[Hurog 01] - Dragon Bones Read online

  “There are other dragons, Ward, though they’ve always been rare. Now that the poison is gone from the magic, I expect some of them will return.”

  “You can do something for me,” I said abruptly. “I’ve always wondered what a dragon looks like.”

  He grinned at me, suddenly, looking even more like Tosten than usual. Bouncing to his feet, he took several steps back and changed, the lines of his human form seeming to flow naturally into something much larger.

  We’d both forgotten about Pansy, who stiffened and pulled until his reins just barely stayed where I’d dropped them. By the time I’d calmed him down, there was a dragon in Hurog once more.

  He was easily twice as large as the stone dragon, and much more fantastical. His narrow muzzle was deep midnight blue as were his feet and sharp talons. Above the muzzle and its businesslike teeth, the scales lightened to violet, a lighter shade than his Hurog blue eyes, altered only in shape, which glittered against the darkness of his face. His wings, half folded, were edged in gold and black; the scaled skin connecting the fragile wing bones was lavender.

  Like Pansy, I was frozen, but by his beauty, not by fear.

  “I’ve never seen so many shades of purple,” I said, and, gods deliver me, he preened, flexing the spikes that ran along his spine and spreading his wings to full extension.

  The sudden movement was almost too much for Pansy, and he whistled a shrill challenge as he rose on his hind legs. Instantly, the dragon closed his wings and folded gently back into the Oreg I’d known.

  “Sorry,” he said. “I forgot I’d scare the horse.”

  Worriedly, Pansy huffed and snorted, making certain that the horse eater had gone and wouldn’t bother his people.

  “Siphern’s oath, Oreg,” I breathed, “that was the most glorious sight I’ve ever seen.”

  He hugged himself nervously. “Does that mean I can stay here?”

  Bone deep, a feeling of great contentment fell over me, washing away the conflicting rage and joy I’d been torn between.

  “You’re my brother,” I said, as I had to Tosten. “You’ll always have a home here.”

  As we walked down the mountain trails, I asked, “Oreg, how is it that your human form looks so much like Tosten and most of the rest of the Hurogs I know?”

  He grinned and peered up at me from under his eyelashes. “Ward, I thought you knew. Hurog means dragon.”

  About the Author

  Until she learned to read, Patricia Briggs lived a mundane life in Butte, Montana. Shortly after her sixth birthday, she discovered there were dwarves living in the mines and elves in the forests. The hob in the garage really startled her the first time she met him, but they’ve become great friends since. She now lives with her husband and children in the Pacific Northwest. She is currently working hard on the sequel to Dragon Bones.