On the ninth day: Dragonfriend

A book for the young Arthurian legend-reader in all of us.

On the ninth day of great reading, a sample from one of the books you could win in BestSelling Reads 12 Days of Great Reading giveaway. Enter the draw now for your chance to win this book

By Roger Eschbacher

Dragonfirend cover

“Hullo?” said Leonard, approaching Medwishire’s large stone bridge. All Leonard heard in reply was the smelly water of the Stenc River gurgling below him. “Hullo?”

“Hullo yourself,” said a big, deep voice from under the bridge.

Leonard jumped back, his eyes wide with fear. Sir Ronald was right, there was a dragon down there. He stood frozen for a moment, unsure of what to do. “Well, I guess I’ll start running across the bridge now.”

“Go ahead. See if I care,” said the big deep voice.

Again, Leonard didn’t quite know how to react, so he stood in place and fidgeted. Something was wrong.

“Well? I don’t hear the clop-clop-clop of a terrified human running across,” said the big deep voice. “What are you waiting for?”

Leonard edged a little closer to the bridge and tried to peek underneath. “Are you the dragon everyone’s talking about?” said Leonard, immediately feeling stupid for asking such a silly question because, after all, who else would it be?

“Yes, who else would it be?”

“Well, then, is this some sort of trick? Will you try to catch and eat me when I start running across the bridge?” asked Leonard.

“Ordinarily, yes, I would swoop up and gobble you down before you had a chance to figure out what was going on. But I will not do that today. Go ahead and cross,” said the dragon.

Leonard wasn’t buying this. After all, it was just the sort of thing a crafty dragon would come up with to trick people. “Why not today?”

“Because today, I am tired of being a dragon and, as a matter of fact, I plan on being tired of being a dragon tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, and all the days after tomorrow until the Knights of the Round Table come to kill me. So, run back and forth in a panic as often as you wish. I just don’t care.”

Once again, Leonard didn’t quite know what to do. Any other person would’ve just shrugged his shoulders and run across the bridge, but there was something about this that just wasn’t adding up. Leonard hated it when things didn’t add up.
“You’re waiting for them to come and kill you?” asked Leonard. “But that doesn’t make any sense.”

“I don’t care if it doesn’t make any sense to you. It makes sense to me, and that’s what matters. Now go on and leave me alone.”

The “too curious for his own good” part of Leonard’s brain couldn’t let that one go by. “Excuse me, Master Dragon,” said Leonard. “Well, sir, and I don’t mean to pry, but would you mind telling me why you want them to kill you?”

After a long pause, the dragon spoke again. “Come closer, young man, so I might look at you.”

Despite being so nervous his legs felt weak, Leonard edged a few feet closer to the bridge.

“Closer, now. I won’t bite. You have my promise, and a dragon never breaks his promise.”

Dragonfriend

Dragonfirend cover

A story about a boy and his man-eating dragon.

If you think it’s all good deeds and stuffy politeness over at Camelot, you’re wrong! Most people don’t know this, but things are pretty bad right now. King Arthur’s in jail, Merlin’s gone missing, and there’s a cruel demon in charge. Seriously! Now it’s up to young Leonard, a page to a poor but kind knight, to set things right—even if that means going on a dangerous quest, outsmarting hungry monsters, or risking his life to make friends with a bunch of grumpy dragons.

Filled with magic, dragons, and irreverent humor, Dragonfriend is an epic YA Arthurian fantasy novel in the spirit of The Princess Bride, The Sword in the Stone, and Excalibur.

One of the books you could win in the 12 Days of Great Reading. Enter now.

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