Dragon Tide Omnibus 2) Read online

  Dragon Tide: Episodes 6-10

  Dragon Tide Omnibuses, Volume 2

  Sarah K. L. Wilson

  Published by Sarah K. L. Wilson, 2020.

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  DRAGON TIDE: EPISODES 6-10

  First edition. March 21, 2020.

  Copyright © 2020 Sarah K. L. Wilson.

  Written by Sarah K. L. Wilson.

  Table of Contents

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Other Books by Sarah K. L. Wilson

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Behind the Scenes:

  For my little adventurers, Nev & Leif.

  Other Books by Sarah K. L. Wilson

  Dragon School Series

  First Flight

  Initiate

  The Dark Prince

  The Ruby Isles

  Sworn

  Dusk Covenant

  First Message

  Warring Promises

  Prince of Dragons

  Dark Night

  Bright Hopes

  Mark of Loyalty

  Dire Quest

  Ancient Allies

  Pipe of Wings

  Dragon Piper

  Dust of Death

  Troubled War

  Starie Night

  Ascendant Light

  Dragon Chameleon Series

  Rogue’s Quest

  Paths of Deception

  City of Ice

  Mist of Power

  Silver Eyes

  World of Legends

  Chase the Moon

  Shadow Quest

  Creeping Darkness

  Golem Siege

  Memory of Mountains

  Color of Victory

  The Unweaving Chronicles Series

  Teeth of the Gods

  Lightning Strikes Twice

  Thunder Rattles High

  Bridge of Legends (ongoing)

  Summernight

  Dawnspell

  Did you know that the Dragon Tide books are set in the same world as Sarah K. L. Wilson’s Dragon School and Dragon Chameleon? You don’t need to read those books first to enjoy Dragon Tide, but you might enjoy all the easter eggs and nuances you can get from reading all three series. Find out more at www.sarahklwilson.com

  Episode Six: Tides of Change

  Chapter One

  We could hear the Manticores roaring behind us as we hurried down the narrow passage. It was narrow enough that Olfijum filled it almost completely, even with his wings furled at his sides.

  “What do you see down there?” Heron whispered to him.

  I kept a hand on Nasataa’s back, the other hand carrying both a flaming torch and the Dragon Staff in an awkward hold. We had torches to see by, but being closer to him just felt safer. He’d grown so much that I could keep a palm on his spine as we walked without having to stoop. Vyvera hadn’t been wrong when she told me that he’d grow by leaps and bounds. I felt like he couldn’t possibly be eating enough to put on so much mass but he seemed healthy and happy – other than being chased by enemies his whole life.

  The passage was diving downward, the rocky passage turning into carved steps as we plunged farther down. Steps were not natural for the dragons. They knocked tiny stones as they walked and the stones bounced from step to step, echoing through the cavern.

  I glanced anxiously behind me. No sign of our pursuers yet, but that could change at any moment. I could hear them looking through the rooms above. The Manticores would be too large to fit down this narrow passage – but that hadn’t stopped them before and there were more than enough Bubblers to chase us down these steps. My heart was in my throat as we fled, trying not to stumble and fall into the dark.

  There was a splash up ahead and then Heron came to a dead stop ahead of me so quickly that I ran right into him, bouncing off his broad shoulders.

  “The passage ahead is blocked by water. It goes right into it,” he hissed, his voice too loud as it echoed in the empty cavern. “I don’t think it’s supposed to be underwater. It must have flooded in all those years of disuse.

  “Good thing that we’re both wearing these underwater suits then, isn’t it?” I said, glad to finally have a use for mine instead of just to make me sweat so much under their thick material. “Do you still have your breathing patches?”

  “Yes,” he whispered back but now Olfijum was dancing a little – like a frightened horse. “But Olfijum can’t breathe underwater. He’s a Purple dragon not a Blue like Nasataa.”

  “I’ve found a way out!” someone called from above.

  Skies and Stars! They were almost on us!

  “If we don’t at least try, they’ll be here in minutes,” I hissed. “How long can he hold his breath?”

  Heron looked torn, glancing from Olfijum to me and then back.

  “The longer we take, the more chance that they’ll catch us,” I urged him.

  His eyes looked pained as he reached into his pouch, pulled out a breathing patch and
slapped it over his nose and mouth. He was committed now. I tried to give him an encouraging smile as Olfijum inhaled a huge breath and then plunged beneath the water.

  Dragons – other than Blue ones – did not do well in water. That was obvious as we followed Olfijum thrashing through the cold depths. His movements were awkward and stressed, not at all like his usual grace on land and in the air.

  I didn’t like this water. It didn’t call to me like the ocean did, or even have the sense of life that rivers in the Rock Eaters lands had. This water was still and stale and dead. I wanted out of it almost as badly as Olfijum did.

  Nasataa, on the other hand, dove and swam like a fish finally thrown back into the water. He was in his element as he darted into the black waves.

  I was the last to enter. I put my torch in the holder behind me and I bit my lip. I didn’t mind water. But what I did mind was the loss of light. We didn’t have any way to light our path and I was worried about what that would mean.

  “Where is this way out?” I heard Atura’s voice from above. “It’s nothing more than a flight of stairs!”

  “See the glow, honored Bubbler? Our quarry flees into the depths!”

  Uh oh. If I was going to go, now was the time.

  I slid smoothly into the water, not wanting to even leave a ripple behind me. If we were only steps away from our pursuers, then we needed to hurry.

  I plunged through the water dropping further and further into the black depths. Darkness made it impossible to see but just as I was beginning to feel the fear of darkness and a closed-in space, I saw a bright glow as Nasataa breathed his fire out below me, lighting the tunnel for a moment.

  At the spot where he blew his flames, the passage reached a landing and then turned back upward. I couldn’t see Heron or Olfijum. Hopefully, they’d already turned the curve and were heading upward. The passage would be a tight fit for Olfijum. I shuddered to think how impossible it would be for a full dragon to make the journey.

  I swam hard toward the glow, blinking at the after images and hoping beyond hope that Olfijum could hold on – that there would be air on the other side. Talk about risky! This was a terrible risk to take. But what was worse? Possible death on one hand or certain death on the other?

  My heart thudded in my chest so hard that I could almost believe it knew about the risk and was trying to send a message! Too risky. Too risky, it seemed to say.

  I forced the thought aside. This had to work.

  I hit the bottom of the landing unexpectedly, the water cushioning the blow so that all I had to do was follow the landing by feel to find the second set of steps leading upward.

  The darkness was so overwhelmingly thick that if it hadn’t been pitch black, I would have been sweating in my underwater suit. What if I chose the wrong way back up? What if I went back up and found myself right back in Atura’s clutches?

  I held my breath until I saw another flash of light ahead, only then breathing out a long sigh as I kicked hard to chase my friends upward.

  The minutes seemed to take forever as I clawed for the surface.

  I surfaced, emerging at the top of a flight of steps where Heron was comforting a heaving, gasping Olfijum. Nasataa let out another burst of his magic flames, lighting the room. There was nothing flammable in any direction that I could see. Our only sources of light were Nasataa and Olfijum.

  “There’s air,” I gasped. “Thank the Skies and Stars.”

  Heron wrenched off his breathing mask, but his voice did not sound happy. “Air, but no light, no food and no indication of what way to go. I don’t suppose you have a map for this place, too, do you?”

  I didn’t even have to glance at my little book – waterlogged now – to know that I didn’t. We would just have to figure this next part out by ourselves.

  Chapter Two

  At least that single pool seemed to be the only water we would absolutely have to swim through – for now. But it was hard to tell for sure as I turned slowly around, trying to see what I could in the light Nasataa was providing.

  Something a long way off – over what looked like an earthen bridge between two small lakes – glowed faintly purple. But the cavern we were in was huge. It was far too large to see very far with just Nasataa’s flame. I peered through the darkness, but the only obvious path from our landing place went across this land bridge to the whatever was glowing. We could try to swim in the lakes – but that seemed like a bad idea with Olfijum coughing like he was.

  We could try to fly – but he had barely made it to this mountain he was so tired and then we made him swim. Walking seemed like the safest option.

  “Dragon eyes are better in the dark than ours are,” Heron murmured, leaving his dragon for a moment to join me. “Olfijum can see this whole cavern. Can you believe that he speaks in my mind?”

  Even with worry tinging his tone he sounded ecstatic at the thought of that – and shouldn’t he be? I’d loved being contacted by Blue dragons and then Nasataa – and then Taoslil and Kyrowat. Why shouldn’t he be excited, too? It was just hard to realize that I wasn’t special – that Heron could have the same kind of special relationship with dragons that I did. It made me feel – jealous. And I didn’t like myself when I was jealous.

  “Yeah. Amazing,” I agreed, trying to sound enthusiastic but just sounding sour. “What does he see?”

  “There’s a central island in the middle and paths like spokes of a wheel going out in every direction. Two of them seem to lead to further caverns but the other three just end abruptly at places where there is fallen rock or just a flat rock wall. The area between the bridges is full of water – but I don’t think it leads anywhere. I think it filled with groundwater, but that it was just supposed to be empty space before.”

  “Weird to have so much empty space under a mountain, don’t you think?” I asked. Especially since the book hadn’t mentioned that at all.

  “I think it was made. And not by humans. This doesn’t look like human craftsmanship. Everything is on a larger scale.”

  “So, we need to pick one of the two caverns that have a path,” I steered us back to the task at hand before Heron got lost in the craftsmanship that built these caverns. I knew from experience that he’d be drawn right into that.

  My gaze drifted toward the water behind us. I felt a thrill of fear as I watched it. At any moment, something might surface from that pool of water and try to tear us to pieces.

  Nasataa’s light went out and the world went velvet black again. I could hear the rustle of scale on scale as Nasataa cuddled against the larger dragon and the heavy, gasping breaths of Olfijum. That swim hadn’t been good for him.

  Heron leaned his forehead against mine in the dark, whispering – as if our two mind-reading dragons wouldn’t be able to hear.

  “I don’t think Olfijum can take much more. He needs rest. So does Nasataa. And if I’m being honest, so do I.”

  I bit my lip. I knew he was right. And it wasn’t right to push them so hard – particularly Nasataa. He wasn’t exactly a baby anymore – as weird as that felt – but he was still young and small. Still a dragonlet. He needed sleep and rest, or he’d get sick.

  And I was worried about Heron. It took a lot for him to admit weakness of any kind.

  But what were we supposed to do? Our enemies were right behind us. They’d probably already be here if the tunnel had been wider.

  As if on cue, the rock under us shook. They were widening the passage. I could feel it in my bones.

  “If we stay here, they will come,” I said, trying to keep the fear from my voice as my hands sought his thick chest. There was something very comforting about how sturdy he was – as if it could somehow protect us all against what was coming. Silly – but still how I felt.

  “I was thinking.” Now he was the one who sounded hesitant. “About those rock falls. I bet there is a place to hide in the rubble of one of them. We could hide there, rest, sleep, and let our enemies go on past us.”

  “They
’ll reach Raolcan first. They’ll convince him that their false dragon is the Chosen One and that their leader is his guardian.”

  Heron shrugged helplessly. “What good is a Chosen One if you run him to death before he does what he was chosen for?”

  He was right. I hated admitting it, but he was.

  Sighing, I nodded.

  “Okay, Heron. But promise me one thing?”

  “What?”

  “Let me take watch while the rest of you sleep,” I said, adjusting the Dragon Staff in my grip. “I’m the only one who has had any sleep.”

  “I thought you hated the dark? Atura will be out there.”

  “Then she’d better watch out. She owes me a life, and one day, I plan to collect.”

  Chapter Three

  Despite the boldness of my words, I actually was terrified of the dark. It was all I could do to follow the others, holding onto Nasataa’s tail, as the dragons led us through the pitch blackness across the long bridge to the central hub.

  I kept my eyes fixed on the glow ahead, my mind focused on Nasataa – no matter how big he was getting, he needed watching out for – and tried not to think about the steady shaking of the rocks beneath our feet. How much power did the Manticores have to be able to shake this place apart like that?

  Was it worrying Nasataa?

  No, Sela.

  He was getting better at talking in my mind. I sent him an image of cuddling up behind a rock with Olfijum. If he could hold on until then, we should be able to find him somewhere to rest.

  Sleep, Sela.

  I love you, little guy, I tried to tell him.

  But how did you explain a word like love? It was too hard to explain. It meant that I’d always be with him – except if it was better for him if we were apart. It meant I would guard him in everything – unless it was better for him to take an adventure away from my care. It meant his needs and hopes would always come first – unless he was getting spoiled and needed some perspective. It was a whole series of absolute loyalties with little caveats.

  Did my parents feel that way when they looked at me? Did they share that strange combination of hopes and fears, of absolute commitment and bone-deep exhaustion? I wouldn’t have recommended that anyone adopt a baby dragon after what we’d gone through. How could you say, “Oh, but this is better than your happy village life?” And yet, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. What did ‘better’ mean? Did it always mean trouble-free and relaxing? Or did it sometimes mean weariness, hunger, desperation, and adventure? Maybe it would take a few years for me to sort all of that out.