The Lunar Dragon and Other Dragon Tales Read online

  Naomi Lastrucci

  The Lunar Dragon and Other Dragon Tales

  Another Collection of Short Dragon Stories

  Copyright © 2020 by Naomi Lastrucci

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

  First edition

  This book was professionally typeset on Reedsy

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  To all the readers who wanted more of

  the mother dragon, Alexander, and Faye.

  This book would not exist without you.

  Contents

  Here Be More Dragons!

  Flight

  Deathly Fire

  The Lunar Dragon

  Bonus Short Story

  A Letter from the Author

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by Naomi Lastrucci

  Here Be More Dragons!

  When I wrote the short stories in The Silver Queen and Other Dragon Tales, I had no idea how much they would someday resonate with readers. I had published the stories in my first book simply as a fun experiment in self-publishing, but readers quickly told me how much they loved my dragon tales and how disappointed they were that the stories were so short. They wanted to know more about my characters. And when I thought about it, I realized I wanted to know more about them too.

  And so I set to work writing new stories for the mother dragon, Alexander, and Faye. The result is the book you’re reading now.

  The stories from The Silver Queen continue in these three new adventures that bring fresh challenges and difficult choices for their heroes.

  Flight: Since the events of Defender, the mother dragon has been teaching her children to fly. She knows they need to escape the looming threat of the kingdom’s knights as soon as possible, and an encounter with a mysterious stranger does nothing to ease her nerves. But when an old enemy from long ago finds his way back into their lives, she quickly realizes that her children’s flight lessons are about to be put to the test, and that saving her family may mean doing the one thing she never thought she would: trust a human.

  Deathly Fire: Five years after the events of Beastly Pains, Alexander still visits Severoth and now works as a physician in the palace, where he meets and falls in love with Princess Celina. When Celina contracts a deadly illness that’s been going around the kingdom, Alexander may be the only one who can save her, but he’ll have to choose between his love for the princess and his friendship with the dragon—a choice he’s not sure he can make.

  The Lunar Dragon: After discovering her special gift in The Silver Queen, Faye has been keeping it a secret for years, waiting for her chance to surprise everyone at the magic trials, a rite of passage for young dragons that will finally earn her a place in the clan. But the night before the trials, a chance encounter with an old friend forces a devastating choice on her that could cost her everything she’s worked so hard for—and her one chance to finally prove she belongs.

  Can our brave heroes make the right choices, even when they aren’t the easiest? I leave that for you to find out in the pages of this book!

  Thank you, dear reader, for wanting to follow my characters on new adventures. Once again, I hope you’ll enjoy reading these stories as much as I did writing them!

  Flight

  “Mama! Mama!”

  Sitting outside my mountain cave, I look up at the little dragon a few feet down the slope.

  “Look, I’m flying! I’m flying!” My daughter leaps into the air and opens her small wings. She hovers for several seconds before gliding gently to her next mark.

  “Yes, you are,” I reply. A proud smile spreads across my face as I watch her flutter from rock to rock.

  “Mama, what about me?”

  “No, me!”

  I turn to my sons, who are taking turns leaping off a nearby cliff and fluttering to the grass. A few seconds longer in the air is still progress from last week.

  “You’re all doing so well, my loves.” I chuckle at the pride glittering in their eyes. “Mama is so proud of you.”

  The fledglings all grin at me before scurrying back up the rocks to try again. I have to give them credit for their enthusiasm; they’ve been at this every day from sunrise to sunset and haven’t shown signs of tiring yet. Not that I expected any less: they’ve been eager to fly almost since they hatched, and touching the sky is practically a rite of passage for a dragon. Though I’ve long worried about when they’d be able to make the migration journey to the north, their determination gives me hope that we’ll be long gone before the turn of the season brings more human attackers after us.

  As I watch them all practice their flying, my smile fades. My praise was no lie, told by a mother to humor her children; I truly am proud of them.

  I only wish their father could have been here to see them…

  * * *

  “Back from your hunt, I see. Catch anything good?”

  Looking up from her eggs, the green dragoness watched her mate land on the ledge and drop his latest kill in front of her. She could tell by the mangled, red-stained fleece that it had once been a sheep.

  “Slim pickings this season,” he said dejectedly. “The humans have driven off most of the deer in the valley. I had to raid another farm or risk returning with nothing.”

  His mate nodded. That was the third time in two weeks. She understood survival as well as the next dragon, but the humans in the kingdom would only put up with so much before seeking retribution. The herds couldn’t return soon enough.

  “They love to make life difficult for us, don’t they?” she said with a bitter hint in her voice. Her mate glanced behind him toward the valley below.

  “Oh, humans aren’t all bad, I’m sure,” said the dark green dragon, his gaze distant. “Maybe one or two among them has the heart of a dragon.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He faced his mate again. At the curious look in her green eyes, he shook his head.

  “Nothing,” he replied. “Just trying to stay positive.”

  The dragoness eyed him for a moment longer, but decided against questioning him further.

  “Well, as long as there’s enough food for both of us,” she continued, smiling to hide her disappointment. By now she was used to eating less than her fill. Normally she would have helped him hunt, but the three eggs nestled in the curve of her body had kept her rooted to their cave.

  “I only hope I can catch a stag before they hatch.” The male took a seat before the female, shielding his family from the cold mountain breeze.

  She shook her head. “They’re not due to hatch for at least a week. Two, by my estimate.”

  The male dragon’s eyes darted to the eggs, surrounded by a circle of stones and their mother’s tail. The dragoness breathed a gentle flame over the stones. That should keep the eggs warm for the next hour or two.

  The pair of dragons sat quietly on their ledge, sharing the sheep over the three eggs nestled safely between them, until the female exhaled a deep sigh.

  “What’s wrong?” her mate asked. The dragoness looked up to meet his gaze.

  “What if…?”

  She couldn’t finish the thought, but she didn’t need to. Her mate pressed his forehead gently to hers.

  “Don’t worry,” he whispered. “You’re going to be a wonderful mother.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  She cau
ght the warm glint in his yellow eyes. “Because I know the fire in you. Trust me, nothing bad will ever happen to them as long as you’re there to protect them.”

  The dragoness smiled. Her mate always knew exactly how to ease her nerves.

  “I know you’re going to be a wonderful father too.”

  At this, the dark green dragon puffed his chest out with pride.

  “Well, I don’t know if I’ll be as fierce a guardian as their mother,” he admitted, “but there is one part of fatherhood I’m looking forward to.”

  “Oh?” His mate eyed him curiously. “And what’s that?”

  The male dragon grinned, teeth gleaming in the dim sunlight.

  “I can’t wait to teach them how to fly.”

  * * *

  “Mama!”

  I snap out of the memory in time to see my daughter slip off the rocks and roll down the mountain. I leap to my feet and glide down the slope after her. Grass and dirt flies as I skid to a halt at the edge of the ravine, and I whip around to catch her with my tail before she falls into the pile of weapons and shields below.

  My daughter pants heavily as I lift her up, her little body hanging limply over the tip of my tail. She flashes me an apologetic smile.

  “Sorry, Mama.”

  I know I should scold her. I did tell her to be careful, to not practice flying too far down the rocks. But her green eyes are so full of relief and remorse that I can’t stay angry with her.

  “Didn’t I tell you, love?” I say with a smile. “It’s all right to fall once in a while. Mama will always be here to catch you.”

  I set her down at my feet and pull her close. That’s when I hear a strange rustling noise down the slope. My head snaps up and my body tenses.

  “Mama?” my daughter whispers. “What’s wrong?”

  But my focus is on the line of shrubs straight ahead, just a short way up the slope from the forest below. I’m sure I saw one of them move…

  There it is again! This time I see a hint of shadow amid the leaves, a dark brown or black within the green, and…

  “Get inside. Now.”

  My children don’t need to be told twice. My daughter scurries back up the slope to meet her brothers, who are already rushing back to the safety of the cave.

  “And don’t linger to watch,” I call after them as I keep my eyes on the bushes, waiting for another sign of movement.

  Standing up, I dig my claws into the earth and bare my teeth. It takes a minute, but at last I see the shrubs move again… and hear a distinct sneeze. That’s when I pounce.

  My wings kick up a cloud of dirt before I touch down a few feet from the shrubbery. A scream pierces the air, the bushes give a violent shake, and a human tumbles out.

  Sprawled on the grass, the stranger gazes up at me. I take a long look at the intruder, so different from the dozens of knights I’ve fought on this mountain before. This one is a young female with tawny skin and long dark hair that frames her thin face in fine curls. Her hazel eyes are wide, and unlike the metal armor and swords that no one else has dared tread here without, she has only a simple green tunic, leather boots, and a sheathed dagger on her hip to protect her small body. Whether the leaves in her hair are for camouflage or just from tumbling clumsily through the brush, I can’t tell.

  I let out a low growl. The girl scrambles to her feet without breaking my gaze, but she doesn’t run away. Despite her non-threatening figure, I remain alert. A dragon can never be too careful around humans.

  But she never moves to attack me. She simply stands rooted to the spot, panting heavily and staring into my eyes, as if waiting for something. Though her eyes are still filled with fear, I can see the faintest hint of another emotion in them, something like—dare I say it?—fascination.

  Her lips twitch ever so slightly. Is that the beginning of a smile? The fire of rage flares in my core. Who does she think she is, staring me down with all the boldness of a knight twice her size?

  The silence between us lingers for a long moment… then my jaw drops and a roar thunders from the depths of my throat.

  It’s enough. The girl screams again and barrels down the slope, leaping several feet at a time until she disappears into the forest.

  I raise my head and snort after her. Force of habit. Still, the strangeness of the encounter lingers in my mind even after I turn away to walk back up to my waiting children.

  Who was she? Why was she watching us? And why didn’t she run the moment she knew I had seen her? These questions echo in my mind until my eldest son’s voice interrupts them.

  “What happened, Mama?”

  I look down at the three fledglings gathered around me. I hadn’t even noticed I was already inside the cave.

  “Nothing to be concerned about, my darlings,” I reply, giving them my usual comforting smile.

  “But who was that human?” asks my second eldest.

  My smile falters. So they were watching.

  “I don’t know.” No point in hiding the truth this time. “But I promise she won’t be a threat, not while your Mama’s around.”

  My children smile back and huddle close to me in an affectionate gesture. My daughter looks up at me again.

  “Can we go back to flying practice now?”

  I glance over my shoulder past the cave entrance. The summer sun is close to setting now, and tinges of orange are beginning to mingle with the pale blue of the late afternoon sky.

  “I think that’s enough for today,” I say at last. My reply is met with groans of disappointment. “You’ve all made fantastic progress. Tomorrow we can start practicing on the other side of the mountain.”

  They seem enthused by this idea, which makes it easier for me to usher them farther inside. Even as we start to devour the deer I caught this morning, the memory of the human girl stays in the back of my mind. It’s been weeks since a knight has come to challenge me, but if humans are already returning to our mountain—even small and supposedly harmless females—it can’t mean anything good. The sooner we can all make the migration journey over the mountains and get as far away from these monsters as possible, the better.

  I hold onto that belief into the night as my children peacefully drift off and I fall into what will surely be an uneasy sleep.

  * * *

  “Take the eggs and fly!”

  On the mountain ledge, the dragoness’s mate stood with his wings spread wide and his claws out in a defensive stance he had taken only too many times now.

  “I won’t leave you!”

  “They’re almost here! I’ll fend them off for as long as I can, but you have to get the eggs to safety. Now go!”

  She stood her ground. “We can face them together.”

  Shouts echoed up the mountainside, growing louder by the second. The male turned to his mate. The fear in his yellow eyes shone like the glare of the late afternoon sun.

  “There’s no time. If they…”

  She didn’t want him to finish that thought. He was right, and she knew it. She looked back at the three scaled eggs sitting peacefully in the nest behind her. The voices were so close now that she could make out individual words among the noise—words like “monsters” and “kill”.

  “Hurry!”

  Quick as a mountain cat, the dragoness pushed away the stones surrounding the eggs and gathered up the thick vines beneath the nest. With the eggs nestled safely in the makeshift net, she turned back to her mate. His voice just barely carried over the din of their approaching attackers.

  “Go! You know the way.”

  Long ago, they had agreed that if the humans ever came for them, they would escape through the secret tunnels to the takeoff ledge on the other side of the mountain. But she never thought she’d have to make that journey alone.

  The male dragon must have seen the fear on her face, for he gave her the faintest smile.

  “We will see each other again soon, my love.”

  It was a lie. She could tell by the profound sadness in his eyes
that he knew it too, that he simply didn’t want their last exchange to be devoid of hope. And the least she could do was return the gesture.

  “I’ll be waiting.”

  And with that, the female took the vines in her jaws and rushed off into the darkness of the cave just as the sounds of thundering footsteps and human shouts erupted up the slope behind her.

  Her mate’s thunderous roar shook the cave walls around her as she carried their eggs through the dark. Vines clamped safely in her mouth, she dared to look over her shoulder toward the entrance. Against the light of the evening sky, the silhouette of the male dragon reared as a horde of armored men emerged on the mountain ledge.

  Her heart stopped at the sight of her mate towering over the humans. She lingered for another heartbeat, enough time to see his mighty wings spreading and the first of the flames erupting from his jaws. She smiled at the sight of the men and their drawn weapons being knocked to the ground. Then she turned and disappeared into the tunnels.

  The sounds of the battle followed her through the darkness—her mate’s roars, the shouts of the men, the clatter of claws against steel—until a light emerged ahead a few minutes later. Soon, she was scurrying back into the open air. The sky above had darkened, but a tinge of orange remained in the west. The dragoness snuck along the narrow ledge until she reached the wider takeoff point. She spread her wings, preparing to fly off across the mountains.

  And then she heard it: the heartrending roar that would haunt her nightmares for years to come.

  She shouldn’t have looked. She knew as much even as she turned to gaze around the mountainside. But she did—just in time to see her mate collapse and a massive human pull a bloody spear from his throat.

  The female almost dropped the vine net right off the ledge. Thank the stars above that she regained her senses in time to tighten her hold on the eggs. They were all she had left now.

  As the other humans cheered, the barbaric dragonslayer raised his spear and stepped over the fallen dragon’s throat.

  “It has a mate,” the dragoness heard him shout to his comrades. “And offspring. Search the cave.”