Anakisha's Dragon: Riders of Fire Dragon Masters Book One - A Dragons' Realm young adult epic fantasy adventure Read online

  Riders of Fire is an award-winning internationally-bestselling series

  Riders of Fire Dragon Masters is the prequel series

  Eileen Mueller is a USA Today bestselling author.

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  Anakisha’s Dragon and the Riders of Fire series are works of fiction. All characters, events and locations in this book are fictional. Any resemblance to persons or dragons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. No dragons were harmed in the making of this book, although there may have been a few injuries to pirates.

  This book is copyright. No part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic means, including photocopying, recording or by any information retrieval system without written permission from the author, except for short excerpts for reviews, in fair use, as permitted under the Copyright Act. Dragons’ Realm, the Riders of Fire world, and its characters are copyright.

  Anakisha’s Dragon, Riders of Fire Dragon Masters © 2021 Eileen Mueller

  Typesetting © Phantom Feather Press, 2021, American English

  Cover Art by Christian Bentulan © Eileen Mueller, 2021

  Dragons’ Realm Map by Ava Fairhall © Eileen Mueller, 2018

  Phantom Feather Press Logo by Geoff Popham, © Phantom Feather Press, 2014

  Paperback ISBNs: KDP: 9798653412585 NZ Edition: 9780995115293

  Phantom Feather Press

  Wellington 6021, New Zealand

  [email protected]

  www.phantomfeatherpress.wordpress.com

  Magic, every time you turn the page.

  Dedication

  For all my friends who believe in me.

  For my readers who cheer me on.

  And for my kids who are awesome.

  Remember, with every action you take, there is always a choice.

  So choose wisely.

  Table of Contents

  Map of Dragons’ Realm

  Dancing Dragon

  Two Moons Ago

  Night Wings

  Onyx Dragon

  Trading Up

  Recovery and Prophecy

  Darkness Falls

  Healer

  Boar & Brisket

  Tournament

  Pressganged

  Spike

  Fiery Dragon

  Stunts

  Sailing

  Arrows

  The Heads

  Promises

  Lashed

  Mage Flame

  Cleansing

  Revelation

  Scaleclaw Isle

  Awkward Moment

  Unpleasant Surprise

  Celebration

  Menace

  True Colors

  Stealing

  First Moves

  Rescue

  Prophecy

  On Board Again

  Shattered

  Burning Up

  Rendezvous

  Scarlet Hand

  Restless

  Clearing the Decks

  Justice

  Fishing

  Mage Fire

  One Moon Ago

  Crystal Lake

  Naobia

  Pirates

  King's Rider

  Rescue

  Free Prequel Novelettes: Silver Dragon & Bronze Dragon

  Coming in 2021: Riders of Fire Dragon Masters

  Riders of Fire – complete series available now

  Praise for the Riders of Fire series

  Eileen’s Dragon Adventures for Younger Readers

  Acknowledgements – Is your name here?

  About Eileen

  Herbal Lore in Dragons’ Realm

  Map of Dragons’ Realm

  *Fieldhaven is known as Last Stop years later in Riders of Fire.

  Dancing Dragon

  The warmth of the Dancing Dragon was stifling, and the hum of voices was already loud enough to drown out a dragonet’s roar, even though it was only late afternoon. Anakisha turned the tap on a keg, and pale ale frothed into the wooden tankard. She placed it on the bar, foam slopping down the side. An out-of-towner—a dashing straw-blond fellow with ebony eyes and a fine-spun cloak in midnight blue—smiled at her as he placed his coppers on the polished wooden bar.

  The handsome man winked. “Keep the change.”

  She smiled. “Thank you.” She tucked the coppers into her apron, and pushed a strand of chestnut hair behind her ear.

  “When do you finish work?” The man raised an eyebrow.

  Ew, yuck, he was way too old for her—nearly thirty summers. He could barely believe a girl of seventeen summers would be keen on him. Anakisha let the trace of a smile soften her words. “My work here is never finished. There’s always something to do.”

  He gave a mocking grin. “Oh well, it was worth a shot. You don’t blame me for trying with such a pretty girl, do you?” He picked up his beer, sauntered off to a crowded table and sat down. His friends jeered and hooted, shooting more than one glance at her.

  So, it was like that, was it? No doubt, the cad had been dared by his friends to try his luck with her. Anakisha turned her back and poured a beer for the next patron. He wasn’t the first man to have failed, nor would he be the last. She smiled to herself. She only had eyes for one man. She avoided turning to gaze at the best window table where Justan was seated with his father, the village arbitrator, and his father’s advisers.

  As she spun, she couldn’t resist a peek. The late afternoon sun glinted in the golden strands of Justan’s blond hair as he nodded attentively at something important those men were saying. Now, there was a compassionate young man going places. Not like the lout sitting with his boozy friends. Not that Anakisha had anything against drinking. She and Pa supported their family honestly by plying ale, food and rooms in the Dancing Dragon.

  Her father nudged her and nodded at a stranger in an identical good-quality blue traveling cloak. “Could you serve this gentleman too, please, Anakisha?” He wiped his brow and grinned as he poured ale into one tankard after another. “We’ll make good coin today. We’re still three days out, and this tournament is already great for business. Can you imagine how busy we’ll be tomorrow and the day after? Not to mention during the after-tournament revelry.” Pa bustled off, hands full of tankards, to serve a group of men at the other end of the bar.

  The tournament. Anakisha rolled her eyes. Why did he have to remind her? It wasn’t as if she could forget. This was the first year she wouldn’t be competing.

  A breeze blew through the tavern as the door opened and another group of travelers elbowed their way through the throng, past the dark polished wooden tables brimming with patrons, toward the bar.

  “Three ales and two plates of steak and eggs with bread, thanks, Anakisha.” Farmer Orion placed his coppers on the bar, his frayed shirt cuffs trailing through a trace of froth. “I wouldn’t say no to mushrooms and onions if you have some too.”

  Anakisha plonked his ales down, pocketed his coin, and wiped up the foam. “Thanks. I’ll bring your meals out when they’re ready.” She headed to
the kitchen.

  “Anakisha, when you’ve placed that order, could you take a few chairs and tables outside into the square?” Pa asked. “The new arrivals need somewhere to sit. And grab four beers for the corner table on the way back, will you?”

  Anakisha bustled behind the bar through the door into the kitchen.

  Stella’s face was pink and her forehead covered in a glowing sheen of perspiration. She pushed back wisps that had escaped her long blonde braid. “Can you give me a hand, Anakisha? I’m run off my feet.” Her younger sister flipped some ham steaks and cracked more eggs onto an already full skillet.

  “I know the feeling. This is the busiest it’s been since…” She bit her lip. Stella was already stressed. None of them needed reminders of Ma and Jacob’s deaths right now. Anakisha grabbed some steak from the meat safe and plopped two pieces onto the edge of the skillet. She sliced a few onions and threw them and a handful of mushrooms on, too. “I’d better get out to the bar. Oh, Farmer Orion wants bread with his steaks.”

  “But we don’t have any bread.” Face panic-stricken, Stella flipped the eggs and ham onto four plates and maneuvered the steak into the middle of the skillet.

  Anakisha shook her head. Stella was barely beyond her littling years, only nine summers old. Managing a kitchen in the busiest season was no small task for an adult, let alone a young girl. “The bakery’s not closed yet. Nip down the alley and grab a few loaves, and I’ll deal with all of this.” Anakisha popped some coppers into her little sister’s hand and hustled her toward the back door. “Be quick.”

  “Thanks, Anakisha.” Stella hurried out the door, but turned on the stoop. “It’s a shame you can’t enter the tournament this year. Jacob would’ve been proud of how hard you’ve practiced.”

  He would’ve. And proud if she won the coin up for grabs. Coin that could help her family. Anakisha picked up the plates of ham and eggs and gave Stella a bright smile. “It’s all right.” She swallowed the lump in her throat as her sister dashed across the Dancing Dragon’s stable yard and down the alley.

  For years, her father had let her tag along to the tournaments with her older brother Jacob, who’d taught her all he’d learned from the village’s master archer. This was the first tournament since Jacob had been murdered and Ma had died of pilzkrank. She’d been practicing every day since her brother’s death, determined to compete and honor Jacob’s name. But last night, when folk had flooded the tavern, Pa had forbidden her to enter the tournament this year, saying their livelihood came first. But if she won the prize, she’d be helping their livelihood too.

  Pa stuck his head through the door. “Four more plates of ham and eggs, two apiece for tables seven and eight.” He raised an eyebrow. “Where’s Stella?”

  “Gone to get bread.”

  “Good. I’ll do the beers. Could you help me with the chairs once you’ve served those plates?” He ducked back into the bar.

  Anakisha followed Pa into the taproom, the din enveloping her as she wove between crowded tables, deftly avoiding the odd stray hand—not locals’ hands—only out-of-towners would attempt something that daft under her father’s watchful eye.

  Smiling, she gave the patrons their meals and then scampered down the hallway to retrieve the folding tables to ferry outside. The furniture was light, but awkward to squeeze through the crowded taproom. Anakisha dodged patrons and finally made it outside with a table under her arm. The square was brimming with visitors to Fieldhaven, hawkers plying their wares long after the morning market should’ve shut. Usually, setting the tables outside was one of their early morning tasks when they opened, but today, they’d been woken by people looking for rooms and food, and barely stopped since.

  No sooner had she set the tables on the cobbles and dashed back inside to grab some chairs, patrons were flooding outside with their ales to sit in front of the tavern.

  “Hey, love, could we have some stew and bread out here?” a middle-aged man with a huge belly and dark bushy whiskers asked. “Four bowls for me and my companions, please.”

  “We’re out of bread, but I can bring you stew for now, and perhaps some bread later,” Anakisha replied.

  “No bread?” The man’s eyebrows shot up. “Never mind. The whole town’s probably out with so many people here for the tournament. Just bring us that hearty stew. That’ll keep us archers going.”

  His companions guffawed, flexing their bow arms.

  Everyone in town—and from out of town—was competing, except her. Anakisha bustled through the taproom and into the kitchen, making her way to the cauldron of bubbling goat stew. She ladled stew into four bowls, salivating at the aroma of mushrooms, onions, meat and carrots in thick gravy. She hadn’t eaten in hours. Maybe she could snag a slice of bread when Stella returned. Balancing two bowls on each arm, and Farmer Orion’s orders in one hand, Anakisha pushed the door open with her hip and walked through the taproom, catching snatches of conversation.

  “Dragons are on their way. They say even King Syan has been sighted coming south.”

  “Syan? He’s not been about much lately. They say he’s been too busy training his young rider.”

  “He has been. So, are dragon riders competing too?”

  “They always shoot a few arrows.”

  “The tournament’s early, so mind what you drink. You don’t want to sleep through it.”

  “Who should we place our bets on today? What’s the local talent like?”

  She gave Farmer Orion his steaks. “Stella will be back with bread soon.”

  He nodded his thanks and kept on talking.

  Anakisha escaped the dense babble and broke out into the square. “Gentlemen, I trust this will be to your liking.” The men broke off their conversation while she placed their bowls before them. Their tankards were empty. “Would you like more beer?” she asked.

  The man with the beard chuckled, his belly wobbling beneath his shirt. “No worries, love. We’ll come to the bar when we need more ale. It’s so busy, it looks like you can hardly take a breath.”

  She smiled gratefully and raced back inside.

  Pa smiled at a red-faced laundress sitting at the bar, set her beer on the counter, and collected her coin with a practiced ease. “Anakisha, the arbitrator’s table would like ham and eggs, when you have a moment.”

  “Stella should be back by now. I’ll let her know.”

  “Ah, look, a new influx of guests,” Pa replied as yet more people pushed their way into the crowded tavern.

  Anakisha popped her head through the door into the kitchen. “Stella, we need… Stella?” Stella was hunched over the table, shoulders shaking, her face in her hands. Anakisha rushed over and laid an arm across her littling sister’s shoulders. “Stella, what’s wrong?”

  Her sister lifted her face, her cheeks tear-streaked. A dark bruise was blossoming on her left cheek.

  “What happened?” Anakisha cradled her little sister’s head against her chest as sobs wracked Stella’s body.

  “It was one of the Howlers,” Stella sniffed. “Purley’s gang stole my coppers, so we don’t have any bread.”

  “Which Howler? Who?” Anakisha held Stella out to examine her face. Her cheek was swollen, and the bruise mottled her skin.

  “It was Spike,” Stella sobbed. “I caught him with his hand in my pocket trying to steal my coppers.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I punched him, but only in the arm. He stole my coppers anyway.”

  “So brave.” Anakisha pulled out a ’kerchief and wiped Stella’s eyes and cheeks, carefully dabbing around the bruise. It still made Stella wince. “Good on you,” she said. “I’m proud of you for standing up for yourself. I bet he has a right bruise tomorrow.”

  Her littling sister smiled through her tears, heartening Anakisha. “Don’t worry,” Anakisha whispered. “We’ll get your coppers back.”

  Stella’s tears stopped. Wide-eyed, she asked, “We will? How, Anakisha?”

  “I know someone who k
nows someone who fights the Howlers.” Hopefully, that would be enough to satisfy her sister without raising suspicion.

  “Stella,” Pa called from the taproom, “please bring the ham and eggs for the arbitrator’s group by the window. Anakisha, could you grab two more of those small tables and bring them outside for a new group? And when you’re done, they’d all like ales.”

  Anakisha rolled her eyes. “Wouldn’t we all?” she muttered to Stella, managing to make her sister laugh. “Here, I’ll put the eggs and ham on. Watch them while I do the tables and ale and then I’ll take them out for you. The last thing you need is a ribbing from unruly patrons—and there are more than a few unruly ones out there at the moment.” Anakisha cracked the eggs onto the heavy iron skillet.

  “Thank you,” Stella murmured, gingerly touching her bruise.

  Anakisha clenched her jaw. Spike would pay for marring her sister’s face. She’d see to it personally.

  §

  Anakisha sauntered back out to the taproom balancing two plates of ham and eggs on each arm, with an extra ale for the arbitrator in one hand, in his special tankard. She deftly maneuvered between the crowded tables, avoiding being jostled by laughing patrons. Everyone was in a festive mood—except Stella, who was back on her feet, but still puffy-eyed, in the kitchen.

  Trust the Howlers to ruin things.

  “Evening, gentlemen. The ale’s on the house, sir,” Anakisha said, placing it in front of Justan’s pa. She deposited the plates in front of the arbitrator, his two advisers and Justan.

  Justan’s father barely gave her a glance, although his scowl lessened slightly as he reached for the beer and continued his conversation with his advisers.

  Anakisha briefly laid her hand on the table with five fingers splayed, then touched her shoulder with her left hand.

  Justan’s eyes grazed her fingers on the table, then flitted to her hand at her shoulder. He tilted his head, watching his father as if transfixed, smiling slightly as his father gestured ostentatiously and delivered the punch line to his anecdote. Too busy laughing, the other men missed Justan’s nod, the two fingers he laid on the table, then his ten splayed fingers as he placed his hands on either side of his plate of steaming eggs and tangy ham.