Dragon Stones (Book One in the Dragon Stone Saga) Read Online Free Page A

King Mitca?”
    “Yes… the rebel king. Who
could forget about him? Unfortunately for the emperor, Mitca did survive. During the
war, he was merely a prince. Mitca was the crown prince of
Ravenwood and the only male child of King Galain. The prince
survived because Galain sacrificed his own life to save his son’s.
Galain discovered the emperor’s plot months before, because he
planted a spy in the emperor’s palace.”
    “Why didn’t Galain just fight the emperor
himself?”
    “Galain knew that he wasn’t strong enough to
stand up against all of Vosper’s armies and his corrupt wizards.
Instead, Galain disguised his son as a beggar and whisked him out
of the city with a few of his honor guard. Those men had guarded
Mitca since his infancy and, to this day, the surviving members are
fiercely loyal to the prince. Galain stayed in the city. A slave
boy posed as a decoy for the prince. The city was captured shortly
thereafter and the entire royal family was put to death.”
    “Vosper didn’t realize that the slave boy
was a fake?”
    “No. Galain killed himself and the boy in a
staged suicide the night before their official executions. The
deception was perfect. It was many years before Vosper discovered
Galain’s trickery. By then, Mitca had already settled in the Death
Sands and established the Rebel Kingdom of Parthos. Vosper’s
overconfidence cost him the rule of the continent. Now Parthos is a
thorn in his side that will never go away, and every year Mitca
grows stronger.”
    “How come the emperor doesn’t just attack
Parthos?”
    “Oh, he has tried! He has tried! But Vosper
has failed again and again. The Death Sands are almost impossible
to cross, and the kingdom is heavily guarded. Parthos is a huge,
well-populated city. The majority of its inhabitants are tribesmen,
and they are inherently distrustful of the emperor. Parthos has a
majestic fortress, which is carved right into the mountainside. It
even has its own water source, an underground spring that can
sustain the entire city if necessary. Mitca has his own mages, and
the free mages of Miklagard are his allies. King Mitca is the
emperor’s only real adversary. Plus… Mitca also offered refuge to
the last of the Dragon Riders.” Carina whispered the last sentence
under her breath.
    “Dragon Riders? I thought they were all
dead!” said Elias.
    “Shhh! Keep your voice down!”
    “Sorry, grandmother.”
    “The emperor is lying. There are still
Dragon Riders. No one knows how many survive—even the nomads who
live in the desert refuse to say. The desert people know how to
keep secrets. The riders have sworn to protect Mitca, and the
Kingdom of Parthos is their last sanctuary.”
    “King Mitca is not the emperor’s only enemy.
What about Balbor Island?” asked Elias.
    “Ah, yes… Balbor, the Island of Death. The
inhabitants of Balbor do not pledge their allegiance to the
emperor, but they are not Vosper’s enemies. They are independent.
The Balborites are mercenaries. Unlike the rest of Durn, priests
rule the island, not kings. They control their people with their
foul religion, through bloody offerings and dark magics.”
    The old woman leaned in close to her
nephew’s ear. “Balbor is truly cursed—it is bad luck even to speak
of it. Very little is known of their rituals. Some folktales tell
us that the firstborn child of every female is dismembered as an
offering to their dark god. They are a secretive people and have
been so for an eternity. Centuries ago, the Balborites sealed off
their only port city. It is impossible to come or go to that
forsaken place. If any ship attempts to land on the coastline,
their priests destroy it.”
    “But you said the Balborites were
mercenaries? How do they survive? How do they get supplies?”
    “No one really knows. The only people who
ever leave the island are trained assassins. They leave alone, by
boat, to commit their murders and also report information back to
the priests. Balborite