Free The Chronicles of Dragon Collection (Series 1 Omnibus, Books 1-10) by Craig Halloran

any scales. Despite my father's and my disagreements over the past two centuries, I never wanted to disappoint him. This time, however, I had the upper hand. I had my scales, and my days as a man were numbered.
    I took a moment to pause in reflection as I stood outside my father’s chamber doors. The detail in the doors and the rest of the caves and tunnels appeared to have a greater meaning to me now. The brass framework interwoven in ornate patterns on the wooden doors said something to me. The symbols carried power.
    “So,” Brenwar’s gruff voice interrupted my thoughts, "are you going inside, or are you going to stand there and gawk? It’s a dwarven door, you know. You’d think you’d never seen it before.” His thick fingers were playing with his beard. He seemed nervous, if that was at all possible.
    “It’s fine work. I just never noticed before. Do you think I should knock?”
    “There’s a first time for everything.”
    True—in all my years, I hadn’t bothered to knock before. I wasn’t certain why it was different this time, but it was. This time of all times, the little things seemed to matter.
    I looked down at Brenwar’s face, then at the door, and lifted my fist to knock. Both doors swung open on their own.
    “ENTER, SON, AND MY FRIEND THE DWARF.”
    I led, my chin held high, like the time I’d saved my first dragon. I felt like a boy again, new and refreshed, a spring in my step because the hard feelings at failed efforts were gone.
    My father, the grandest dragon of them all, sat on his throne, his eyes burning like fire. I’d never seen such an expression on him before. Fearsome. Deadly. Secrets as ancient as the world itself protected beneath the impenetrable scales and horns on his skull. His voice was like a volcano about to erupt, turning my swaggering gate into a shuffle.
    “COME CLOSER.”
    The gold pieces piled up were slipping like shale, and the entire cavern seemed to shake. I was thirty yards from the foot of his throne when I opened my mouth to speak; my day of glory had come.
    “STOP!”
    I froze. Something was wrong. Brenwar dropped to a knee beside me, head down.
    My father sat there, monstrous claws clasped in his lap, a side of his razor-sharp teeth bare.
    “REMOVE YOUR ARMOR.”
    “With great joy, Father,” I said, unstrapping the buckles on my chestplate. Certainly he had to have noticed my dragon’s hand at least, yet he said nothing. Perhaps there was to be more of a ceremony with the full showing. I tossed my armor and garments aside, standing with my naked chest out, my incredible black-scaled arm up high.
    My father sucked his breath through his teeth, his face smoldering with fury, and roared so loud I thought the mountain had exploded.
    I fell to the ground, holding my ears, crying out and pleading for mercy. I couldn’t think or focus; I just screamed as I felt like the entire world was going to end. A sharp cracking sound exploded nearby as one of the marble columns fell. The room filled with heat so hot I could barely breathe. My whole world had gone wrong. I’d never been so terrified.
    Somehow I rose to my feet despite all the feeling in my legs being gone. My hands were still clamped over my ears as I watched my father continue his angry bellow. Brenwar was almost covered in treasure, his face devoid of expression, eyes watering like he’d seen a horrible ghost.
    I yelled out, “What is wrong, Father?”
    His roar stopped, but my ears kept on ringing.
    His voice was lower now.
    “What have you done?”
    I stood, shaking, stupefied, and gawping.
    “What have you done?” My father asked again, the rage in his voice gone but the molten steel tone remaining. “Have you ever seen a black-scaled dragon?”
    I looked at my arm, shook my head, and said, “No.”
    Then I realized something must be horribly wrong.
    “The ruffie you saved has been here and told me what you have done. I hoped that it was not true, though I knew that it was. Did you even