Dragon Adventurer collection
Contents
Copywrite
CHAPTER ONE Chapter 1
CHAPTER TWO Chapter 2
CHAPTER THREE Chapter 3
CHAPTER FOUR Chapter 4
CHAPTER FIVE Chapter 5
CHAPTER SIX Chapter 6
CHAPTER SEVEN Chapter 7
CHAPTER EIGHT Chapter 8
CHAPTER NINE Chapter 9
CHAPTER TEN Chapter 10
CHAPTER ELEVEN chapter 11
CHAPTER TWELVE Chapter 12
CHAPTER THIRTEEN Chapter 13
CHAPTER FOURTEEN Chapter 14
CHAPTER FIFTEEN Chapter 15
CHAPTER SIXTEEN Chapter 16
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Chapter 17
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN Chapter 1
CHAPTER NINETEEN Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWENTY Chapter 3
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE Chapter 4
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO Chapter 5
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE chapter 6
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR Chapter 7
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE Chapter 8
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX Chapter 9
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN Chapter 10
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT Chapter 11
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE Chapter 12
CHAPTER THIRTY Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE Chapter 14
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO Chapter 15
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE Chapter 16
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR Chapter 17
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE Chapter 18
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX Chapter 19
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN Chapter 1
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT Chapter 2
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE Chapter 3
CHAPTER FORTY Chapter 4
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE Chapter 5
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO Chapter 6
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE Chapter 7
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR Chapter 8
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE Chapter 9
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX Chapter 10
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN Chapter 11
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT Chapter 12
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE Chapter 13
CHAPTER FIFTY Chapter 14
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO Chapter 16
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE Chapter 17
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR Chapter 18
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE Chapter 19
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX Chapter 20
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN Chapter 21
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT Chapter 22
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE Chapter 23
CHAPTER SIXTY Chapter 24
CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE Chapter 25
CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO Chapter 26
Ending hoard count
Author notes
© 2019 Kelson V. Deal. All rights Reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher except as permitted by US copyright law.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s Imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
CHAPTER ONE
Chapter 1
Jake looked at his newest purchase, a copper oil lamp in the style of an Arabian Nights story, that he had found at an estate sale. It was a plain-looking thing with no ornamentation or designs, but it was well cared for. The mirror-sheen polish on the metal showed the reflection of a slightly overweight man with unkempt black hair that hung down to his shoulders. It wasn't a view that Jake really liked. With a sigh, he set the lamp down on one of the ledges jutting out from the cavern-like stone wall.
Jake gave the lamp a thoughtful look and decided that it fit with the rooms décor, a tacky décor, but by now he was committed to it and had even come to like the place. The room itself was generously called a stone basement that, as far as he could tell, had actually just been a cave over which the previous owner had built a one-room house -- something he had never expected to find downtown in a city like this.
When he had first gotten the house, after his windfall and before the subsequent loss of said windfall, he hadn't really liked the basement. His now ex-friends had even taken to calling this room his “dragon cave,” since his first thought had been to turn it into a gaming space for his D&D group. Jake had retaliated by deciding to take the comment and own it. He had gone on a search through every outlet store he could think of to find things that would turn the room into place a dragon would be comfortable. He had installed wall sconces that looked like torches, an easy chair that looked almost like a throne, and had filled the nooks and crannies of the walls with random bits of junk that looked like they could have come from a dragon’s hoard. He had even gotten a throw rug that looked like a mound of gold coins and laid it down in the center of the room.
It wasn't too long after that last purchase that his world had come crashing down. Now this house had become his small hermitage and this room a solace where he could read and escape from the reality outside.
With a sigh, he picked up the lamp again and walked over to the easy chair. He set it down on the oak barrel that served as his side table, opened up a small container of lamp oil and began to fill the lamp. After a moment, he frowned at the now-empty bottle. The website had said that it was good for at least two refills.
“False advertising. Figures,” he sighed.
Looking at the lamp, he saw that the bottle had at least been enough for a single fill. He slid the wick in and waited for it to soak up enough oil.
He picked up a book from the barrel top and flipped it open to his bookmark. There was something about reading a physical book down here.
After a bit, he forced himself to put the book down for a second to light the lamp. Turning off the lights, he picked his book back up. He absentmindedly gave the lamp a rub as he read. It was another of the fantasy books he so loved to read. All about a world where magic and adventure were just part of daily life.
Real life faded away, as his mind was consumed by the story. He was so entranced by the book, he didn't even notice the thick blue smoke starting to drift from the lamp to curl around behind his chair.
“If I had one wish…” he sighed flipping another page. “What I wouldn't give to live in a world like this.”
Things got hazy at that point, memories seemed…fluid, distorted, and not quite real. The one thing he truly remembered was a flash of blue hair and a Cheshire grin before an all-consuming pain drove him to darkness.
CHAPTER TWO
Chapter 2
My stomach roared. It was too loud to call a gurgle since it had been enough to wake me up from deep sleep. Opening my eyes, I could see that I was laying on the cave floor. All my knickknacks glimmered at me in the light from the oil lamp.
“Shit. Didn't put it out.”
With a frown, I noticed something was off. The lamp sat on the barrel where I had left it but...my recliner was gone.
I pushed myself up to the sound of clinking coins. Looking down, I could feel my eyes widen in shock as I saw that my rug was gone, now replaced with an actual pile of palm-sized gold coins. I lifted up a handful and watched as they spilled out of my hand past clawed fingers.
I blinked.
Yanking my hand up, I looked at it in shock! The tips of each finger were now covered in gold scales that reached to the first joint before seamlessly fusing with pink flesh. At the tips of each finger, my nails had changed. They were slightly curved and quite a bit sharper.
I stared open mouthed for a moment before my stomach sent a burst of hunger, reminding me why I woke up in the first place. My mind flicked to the full fridge of food just up above. Wiping drool from my mouth, I
quickly got my feet under me and tried to stand. With a crack of chipping stone, my head slammed into the ceiling of the cave before I was fully erect.
“Ow!”
To be precise, a point about a foot over my head hit the ceiling shoving down on two points right above my forehead. I flinched as I reached up and felt twin hard pillars that seemed to be growing from my forehead. They felt almost metallic as I ran my hands along them from the base to what I guessed was about half-a-foot up, where they ended in a sharp point.
Feeling the tip, my hand brushed against the ceiling. This brought up another issue. The ceiling in this room was just under seven-and-a-half feet up. At my normal height of five foot three, it was never an issue...had I grown?
A pang of hunger interrupted my train of thought as my stomach reminded me it had been patient, but now it was time to eat. I scrambled across the coins covering the floor and climbed the stone stairs bent over, trying to not smack my new head-gear.
Reaching the top, the stairs opened into a kitchen as they always did. The issue was that it wasn't my kitchen. The fake wood floors and yellow walls were replaced by sandstone blocks held together by thick mortar. The counters around the room were gone along with my microwave and the Kitchen Aid mixer that, for the last year, had been sitting on my counter, still in its box. A large oak table was now placed under a window in the corner of the room. These all registered in my mind, but my body was focused on a single smell. Roasting meat.
I began to drool. My eyes were drawn to where my stove used to be. In its place was a large fireplace, and hanging inside was a chunk of meat slowly roasting as it swung back and forth over a banked fire.
In a rush, I crossed the room and, without a thought, yanked the meat from its hook and began to rip into it. The flavor of the sizzling meat overwhelmed my rational thoughts as my stomach took full control. It took moments for the meat, which had started out the size of my chest, to be reduced to a single bone. I dropped the bone as, hunger sated, the rest of the world came back into focus. I could feel grease still sticking to my face and hands as I knelt on the edge of the hearth.
A flicker of movement caught my eye. On the stones next to me was what looked like the end of a golden scaled snake with a fearsome red metallic spike at the tip of the tail. I froze and watched. The snake stiffened as well, only the spike showed movement as it began to quickly twitch back and forth making a sound much like a rattlesnake.
Panic began to set in as the rattle began to speed up its pace, but I knew I had to do something. The damn thing was right behind me. I turned as fast as I could, reaching for the thing with both hands. It tried to stay behind me sliding away from my grip, but I managed to catch it right under the spike.
“Got you!” I yanked the thing away as hard as I could!
Or tried to at least.
There was a burst of pain at the base of my spine as I was yanked off my knees. I slammed to the ground losing my grip on the rattle. Surprisingly, the fall didn't hurt nearly as much as I thought it should have, and I began to push myself up.
The rattle had stopped when I had taken my fall. I took a peek behind me to see the thing still there. Was it still alive? I followed its body trying to see the…
“A tail! I have frickin’ tail?!”
The snake-like appendage ended by connecting to the still-smarting end of my spine. As if that wasn't enough, I could see other patches of golden scales showing on my naked body.
My toes appeared to have gotten the same treatment as my fingers. My knees and feet were also covered in scales. The tail began its rattle again, and I gave it a nervous glance before giving myself a once over to see if there were any other changes.
Already knowing about the horns and tail, I focused on the rest of my body. All of my joints had a scaly covering, and my torso from shoulders to hips were completely covered in golden scales as well, all except for the very front of my chest, where there were red scales instead. Neck up still seemed to be mostly normal human skin, but my ears had gotten a point and a smattering of scales, and my teeth had definitely taken on a more predatory bent as well.
My mind began to swim as I tried to think of what I could do. I couldn't go for help, not looking like this. There was no way that I could even try to find a doctor without inciting a panic. The only thing I could think of was to call 911.
I began searching around the room looking for my phone. As part of trying to keep the cave as a tech-free zone, I had taken to leaving my cell on the now nonexistent counter. A frantic search of the room showed no cell phone. In fact, it turned up no electronics or anything ‘modern.’ Everything from the toaster to the microwave was gone.
Leaving the room, I continued my search through the house. Everything was changed much like the kitchen -- stone floors and walls, rooms containing oak furniture.
And still nothing electronic.
This was most evident in the den. What had once been a space for my computer and TV setup was now a room lined with shelves of books. I was surprised to see that my easy chair had been moved up here from the basement. No phone, though, or computer.
My search ended in the bedroom. There was a bit of a problem calling it that right now, though. It was missing the key piece of furniture that gave the room its name. My bed was gone. In its place was a rack holding a heavy leather jacket, and pants. The pants were a bit strange, since they had a ‘V’ cut into the back, it took a minute for me to realize that it was for my tail.
My wardrobe had changed too. My familiar tees and jeans were gone, replaced by light cotton short-sleeved shirts and cotton pants. There were even a few shirts, which had hoods with slots in the front for my horns. A quick inspection showed that the pants were also made to fit with my tail. And belt loops. I had no idea how those pants would stay up without them.
No phone though.
I took a moment to get dressed. It might not mean much, but it helped me feel a bit more in control. Looking around, I couldn’t see any socks or shoes, though. Maybe near the front door? That was where I usually dropped my shoes.
Moving through the house, I began to think of another reason that I might not have shoes. I could feel the texture of the rough stone floors, but it didn’t seem to bother my feet at all.
As I passed by the kitchen, there was a flicker of light.
“That shouldn’t be the fireplace…”
I peeked inside the room. There sitting on the table, casting a flickering light on the room, was the lamp. The light from the lamp overwhelmed the daylight slipping in through the window.
“Didn’t I leave that downstairs?” I slowly entered the room.
The lamp flickered, and the light revealed a white envelope sitting on the table, the modern cut of the paper in stark contrast with the rest of the rustic room.
Looking around I couldn't see anyone else in the room. My tail began to rattle as I moved my way across the room my eyes flicking to every shadow. Reaching the table, I picked up the card and carefully opened it up.
Wish Granted.
You’re welcome.
“Wish granted? Oh no… no, no, no!” I winced as I said it. Something in me knew I had to come to terms with the possibility that I did all this to myself.
No, that the lamp had done this!
I turned to the lamp, lashing out without thinking. The lamp went flying out of the room into the hallway.
As it left the room, sunlight was able to fight its way back in. Not that I was paying much attention to it, since it was at that point that I realized that I might have just set my home on fire. I scrambled across the floor, hoping I could find where the lamp had landed before it burnt down the house. Skittering out into the hall, I skidded to a hard stop. I had almost barreled into the lamp. It was sitting upright in the middle of the hallway its flame still dancing merrily. A quick inspection showed that not a single drop of oil was split.
That shouldn’t have been possible. I was sure I had knocked the thing head over tail.
&
nbsp; I gingerly reached down to pick up the lamp. The flame flickered as I carried it back to the kitchen and placed it down on the hearth. As I did, the lamp once again overwhelmed the natural light, throwing shadows into the corners of the room.
Looking around, I saw a bucket of water in a corner. Grabbing it, I carried it back over to the lamp. This seemed a bit like overkill, but I wanted that damn lamp put out and I wanted it now. I tipped the bucket, sending a thin stream of water down onto the dancing flame.
I was honestly impressed. Even when I picked up the lamp and dunked it in the bucket, that damn little flame kept on dancing. It felt like I was watching a movie effect. It just sat there burning in the bottom of the bucket. Its light no longer influenced the room while it was in there, instead, its glow seemed limited to the bucket. As I watched, the water began to heat up, and a slight bit of steam began to rise.
Now I had a problem, though. Since the sink was gone, the water the lamp was sitting in appeared to be the only bit of it I had. Who knew when I could get more or how. I needed to find a way to get the lamp out before it evaporated the whole bucket. Looking around the room, I managed to find a wooden soup spoon that had a long handle. I wasn't so sure about using the spoon part, but there was a hook on the other end. It looked like I could get it through the lamp’s handle. I wanted to be very careful though. I mean, what if I bumped the lamp over, and the flame touched the barrel? Since the flame burned under water, would the barrel catch fire? I had no idea how this thing worked.
With deliberate movements, I slowly moved the spoon into the water. On the first attempt I managed to bump the lamp, rocking it back and forth as I held my breath. I managed to hook it on the second attempt and began to lift it out of the bucket.
Just as I got it free of the water, a loud series of bangs echoed through the house. My jerk of surprise caused the lamp to pop free from the hook! It tumbled back towards the bucket. I shot out a hand in desperation trying to catch it and managed to grab the handle just under the boiling water. I flinched as I yanked the lamp back out, screwing my eyes shut and waiting for the pain of boiled flesh.