Finding the Wolf(The Dragon's Hoard #1) by Mell Eight Read Free Book Online

to dragon shape and blasted a spout of fire high into the ceiling.
    "I need to speak with you and the Eldest immediately," he snapped once he finished emptying all the fire that had been bursting from his stomach with his anger.
    "Has something so terrible occurred?" Toel asked.
    "The human king has gone mad," Nyle hissed. "He has banished all dragons from his kingdom on pain of death."
    "Impossible," Toel breathed. "I will inform the Eldest of your arrival." Toel took off as quickly as his legs could carry him.
    When Nyle and Leon arrived at the Eldest's cave, Toel ushered them in and waited to hear what had happened.
    Nyle told them.
    Once he was finished speaking Toel was standing open mouthed and speechless and the Eldest was shaking his head sadly.
    "He tried to kill Leon, my Leon," Nyle added vehemently; smoke trailing from his nostrils again. "I will not stand for anyone hurting my prettiest of pretties."
    "Be calm," the Eldest said softly. "We cannot let such actions stand unpunished, of course. It is so disappointing how short the memories of humans are. The last uprising was barely a thousand years ago and already we have a fool in power who thinks solely with that power. Such an inadequate race."
    "Do we attack?" Toel asked, clearly making the suggestion because it had to be asked rather than because he wanted to go to war.
    "That special brigade worries me," the Eldest replied as he settled his head onto his forepaws. "There is an interesting chain of events at work here. First the werewolves, a race not prone to drawing attention to itself, begins attacking humans. Now the king of the humans exiles all his progeny, declares that he will never die, and insults the dragons in such a way that leaves us no choice but to retaliate."
    The Eldest nodded to himself as he paused to think through what he wanted to say.
    "Yes, the chain appears to begin with the werewolves, does it not? An'nanyle, travel to the werewolf village and discover what set off this series of events. I give you permission to fly over all dragon territories with a passenger."
    He turned to Toel. "An'tatoel, go among those dragons you trust not to react without thought to this issue and ask for their opinions on the matter. We must do something, but I will not tolerate a mindless attack."
    "At once, Eldest," Toel said with a bow.
    Nyle and Leon bowed as well as they exited the caves. They walked all the way back to the main entrance of the dragon mountain before Nyle turned to Leon.
    "It is much to ask of you, I do understand," Nyle began softly.
    Leon shook his head. "It has to be done. My father has gone mad and we have to find out why before something terrible happens. Does this mean I get to fly?" he added with a grin.
    Nyle laughed. "Yes." He bent one knee into a step Leon could use and indicated that Leon was to climb up. "There should be a space for you to sit and a spike to hold on to."
    Leon climbed onto Nyle's back and settled himself into place. "You have to have permission for someone to ride on your back?" he asked as Nyle carefully walked out under open sky where the sun was slowly rising on the horizon.
    "There was a time," Nyle said as he flapped his wings experimentally, "when humans sought to domesticate us for their own purposes. Before we had the Eldest to guide our actions, dragons would fight against each other, often with humans as their allies."
    Nyle walked to the edge of a nearby cliff, warming up his wings as he went. It would be easier on his passenger to glide into flight than fight the jostling that jumping off the ground would cause.
    "A dragon would flame their enemy and the human on their back would use the distraction to send a weapon through the opponent's wing, killing them when they fell hundreds of feet. It was when humans decided they were not satisfied fighting the battles of dragons and wanted to use the dragons in their own battles that dragons began to see their folly. Entire human villages could be wiped out