In the Shadow of the Dragon King by J. Keller Ford Page B

be?”
    David lunged at the man and fell flat on his face.
    “David, please,” Charlotte cried.
    Twiller closed his eyes and chanted a string of peculiar words. Charlotte began to spin like a top.
    “David, please! Get me down from here!” Her scream filled the room.
    David rolled and swiped Twiller’s feet out from beneath him. “Let her go!”
    Twiller hit the ground with an oomph.
    Charlotte crashed to the floor, shattering the coffee table.
    David scrambled to her side. “Are you okay?”
    She winced and stood. “Yeah.”
    A golden arc caught David on the forearm, launching him through the air. He crashed through the wall and landed in the entrance hall.
    Twiller stood in the opening, a pearl of spittle crawling down his chin. Braided golden threads of light unraveled from his fingertips and spiraled toward David.
    “No!” Charlotte yelled, throwing herself in front of David.
    A loud boom filled the room. Charlotte vanished with a scream.
    David’s heart fell into his gut. “Noooo! What did you do with her?”
    Twiller clutched his side. “Stupid girl!” Another braid unraveled from his fingertips and hit David in the back.
    Pain spiraled up his spine. Time and space distorted like ripples across the water. The air around him exploded as he sped through a tunnel of darkness, a bullet through the barrel of a gun. His body twisted, turned, pulled, and elongated before crashing to the ground in a tumbling mass. Acid rose in his throat. His head throbbed, his vision skewed by hundreds of flashing lights. Stomach lurching, he rolled to his hands and knees and vomited.
    Damn! What happened?
    A lime-green creature no larger than a squirrel swooped down and landed beside his right hand. It stretched its long, sinuous neck and tilted its diamond-shaped, scaled head from side to side. Leathery bat-like wings folded at its sides while two talons gripped a broken branch on the ground. Its long, spiked tail swished back and forth.
    David’s breath hitched. He scuttled backward, kicking up leaves and dirt, adrenaline pouring through his trembling limbs. “That’s—that’s a—dragon!”
    The small creature cocked its head from side to side. A twinge caught low in David’s belly as he rubbed his palms over his face. “No. No. There’s no such thing as dragons.”
    “Saying it won’t make it so,” Twiller said, straightening his jacket.
    David stumbled to his feet. The small man walked toward him, his eyes on the darkening sky. The leafy canopy swayed in a brisk breeze tinged with rain.
    David winced and clutched his hand to his chest. Fiery pain rippled from his tattoo, coursing down his right arm to the ring. The two objects pulsed in dull, but exasperating harmony. He counted to twenty and pushed the pain away. He’d dealt with worse in the last two days. He had to stay strong. The pain dissipated, and his thoughts trained on the only thing in the world that mattered. “What did you do to Charlotte?”
    Twiller’s heavy brows beetled together as if trying to assess David’s condition. Apparently satisfied David wasn’t about to die, he huffed and started walking. “Your friend is safe, have no worries about that. As to where you are,” he glanced around the clearing, “Welcome to Fallhollow, Master David. Welcome home.”

Chapter 9
     
     
    Thunder boomed overhead, rattling the walls of the castle. Screams cut through the air, dragging Eric from a deep sleep. Heat and the putrid smell of rotten eggs wafted through the open windows. He rubbed his eyes, his lethargic mind barely registering the flames engulfing the sky over the courtyard. He dashed out of bed and ran to the balcony. A great, black shadow swooped in from the south and slammed into the northern battlement. Hunks of stone exploded and rained onto Crafter’s Row. Sentries scurried along the southern battlement above Festival Hall shouting orders. The beast circled back around, this time plucking soldiers in its talons like apples from a