These are Sample Chapters of Emberveil Empire Book 4, Lord of Thorns and Smoke.

This may not be totally finalized. They are meant to be a preview!

Enjoy!

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Zepheron’s Death Note –

I lay here dying…

In darkness, in shadow…

Why must it always be the shadow that haunts me, and haunts my dreams?

I may pass as I write this, as everything slips in and out and I struggle to focus. My body is broken. It hurts, the pain…

Fucking Prince Cade Phoenixfire, curse that fucking brat to the Infernal Depths. He ruined everything!

Hunter, my tracker of the Horn of Khatheer, was taken from me in a betrayal I will never forget. The Gods be damned! I won’t forget even in the grasp of death!

Hunter Stonehart! I won’t forget that you left me dying here in this darkness, but I won’t let death win… not this time… not ever…

I know where it is, you fool!

You may think you got me, but I got you!

You brought me close! But I’d never reveal it to you.

Look at you, addicted to the monster you became.

The Horn of Khatheer, the tip of the legendary dragon buried under the earth. Buried deep, the size of a mountain! Praise be His name!

Khatheer! King of Ancient Dragons!

I have finally found thee, and with your strength, may you mend my broken bones, repair this body, and may I finally Ascend!

—Note found in the wilds outside of Emberveil. Confirmed to be written by Zepheron Orraxis, otherwise known as Baskin.

Chapter 1

Above the Dragon’s Teeth Mountains

When you have something important to you ripped away, it hurts.

It hurt real bad.

And the more it happens, the number I get.

But I don’t want to be numb anymore.

Once I knew—definitely knew—the feeling of real love, even riding on the back of a dragon did little to detract from that pain.

Or even the pack of wild Sythers on our tails couldn’t pull back my wind-dried tears.

We soared through the rain clouds, my fingers digging into Essovex’s thick, wet scales, Carina mounted in the saddle before me, and Sap hanging by his one Terradyne arm from the dragon’s dangling leg.

The Sythers pursued on the backs of wild mountain dragons. Their ghostly, white fur-covered arms wielded spears above their predatory heads, eager to plunge those iron tips through my chest, leaving me to plummet to become a soupy, splattered mess on the rocks far below. Arrows buzzed through the air around us from our pursuers, somehow now allied with Zepheron after Queen Mortriana’s death.

The world was changing so quickly, it was difficult to tell what was real anymore.

I knew I needed to get back to Dragondawn, needed to get back to Ash, but with each flap of Carina’s dragon’s wings, we flew further from Hunter—my Hunt…

I choked down fresh tears, my lips quivering not only from the pain in my stomach from his decision to leave, but from the biting, fierce winds in the frigid air, and every fucking inch of me was sopping wet from the icy rains.

An arrow tore through the sky. I gazed back just in time to see Sap pull himself up, raising his legs behind me just in time for the arrow to sink deep into his thick, tree-trunk leg. He winced from below, and I was left staring at an arrow fletching that would’ve found its mark right in the middle of my back had he not saved me.

I reached back and squeezed his knobby tree finger, thanking him.

You’re too distracted with thoughts of Hunter leaving and going after Zepheron—Baskin—alone.

You’ve got the ability from Nisk of the Whisps, the dragon-shaped Whisp, to turn into vapor, or whatever it is… smoke? Air? But if I turned into that, then the arrow would’ve gone straight through Carina.

There’s a lot to learn with my new power, but I need time to practice, to understand.

Ash will know what to do.

We raced through the clouds, with the few remaining Flamecasters of Dragondawn flanking our sides.

The Sythers were swift for riders, but Carina was faster. Growing up as a Stormscale, she was a fierce rider, a fierce warrior, and an even fiercer friend.

I never would have made it this far without her and Sap.

Growing up the way I did, in chains back in Bramblebash, the only luxury of a true friend I had was Ash. That was all I needed, but now, with the world darkening in every direction, I’d take all the friends I could get.

“Hold on!” Carina shouted in the deluge, and her dragon, Essovex, tucked her wings in and careened her massive body, banking left.

We plummeted.

My stomach rose up into my throat, choking me. I wrapped both arms around her thin waist and squeezed.

Below, Sap let out an otherworldly holler. He was enjoying this! What an amazing creature that Terradyne is. Even when being hunted, Sap found the thrill in life. As we were completely sideways, diving down at breakneck speed, winds rushing past my ears like a hurricane, I looked down at Sap dangling from his one arm, and we exchanged excited grins.

The Flamecasters unleashed coordinated spells at the eight Sythers hunting us. Their spells illuminated the sky in ravishing orange from the blazing magic that erupted from their hands and staffs. The air popped and sizzled in magical fire.

“We just have to make it to Dragondawn,” Carina shouted, cocking her chin over her shoulder to speak to me. Her eyes were wild and alive. I grinned wider. She was a warrior through and through. “The patrols will kill the Sythers or send them scuttling back to the rocks they crawled out from.”

I nodded.

Moments later, we saw it…

As we banked around the massive peak of Calcaedus, my breath caught in my throat. The city of Dragondawn sprawled before me like a jewel scattered across the mountainside, its buildings built upon and carved directly into the dark volcanic rock. Thousands of windows glittered in the fading sunlight, their glass reflecting shades of amber and gold that made the entire city appear to glow from within. Spiraling towers rose at impossible angles from the cliffside, connected by delicate bridges that seemed too fragile to bear weight, yet I could see tiny figures crossing them fearlessly. The architecture was unlike anything I’d ever seen—organic and flowing, as if the city had grown from the mountain rather than being built upon it.

Smoke and steam rose from vents throughout the city, adding to the mystical atmosphere. I made out terraced gardens clinging to impossibly steep slopes, their greenery a stark and beautiful contrast against the charcoal stone. Waterfalls cascaded down the mountain’s face, their water channeled through the city in a complex system of aqueducts and fountains that caught the light like liquid fire. The main thoroughfare wound up the mountain in a great spiral, lined with what had to be shops and homes, their doorways marked by elaborate carvings I couldn’t quite make out from this distance.

At the heart of it all, near the summit, stood Raven’s Bane. It was massive, with spires that seemed to pierce the clouds themselves, built from the same dark stone but inlaid with veins of something that glimmered red and orange. Even from this distance, I felt the power emanating from the keep, ancient and formidable, that housed Ash. This was Dragondawn, a city that had brought fresh hope to Allovan. With its new queen, and my best friend, on the throne.

I wiped my tears and hollered until my throat grew ragged. At the first sight of the city, the horns of the city blew. Dragon riders rose from the city like a murder of crows rising from a tree infested with snakes. Dozens rose, their vast wings spread, flapping madly to rise to meet the encroaching Sythers.

A wide grin rose on my face as Sap hollered, his hollowed voice echoing from the approaching mountains below. I cocked my head over my shoulder, and Carina did the same. The Sythers roared in frustration, letting final arrows fly from their bows before turning back, flying madly away from Ash’s city.

Soon over a hundred riders of Dragondawn, including more staff wielding Flamecasters, took to the sky. Carina’s dragon’s body glided easily down, the huge muscles in its back relaxing slightly, making my own body calm. We glided down as the riders of Dragondawn flew past us at incredible speed, each of them giving us a glance as we rode back to the closest thing to home that I had.

I was sure the sight of the Terradyne hanging from a dragon’s legs was… peculiar, to say the least.

We descended into the city as the horn blows simmered, and as soon as our dragon’s feet touched the obsidian cobblestones of the city, a dread choked me.

Hunter… all alone out there…

Against the man who had abused him all those years, turned him, twisted him to do dark deeds. I wanted to trust that Hunt knew what he was doing, that he could succeed in getting his revenge and saving us from the wrath of Baskin’s design for his power grab. But it wasn’t that simple. Well, to be honest, ever since I was freed from my chains in Bramblebash, what the hell was?

Even with the security that the capital city offered, Zepheron still nearly killed Ash!

I wanted to believe that Hunter could do it, that he could protect us on his own, but there was just a deep feeling in the depths of my stomach that wouldn’t settle. It told me something was wrong… something was very wrong… and he needed my help.

The man who loved me, and I loved in return, needed me.

Whether he knew it or not.

“Miss Bella,” one of the soldiers said, helping me and Carina down from the dragon’s back. “Miss Bella. The queen will be elated you’re back. She’s been worried sick…”

I wiped the tears from my face with my sopping wet sleeve. “Odiun knows I’ve missed her too.”

I’ve got so much to tell her. My new powers… my magic… the Whisp… Where do I even begin with that? It still feels like a dream, but somewhere beneath all the skin on my body, I could feel it… I could sense that power dripping underneath, ready to transform into a walking cloud with a thought.

I grinned wide.

Carina noticed my grin as she took both her boots off, then her wet socks, her bare feet clapping onto the rain-slick stones of the city. “We made it,” she sighed, showing a hint of worry she rarely showed.

“You didn’t think we’d make it?” I asked, taking off my own boots while the soldier helped me balance.

Carina smiled and pulled the arrow free from Sap’s leg. “Doesn’t matter. We’re back, and those nasty Sythers are on the run. Just like they should be.”

“S—Safe,” Sap groaned with his wooden words as he touched my shoulder with his knobby fingers.

“Yes, safe,” I nodded and rubbed his long fingers. The vines that draped like long hair down past his shoulders scraped my neck. “We’re safe here.” But here wasn’t where I felt safest. Dragondawn was supposed to be home, but it didn’t feel like it.

Not that I ever knew what a true home felt like. To me… the closest thing that felt like home was when Ash, Cade, Hunter, and I were all together.

Wherever we were—in the depths of the Faewood with Rosa, or flying on dragons’ backs through the clouds, or fighting a pack of Sythers together… that was home.

Carina and Sap were becoming as close to me as any other in my life, and I was grateful for that, but I knew… I knew… I’d never feel safe as long as Hunt was out there alone…

The soldiers ushered us under a covered corner of the dragon barracks. We immediately put our hands up to a burning torch. Carina and I both shook, while Sap went and lay on the cobblestones, basking in the rain.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Carina said with a wry grin.

I cocked an eyebrow. I don’t even know what I’m thinking…

“Wait here,” a soldier said. “The king and queen are coming to see you.”

“What am I thinking?” I whispered into Carina’s ear.

She grinned. “I’ll help you,” she whispered back. “I was never meant to live in cities either…”

“Help me what?”

“Go find him, you silly ox. I’ll help you find your boyfriend… What else do we have going on?” She jabbed an elbow in my side. “I can see in your eyes you weren’t meant to live in castles. You want the adventure. Trust me… I feel that same feeling all too well!”

“Ash isn’t gonna like that,” I muttered, scratching my arm. “I don’t think I can…”

All soldiers stiffened, their armor jostling as the King and Queen of Dragondawn rushed down the capital hill.

I gulped.

“Guess we won’t have to wait long to find out how Ash feels about it,” Carina laughed softly, and Sap moaned low from behind.