The Horde King of Shadow (Hordes of the Elthika #1)

Prologue

KLARA

The fearsome creature came from across Drukkar’s Sea.

At the time of the first sighting, I had yet to be born, but I’d heard the stories all my life. Over the years, the account of that fateful day—the day the entirety of Dakkar realized it knew nothing at all—had become so tangled and twisted that it was difficult to ascertain what was true and what was merely grotesque, frightened fantasy.

Had the creature landed on the rocky shores of the West Lands and viciously gobbled up a traveling horde? Or had the creature stalked the horde on its travels, disappearing from view with a lift of its mighty wings whenever threatened, vanishing into the cloud cover like a ghost? Or had the horde stabbed it through the heart with a volley of spears and arrows, one striking true, and it had fallen to Kakkari’s earth with a great tremble, its body sinking into the soil upon its death?

No one knew the truth anymore.

But what held true was that after that first sighting, nearly a year later, another creature had been discovered. Again in the West Lands. Again it was thought to have landed among the rocky shores of Drukkar’s Sea. The saruk —a small village—of Rath Hidri was near. The Sorakkar himself, a trusted and great leader descended from that ancient bloodline, had told the king what he’d seen.

The creature had circled the saruk , flying in the sky, its great wings flapping hard enough to send gusts of wind swirling below. It circled the saruk for three days, using the dense, coastal fog in the mornings to remain unseen, though the beat of its wings had been like the throbbing of a mighty heart. No one had slept. Many had retreated into the forests, hiding their children and sheltering beneath the thick boughs, until the creature had left, until it had become quiet again.

It was the Sorakkar ’s account that had sparked fear and hysteria and awe among Dakkar’s people. The news had traveled quickly until it spread from village to village, from horde to horde.

What great creature, larger than any witnessed and catalogued in our lands, could fly ?

And where had it come from? What lay beyond the shores of our land?

Ships had been built on the foundation of that question, explorers and warriors sent across the tumultuous waves at regular intervals for the next several years. Some had been gone for months, though eventually most of them returned with no news of discovery. One ship had been lost forever, never to return.

Memory faded. Many stopped looking up at the sky in trepidation every morning. Another horde king was selected, the ensuing grand celebration in Dothik helping to dampen and distract from our fear. Another saruk was built in the South Lands. Life continued, though there were those who believed it was foolish to ever pretend to forget.

The creature wasn’t seen again for nearly two decades.

Long enough for it to become a distant memory, the edges softened with time.

When I turned twelve, the creature came to Dothik. It perched itself on the mountain range, called Bekkar’s Shield, that protected the capital city from the western coast. From our little tower room in the market district, I could see it with my naked eye, though small in the great distance.

I wouldn’t get a good view of it until the next day when it flew over the city.

Like the old tales of our human ancestors, the creatures resembled dragons . Fearsome to behold, their size was intimidatingly awe inspiring. The flash of its black scales in the early-morning light was something I could never forget. Like the scales on a pyroki , the loyal creatures our hordes rode across the wildlands, they shined and gleamed, tapering down to pointed ends like teeth, overlapping one another, crafting a natural and thick armor over the beautiful beast.

Its eyes were red, glowing from its dark, scaled face. The jaw was wide, four sharp horns curling close to its skull. Its limbs were thicker than turrets, each ending in wicked claws it kept curled as it flew. The tail behind it ended with a sharp spike that could easily impale a dozen Dakkari at once, swaying purposefully in the wind as its wings suddenly tilted, veering toward the south of the grand city.

I’d been in the market when the dragon flew overhead. I’d heard the panicked screams, the chaos and rush. But I’d been stuck, rooted in place, fractions of dreams becoming my reality, all pieces of a disjointed puzzle that finally began fitting into place, all at once.

That morning I saw something even more terrifying. Because when the dragon veered south, its whole body slid sideways, exposing what I hadn’t been able to see from beneath it.

The fearsome creature came from across Drukkar’s Sea…

And there was a rider on its back.