A Land Of Fire (Book 12)
Read A Land Of Fire (Book 12) Online
Authors: Morgan Rice
A
L
A N D
O F
F I R E
(Book #12 in the Sorcerer’s Ring)
Morgan Rice
About Morgan Rice
Morgan
Rice is the #1 Bestselling author of THE VAMPIRE JOURNALS, a young adult series
comprising eleven books (and counting), which has been translated into six
languages. Book #1 in the series, TURNED, is available as a
free
download
on Amazon!
Morgan
is also author of the #1 Bestselling ARENA ONE and ARENA TWO, the first two
books in THE SURVIVAL TRILOGY, a post-apocalyptic action thriller set in the
future.
Morgan
is also author of the #1 Bestselling epic fantasy series THE SORCERER’S RING,
comprising twelve books and counting. Book #1 in the series, A QUEST OF HEROES,
is available is a
free
download
on Amazon!
Morgan
loves to hear from you, so please feel free to visit
www.morganricebooks.com
to stay in
touch.
Select Acclaim for Morgan Rice
“Grabbed
my attention from the beginning and did not let go….This story is an amazing
adventure that is fast paced and action packed from the very beginning. There
is not a dull moment to be found.”
--Paranormal
Romance Guild {regarding
Turned
}
“An
ideal story for young readers. Morgan Rice did a good job spinning an
interesting twist…Refreshing and unique, has the classic elements found in many
Young Adult paranormal stories. Easy to read but extremely
fast-paced....Recommended for anyone who likes to read soft paranormal
romances. Rated PG.”
--The
Romance Reviews (regarding
Turned
)
“Jam
packed with action, romance, adventure, and suspense. Get your hands on this
one and fall in love all over again.”
--vampirebooksite.com
(regarding
Turned
)
“A
great plot, and this especially was the kind of book you will have trouble
putting down at night. The ending was a cliffhanger that was so spectacular
that you will immediately want to buy the next book, just to see what happens.”
--The
Dallas Examiner {regarding
Loved
}
“Morgan
Rice proves herself again to be an extremely talented storyteller….This would
appeal to a wide range of audiences, including younger fans of the
vampire/fantasy genre. It ended with an unexpected cliffhanger that leaves you
shocked.”
--The
Romance Reviews {regarding
Loved
}
Books
by Morgan Rice
THE
SORCERER’S RING
A QUEST OF
HEROES (Book #1)
A MARCH OF KINGS (Book #2)
A
FEAST OF DRAGONS (Book #3)
A
CLASH OF HONOR (Book #4)
A
VOW OF GLORY (Book #5)
A CHARGE OF VALOR (Book #6)
A RITE OF SWORDS (Book #7)
A
GRANT OF ARMS (Book #8)
A SKY OF SPELLS (Book #9)
A
SEA OF SHIELDS (Book #10)
A REIGN OF STEEL (Book #11)
A LAND OF FIRE (Book #12)
THE
SURVIVAL TRILOGY
ARENA ONE: SLAVERSUNNERS (Book #1)
ARENA TWO (Book #2)
THE
VAMPIRE JOURNALS
TURNED
(Book #1)
LOVED
(Book #2)
BETRAYED (Book #3)
DESTINED
(Book #4)
DESIRED
(Book #5)
BETROTHED (Book #6)
VOWED
(Book #7)
FOUND
(Book #8)
RESURRECTED
(Book #9)
CRAVED (Book #10)
Copyright
© 2014 by Morgan Rice
All
rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no
part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any
form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the
prior permission of the author.
This
ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be
re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book
with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If
you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for
your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for
respecting the hard work of this author.
This
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places,
events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are
used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is
entirely coincidental.
CONTENTS
Gwendolyn stood on the shore of the
Upper Isles, gazing out into the ocean, watching with horror as the fog rolled
in and began to consume her baby. She felt as if her heart were breaking in two
as she saw Guwayne floating farther and farther away, into the horizon,
disappearing in the mist. The tide was carrying him God knows where, every
second taking him more beyond her reach.
Tears rolled down Gwendolyn’s cheeks as
she watched, unable to tear herself away, numb to the world. She lost all sense
of time and place, could no longer feel her body. A part of her died as she
watched the person she loved most in the world be consumed by an ocean tide. It
was as if a part of her were sucked out to sea with him.
Gwen hated herself for what she had
done; yet at the same time, she knew it was the only thing in the world that
might just save her child. Gwen heard the roaring and thundering on the horizon
behind her, and she knew that soon, this entire island would be consumed with
flame—and that nothing in the world could save them. Not Argon, who lay still in
a helpless state; not Thorgrin, who was a world away, in the Land of the Druids;
not Alistair or Erec, who were another world away, in the Southern Isles; and
not Kendrick or the Silver or any of the other brave men who were here in this
place, none of them with the means to combat a dragon. Magic was what they
needed—and it was the one thing they had run out of.
They had been lucky to escape the Ring at
all, and now, she knew, fate had caught up with them. There was no more
running, no more hiding. It was time to face the death that had been chasing
them.
Gwendolyn turned and faced the opposite
horizon, and she could see even from here the black mass of dragons heading her
way. She had little time; she did not want to die all alone here on these
shores, but with her people, protecting them as best she could.
Gwen turned back for one last look out at
the ocean, hoping for a last glimpse of Guwayne.
But there was nothing. Guwayne was far
from her now, somewhere on the horizon, already traveling to a world she would
never know.
Please, God
, Gwen prayed.
Be
with him. Take my life for his. I will do anything. Keep Guwayne safe. Let me
hold him again. I beg you. Please.
Gwendolyn opened her eyes, hoping to see
a sign, perhaps a rainbow in the sky—anything.
But the horizon was empty. There was
nothing but black, glowering clouds, as if the universe were furious with her
for what she had done.
Sobbing, Gwen turned her back on the
ocean, on what remained of her life, and broke into a jog, each step taking her
closer to make her final stand with her people.
*
Gwen stood on the upper parapets of Tirus’s
fort, surrounded by dozens of her people, among them her brothers Kendrick and Reece
and Godfrey, her cousins Matus and Stara, Steffen, Aberthol, Srog, Brandt, Atme,
and all the Legion. They all faced the sky, silent and somber, knowing what was
coming for them.
As they listened to the distant roars that
shook the earth, they stood there, helpless, watching Ralibar wage their war
for them, a single brave dragon fighting his best, holding off the host of
enemy dragons. Gwen’s heart soared as she watched Ralibar fight, so brave, so
bold, one dragon against dozens and yet unafraid. Ralibar breathed fire on the
dragons, raised his great talons and scratched them, clutched them, and sank
his teeth into their throats. He was not only stronger than the others, but
faster, too. He was a thing to watch.
As Gwen watched, her heart soared with
its last ounce of hope; a part of her dared to believe that maybe Ralibar could
defeat them. She saw Ralibar duck and dive down as three dragons breathed fire at
his face, narrowly missing him. Ralibar then lunged forward and plunged his
talons into one of the dragons’ chest, and used his momentum to force it down
toward the ocean.
Several dragons breathed fire onto Ralibar’s
back as he dove, and Gwen watched in horror as Ralibar and the other dragon
became a flaming ball, dropping down to the sea. The dragon resisted, but Ralibar
used all his weight to drive it down into the waves—and soon they both plunged
into the ocean.
A great hissing noise arose, along with clouds
of steam, as the water doused the fire. Gwen watched with anticipation, hoping
he was okay—and moments later, Ralibar surfaced, alone. The other dragon
surfaced too, but it was bobbing, floating on the waves, dead.
Without hesitating, Ralibar shot up toward
the dozens of other dragons diving down at him. As they came down, their great jaws
open, aiming for him, Ralibar was on the attack: he reached out his great
talons, leaned back, spread his wings, and grabbed two of them, then spun
around and drove them down into the sea.
Ralibar held them under, yet as he did,
a dozen dragons pounced on Ralibar’s exposed back. The whole group of them
plummeted into the ocean, driving Ralibar down with them. Ralibar, as valiantly
as he fought, was just way too outnumbered, and he plunged into the water,
flailing, held down by dozens of dragons, screeching in fury.
Gwen swallowed, her heart breaking at
the sight of Ralibar fighting for all of them, all alone out there; she wished
more than anything that she could help him. She combed the surface of the ocean,
waiting, hoping, for any sign of Ralibar, willing him to surface.
But to her horror, he never did.
The other dragons surfaced, and they all
flew up, regrouped, and set their sights on the Upper Isles. They seemed to
look right at Gwendolyn as they let out a great roar and spread their wings.
Gwen felt her heart splitting. Her dear
friend Ralibar, their last hope, their last line of defense, was dead.
Gwen turned to her men, who stood
staring in shock. They knew what was coming next: an unstoppable wave of
destruction.
Gwen felt heavy; she opened her mouth, and
the words stuck in her throat.
“Sound the bells,” she finally said, her
voice hoarse. “Command our people to shelter. Anyone above ground needs to go below,
now. Into the caves, the cellars—anywhere but here. Command them—now!”
“Sound the bells!” Steffen yelled,
running to the edge of the fort, screaming out over the courtyard. Soon, bells
tolled throughout the square. Hundreds of her people, survivors from the Ring,
now fled, racing to take shelter, heading for the caves on the outskirts of
town or hurrying into cellars and shelters below ground, preparing themselves
against the inevitable wave of fire that would come.
“My Queen,” Srog said, turning to her,
“perhaps we can all take shelter in this fort. After all, it is made of stone.”
Gwen shook her head knowingly.
“You do not understand the dragons’
wrath,” she said. “Nothing above ground will be safe. Nothing.”
“But my lady, perhaps we will be safer
in this fort,” he urged. “It has stood the test of time. These stone walls are a
foot thick. Wouldn’t you rather be here than underneath the earth?”
Gwen shook her head. There came a roar,
and she looked to the horizon and could see the dragons approaching. Her heart
broke as she saw, in the distance, the dragons breathing a wall of flame down
onto her fleet that lay in the southern harbor. She watched as her precious ships,
her lifeline off this island, beautiful ships that had taken decades to build, were
reduced to nothing but kindling. She felt fortunate that she had anticipated
this, and had hidden a few ships on the other side of the island. If they ever
even survived to use them.
“There is no time for debate. All of us
will leave this place at once. Follow me.”
They followed Gwen as she hurried off
the roof and down the spiral steps, taking them as fast as she could; as she
went, Gwen instinctively reached out to clutch Guwayne—then her heart broke
once again as she realized he was gone. She felt a part of her missing as she
ran down the steps, hearing all the footsteps behind her, taking them two at a
time, all of them rushing to get to safety. Gwen could hear the distant roars
of the dragons getting closer, shaking the place already, and she only prayed
that Guwayne was safe.
Gwen burst out of the castle and raced
across the courtyard with the others, all of them running for the entrance to the
dungeons, long emptied of prisoners. Several of her soldiers waited before the
steel doors, opening up to steps leading down to the ground, and before they
entered, Gwen stopped and turned to her people.
She saw several people still rushing
about the courtyard, shrieking in fear, in a daze, unsure where to go.
“Come here!” she called out. “Come underground!
All of you!”
Gwen stepped aside, making sure they all
made it to safety first, and one by one, her people rushed past her, down the
stone steps into the darkness.
The last people to stop and stand with
her were her brothers, Kendrick and Reece and Godfrey, along with Steffen. The five
of them turned and examined the sky together, as another earth-shattering roar
came.
The host of dragons was now so close
that Gwen could see them, hardly several hundred yards away, their great wings
larger than life, all of them emboldened, faces filled with fury. Their great jaws
were wide open, as if anticipating tearing them apart, and their teeth were
each as large as Gwendolyn.
So,
Gwendolyn thought,
this is
what death looks like.
Gwen took one last look around, and she
saw hundreds of her people taking shelter in their new homes above ground,
refusing to go below.
“I told them to get below ground!” Gwen yelled.
“Some of our people listened,” Kendrick
observed sadly, shaking his head, “but many would not.”
Gwen felt herself breaking up inside.
She knew what would happen to the people who stayed above ground. Why did her
people always have to be so obstinate?
And then it happened—the first of the dragon
fire came rolling toward them, far enough away so as not to burn them, yet
close enough that Gwen could feel the heat scorching her face. She watched in
horror as screams arose, coming from her people on the far side of the
courtyard who had decided to wait above ground, inside their dwellings or
inside Tirus’s fort. The stone fort, so indomitable just moments before, was
now ablaze, flames shooting out the sides and front and back, as if it were
nothing but a house of flame, its stone charred and seared in but a moment.
Gwen swallowed hard, knowing that if they had tried to wait it out in the fort,
they would all be dead.
Others had not been so lucky: they shrieked,
ablaze, and ran through the streets before collapsing to the earth. The
horrible smell of burning flesh cut through the air.
“My lady,” Steffen said, “we must go
below. Now!”
Gwen could not bear to tear herself away,
and yet she knew he was right. She allowed herself to be led by the others, to
be dragged down through the gates, down the steps, into the blackness, as a
wave of flame came rolling toward her. The steel doors slammed closed a second
before they reached her, and as she heard them reverberate behind her, they felt
like a door slamming closed in her heart.