Page 78 of Dragon Eternal (Dragon Kings 4)
CHAPTERTHIRTY-ONE
Merrill watched the dice game as he leaned against the wall with a mug of ale in hand, but his attention was on the soldiers quietly taking up positions along the street. He wasn’t the only one to notice, either. The revelry in the bar was gone, leaving a hushed stillness tense with apprehension.
He had looked for Tomar all day yesterday and last night, but he couldn’t find the soldier. Or the man didn’t want to be found. Either told Merrill all he needed.
How excited he’d been to come to Zora, how thrilled to see the dragons once more. Merrill had been awestruck at the beauty. Not to mention watching the dragons. Zora was proof that it didn’t matter what beings lived on a realm, evil always found a way. Of course, there was a cosmic balance of good and evil, light and dark, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t get angry about it.
Just when the Kings had found peace on Earth, a new adversary arrived on Zora. Was it a coincidence that it was also the time that Varek had been brought here? Doubtful. Merrill wanted answers. Hell, every King did, but he wasn’t sure any of them would get them anytime soon.
His and Shaw’s mission in Stonemore was supposed to be simple. Unfortunately, nothing was ever simple. At least, not when it came to the Dragon Kings.
Merrill finished his ale and softly set the empty tankard on a nearby table. The unease that had plagued him for over a day now intensified. Brandr and Eurwen didn’t want a war, but Merrill suspected there was no getting around it. The mere fact that the Kings were on the human’s land was enough to push many to want to attack.
The mortals were scared. Afraid of those with magic teaming up with the Kings. And the humans should be frightened. They should be cowering in a corner, begging to be spared. But they wouldn’t. They never did. Because they didn’t see what they did as wrong. The humans feared what they didn’t understand. Their narrow-minded, intolerant ways were destroying the very foundations meant to propel a community. Add that to the power and greed innate in most humans, and it was a catastrophe waiting to happen.
Merrill didn’t know or understand why the Dragon Kings had to be a part of it again.
He was tired of war, weary of fighting enemies that wanted to destroy them or something else. He longed for the days before the mortals had come to Earth, when it was just the clans and the Kings. There was no use in looking to the past, though. It was over and finished. The universe had moved on.
Everyone had.
No matter how many times Merrill told himself that, he couldn’t dislodge the despair that took hold. He was careful never to show the other Kings. No one had been there to see his rage when Varek had gone missing. By the time Merrill told the others, he had composed himself so no one knew a thing.
All he wanted to do was return to his mountain on Dreagan and sleep away the next several millennia, but that wasn’t an option. The dragons needed protection. They had failed once. Merrill wouldn’t do it again. He didn’t care what it took this time. They were Kings on Earth with no dragons. What was the point of their existence?
The dragons no longer needed Kings on Zora. No one needed the Kings.
He looked out the pub window at the soldiers. Brandr and Eurwen didn’t want a war. But it would be so easy to go out there and strike down every soldier and priest. Merrill closed his eyes as the urge rushed through him, intoxicating and loud. He could fly to the citadel and show the Divine just who the bastard was dealing with. If he wanted to speak to a Dragon King, then he could talk to Merrill.
In minutes, he could quell the tension growing in the city.
In seconds, he could end the Divine’s reign.
There would be no war because he would ensure there was no one to rise against. The humans with magic could live peacefully with those who accepted them. No more children would be murdered simply because they had been born with magic. Then, the Kings could hunt down the invisible enemy intent on killing them.
“Merrill!”
