Prologue

Mesa del Cadre

Cutting into a hill nestled between a bay and the sea stood a quarry overrun by dragons. Six big, flat Monstrous Nightmares lazed near the cliffside of the bowl, their backs burning a hot, blue flame. Dozens of Deadly Nadders, tall and bird-like, stalked around them like attendants. A flight of small, fat Gronckles buzzed overhead.

The Gronckles stopped and hovered low over the quarry. A few minutes later, they rose and flew back across the bay, toward a city called Mesa del Cadre.

Watching from atop the quarry's hill stood the man who had domain over the quarry, the surrounding workman district, and the refinery across the bay. Lord Kiefer wasn't worried about the Gronckles. They were doing their job admirably; each flight of four carried a bucket full of ore bound for the refinery. They were well trained.

Another flight came in with an empty bucket. They lowered it into the quarry where burlap clad, human workers waved and pointed, directing the boulder-like dragons to adjust until they slid it into its cradle.

Once the lines went slack, Nadder-drawn carts pulled up and tilted over, dumping their contents inside. They then returned to the floor and more Nadders with steel shovels strapped to their jaws filled them back up with ore.

The heart of the operation was the Monstrous Nightmares. Their fires were hotter than anything that could be produced by wood or coal; the boilers bolted around their wide, flat torsos churned with steam that gave muscle to drills and hammers used by armored workers to break apart the mountainside.

"The line seems to be running well," he said to the foreman astride a Deadly Nadder beside him. He reached into the satchel strapped to his own dragon's back and pulled out a notebook and pencil. He sketched the line of the mountain-side and compared it to last month's with a flip of a page, checking just how much it had receded.

"Thank you, sir," the foreman said. "Those new hires have integrated with the herd quite well. I expect we'll meet our quota by Thursday."

"Thursday is good." He flipped back and glanced over his notes. Five humans and three Gronckles were hired two weeks ago. He hadn't expected them to be ready so soon. He squinted at the foreman. "There weren't any problems?"

"Well, there's always problems with new recruits." The foreman scratched his head and his Nadder shifted beneath him. "But they were smoothed over."

"Good, good." Kiefer put a line next to the note and moved on to the next item. "How's the health of the workers?"

The foreman shrugged "We've had a couple injuries. Some illness. Nothing serious." He ticked off on his fingers. "Three men were out sick this week, and a couple Nadders came down with something a couple days ago. The dracinarian gave them something and they were ready to work this morning."

"And what about the dragon that was caught in last week's rockslide?" He gave the foreman a pointed look. He had received a report on the incident, of course. Three Deadly Nadders had been in the path, but only one was injured.

"He's still out. The dracinarian said the bone's mended, but we're giving him another week to recuperate. He should be ready by Monday."

"As I've heard, two others escaped the slide. Is that correct?"

The foreman nodded. "One even pulled a human worker out of the way. Thankfully Theo was the only human in the area, and we commended Manfried."

"He should be commended." Kiefer nodded, but then returned to his interrogative stare. "But if two were aware enough to get out of the way, why wasn't the injured one?"

The Nadder's saddle squelched as the foreman shifted uncomfortably. "I would suppose he was tired. Theo was on his way to relieve him."

"Ah, and now we've reached my concern." Kiefer closed his notebook and slipped it back into his dragon's satchel. Her dark wings fluttered and she turned her head to fix her golden eyes on him. He could tell she was looking forward to getting back into the sky. He pet her shoulder to reassure her that they were almost finished. He looked back at the foreman. "See to it that both human and dragon get enough rest. As I've told you, giving the workers breaks — "

" — is cheaper than letting them break, yes sir."

"I really must stress this. I don't like seeing any worker injured, and neither does the Queen. She's been talking about increasing the injury fees."

Kiefer pulled himself up into the saddle of his dragon — the most prestigious breed: a sleek, obsidian Night Fury. She unfurled her wings and let the breeze catch and caress the delicate skin. Almost in sympathy, the Nadder hopped anxiously from leg to leg and flapped his wings, but the foreman pressed it to hold.

"I understand sir."

"Lord Kiefer!"

A rush of wind and wings assaulted them as another Night Fury flared to a stop and landed lightly beside them. Upon his back rode a strong looking woman displaying a badge of leaf covered footprints on her chest — the crest of the Scout Platoon — and a sergeant's pip on her shoulder. She popped off her riding mask and looked at the lord of the land.

He tilted his head to acknowledge her. "What is it, sergeant?"

"My scouts have spotted the commodities trader you asked me to keep an eye out for. He's about two days out, west-by-northwest. We've already dispatched escorts."

"Ah! Very good. Thank you, sergeant." He nodded his dismissal, and with a kick and a beat of wings she and her Night Fury were off again, swinging inland and away from the Mesa. He turned back to the foreman. "Heinrich should have those drill bits you asked for."

"I hope so," the foreman said in a weighty voice. "We only have two spares left. Assuming regular wear, that should last us a month, but I'd be a lot more comfortable with at least a dozen, or a few more."

"Then you shall have it." Kiefer smiled at him. "I ordered twenty."

He pat his Night Fury's neck. "What do you say, Claudia? Shall we check on Heinrich?"

The dragon snorted an affirmative and Kiefer pulled his riding gear out of a satchel on her back. It took but a moment to put on the helmet and mask, and with a nudge into her side Claudia vaulted into the air.

It took just shy of two hours to find the trader, already flanked by a pair of Nadders gliding along on the thermals. They were just there to deter piracy, though that hadn't been a problem for as long as Kiefer could remember. Still, vigilance was the byword in the Mesa.

With a nudge of his toe, Claudia banked around and dipped down to deck level beside the large, three-sailed hulk. It kept a good clip, carried along by the wind filling its square sails, fast enough for Claudia to glide along beside on the tail wind. There were a few men on deck, but he didn't see the vessel's master. He popped the face mask off his helmet and squinted against the wind.

"Ahoy there Heinrich!" He cupped his hands and called louder, "AHOY!"

A door flung open from the cabin at the stern of the ship. A rather portly man clad in silks and gaudy trinkets rushed out. Heinrich shielded his eyes with a many-ringed hand and searched the sky before he found Kiefer.

"Ahoy!" Heinrich waved enthusiastically, grinning at the new arrival. "Ahoy there, Lord!"

Claudia drifted closer and Kiefer shouted over the wind, "Permission to come aboard?"

"Of course, of course!" The trader waved him over. "You're my best customer, you're always welcome!"

Another nudge and a pull, and Claudia swung over the ship. He stroked her scaly shoulder and said, "I'll be just a minute."

After she cooed, he swung his leg off her back and dropped to the deck with a jarring thud. Claudia flared and beat her wings to fall back and join the Nadders. Heinrich rushed up to his guest.

"Lord Kiefer!" He grinned and shook his hand vigorously. "So good to see you. Before you ask, hmm, I have those Pyree Drill Bits you ordered — I took the liberty of purchasing two dozen, in case you needed spares — and, of course, several bolts of the Oriental silks I told you about! You can peruse my other merchandise if you wish — first pick, first pick!"

Heinrich nudged him excitedly and pointed to several bins and crates. He was a commodities trader; he had marbles, cloths, woods, and minerals from elsewhere in the empire, goods that couldn't be found near the Mesa. On the other hand, his selection of items for personal use — clothes, jewelry, curios — was limited. Kiefer browsed, but there wasn't anything particularly interesting.

"Oh, but I have something I must show you!"

Heinrich bobbed on his heels while Kiefer put down an elegant silver necklace. He disappeared into the cabin again and when he returned he grinned widely. He held up another necklace.

"I think you'll appreciate this."

Kiefer took it and studied it. It was simple twine, with three dragon teeth knotted in place. The middle tooth was twice as long as the other two — it was a back tooth of a Monstrous Nightmare. The other pair came from a Gronckle or Gronckles. Common dragons, common teeth, common materials.

But there was something about the teeth that caught his attention: they were rotten. Not just a little rotten, but very rotten. The Nightmare's tooth had a single cavity so large and deep that it reached the core, while the Gronckle teeth had many smaller, ugly pits. If the maker had killed a dragon and used its teeth for a necklace, these weren't the teeth they would have chosen. He could only come to one conclusion, and his chest lifted with excitement at the thought. He met Heinrich's eye.

"New dragon trainers?"

The trader's grin grew, and Kiefer knew he was right. These teeth must have been taken from live dragons to relieve pain — a common procedure among trainers — and then reused in this necklace.

New riders! He had to bring this to the Queen. But he suppressed his grin. Heinrich knew how important this was, too. That meant that this simple necklace was going to cost as much as an entire bin of curios. But to bring it in, to show the Queen!

He gripped the necklace tightly.

"What do you know about them?"

"Ah, yes — hmm — I got that necklace from a trader by the name of Johan, cost quite a bit if I do say so, but I managed to finagle a map out of him. It's quite far to the north, if you're interested.

"A little place called Berk."