Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 129584 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129584 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 648(@200wpm)___ 518(@250wpm)___ 432(@300wpm)
Gunter chuckled lightly as he plucked his glasses off his nose. He pulled a soft cleaning cloth from his pocket and proceeded to remove the dirt from his lenses.
“Well, I can’t say that I have firsthand knowledge of the event. It was a couple hundred years before I was born, but I have read various journal accounts of the events. King Griswold and Queen Johanna were dedicated chroniclers at the time.”
“So, you can tell me the real story.”
Gunter smiled as he placed his glasses on his face and settled back in his seat, looking as if he was preparing to tell a tale. A little shaft of guilt cut through Sora. He hated to deceive the dragon, but he truly was interested in the story. And King Alric was right to worry if Gunter wasn’t getting proper exercise for his dragon.
The guilt was forgotten when Gunter started weaving his tale of a festive celebration to commemorate the bonding anniversary of the king and queen—who also happened to be King Alric’s parents. The dragon was a natural-born storyteller, and he created an artful tapestry of the time. The castle had been full of mages and dragons, and it was well before the start of the Dragon War. Laughter echoed off the stone walls, and the world was still filled with hope and wonder.
A determined chef, who wished to see the dragon races but couldn’t step away from his kitchen, devised a plan with a mage who still needed a great deal more training.
“While the journals don’t explicitly describe the spell that was used, it seems poor Otto used a little too much sunlight in the spell. While he slipped away from the castle with the rest of the clan to see the races, the spell was supposed to make sure the queen’s special stew kept cooking and the spoon kept stirring at a steady pace so nothing was burned or scorched.”
“Oh no,” Sora groaned. He was vaguely aware that at least three other dragons had wandered over and were now listening to Gunter’s story.
“Exactly. The fire, the stew, and the spell’s ingredients all combined to cause a catastrophic explosion that destroyed most of the castle. Stones were blown out across the valley and caused a rockslide. The only good thing about this explosion was that it happened at the height of the main race. As a result, everyone was out of the castle, watching the race.”
“No one was hurt?” Sora demanded in shock. When Gunter had first spoken of an explosion, he’d been sure that many of the clan had been killed.
“No one was hurt,” Gunter confirmed. “Don’t get me wrong—plenty were devastated over the loss of their home. The chef and the spellcaster were punished over the affair.”
He paused and scratched his chin as if he were searching through the databank in his mind.
“I think they were forced to dig all the new temporary lavatories for the clan while the new castle was being built.”
“They weren’t kicked out of the clan?”
Gunter shook his head quickly. “While incredibly unfortunate, the explosion was an accident, and no one was hurt. The chef and mage were extremely sorry about the entire thing.”
“That would also be due to the lovely Queen Johanna’s influence,” interjected a new voice.
They both looked up to see Dieter standing beside their chairs, a soft smile on his wrinkled face.
“If I recall correctly, King Griswold wanted to string them both up by their toes from the old castle walls, but Johanna interceded on their behalf.”
“You were there?”
Dieter nodded. “I was, though I’m sure Gunter knows the story better than I do at this point. I wasn’t there for the entire mess of it. I was in the middle of kicking his majesty’s ass in a race we never got to finish.”
Laughter rang out through the dining hall, and Gunter smiled up at the advisor, looking quite pleased. At least, until Dieter turned his attention to the royal researcher.
“I thought you would like to know that I just saw Ravi, Cassie, and Cameron sneaking off to the library, looking quite guilty.”
Gunter snarled and was out of his chair in a flash. Sora blinked, pressing back in his own chair. He would never have guessed that the dragon could move so fast. More laughter followed Gunter out of the hall as the dragon swore under his breath about troublemakers.
Sora pulled out his cellphone and started to text Ravi a warning that Gunter was on his way. It hadn’t quite been thirty minutes, but it was pretty darn close. However, before he pressed the send button, the phone was pulled out of his fingers. His head snapped up and he saw Dieter raising one eyebrow at him while turning the phone’s screen to view it.
“Did Alric or Ravi enlist your help on this little task?” Dieter inquired, not sounding at all surprised.