Free The Dragon Ring (Book 1) by C. Craig Coleman Page A

glanced back. Probing fingers clutched the sandal then slung it away. Bodrin went for his knife. Tournak spun around and hurled a bolt of wizard-fire at the hand groping for Saxthor.
    A hellish shriek erupted from the churning water. A smoldering nub trembled where the searching fingers had been. The smoking arm jerked back down into the muddy froth as swirling green duckweed closed over the tannic soup.
    “What was that thing?” Saxthor asked. His head jerked from side to side and all around.
    “Over there!” Bodrin pointed. “A giant tail as big as my leg.”
    Saxthor and Tournak watched the tail too, but transfixed, said nothing. The tail thrashed through the murky liquid, propelling the unseen monster’s body into deeper water, where it disappeared.
    “How big was the monster?” Bodrin asked.
    “You all right, Saxthor?” Tournak asked. “Did the creature hurt you?”
    “I’m okay,” was all Saxthor could muster. He felt his chest heaving over his pounding heart. Sweat beads trickled down his cheeks. Embarrassed, it dawned on him his face must be red. He huddled under the sternpost, arms and legs scrunched in a fetal position. He glanced side-to-side checking for another imminent attack. I can’t stop shaking, he thought. He tucked his face between his knees.
    He heard Bodrin’s foot beside him. “It’s okay, Saxthor.”
    The prince raised his head to Bodrin, but couldn’t look at his guardian. “Sorry I yelled. The thing caught me by surprise. I won’t shout again.”
    “Cripes, Saxthor, I’d have hollered to raise the dead myself,” Bodrin said. He squatted down in the boat’s center in front of Saxthor. A glance and wink at his friend and he was slashing the air with his knife.
    “The creature scared us all,” Tournak said. “Such a monster isn’t here by nature.” He moved to the back again, his step lighter and calmer.
    “Aunt Irkin sent the thing,” Saxthor said without looking up.
    Saxthor released his legs and forced himself to lean forward to pick up the smoldering sandal. He studied it for a moment, then still trembling, pulled it back on his foot.
    “She knows where I am.”
    Saxthor saw Bodrin and Tournak share glances. He couldn’t hold up his head.
    “You can move back to the middle,” Tournak said. “The creature is gone, but better keep your eyes and ears alert.” He returned to the stern, patted Saxthor on the shoulder and took the steering oar.
    “Aunt Irkin hates me so much. It’s more than simple vengeance.”
    Tournak hesitated. “I suppose you’re old enough to know what’s behind this. When he ascended the throne, your frail uncle, Minnabec the Third relied on his wealth and crown to secure a wife. The people of her hometown, Wodin, called Irkin Megla, Earwig, the Pretender of Wodin. Twisted by her obsession to climb in society, she suppressed her conscience until it withered and died. The cold, soulless creature was capable of any unscrupulousness to get what she wanted, the pinnacle of power. Living in obscure exile, she’s embraced dark powers and drew energy to evil purposes to regain the crown or at least get revenge.
    Irkin Megla’s eye fell on the spineless new King of Neuyokkasin, your uncle, whom she determined she could dominate. She thought as queen she would hold the kingdom’s foremost social position and thus command respect and acceptance among Neuyokkasin’s nobility. Minnabec married the scheming creature for her strength of will, which he discovered he couldn’t control. The marriage of his weakness and her boundless ambition amplified the worst in both. She thought her social position secure, so Queen Irkin lorded her station over everyone, especially those of genuine nobility, whom she resented.”
    Saxthor smashed an insect crawling on the seat next him. “She cares for no one.”
    “Minnabec put his own interests above those of the state, and the kingdom’s financial condition declined.”
    “The kingdom’s financial