The Emerald Dragon (The Lost Ancients Book 3) (26 page)

He stared at me for a few moments. I spun the sword slower, then, while keeping my eyes on him, sent it back to its calling place. I still wasn’t sure how or why it worked, but I was glad it did.

“Take her.” He put his helmet back on and waved to the others. “And take one more person for each time she fights back. Or if she calls the sword.”

“You can’t take her against her will, she’s not of our people. She’s done nothing wrong.” Alric wasn’t doing well. Without anyone to lean on he was listing a bit to the left where the rakasa had clawed him. Orenda and I might have saved his life, but his body still hadn’t recovered.

“You have your own answering to do.” The captain, or whatever he was of the elves, held up the emerald dragon. “You were willing to betray your own kind for her. And how do we know you didn’t teach her how to call the sword? You are a spirit sword caller yourself; perhaps you wanted your lover to have one.”

“I gave you the dragon, if you know what the glass gargoyle is, you know what that emerald pertains to. Let her go.” Alric’s teeth clenched shut. I thought it was annoyance, and then I realized the elf before me was a magic user and was doing something to Alric.

“Fight and we will drag your body back home.” The captain gave a small smile, then turned and waved his hand toward me. Pressure slammed in behind my eyes. Even without checking, I knew all access to my magic was blocked.

“As for you, I will make a deal.” He waved his other hand to the guards behind him. There was a brief rustle and two guards came forward with a cage. Bunky and the faeries were cramped up inside. Whatever the magic dampening he was doing to Alric and me, it was affecting them as well. All were barely moving. “These would have been valuable specimens for our alchemists, however, a non-elven sword caller might prove even more valuable. I will let these go, not speak of them to my people, and not take or harm them or your friends, if you come along with us peacefully. And swear to not try to escape.”

I looked at Bunky and the faeries. They were too drained to even raise their heads. I turned to my friends. None of them, even Covey, was in any shape to fight. They had to get out of the area and back to Beccia before the people behind those syclarion guards realized what happened.

And I couldn’t let any of them be taken by the elves, not if I had a chance to keep it from happening. I glanced to the captain of the elven knights. I might not know how I called that spirit sword to me, but he did and he wasn’t happy about it. There was no way they would have let me go at this point even if I refused to go peacefully. And I couldn’t leave Alric to his fate. Saving him made me realize I did love him, and where he went, I went.

I slowly nodded to the elven captain, as fear and curiosity battled in my gut. I’d grown up wanting to know what happened to the elves. Now I would see for myself. I hoped I survived the experience.

The End

Acknowledgements

It takes a village to build a book, and I have some amazing fellow villagers. I couldn’t have gotten this far without the love and support of all of my family and friends.

I’d like to thank Jessa Slade and Sue Soares for editing magic. For my most awesome team of beta readers: Lisa Andreas, Ashli Elsperman, Patti Huber, Lynne Mayfield, Caroline Self Onstott, Sharon Rivest, and Ilana Schoonover. Without their eagle eyes and talents, the faeries would have run amuck. Any errors remaining are all mine (with help from the faeries and Bunky).

My cover artist, Aleta Rafton, for another wonderful cover.

Thanks to Julie Fine who introduced me to the wonders of movie trailer music—best writing music ever! And to Laurel Porter for the emergency tech support.

Dear Reader,

Thank you for joining Taryn, Alric, and the faeries in the third book of the six book series—The Lost Ancients. We all really appreciate when folks come to play in “our” world, and hope you enjoyed it too.

This series will continue with THE SAPPHIRE MANTICORE, then on to two more books in 2017.

If you’re also interested in a little bit of space opera, please check out the first book in The Asarlaí Wars trilogy- WARRIOR WENCH.

I really appreciate each and every one of you so please keep in touch. You can find me at www.marieandreas.com.

And please feel free to email me directly at
[email protected]
as well, I love to hear from readers!

If you enjoyed this book (or any book for that matter ;)) please spread the word! Positive reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, and blogs are like emotional gold to any writer and mean more than you know.

Thank you again, and we all hope to see you back here in THE SAPPHIRE MANTICORE!

Marie

About The Author

Marie is a fantasy and science fiction reader with a serious writing addiction. If she wasn’t writing about all of the people in her head, she’d be lurking about coffee shops annoying innocent passer-by with her stories. So really, writing is a way of saving the masses. She lives in Southern California and is currently owned by two very faery-minded cats. And yes, sometimes they race.

When not saving the general populace from coffee shop shenanigans, Marie likes to visit the UK and keeps hoping someone will give her a nice summer home in the Forest of Dean.

Copyright

2016  Marie Andreas

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Major Press LLC.

All of the characters in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Cover Design and Interior format by The Killion Group http://thekilliongroupinc.com