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    Shunned: Dragon's Cord #2 Band Of Dragons
    Shunned: Dragon's Cord #2 Band Of Dragons
    Shunned: Dragon's Cord #2 Band Of Dragons
    Ebook128 pages1 hour

    Shunned: Dragon's Cord #2 Band Of Dragons

    By Kristie Lynn

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    About this ebook

    Based on the Shunned short story series.

    Shy makes a decision about the dragon she had been hunting and that decision takes her far away from her home and into danger.

    Shunned: Dragon's Cord series:
    #1 The Metal Veil And Weeping Sword Named Tear
    #2 Band Of Dragons

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherKristie Lynn
    Release dateJan 21, 2016
    ISBN9781310085390
    Shunned: Dragon's Cord #2 Band Of Dragons
    Author

    Kristie Lynn

    You can also check out my author page on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/author/kristielynnhiggins

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      Book preview

      Shunned - Kristie Lynn

      Shunned: Dragon's Cord

      #2

      Band Of Dragons

      Kristie Lynn Higgins

      Text Copyright © 2011, 2016 by Kristie Lynn Higgins

      Cover Art Copyright © 2016

      Smashwords Ebook Edition

      www.KristieLynnHiggins.com

      No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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      Chapter One

      The Promise And A Sorrow-filled Vow

      Part Two

      Ragon, the Man-slayer of Torlawn, had just fled the two hunters after Shy made a promise with the dragon. The other hunter who was also her partner, Vapkin, needed to kill their quarry if he was to save himself from a debt he owed to the Baron. Shy convinced Vapkin to let the dragon go, but only on a condition that he would be allowed to see what was hidden beneath her metal veil.

      Now before I lose my nerve... Shy spoke with a heavy heart as she lifted her half-mask, revealing her whole face that had been hidden by the metal veil. This is who I am.

      Vapkin ate of the visual banquet he so eagerly desired to behold, filling his sight with every inch of her mysterious face. His greedy grin sliced away as if a battle ax had been taken to it, then he took a step back, and placed both hands to the hilt of his two short swords. Horrified and repulsed by what he saw, Vapkin lost any sense of politeness and shouted, By the depths of hell! Yer hideous!

      She stood there, letting him soak in the bounty owed to him for allowing the dragon to escape, but it was killing her to have his mental curses and eye-popping aghast flung at her like some torturous stoning. Shy was once again that little girl who didn't know she was hideous and all the wonders of the world laid before her until the truth of her face had been brought into the light.

      He wanted to cast his eyes from the monstrous sight and hide his face from what stood before him, but a bewitching spell seemed to be upon the one he beheld for Vapkin couldn't turn away from her. He stood there absorbing every detail of her deformity. The skin around the left side of her eye, nose, and mouth never developed. He saw part of her jawbone and half of her teeth, the bone and cartilage of her nose, and the whole of her eye covered by muscle as it sat in the socket of her skull. The one eye had no eyelid and no eyebrow; there was only white of bone, muscle, and fleshy sphere that peered at him like some demon come to collect his wretched soul. Vapkin took another step back as her glorious grotesques captivated him like some death-riddled beauty. If he had to tell this tale to another, he would best describe her as looking at a decaying corpse kept alive by enchantment.

      Shy had enough of his borrowing revulsion and placed her half-mask back on, and he regained control of his body and was able to turn away disgusted by what his greedy thoughts caused him to witness. Vapkin glanced over his shoulder at her, and his repulsed stare ripped at her heart, so she turned from him and headed down the path in search of her mare.

      The next day or what is known as a spatial-rotation...

      The sight of Shy from the previous evening weighed heavily upon him as Vapkin sat at a table alone within the Ogre's Wart Tavern, milking his third mug of mead. He stared at the brownish liquid lit by candle, breathing the stale air thick with tobacco smoke. He kept shaking his head and sighing.

      The barmaid approached, set down another drink for him, and commented, Looks like you've seen Beelzebub. She glanced at the bag of gold he'd received from the Lancer's wife and told him, You should be in better spirits and celebratin'. You made quite a bounty off the man-slayer. The blonde wench looked around the half dark room as she questioned, Where's your new partner? I meant to ask her if she'd been here before. Her face was very familiar to me, that is of what of saw of it.

      Vapkin downed the last of the mead in the mug he held as the images of Shy's deformed face flashed in his mind and then he spoke, She's my partner no more.

      The barmaid started to grab the now empty mug when she questioned in a lowered voice, Oh, did the dragon eat her?

      No, Vapkin replied as he looked up at the wench. He realized this was the closest town to wherever Shy grew up at, so he questioned, Have you heard of the Shunned?

      The Shunned, the barmaid repeated with a look of dread upon her face, and then she shivered as she replied, Aye. When I was but a wee one, the demon spawn came into the village. I can remember seeing the child, that is half of the face that looked human. It was sweet actually, now that I recall. My mother covered my eyes with her apron before I saw the hideous half, so I don't know what it looks like, but I have heard the tales.

      She, Vapkin corrected, grimacing as he grabbed the full fourth mug. What she looks like...

      The barmaid put a hand to her mouth as she exclaimed, You mean..? Your partner? That woman was the Shunned? The barmaid sat at the table across from him, placing her round tray at her side. I thought she seemed familiar, but with her half-mask... with her half-mask she seems so normal. The wench leaned forward and whispered, Did you see behind it?

      He nodded still sickened by the memory and couldn't utter his reply.

      What a fright you had? Here, the barmaid began as she stood and headed for the back. Let me get you something stronger to wipe away the memory of that abomination. She started off as she commented, Bet you regret the spatial-rotation you met her.

      Yeah, Vapkin laughed out and then he frowned.

      Regret... He regretted many things. Out of all the memories bombarding his mind, one was the strongest, and it was the look Shy gave him after she replaced her half-mask. The look of hurt... betrayal... She had been brave and courageous as she fought the dragon, and she also warned him he didn't want to see her face, but he insisted and she was so desperate to let the dragon go. Vapkin downed more of the mead as he stared at the bag of gold, wondering how he could make up for what he did to her. They were partners and one never abandons a partner in their time of need.

      * * *

      High in the Mountains of Torlawn, Shy sat on the porch of her hut, rocking in a chair as Faith also rocked and smoked a pipe beside her. Shy rubbed her tingling shoulder as she searched the clouded sky for the dragon.

      I don't think this... Ragon you say, is coming, Faith told her as she puffed out three smoke rings, and they slowly drifted up. It's much past high sun.

      I shall give him some more time, Shy replied as she couldn't understand why her arm felt so unusual; it had supposedly healed, but it wasn't

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