage, and the rider dismounted – a girl, dressed in purple, even to the frames she wore over her eyes. She couldn’t have been any older than sixteen. As she and Amber circled each other, it was like looking at two sides of one mirror, save for the colors the girls wore.

  Then the struggle began, as it always did. The purple girl launched herself at Amber, and Amber caught her, all too ready for the trick. Amber watched on, hoping, willing herself to win, but as always, the scene faded to black before the battle ended.

  “One of us will die that day,” she muttered, squeezing a fist around the scale. “I’ve worked too long and too hard for it to be me.”

  She shoved it back into her pocket as she stalked down the halls with doubled vigor, hoping that fury would erode the knot of foreboding that sat uneasily in her stomach.

  She arrived in her library, the result of many, many years of work and toil – for most of the books were of her own writing. However, it was not the written word that demanded her attention today, but the shelves of amulets, trinkets, and other talismans that had been collected over even longer years of patience and study.

  Crossing over, she pulled a long necklace made of red diamonds, the tullet, off of a top shelf and placed it around her neck, systematically tapping each gem as she paced up and down the room. With each tap, the air crackled with the energy it released. Once every gem had been touched, she took the necklace off, returned it to its place, and picked up a flat silver disk etched with symbols, the luttel. Rolling it on its edge between her hands, she left the room and paced down more passages and halls, muttering beneath her breath.

  The disk and necklace had come to her many, many years ago, but she had used them only twice, for their magic was un
natural, ripping and tearing at the very fabric of the worlds. It took many years of patience and preparation to use them, especially as she was about to now – for she wasn’t escaping into another world but carrying this castle to another point in this world.

  Her steps carried her out to the courtyard where Granite was waiting for her. He said nothing, but she felt his eyes fixed on her as she marched out to the very center of the courtyard.

  “Is the castle empty?” she asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Very good.”

  She threw the disk to the ground, and the air shattered. Light and sound were sucked away, leaving them in a trembling darkness that crackled with energy. A terrible sound, more felt than heard, trembled through her.

  With a flash of light, the world shot back to normality. Amber breathed deeply of the sweet air of Rizkan mainland – so much the better than the rancid winds that blew through that island of banishment which the Rizkans named for her. She turned to her husband.

  “It is done. We are in Rizkaland at last.”

  Granite nodded slowly. “So be it.”

  Ignoring him, Amber strode confidently to the gate, mentally going over the speeches that she would give her new and soon-to-be adoring subjects. She would have to allay their fears, of course, since they’d no doubt heard nasty rumors about her, rumors that she was to blame for planting. But, of course, it was only for Klarand that she meant ill, for the cruel mistreatment she’d suffered at the hands of the Ten. She had nothing but goodwill for Rizkaland itself. It was a simple matter, twisting history.

  She reached into her pocket to search for the star that would give her the strength to open the gate on her own since she didn’t have servants to do it now.

  “Watch your step, Silver. You stumble blindly in the dark, thinking you see plainly, but there is a cliff right before you, and you shall surely fall.”

  “Hello to you, too, Laura,” said Amber, turning to the girl who addressed her – Laura was the only one who called her Silver. “Come to tell me more of your grim predictions?”