Dragonforge by James Maxey Read Free Book Online

someone stole his body.”
    “Why would anyone do that?” Pet asked.
    “Maybe they thought he was supernatural and there’s some power to be derived from possessing his bones. It was probably humans. They believe the dumbest things.”
    “Hmm,” said Pet. “Might I remind you that you’re human?”
    “Am I?” Jandra asked, sagging back against her bed, the skull cap resting in her lap. She looked very small in the oversized room. She normally projected a defiant strength that Pet found irresistible. Now, the tragic events of recent weeks had finally caught up with her. She looked like a lost little girl, with no hope of ever finding her way home. Pet wanted to take her hand, but knew she would only see it as another attempt at seduction. Which it could lead to, he supposed. All women succumbed to his charms eventually. She sounded on the verge of tears as she said, “Why am I only comfortable around dragons? Why does every human I meet make my skin crawl?”
    “Do I make your skin crawl?”’ he asked.
    “You especially,” she said.
    These weren’t words Pet was used to hearing from young women. “You know, I’m the reason humans won their little uprising in the Free City. They rallied around me. Now I’m going to be standing up for all of humanity in this conference Shandrazel is holding.”
    “What is your point?” Jandra asked.
    “Just that you are proving to be especially difficult to impress.”
    Jandra sighed. “If you want to impress me, figure out who took Ven. Or help me find the real Bitterwood.”
    “That crazy old man? What do you want with him?”
    “Things happened so fast the last time I saw him,” she said. As she spoke, the look of vulnerability faded from her features. Pet noticed that when there was something she wanted to do, she always summoned the strength to do it. “One second, I was trying to help Bitterwood find his lost family. The next, he was shouting at me to go away. I never got the chance to tell him something that he needs to know.”
    “Which is?”
    “Bitterwood thought his family had been killed by dragons. But I think his son, Adam, might be alive. He wasn’t listed in Albekizan’s slave records. I knew Bitterwood’s daughters, and they told me that their grandmother had taken their baby brother when the dragons raided their village. She jumped into the well to hide. They didn’t know if Adam survived the raid, but they knew he wasn’t taken captive.”
    “Don’t you remember how callously Bitterwood treated us?” Pet asked. “He left us to die. Why do you owe that monster anything?”
    “Bitterwood wasn’t entirely a monster. There was a little girl with us when we were captured. Her name was Zeeky. He treated her in a kind and fatherly way. And while you take credit for the victory in the Free City—a victory I believe you actually owe to Vendevorex—Bitterwood is the one who really won the war. He’s the one who killed Albekizan.”
    “And no one has seen him since,” said Pet. “Just because they didn’t find his body when they searched the river doesn’t mean he’s still alive.”
    “He’s alive,” she said. “I’ve asked around. Some of the people in Richmond saw an old man and a little girl riding an ox-dog west along the river. I’m positive it’s them.”
    “Assuming it was, if Bitterwood’s lived this long without knowing his son might be alive, he can wait a bit longer. Don’t go off chasing some man who doesn’t want to see you again. I need you here by my side, Jandra.”
    “Pet, I’m not going to sleep with you. Just give up.”
    “No,” he knelt in front of her, so she could better see his face. All his life he was acting, but now he wanted the masks he wore to slip away. He tried to project sincerity as he spoke. “I mean, yes, I’ll give up trying to seduce you. I want you here because you’re smart and you’re brave and you’re tough. Maybe you don’t feel like a human, but you’re a better human than