Dog And Dragon – Snippet 01
Dog And Dragon
Dave Freer
CHARACTERS
PRINCIPAL
Meb/Scrap/Anghared The heroine of Dragon’s Ring, transported back to Lyonesse. A mage of power but no experience.
Finn/Fionn The black dragon, planomancer and trouble.
Díleas A black and white sheepdog of great intelligence and vast loyalty, whose name means “faithful.”
The book should be available now so this is the last snippet.
Much Fall Of Blood — Snippet 80
Chapter 45
Dana found herself going up to feed the wyverns every day. She wasn’t quite sure how it had happened, just as she was not too sure how she had slipped into the life of the gypsies, or as they called themselves, the pack. She thought that name quite funny. True, Tante Silvia’s cart could pass for the home of a packrat. The old woman and her tinker husband collected nearly every form of junk. Some of it they turned into things that they might sell. Some of it just accumulated.
Much Fall Of Blood — Snippet 79
Chapter 44
To say that Vlad found Elizabeth Bartholdy’s joining of his little army an unmixed blessing was not strictly true. She and those that she brought with her — a selection of minor nobles, and a handful of retainers who seemed to do little more than minister to their masters. They professed to be loyal to his cause, and expected more than he and his army could offer, it seemed. He could quite understand that Elizabeth was too frail and delicate a beauty to sleep rough under crude canvas shelters and eat the rations that his quartermaster had managed to gather for the men. But every other man could do so. The idea of sharing a rough bivouac with common peasants turned soldiers, and having to train with them, let alone share their food, was enough to rouse protests from the boyars. Vlad found himself being very short with that. He’d eaten with the men, bivouacked with his men . . . huddled in the pouring rain without any more shelter than their cloaks with them for that matter. “When you bring me a regiment of cavalry or even a whole troop of knights, I’ll see you are quartered and fed with the men you bring. In the meantime . . . ”
Much Fall Of Blood — Snippet 78
PART IV
October, 1540 A.D.
Chapter 43
Erik thought the large felt-lined tents which they had been assigned in the Golden Horde encampment were as defensible as a . . . piece of felt with a latticework of sticks. The setup was also such that the horses were kept in corrals some distance from their tents. “We will need to re-organize. We need to be able to keep our horses here,” he said firmly. “And Tarkhan. We need to organize the tents in a defensive ring around your quarters.”
Much Fall Of Blood — Snippet 77
Chapter 42
The guard coughed warily, keeping a good safe distance from Vlad. Vlad scowled to himself. They had seen him angry. And now they were even more wary about him. Yes. He was a solitary man. But he did need some contact. He needed to know what they were doing. He needed to know what was happening. And right now they were probably too afraid of him to tell him. “What is it?”
Much Fall Of Blood — Snippet 76
Chapter 41
Elizabeth finished the last of the rites that would allow the dark messenger out of his entrapment in the pentacle, in safety. Safety for her, anyway. Crocell waited for her, at least with the appearance of patience. “You seek my master’s assistance in the capture of Vlad, the Prince of Valahia,” he said with a lift of the dark eyebrows, once he was free.
Much Fall Of Blood — Snippet 75
The woman’s eyes were wide. She knelt. But Vlad did not wait to hear what she had to say. He’d plucked the horn from the Sergeant. He did not know how to blow it correctly. But he did. It made a noise . . . a horrible one. It was just as well. It stirred him from his fury, and spared the life of the three, who had not yet managed to get in place behind him. He handed it back to Emil. “Blow it. Properly.”
Much Fall Of Blood — Snippet 74
PART III
September, 1540 A.D.
Chapter 40
Vlad looked despairingly at his recruits attempts to hit targets with their new arquebuses. He himself carried two of the Smerek pistols. And he could hit a target with them, while on horseback. This lot, it would appear, could not have hit a barn door from the inside. Wreathed in smoke, they fired at targets fifty paces off . . . and missed.
Much Fall Of Blood — Snippet 73
Chapter 39
“I am worried,” said Erik to Manfred, as they stopped for the evening.
“A normal situation,” said Manfred. “What about this time? Besides a beautiful woman who keeps laughing at you.”
Much Fall Of Blood — Snippet 72
A week ago they had been discussing the possibilities of abandoning their holdings, going south and seeing if they could somehow escape to Venice. When the family had fled Galicia, they had come with little more than ten sons, their tools and their lives. It had been a long, hard struggle. It had seemed almost impossible that they would have to abandon all they had built. Now that they had been offered an alternative, loyalty for loyalty, which two of the boys assured them that they at least accepted unconditionally, the entire extended family moved towards open rebellion. They had plenty of fuel for it.
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