Read Online Dragon Forge: The Draconic Prophecies - Book Two by James Wyatt - Free Book Online Page A

asked himself.
    Kauth Dennar, he answered. A mercenary during the war, now a drifter, a thug, an adventurer. Born and raised in Storm-reach. I’m working for the Wardens of the Wood.
    And leading my friends to their deaths.
    “Listen well,” Kelas said, leaning over him. “You have no friends. You love nothing, care about nothing. Nothing is permanent—everything changes, everyone will die. If you love, if you care about anything, you will suffer. You will fail!” He punctuated his last words by striking Haunderk’s face with the back of his hand
.
    And what about hate, Kelas? Haunderk thought. Isn’t hate a form of caring? You can’t hate someone who’s irrelevant to you
.
    “Focus,” he whispered through clenched teeth. Once more, from the top of his head to the soles of his feet. And again, reining in his wandering mind.
    Nothing is permanent. Everyone will die. I will not fail.

C HAPTER
8
    G aven’s assessment of the dragon seemed correct. It circled above them—“like a vulture,” Jordhan observed—until they had cleared the sentinel pillars, then flew inland until they lost sight of it. Gaven cursed, but the crew was breathing easier.
    Better to deal with the dragons when I’m risking only my own life, Gaven realized. And Rienne’s.
    The wide channel’s waters were still and clear. Coral reefs teemed with life far below the surface, brightly colored fish darting in and out of their aquatic castles. They spotted some larger creatures as dark shadows in the distance—an enormous eel the size of the
Sea Tiger
, and what might have been a dragon turtle that dwarfed her—but those monsters kept clear of the ship.
    Jordhan hugged the western edge of the channel as close as he dared, keeping an eye on the coral so it didn’t tear a hole in the hull. He stopped the ship when the daylight became too weak for him to see into the depths, but no one aboard slept except in fits, jerking awake at every strange sound or surge of the waves.
    At daybreak, Gaven looked around and saw a crew on the brink of mutiny. Lack of sleep and abject terror had begun to overcome even this crew’s fierce loyalty to Jordhan. They wanted to sail back to familiar waters—it was written plainly on their haggard faces. He pulled Jordhan into the captain’s quarters.
    “We have to find a place to disembark as soon as possible,” he said as the hatch closed behind him.
    “What’s the matter?” Jordhan asked.
    “Your crew. I don’t think you can rely on them much longer.”
    “You finally noticed? You think I don’t know my crew?”
    Gaven grimaced. He hadn’t intended to start another quarrel with the captain. “What are we going to do about it?”
    “They’re my crew, aren’t they?” Jordhan seemed determined to fight.
    Gaven looked more closely at his old friend, and suddenly noticed what he had managed to ignore for so long—the same haggard expression, sunken eyes and hollow cheeks, he’d seen on the
Sea Tiger’s
crew.
    Thunder and lightning, he thought. What have I done?
    “They are your crew, and this is your ship. I’m sorry I put you through this.”
    Jordhan’s shoulders slumped. “I insisted. You’re my friend.”
    “That means the world to me.” He clapped Jordhan on the shoulder. “We’ll get through this.”
    Jordhan straightened, managed a weak smile, and followed Gaven back onto the deck.
    That afternoon, one of the sailors charged with watching for dangers to the hull spotted the wreck of another ship, encrusted with barnacles and coral. Her mast rose dangerously close to the surface, so Jordhan steered clear. But as they sailed past, a number of sailors clumped at the bulwark, watching the wreck as they passed, muttering darkly to each other.
    Gaven shook his head. He couldn’t blame them for their mood. It had been a long journey, they had already spotted one dragon as well as other dangers lurking in the water, and the shipwreck seemed like a premonition of their own future. Standing