The First Dragoneer (12 page)

Before he could stop himself, Jenka found
himself spurring his steed forward in a valiant gallop out to save
her.

Behind him, Master Kember let out a long
desperate, “Nooo!” But it was already too late.

Jenka charged his horse towards Zah, which
put him directly in the dragon’s path. Over his thundering heart,
he heard Master Kember screaming his name and the loud, low hissing
the dragon made as it drew in the breath that would probably roast
him to ashes.

In front of him, Zah rolled herself to her
feet. She managed to give Jenka an irritated but appreciative
snarl, then raised her chin defiantly at the closing wyrm.

Jenka was almost to her now. Her eyes were
sparkling like chips of maroon-colored glass as she waved her hands
around in quick, frantic gestures. Pink light seemed to trail from
her fingertips, and it began to look as if she were writing in the
sky. Jenka chanced a glance back, and his heart nearly stopped cold
in his chest. The dragon’s wagon-cart-sized, horned head was right
there on them, and those slavering jaws were showing him a mouthful
of terrible-looking teeth.

Jenka actually clenched his eyes shut and
scrunched himself down into the saddle in anticipation of the
crunching inferno that was about to end him.

“Jenka! Nooooo!” Master Kember yelled again,
but it was too late.

As the dragon's jaws came snapping down at
Jenka, Zah raised her hand and held her palm out, as if that might
stop the streaking beast from having her next. With fierce
determination, she called out a sharp, commanding word. A
thundering blast of sparkling, yellow power pulsed forth from her
open palm in an expanding wave that rippled outward through the
fabric of the world.

Jenka felt the heat of the dragon’s foul
breath and could hear the horrifying roar that came along with it,
but only until his guts were jolted. After that, everything was
absolute silence, even as his horse stumbled and fell, throwing him
headlong into the rough ground just beside Zah.

To find out what happens next visit
http://www.mrmathias.com/Dragoneers.html
and treat yourself to a copy of The Royal Dragoneers. A map
of the realm can be found there as well.