Preludes of the Tainted

Four short stories in the World of Taint, taking place in the moments between. Dragon Speaker    As Master Wizard Foran Kinotela prepares to embark upon a quest to save magic, he is the victim of a theft. Finding the stolen enchanted amulet is simple; it's around the thief's neck. But as he moves to take back his goods, the thief stumbles into a potential alliance for Foran's quest.     Will the dragons listen to him, or to the thief? Someone     Aleen took a chance and helped a stranger. But his presence upsets her world; her partner is now threatening her, they've found a theif among them, and she may attract the attention of the Lionians who rule Espar.      But now she doesn't want to let him leave. Black Arrow     He was a slave with a single gift; the ability to read. When the right book falls into his hands, Maltor discovers a world unlike any he has known and begins to believe in something he had never before considered: Hope.     He will be a legend. EXCLUSIVE: To Dream     Arekson is meant to be following the prescribed course of his life on Wanter; teaching magic. But rumors of a new kind of thinking drew him outside the polished existence he had believed in. The words spoken by the stranger threaten everything he thought he knew.  Dare he risk it all for the chance to dream for himself?