A Solstice of Dragons (Rise of the dragons Book 2) Read online

  Rise of Dragons – Book 2

  Solstice of Dragons

  © Gemma Clatworthy 2021

  Find more at www.gemmaclatworthy.com

  The moral right of Gemma Clatworthy to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

  Foreword

  Thank you to the amazing first readers, terrific typo hunters and grammar gurus – you are awesome!

  This series is for my D&D group whose stories always inspire me!

  Please join the conversation at Gemma’s book wyrms or find Gemma on Instagram (www.instagram.com/gemmaclatworthy) or Facebook (www.facebook.com/gemmaclatworthy).

  Chapter 1

  I woke up suddenly, instantly alert. My senses were heightened. My room was dark. Living above my shop in Royal Arcade protected me from the ever present orange glow of the lamp posts that pervaded Cardiff homes on normal streets. Errol was growling softly at the end of the bed. His short wings were tucked up and his claws dug painfully into my leg underneath the thin sheets. I winced but stayed still. It was unlike the small wyrm to get spooked over nothing. Without moving my head, I looked around the room and listened carefully.

  Was it my imagination or did I hear a rustle of fabric? Was there a shape in my small flat?

  I ran through the options in my head. I could scream but I was the only one who lived in the Arcade. The owner had allowed me to stay in exchange for taking on the unit which had a draughty chimney built into the back room. Perfect for the small forge I had created for my jewellery and more illicit weapons business, but discouraging to other tenants. It was doubtful even my hearty lungs could shout loud enough to attract attention from the street and it wasn’t like the Arcade was particularly close to any all-night bars. Plus I wasn’t really a screaming kind of girl.

  There was Bane, my trusty double headed ancestral axe stashed under my bed. Ever since my experience with the Awakener cult earlier in the year, I had felt safer with it near me at all times. Now it seemed too far away to reach easily.

  I opted for turning my bedside lamp on with a yawn and a stretch as if I had just awoken naturally and was going to the toilet in the middle of the night. What a moron. I was acting for a potential burglar. Errol was still growling as he jumped off the bed and stood next to me, radiating heat and allowing small curls of smoke to escape from his nostrils.

  I looked around. Nothing. No strange deep shadows in the corner. No stranger standing over my bed with a pointed dagger. I thought I heard a scuff downstairs in my shop. Of course! If anyone was in here they would be trying to rob the jewellery store not my postage stamp of a flat. I cautiously shifted my legs and stood on the hardwood floor as softly as I could. I bent over and slipped Bane from under the bed, holding my breath as it dragged over the floor. Then I padded lightly to the open staircase that led down to my shop.

  “Hello?” I said nervously. What a moron. I rolled my eyes at myself and then ran down the stairs, holding my axe high and trying to look menacing. I caught my reflection in the mirrored glass as I sprinted into the middle of the shop. My oversized superhero t-shirt, sharp axe and wildly dishevelled hair made me look like a crazy person. I blinked then turned threateningly. Even better! Maybe whoever was here would run away at the sight of my pale legs and wild hair.

  No one was there. I flicked on the lights, gripping Bane tightly, expecting someone to jump at me. Nothing. With more confidence, I checked behind the shabby chic counter. Nothing.

  Then I heard a strange scrabbling sound from the back room behind the counter where I kept my forge and my under-the-counter weapons.

  With a deep breath, I kicked back the door to my small forge. No one ran out. I turned the light on. Errol was sat next to his coal bucket, chewing on a large piece of finest Welsh coal. He looked at me and gave a dragony grin.

  “If you woke me up just so you could get a midnight snack…” I started, waving my axe towards him. I let out a huff of annoyance as I flipped the lights off and prepared to go back to bed. Something caught my eye as I walked back through the shop. I peered over at the door then checked it. Locked. Shrugging, I heaved Bane onto my shoulder and whistled a little too loudly as I got back into bed and snuggled under the covers.

  I shoved Bane under my pillow then shifted uncomfortably. In films when the hero keeps a weapon under their pillow, it seems sensible and cool. Easy to reach, good for defending yourself. Maybe there’s a reason it’s never an axe because having a large axe in bed with me was not comfortable. Even with the thickness of a pillow between me and it, the axe was hard and dug into my head. After trying a few different positions, I sighed and rested it against my bedside table. At least I could reach it easily.

  Errol scrabbled back upstairs after finishing his midnight snack and curled up, his body a small hot water bottle against my stomach. I lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling. I still felt uneasy so left my lamp on, the wizard lampshade casting strange shadows around the room. The strange brown stain on the ceiling mocked me as I stared up at it. There’s nothing there, I told myself, but I couldn’t shake the sensation that someone had been in my shop and I didn’t feel quite as safe in my flat as I usually did.

  I must have dropped off eventually because my alarm woke me, blaring in my ear, dragging me from slumber. Schiztz, why was it so loud? I tapped my phone to turn it off and realised it wasn’t my alarm, it was my parents calling.

  Blearily I answered, “Hello Mum.”

  “Hi darling, I didn’t wake you did I?” Mum’s voice sounded bright and cheery.

  I held the phone away from my face and blinked at the display. 6:05 am. Who calls just after six in the morning?

  “I just didn’t sleep well last night, that’s all.”

  “Well I’ll get right to it then you can go back to bed.” Mum carried on breezily, “Your Dad and I are coming into town so I wanted to make sure you were free for dinner,” I stared at my gothic wizard lamp and frowned. Mum sensed my hesitation, “You didn’t forget we were coming did you? I’m sure I told you if you didn’t visit, we were coming to see you…and we haven’t seen you in such a long time.”

  I scratched Errol behind the ears and he grumbled lazily, he didn’t like being woken up either.

  “Erm, well I don’t remember you saying you were coming today. I’m really busy gaming with Aloora…” I tried.

  Mum laughed giddily. “Not tonight silly.” I breathed a sigh of relief. Mum pushed on like a steamroller. “I’m sure I told you, we’re coming tomorrow. So rearrange any plans, we are taking our baby girl to dinner tomorrow.” Mum emphasised the last word to be sure I’d heard.

  “Really, you don’t have to...”

  “Unless you have romantic plans? Maybe that nice looking elf who was in the paper with you…”

  “No, no plans. I’ll see you tomorrow,” I spoke hastily, turning bright red alone on my bed. Mum had cut out that stupid newspaper photo of me and framed it.

  I grimaced as I thought back to the picture. I had been captured by a cult, a dragon had been awakened and half of Cardiff Castle had fallen down above the room I had been trapped in. Unsurprisingly, the picture was not flattering. I looked dishevelled and that was unders
elling it.

  Annoyingly, Lorandir looked attractive, even with his singed hair and Mum constantly asked if anything was going on with him. He was handsome, in a perfect elven sort of way…and you’ve been thinking about him a lot after that kiss, my treacherous mind added. I pulled my attention back to Mum who was detailing her and Dad’s itinerary while they visited.

  “…and of course it would be lovely if you could show us round the museum, and we could have a little shopping trip in town…”

  “Mum,” I interrupted quickly, “I do have to work you know, the shop isn’t going to run itself.”

  “I thought Marco was helping you out?” Mum shot back, her memory for detail as keen as ever.

  “Yes he is, but he only works a few hours a week and I don’t like to leave him for too long. Last time I was out for a couple of hours for an appointment he rearranged my displays because he said the energy was wrong,” I shuddered at the memory. I might be messy in my flat, but I am very particular about my shop and like to have things just so.

  “OK. But we’ll see you tomorrow, yes? We’ll find you at the shop,” Mum managed to sound both disappointed and determined, tonight was going to be tough.

  Dad’s gruff voice shouted from somewhere in the background, “I can’t wait to see what you’ve done with it,” he sounded cheerful, and in truth he was very supportive. But he was a master craftsdwarf and a stickler for detail. My throat went dry as I thought about the jewellery on offer in my shop, would it be good enough for him? I’d have to check everything and make sure Marco hadn’t rearranged my displays because the flow of energy hadn’t been right.

  “Got to go and walk Errol, see you later.”

  “Bye sweetheart,” Mum hung up.

  Errol opened one eye sleepily.

  “Well, looks like we’d better go for a walk boy,” I swung my legs out of bed, purposefully pulled on some clothes and grabbed Errol’s lead. After a moment’s thought, I grabbed my axe too, glad that it had been enchanted to appear invisible unless people got too close. I was feeling uneasy today. My mind skittered away from thoughts about who had enchanted it.

  “Get it together Amethyst,” I scolded myself.

  Errol growled at leaving the shop so early but allowed me to take him out to nearby Bute Park. The stone animal statues lining the walls looked at me jeeringly as we walked to the entrance. I ignored their stares and wondered for the thousandth time why anyone had thought it would be a good idea to line a stone wall with spooky realistic statues with glass eyes. I shook my head, turning my thoughts back to the phone call. Dinner with my parents. Great.

  I set a fast pace and once we were past some early morning joggers, I let Errol off the lead to explore. He gave a small roar and then bounded into a flock of birds digging in the lush grass. I watched him chase the birds, leaping into the air lightly before his small wings gave up and he crashed back to the ground. His scales gleamed in the early sunlight, giving him a golden glow as he played at jumping into the air and soaring a few feet.

  It wasn’t that I didn’t like my parents, I rationalised, they’re great people, supportive, everything you could want. It was just…they expected me to be doing well…and I was…but sales weren’t as strong as I’d hoped. I hadn’t set up an online presence despite Aloora, my best friend and social media star, offering to help me. I sighed and tried to shake myself out of my spiralling thoughts. It was only for a couple of days. They were great parents, really.

  The sounds of shouting and Errol growling brought me out of my self-absorption. A shadow fell over the park and the birds stilled. I squinted up at the large red dragon silhouetted against the sun.

  There hadn’t been any reports of it preying on humans since it awakened but it had made its home in the Millennium Stadium just to the West of Cardiff. A massive blow for sports fans and music lovers as it had been a popular arena as well as the crown of Wales’ sports stadia, but who’s going to argue with a dragon larger than a bus that can breathe fire?

  As it swooped overhead, I froze, my hand resting on my axe. I had seen that dragon close up in all its scaly magnificence. In my nightmares, I still saw the jewelled eye staring at me as it devoured the cultists. I scooted under the shade of a large tree, pressing myself against its trunk in fear and tried to call Errol to me through gritted teeth. Errol ignored me and pressed himself flat to the ground, growling softly.

  The dragon circled lazily then flew upwards and out of sight. The birds began to sing again. It might have been my imagination but they seemed more subdued now. I cautiously ambled over to Errol, who was still pressed against the ground and clipped on his lead before leading us home quickly. Dragons and a phone call from Mum before breakfast were more than I could take. I stopped at the Dragon’s Head coffee shop on the way back to the Arcade.

  Brinda was pleasant as always. “What’ll it be Ame?” she asked chirpily.

  “Coffee, strong please. To go…and a bacon roll…and one of those chocolate cakes.”

  “Och, tough morning is it?” Brinda shook her head as she pressed buttons on the shining silver coffee machine.

  I grumbled about my parents coming to visit and tapped my card to pay. Brinda nodded in sympathy, her long purple ponytail bobbing as she expertly wrapped the cake into a paper bag. She pushed the bag, coffee and a hot bacon sandwich across the counter towards me.

  “You can always bring them here you know,” she said with a huge smile on her face, “no one makes a bacon roll like me! And the chocolate cake is to die for.”

  I found myself grinning back at her, “I might take you up on that.” I left the shop as a couple of builders entered in their high-vis jackets, setting the shop bell jangling as they stomped in.

  I always left the coffee shop in a better mood and wolfed down my sandwich as I walked. I even managed to avoid splodging ketchup down my top. Maybe today was going to be a good day after all. I chucked the last bite of sandwich to Errol. He snapped it out of the air then licked his lips before burping a small flame. I stepped sideways reflexively to avoid the fire and glanced around, grateful no one seemed to have noticed. Wyrms weren’t a common pet and there were calls for them to be put on the registered animals programme. I could imagine the angry call I’d get from Uncle Owain on his wyrm farm if any films of Errol were found on the internet giving traction to that cause.

  It wasn’t until the second customer of the day had to get my attention away from my efforts to create unloseable jewellery that I realised what had bugged me last night about the door. The cheerful tinkle above the door as customers entered hadn’t rung all morning. The bell was broken. What was going to remind me to slap on my shopkeeper’s smile and make pleasantries?

  As the lady left with a bracelet for her mother’s birthday, I approached the door and squinted up at the bell. It was there, slightly dull and brassy but functional. Except the clapper from inside wasn’t working. I got a chair and balanced on it to see clearly. I still had to stand on my tiptoes to get close to the bell. Cursing my small stature, I reached up. The clapper had been melted to the side of the bell. “What the dzrak?” I swore in amazement.

  The melting point of brass is about 900 degrees Celsius. Thanks Dad for ensuring I knew all about the melting points of all the common metals, and most of the less common ones too.

  This hadn’t just been melted at random either, somehow only the clapper had been affected while the dome of the bell was intact. I had a hunch something magical had done this and grabbed my crafting goggles from their space on my shabby chic countertop.

  As soon as the brown tinted lenses covered my eyes, I saw the faint traces of magic around the bell. I focused and thought I sensed leaves and growth. Elven magic perhaps, but there was a trace of something else in it. Something that reminded me horribly of the cult I had been captured by earlier in the year.

  Schiztz, I thought they had all been devoured or captured. Why would anyone come to my shop? It wasn’t like I had been able to stop their plans. I felt the
beginnings of a tension headache so forced myself to breathe. I detached the useless bell and banged it onto my counter, chipping the white paint. The bell rolled off the counter and fell to the ground. I swore. I had artfully distressed the shabby chic countertop but this dent was unplanned. I glared at it.

  Errol pounced on the bell as it rolled across the floor, easily catching it.

  “Come on boy, give it here,” I bent down. Errol tucked it under his chest, keeping his claws grasped tightly around the metal. He swished his tail, bent his head low and growled at me. His eyes tracked me as I feinted left then right to try to retrieve it. His growl deepened, he did not want to give it up. Great, now we were playing keep away. While Errol chewed on the bell with one side of his mouth, I retrieved a piece of charcoal from the forge. I offered it to him, just out of his reach and in his greed, he abandoned the bell, which I put back on the counter.

  I chewed my bottom lip as I considered it and the strange traces of magic. If someone thought I was going to tuck my tail between my legs and run, they didn’t know Amethyst Hearnson. Still chewing my lip, I immediately began sketching up some enchantment ideas to protect my shop.

  Chapter 2

  I was so busy sketching that I didn’t notice anyone come in until a manicured hand appeared on the countertop in front of me. I looked up immediately into the clear amber eyes of Agent Jones.

  “Keeping busy I see,” she arched an eyebrow at me and glanced down at my defensive plans sketched out in front of me. “Had some trouble recently?”

  “A girl can’t be too careful,” I replied before relaxing a little, “someone broke into the shop last night.”

  Agent Jones was immediately interested, her hand tweaked the gold bracelet around her wrist. A feline head was engraved on it, I wondered if it was a tiger, but the ears looked more pointed. She interrupted my wandering mind, “Did they take anything?”