The Saga:
Dragon Heart
IRON Will
Book II
By Kirill Klevanski
Text Copyright © 2019 Kirill Klevanski
All rights reserved.
No part of this book can be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the author.
Introduced by Valeria Kornosenko.
Translated by J. Kharkova, R. Mansurova, E. Kornilova
Edited by Damir Isovic
Cover designed by Vitaly Lepestkov
Illustrations by Valery Spitsyn
He made a deal with a dragon and received its heart. He fought monsters in order to defeat the monster within himself. He won a bloody war, razing one of the most powerful local sects to the ground, and earned the highest military rank.
Now his path leads him to the very heart of the country — the capital — to receive his title and well-deserved honors. Or is that merely how he justifies it to himself? After all, at the end of this difficult journey, two people await Hadjar: his sister, the one person he cares most about in the world and the only true family he has left; and his uncle — his mortal enemy, the man who murdered his parents in cold blood for wealth and power.
FIRST BOOK: STONE WILL
SECOND BOOK: IRON WILL
Chapter 185
The journey to the capital was rather peaceful. Well, apart from the four times bandits attacked their small squad. They were former soldiers, deserters that had gotten fed up with not being paid. Considering that no one except the Moon Army had fought any wars in the past ten years, they had most likely been ‘downsized’.
The friends had also had to save their horses from a monster at the King of Beasts Stage, which had used up almost all of their meat.
A bit after that, Serra was captured by slave traders. It was a mystery how the witch had managed to fall into a trap set by simple practitioners, inhaling the fumes of a poisonous flower that blocked the flow of energy in her body. In the end, Serra was rescued. Nero, in his rage, reduced the slave trader population of the Kingdom by a whole cartel. Fortunately, they found a small box full of gold in their lair, so their sortie didn’t end up just being ‘charity’ work.
They’d also had to save a village from raiders. Then, together with the villagers, they’d built a dam to redirect a river that had flooded the area. The villagers believed that an underwater serpent had settled in the mountain lake that was the river’s source and the huge waves had been caused by the serpent waking up.
In general, the journey was rather uneventful by the standards of the former officers of the Moon Army. It was a little dreary, but quite comfortable overall. When they arrived at the gates of the capital, they had to explain to the guards why arrowheads were sticking out of their cart, why one wheel was made from animal bones, and why they had a huge lizard pulling the cart instead of a horse (it was because the horse had been eaten. Not by a beast, mind you, but by the travelers themselves — they had been short on food).
Only the medallion of the Generals that Ralpie had on hand prevented an incident. Upon seeing the emblem — a crane on a shield — the guards immediately let the cart through without so much as a second glance.
The capital looked almost the same as Hadjar remembered it. In that distant, bygone time, he would often sit on a random balcony of the tall tower and look at the city that spread out below — at the red roofs of the central district, where, among the many houses made from gray brick, there were also fragrant gardens, ponds, and the palaces of the richest nobles as well.
Farther out, behind the first ring of the fortress walls, was the largest of the districts — the trade district — full of yellow roofs. It was full of shops, markets, fairs, street performances, taverns, and restaurants. Of course, the most prestigious and best institutions, such as the pavilion of the ‘Six Flowers’ (the best restaurant in the city) or the Auction House, were located in the central district, but the trade district was still home to many impressive businesses, even by the standards of the nobility.
Otherwise, their pompous children wouldn’t have been regular guests in the ‘area of yellow roofs’, where they had fun, often taking advantage of the fact that they were immune to the threat of the local guards. That’s how things had been in the time of Haver, and that’s how they remained in the time of Primus. If even Haver, who’d held all the power in his country, hadn’t been able to handle the nobles, then the current King had no chance. He was a puppet that danced to the imperial tune, which played mainly for benefit of the officials and nobles.
Farther still, beyond the second ring of fortress walls, was the poor or ‘outer’ district with its green roofs. It was always dirty, stuffy, and overcrowded. Street vendors shouted at each other, messy signboards squeaked in the wind, and no one had done any maintenance on the roads for a long time.
It was difficult to even see the pavement underneath the layer of dust, dirt, and garbage, which people dumped right on the sidewalk. Their waste should’ve been thrown into the drains, but they had gotten clogged long ago, during the rule of Hadjar’s father.
“I told you that we should’ve gone through the central gate,” Nero said, gritting his teeth. “That way, we would’ve entered the trade district immediately.”
The former Commander of the Bear squad was pressing Serra’s hand to his nose. It looked as if he couldn’t tear his lips away from the girl’s skin. In fact, he was just
