Read Online Celtic Stars (Celtic Steel Book 4) by Delaney Rhodes - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Delaney Rhodes
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towards the center of the cave, towards the stone containing Red’s burnt offering. The dragons looked up only long enough to notice her movement and then turned away, back towards each other, to their bonding moment. It was surreal almost how caring they seemed to be with one another . It’s too easy to believe that unusual creatures are monsters, I suppose, she thought to herself.
Tearing into the nearly well-done hare, Daenal ate her full. Never had she been more grateful for freshly cooked meat, season-less or not. The young, blue dragon watched her, almost as if he were mesmerized by her skillful method of skinning, then fileting the already cooked gift from his mother. She had no doubt she was the first human form to have reached his eyes, and wondered secretly what they told each other when they looked at one another.
A flash of light caught her off guard and sent her reeling backward, towards the rocky cave wall behind her. Grasping her pounding head, Daenal rocked back and forth; hoping to stave off what she thought might be an impending migraine. The ground spun beneath her and almost as if she had fallen dead asleep, she was suddenly in a dream-like world. She was spinning, swimming and floating weightlessly above the cave floor, looking down upon her surroundings. Another flash and she was now on a rocky shoreline, watching from a distance behind rocks as five burly men struggled against something trapped in the dark. It was caught in a net, and it was fierce, angry, terrified and monstrous.
It let out a muffled shriek that struck her to her bones. With one loud thud, the largest man struck it about the head with his club and it fell to the earth in a crumpled mess, knocked clean out. It took all five men what seemed hours to load the tangled mess upon a flat wagon pulled by four horses. Light from the moon reflected off of the shore line and Daenal could see it was another dragon. A large male dragon with curled horns and a wingspan she dared not think about. Its snout was bound up so that it couldn’t breathe fire and it was, therefore, at a severe disadvantage. How in the world had it managed to get itself caught by mere soldiers she wondered?
And then she saw them. There they were, the two smaller dragons hiding in the brush, not far off, watching as their champion was being carted off. He must have been protecting his family, the larger one. The King Dragon, they had captured a King Dragon! And now, his Queen and his progeny were alone, hiding in a cave atop the falls.
Is that how the blue dragon was wounded? Had they come to Daenal for help with the wound, or for help freeing their King? Daenal awoke from her haze and stood upright. Still dizzy, she made her way back towards the fiery stone where the remnants of the hare lay, and she stood there still staring into the solemn, molten eyes of Red, the Queen Dragon. For long moments they gazed at one another, she, a mere mortal, and she, a mere creature and they felt for one another. They were both apart from their loves, in unfamiliar territory, with nowhere to go. And they just stared, knowingly.
***
He was kicking again, and he was serious about something. Darina knew he was a boy, but couldn’t quite explain to anyone just how she knew. Of course, she was frightened to say as much, especially to her husband, Patrick. He already thought she was daft, and they were having issues of their own already.
The noon day sun was high in the sky and cast a bright glow across Darina’s rosy face. Shielding her eyes with her hands, Darina moaned as the cold white hands pressed hard against her stomach. Vynae pulled Darina's thin linen shift back down over her swollen belly and sighed. The elder healer was concerned about the pregnancy and wasn’t tactful about it either.
“Darina,” she sighed, “Eets gonna be a large one,” Vynae breathed heavily. “I can’t see how ye have much longer, although by yer own calculations ye be a claiming
Tearing into the nearly well-done hare, Daenal ate her full. Never had she been more grateful for freshly cooked meat, season-less or not. The young, blue dragon watched her, almost as if he were mesmerized by her skillful method of skinning, then fileting the already cooked gift from his mother. She had no doubt she was the first human form to have reached his eyes, and wondered secretly what they told each other when they looked at one another.
A flash of light caught her off guard and sent her reeling backward, towards the rocky cave wall behind her. Grasping her pounding head, Daenal rocked back and forth; hoping to stave off what she thought might be an impending migraine. The ground spun beneath her and almost as if she had fallen dead asleep, she was suddenly in a dream-like world. She was spinning, swimming and floating weightlessly above the cave floor, looking down upon her surroundings. Another flash and she was now on a rocky shoreline, watching from a distance behind rocks as five burly men struggled against something trapped in the dark. It was caught in a net, and it was fierce, angry, terrified and monstrous.
It let out a muffled shriek that struck her to her bones. With one loud thud, the largest man struck it about the head with his club and it fell to the earth in a crumpled mess, knocked clean out. It took all five men what seemed hours to load the tangled mess upon a flat wagon pulled by four horses. Light from the moon reflected off of the shore line and Daenal could see it was another dragon. A large male dragon with curled horns and a wingspan she dared not think about. Its snout was bound up so that it couldn’t breathe fire and it was, therefore, at a severe disadvantage. How in the world had it managed to get itself caught by mere soldiers she wondered?
And then she saw them. There they were, the two smaller dragons hiding in the brush, not far off, watching as their champion was being carted off. He must have been protecting his family, the larger one. The King Dragon, they had captured a King Dragon! And now, his Queen and his progeny were alone, hiding in a cave atop the falls.
Is that how the blue dragon was wounded? Had they come to Daenal for help with the wound, or for help freeing their King? Daenal awoke from her haze and stood upright. Still dizzy, she made her way back towards the fiery stone where the remnants of the hare lay, and she stood there still staring into the solemn, molten eyes of Red, the Queen Dragon. For long moments they gazed at one another, she, a mere mortal, and she, a mere creature and they felt for one another. They were both apart from their loves, in unfamiliar territory, with nowhere to go. And they just stared, knowingly.
***
He was kicking again, and he was serious about something. Darina knew he was a boy, but couldn’t quite explain to anyone just how she knew. Of course, she was frightened to say as much, especially to her husband, Patrick. He already thought she was daft, and they were having issues of their own already.
The noon day sun was high in the sky and cast a bright glow across Darina’s rosy face. Shielding her eyes with her hands, Darina moaned as the cold white hands pressed hard against her stomach. Vynae pulled Darina's thin linen shift back down over her swollen belly and sighed. The elder healer was concerned about the pregnancy and wasn’t tactful about it either.
“Darina,” she sighed, “Eets gonna be a large one,” Vynae breathed heavily. “I can’t see how ye have much longer, although by yer own calculations ye be a claiming
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