One Thousand and One Dark Nights
Once upon a time, in the future…
I was a student fascinated with stories and learning.
I studied philosophy, poetry, history, the occult, and
the art and science of love and magic. I had a vast
library at my father’s home and collected thousands
of volumes of fantastic tales.
I learned all about ancient races and bygone
times. About myths and legends and dreams of all
people through the millennium. And the more I read
the stronger my imagination grew until I discovered
that I was able to travel into the stories... to actually
become part of them.
I wish I could say that I listened to my teacher
and respected my gift, as I ought to have. If I had, I
would not be telling you this tale now.
But I was foolhardy and confused, showing off
with bravery.
One afternoon, curious about the myth of the
Arabian Nights, I traveled back to ancient Persia to
see for myself if it was true that every day Shahryar
(Persian: شهريار, “king”) married a new virgin, and then
sent yesterday's wife to be beheaded. It was written
and I had read that by the time he met Scheherazade,
the vizier's daughter, he’d killed one thousand
women.
Something went wrong with my efforts. I arrived
in the midst of the story and somehow exchanged
places with Scheherazade – a phenomena that had
never occurred before and that still to this day, I
cannot explain.
Now I am trapped in that ancient past. I have
taken on Scheherazade’s life and the only way I can
protect myself and stay alive is to do what she did to
protect herself and stay alive.
Every night the King calls for me and listens as I spin tales.
And when the evening ends and dawn breaks, I stop at a
point that leaves him breathless and yearning for more.
And so the King spares my life for one more day, so that
he might hear the rest of my dark tale.
As soon as I finish a story... I begin a new
one... like the one that you, dear reader, have before
you now.
Chapter One
Eastern border
On top of a small outcropping of flat rocks high atop a mountain, Kendrick sat with his legs dangling over the side, awed by the sunrise. Beautiful. The thought went through his mind every time he saw the sun break over the mountains. He leaned back on his hands and smiled.
“It really is stunning. Whether I’m on Zora or Earth, it’s a sight to behold. They’re nearly identical, though you’ll have to take my word for it.” He paused and looked over his shoulder into the small cave behind him.
A loud sigh came from within.
Kendrick’s enhanced vision cut through the shadows to the small dragon inside. He’d been surprised and thrilled to discover that a Pink had a home in the region he’d been assigned to patrol. Dragons tended to stay away from the borders of their considerable-sized domain simply because they didn’t want to encounter humans of any kind.
Despite Kendrick’s weeks on Zora, the Pink had yet to speak to him. Kendrick wasn’t giving up, though. He, like the other Dragon Kings, had long feared that the Pinks had been wiped out during the war on Earth with the mortals. Once the Kings came to Zora, they saw the dragons they hadn’t seen in eons flourishing—and with them, the Pinks.
The tiniest of dragon species were known to be aloof, but this one in particular took it to a whole new level. Not that Kendrick could blame her. It wasn’t just this dragon, either. None of the dragons on Zora were thrilled to see the Kings.
Kendrick frowned as the past barreled through the carefully constructed walls within his mind. He sighed and looked back at the sun. “It’s easy to look at someone’s mistakes and criticize things. It wasna so black and white. Things were…difficult back then.”
Difficult. Ha. That was an understatement. Things on Earth had been hell. It didn’t seem to matter what the Kings did, the humans were never happy. With every new truce, there was retaliation—from both sides.
No one knew who started it. The blame couldn’t be placed at the feet of the dragons or the mortals. The Kings had done what they thought was right.
And it had led to them losing everything.
Kendrick squeezed his eyes shut as the bleak, treacherous emotions he kept locked away broke loose. He hated delving into the past. There was nothing there but rage, resentment, and despair. He ran his hands down his face in a bid to lock the past away, but he didn’t quite manage it. He opened his eyes and scanned the horizon. His area to patrol was breathtaking. A magnificent mountain range with stunning vistas, valleys filled with a lush forest, and a wide lake. Across the invisible border was a vast grassland. And beyond that, a plateau.
On his many flights, Kendrick had seen the enormous size of the plateau and the mountains that rose behind it. He’d be lying if he said that he wasn’t interested in exploring the land across the border. But the Kings had already run into trouble by doing just that.
The situation with the mortals on the west side of dragon land in the city of Stonemore had taken a drastic turn with the disappearance of one of theirs—Merrill. It likely meant that war was on the horizon. The Kings were used to being the biggest, most dangerous entities on Earth, but they had recently learned that something on Zora could take down even a King. The new foe was why the other Kings were on the realm and actively guarding the borders.
Kendrick wanted to find the new adversary. He wasn’t worried about encountering it, regardless of how easily the enemy had taken down other Kings. It would be caught—and killed. It was only a matter of time. What weighed so heavily on Kendrick’s mind was Merrill. He knew his friend. Merrill was astute and cunning.
If someone had taken Merrill as they had with Varek, the Kings would find them. And dole out their brand of justice. Some thought Merrill had left on his own, much as Brandr had, but Kendrick didn’t buy that. Neither did Varek, Merrill’s best friend. That left only one other possibility. And Kendrick refused to consider that his friend’s life had been taken.
Movement to his left drew Kendrick’s attention. He watched as the Pink emerged from her cave. She shook and stretched gracefully, unfurling one wing and then the other before tucking them against her sleek body. The Pinks had rounded scales that gave them a harder shell than any other dragon. Small fan-like growths ran down their spines. And a Pink’s tail was particularly dangerous, ending in a flat, fan-like tip that held sharp barbs as hard as a dragon’s talons.
“Why are you out here on your own?” Kendrick had asked her the same question every day since being assigned to the territory. He had yet to get an answer. “I know you can understand me. Whether I speak like this”—he paused and opened the mental link to talk telepathically as all dragons did—“or like this.”
The Pink turned and looked at him for a moment, her emerald eyes flashing. Instead of flying off, she simply sat and gazed at the scenery. After a stretch of silence, Kendrick did the same.