Dragon Unleashed (Book 1 of the Dragon Mage Saga)

The Plan Commences

“Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?”

            Darla looked up from the blades she was infusing with the Gem of Narebus. Lazily pressed against an oak tree was a flirtatiously grinning Slate who recovered nicely from the shocking news they just piled on him.

            Darla sighed, shoving the blade into the pile. “Slate, why are you doing this? You don’t have to pretend to be all calm. You’re allowed to…react.”

            Slate smiled charismatically, his amber eyes oh so piercing that Darla questioned if they were real.

            “React about what? Oh, just that some evil shadow thing and his creepy-ass minions are trying to kill me and steal my soul?” he laughed, running a hand through his lush bronze locks. “Why would I?”

            “Essences,” Darla corrected quickly. “The Shadow Master needs your essence in order to summon the Final Fire.”

            “AKA the world gets swallowed whole in a gigantic flame?” Slate said, raising one eyebrow smoothly.

            “I guess so,” Darla replied. “Anyways, it’s almost noon. Once it’s dark, we’re heading to Barricade Cove. Do you understand the plan?”

            “Yes, captain,” Slate teased. “How old are you, anyways? Fourteen?”

            Darla shot him daggers with her eyes. “I’m sixteen, not that it’s any of your business. And by the way, I’m kind of the leader of this group so don’t think you can sass me.”

            With that, Slate burst into laughter. He had a charming, hoarse sort of laugh that created tiny little wrinkles next to his admittedly striking eyes.

            “You’re quite a spitfire, Darla. I like it. You’re no damsel in distress. So, you’re the righteous ol’ Dragon Mage, Laurel’s second coming. I’m a nomad, and even I still heard all the fuss about you,” Slate said. “So tell me, does it pay well?”

            Darla wished nothing more than to punch him in his pretty little face. But she knew Slate was important, too important.

            “You don’t know,” she hissed. “I’ve been through hell. This is no time for jokes. We’re going into battle against something we don’t even know. This could mean war-a war on Pharix.”

            “Like the Last War?” Slate asked, his face darkening intensely. His eyes narrowed into slits.

            Darla had heard that before in her history class-the war fought between the monsters. At the end, a peace treaty was signed and the caste system was finally formed, to much controversy.

            “Worse,” she whispered. “If the Shadow Master succeeds in destroying Earth, it would have enough evil to create a whole new devil, the deadliest, most vile beast you could imagine. They’d take over Pharix and turn us all into slaves, torture us into insanity. The world would be our prison with no chance of escape.”