The D'Karon Apprentice

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Book: The D'Karon Apprentice by Joseph R. Lallo Read Free Book Online
Authors: Joseph R. Lallo
Tags: Magic, dragon, wizard
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Myranda felt herself pressed firmly against the dragon’s
back with the force of the maneuver, and just as the pressure began
to ease, she felt the smoothness of flight turn to the gentle
rhythm of a trot.
    “I think you might take that a little more
slowly in the future, Myn,” Deacon suggested, sitting up straight
and checking to be sure he hadn’t dropped anything.
    “This is right where we need to be, though.
Excellent work,” Myranda said.
    Myn stopped and crouched so that both wizards
could dismount, and the trio continued on foot. Without the chill
of the skies, the warmer southern climate became quite apparent.
This strip of the Northern Alliance just above the border was the
only part of the empire to truly experience all four seasons. The
sharpness of the change from the cold of the north to the warm of
the south was almost supernatural. Even a few days travel by foot
north and there would often be snow on the ground in the dead of
summer. Here, there was hardly a nip to the air, and green fields
filled the landscape behind and ahead of them. Bees buzzed in the
air, birds sang. There was life here, thriving. It was beautiful…
though one didn’t need to look far to see evidence of what had
happened here. Farmers had done their best to reclaim land on
either side of the border, but where their hoes and plows had not
been put to work, the ground was still churned up by hooves and
boots. Here and there the broken shaft of an arrow or a rusted
plate of armor jutted from the soil. Mixed with the scent of
blooming flowers and tilled fields, a sour, acrid smell tinged the
air. Life was trying its best to take this land back from the death
that had made its home here, but it would take time.
    The crossing was just a few hundred paces
ahead of them along a packed-earth road, and already the serenity
of the sky was giving way to the tension of the surface. The border
was, for the moment, marked with waist-high stakes driven into the
ground every twenty paces or so. At some point in history walls
might have separated the two kingdoms, at least between some of
those cities nearest to one another, but the war had demolished
them, and both sides agreed it would not show confidence in the
continuing peace efforts if the first order of business was
erecting new walls. There was, however, a set of tree-trunk-sized
posts on either side of the wide road, and a heavy gate had been
mounted on both the northern and southern sides. With soft soil on
either side, no vehicle would pass here without the knowledge and
permission of the half-dozen soldiers on either side. The same went
for the nearby Loom River. The sharpened trunks of trees had been
driven into the riverbed, some quite fresh, others rotted by
decades in the water. The only difference between those placed by
the north or the south was the direction the points were angled. It
was worrying that after six months no efforts had been made to
remove them and make water passable by river traffic once more.
    The other significant addition to the
crossing was a set of guard posts, small but sturdy buildings
erected on either side of the border to provide lodging and
supplies for those stationed here. The northern post was like any
other building Myranda had seen erected in the last fifty years:
thick planks cut from pine, solidly assembled and topped with
thatch. The construction was simple but strong and built to last.
The Tresson counterpart was subtly different. It was more ornate,
painted a warm red color and bearing carved doors and curved
accents on the corner posts. The roof had a shallower peak as well
and an unusual combination of thatch at the top and shingles at the
edge.
    “Oh, my goodness,” Myranda said, stopping
suddenly.
    “Is something wrong?” Deacon asked, he and
Myn stopping as well.
    “I’ve just realized—I’m supposed to be a
representative of the throne and an ambassador for my people, and
I’ve been flying on the back of a dragon.” She shed

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