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Authors: Marjorie B. Kellogg

The Book of Water

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THE DRAGON QUARTET:

BOOK TWO

THE BOOK OF WATER

Marjorie B. Kellogg

Also by Marjorie B. Kellogg:

The Dragon Quartet

THE BOOK OF EARTH

THE BOOK OF WATER

THE BOOK OF FIRE

THE BOOK OF AIR

By Marjorie B. Kellogg with William Rossow:

LEAR’S DAUGHTERS

(The Wave and the Flame | Reign of Fire)

Copyright © 1997 by Marjorie Bradley Kellogg.

All Rights Reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-101-66455-1

Cover art by Jody Lee.

DAW Book Collectors No. 1066.

DAW Books are distributed by Penguin Group (USA).

All characters in this book are fictitious.

Any resemblance to persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

The uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal, and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

DAW TRADEMARK REGISTERED
U.S. PAT. OFF. AND FOREIGN COUNTRIES
—MARCA REGISTRADA.
HECHO EN U.S.A.

Version_1

FOR SHEILA

editor, friend, soul of patience

. . . and the one who got me into all this in the first place.

And many thanks to the usual suspects and a few new ones, all of them more generous with their time, advice, and encouragement than any author has the right to hope for:

Lynne Kemen and Bill Rossow

Barbara Newman and Stephen Morris

Antonia Bryan

Martin Beadle

Kenny Leon

Charlotte Zoe Walker

and the dedicated organizers and supporters of
Oneonta Outloud
, where portions of this book were first read.

Table of Contents

PROLOGUE: The Creation

IN THE BEGINNING, AND A LITTLE AFTER . . .

PART ONE: The Summoning of the Hero

C
HAPTER
O
NE

C
HAPTER
T
WO

C
HAPTER
T
HREE

C
HAPTER
F
OUR

C
HAPTER
F
IVE

C
HAPTER
S
IX

C
HAPTER
S
EVEN

C
HAPTER
E
IGHT

C
HAPTER
N
INE

C
HAPTER
T
EN

C
HAPTER
E
LEVEN

C
HAPTER
T
WELVE

PART TWO: The Journey into Peril

C
HAPTER
T
HIRTEEN

C
HAPTER
F
OURTEEN

C
HAPTER
F
IFTEEN

C
HAPTER
S
IXTEEN

C
HAPTER
S
EVENTEEN

C
HAPTER
E
IGHTEEN

C
HAPTER
N
INETEEN

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY
-O
NE

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY
-T
WO

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY
-T
HREE

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY
-F
OUR

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY
-F
IVE

PART THREE: The Call to the Quest

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY
-S
IX

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY
-S
EVEN

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY
-E
IGHT

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY
-N
INE

C
HAPTER
T
HIRTY

C
HAPTER
T
HIRTY
-O
NE

C
HAPTER
T
HIRTY
-T
WO

C
HAPTER
T
HIRTY
-T
HREE

PART FOUR: The Meeting with Destiny

C
HAPTER
T
HIRTY
-F
OUR

C
HAPTER
T
HIRTY
-F
IVE

C
HAPTER
T
HIRTY
-S
IX

C
HAPTER
T
HIRTY
-S
EVEN

PROLOGUE

The Creation
IN THE BEGINNING,
AND A LITTLE AFTER . . .

I
n the Beginning, four mighty dragons raised of elemental energies were put to work creating the World. They were called Earth, Water, Fire, and Air. No one of them had power greater than another, and no one of them was mighty alone.

When the work was completed and the World set in motion, the four went to ground, expecting to sleep out this World’s particular history and not rise again until World’s End.

The first to awaken was Earth.

*   *   *

He woke in darkness, as innocent as a babe, with only the fleeting shadows of dreams to hint at his former magnificence. But one bright flame of knowledge drove him forth: He was Called to Work again, if only he could remember what the Work was.

He found the World grown damp and chill, overrun by the puniest of creatures, Creation’s afterthought, the ones called Men. Earth soon learned that Men, too, had forgotten their Origin. They had abandoned their own intended Work in the World and thrived instead on superstition, violence, and self-righteous oppression of their fellows. They had forgotten as well their primordial relationship with dragons—all, that is, but a few.

One in particular awaited Earth’s coming, though she had no awareness of the secret duty carried down through the countless generations of her blood. But this young girl
knew her destiny, when she faced a living dragon and was not afraid.

Thereafter, Earth’s Quest became her own, and together they searched her World for answers to his questions. Some they found and slowly, with his memory, Earth’s powers reawakened. But the girl’s World was dark and dangerous and ignorant, and the mysterious Caller who summed Earth could not be found within it. One day, blindly following the Call, Earth took them Somewhere Else.

That Somewhere Else would prove stranger than either of them could have imagined . . . except in their dreams.

PART ONE

The Summoning of the Hero
C
HAPTER
O
NE

BOOK: The Book of Water
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