Dragon Keep: Book 2 of the Triple Dragon Suns Series

I'm going to write my second novel here. If you read it I hope you enjoy it. If you want to read the first one, it's called Dragon Fury: Book 1 of the Triple Dragon Suns series by Teriann Jackson, my pen name.

I will be adding chapters as I go along, approximately one a week until the book is completed. If you enjoy it, leave a comment below. If you don't, I don't particularly want to know that. Enjoy!

 

The Dragon's Keep

Book 2 of the Triple Dragon Suns Series

By Teriann Jackson

Prologue

Tissera and her dragon, Laleri, were lounging on the edge of the lair watching all those below go about their business. They looked like ants in the distance and it was fascinating to watch as the colonists went about their daily lives. Laleri nudged Tissera, and Tissera had to grab quickly to maintain herself on the ledge in order not to fall down. It would have been a long fall, but she knew that Laleri was only playing, wanting attention and scratches in her favourite places. Standing Tissera leaned against the large golden dragon, scratching and listening to her "purr" in her head. Although they had been together for centuries, Laleri still liked being scratched in the same way she had as a hatchling. The purr of contentment that rang thru Tissera's mind was satisfying and relaxing. This had been a routine of theirs for a very long time and was just as enjoyable to Tissera as it was to Laleri.

The dragon pushed against Tissera's hand, also pushing her to the ground, laughing. The purring in her mind grew louder as the dragon played with her rider. Suddenly, it stopped as Laleri snapped to attention as a figure grew closer. The rider who was coming was somewhat of a nuisance to both Tissera and Laleri. He'd been a plague to them since he'd bonded with his own dragon, Kranek, and had been trying to get Tissera to pair with him for years. Part of the issue was that Tissera really couldn't see herself with him at any time, he was so serious about everything and she liked to laugh and have fun. As Tevon came up, Tissera tensed, knowing that whatever was coming was likely to be serious, everything always was with Tevon.

    "What do you want Tevon?"

Tevon stopped and took note of where her dragon was and approached more slowly.

    "I need to give you the schedule for the next little while. All the dragonriders are being scheduled for rounds until the crisis has passed. It's been a long time since we've done anything like this, but the situation is getting more serious and Tillek thinks we need to take action."

Tissera noted Tevon's tense stance, his reluctance to discuss the problem and the wary way he regarded her dragon.

    "Tevon, I don't know what you're talking about. What situation are you all up in arms about now?"

Tevon stepped back and regarded her with disdain.

    "Have you not been keeping up with what's been happening?"

Tissera stood up, went to her dragon and scratched behind her head where she liked it best.

    "Tevon, why would I keep up with things. You know I hate getting involved, unlike you. So tell me what's going on that Tillek thinks we have to do rounds and be on guard."

Tevon continued to regard her, but with more irritation. He turned away from her for a moment and tried to gather himself so he wouldn't sound as irritated as he felt. Slowly he turned back towards her, still being wary of her dragon who was enjoying the scratching she was getting and butting Tissera whenever she stopped.

    "Tissara, don't you think it would be to your advantage to keep up with what's happening in the world today? It's not as if we have any other jobs to do as dragonriders. What do you do with your time if you don't pay attention? I don't understand."

Tissara stopped scratching her dragon and stepped towards Tevon. Laleri rose up to her full height and spread her wings. Tevon backpedalled quickly to put more room between him and the dragon. Although he wasn't afraid of the dragon, he did have a healthy respect for her and knew that if provoked, she could be deadly. He stopped farther away than he wanted, but not as far as to feel completely safe.

    "Tissara, I want you to try and be current with things so you know what's going on. There are things happening that aren't good and we, as dragonriders, need to be aware because part of our job is to keep things under control."

Tevon paused, shook his head but carried on. "The wild dragons have been encroaching on colony lands and have devastated many farms and ranches of their stock. Some of their prime animals have been destroyed, the good ones that they breed for food for our dragons, leaving behind some of the worst of the animals. It's taken generations to get some of the breeding that lets us have prime animals for our dragons and to continue to get the good stock we have to be able to keep our dragons in top form. What do you feed your dragon with Tissara? We try not to go to the wild too much as it depletes the wildlife there. We leave that for the wild dragons, but it now appears that they are raiding our food supplies and we need to protect our farmers and ranchers from them."

Tissara was surprised, the wild dragons had not bothered them in hundreds of years, why would they start now? She looked at Tevon, knowing he wouldn't bring her anything that wasn't an emergency, at least in his own mind. She considered the issue for a moment.

    "Tevon, why would it matter if the wild ones ate our stock? We bred those animals for dragon food. If the wild ones need to eat them, what does it matter? They're dragons as well and need to eat."

Tevon sighed, knowing Tissara wasn't going to listen.

    "Tissara, the wild ones haven't been an issue in centuries, if they are doing this now there is likely a reason, but we don't know what it is and they are not communicating. We are trying to catch them in the act so we can find out and put a stop to it."

    "I don't think that's the way to go here. Why do we not just go to where they are and find out. Just because they've kept themselves apart from us doesn't mean we can't go to them. I will go if no one else wants to."

Tevon took another step backward as Laleri flapped her wings and created wind in the lair which she occupied. He was wary of her, he'd seen her in situations that resulted in a deadly standoff and she had always been victorious. Although sure the dragon wouldn't hurt him, he had a deep respect for her and didn't want to put himself in the dragon's sights.

    "I'm sure there are other ways to handle this, but this is what Tillek wants. Tissara, you know just as much as I do that we have to follow the chain of command. Tillek is our leader, we need to follow him in his commands, you cannot just ignore them as you please. You've been in trouble for that before, but this time you need to do as he asks. You're on the schedule, you need to do your duty as a dragonrider and protect the farmers and ranchers. For the sake of everyone, Tissara, you need to follow your leaders."

    Tissara considered his words, she looked toward her dragon. Laleri had settled down, folded her wings but was tense and ready should Tissara need her. She looked back at Tevon and considered what he was saying. She shook her head, partly to clear the confusion and partly because she didn't believe the issue was as desperate as Tevon made it to be. It honestly didn't sound to her like it should be much of an issue. The farmers and ranchers had bred their stock for dragonfodder so it didn't make sense that they would deny any dragon the right to feed there. They were compensated for all the animals that were used. It didn't matter which dragon ate where, they kept track of the stock used and submitted it to the riders and the riders paid them. That the wild ones were eating of the stock that was raised for this purpose didn't seem to be much of an issue to Tissara. It simply didn't make sense to her.

    "I will talk to Tillek. I don't think this is the issue you think it is and quite frankly you always make everything out to be worse than what it should be."

Tevon took another step back, turned and walked out of the dragon lair without another word. Tissara knew he was frustrated with her once again, but he also knew that she would find out what was going on and either not take part if she didn't feel it was worth her time, or would find the truth about things and try to fix them. This was what she had done since the day she'd bonded with Laleri whom she considered the most beautiful dragon ever. The dragon began to purr in her mind again at the praise Tissara thought about her. Tissara scratched behind her head again for a few minutes, then stepped back and looked out the lair entrance at the colonists below and considered her options. It only took a moment to turn back to Laleri and reach for her harness. She would go talk to Tillek and find out what was going on and how much of an issue this was.

    "Come on Laleri, let's go find out what's going on."