Dragon Conqueror Book 2

  Hercules West

  Copyright © 2026 by Hercules West

  All rights reserved.

  No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

  The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Cover Design by: Hercules West copyright 2026

  Thanks!

  Much thanks and gratitude to the Dukes Crew. The knowledge, advice and generosity of this group have been a tremendous help to me and I will be forever grateful.

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  Just wanted to say thanks to all those who have helped me on my writer's journey!

  Whether it was mentoring, proofreading, or simply buying my books- it all helps!

  "If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you." – Zig Ziglar

  Also By Hercules West

  Alex Khan Books

  Book 1 – Flame Dancer

  Book 2 – White Witch

  Book 3 – Shifter

  Book 4 – Hunter

  Book 5 – Coming soon!

  Quest Master Series

  Quest Master Book 1

  Quest Master Book 2

  Quest Master Book 3 – Coming soon!

  Dragon Conqueror Series

  Dragon Conqueror Book 1

  Dragon Conqueror Book 2

  Dragon Conqueror Book 3 – Coming soon!

  Stand Alone Stories

  King of Christmas Town

  (A fan favorite- "It's like a Hallmark Movie for Men!")

  Contents

  Prologue

  1. Chapter One

  2. Chapter Two

  3. Chapter Three

  4. Chapter Four

  5. Chapter Five

  6. Chapter Six

  7. Chapter Seven

  8. Chapter Eight

  9. Chapter Nine

  10. Chapter Ten

  11. Chapter Eleven

  12. Chapter Twelve

  13. Chapter Thirteen

  14. Chapter Fourteen

  15. Chapter Fifteen

  16. Chapter Sixteen

  17. Chapter Seventeen

  18. Chapter Eighteen

  19. Chapter Nineteen

  20. Chapter Twenty

  21. Chapter Twenty-One

  22. Chapter Twenty-Two

  23. Chapter Twenty-Three

  24. Chapter Twenty-Four

  25. Chapter Twenty-Five

  26. Chapter Twenty-Six

  27. Chapter Twenty-Seven

  28. Chapter Twenty-Eight

  29. Chapter Twenty-Nine

  30. Chapter Thirty

  31. Chapter Thirty-One

  32. Chapter Thirty-Two

  33. Chapter Thirty-Three

  34. Chapter Thirty-Four

  35. Chapter Thirty-Five

  36. Chapter Thirty-Six

  37. Chapter Thirty-Seven

  38. Chapter Thirty-Eight

  39. Chapter Thirty-Nine

  40. Chapter Forty

  41. Chapter Forty-One

  42. Chapter Forty-Two

  43. Chapter Forty-Three

  44. Chapter Forty-Four

  45. Chapter Forty-Five

  46. Chapter Forty-Six

  47. Chapter Forty-Seven

  48. Chapter Forty-Eight

  49. Chapter Forty-Nine

  50. Chapter Fifty

  Also By Hercules West

  About The Author

  Thanks!

  Prologue

  Rend Bonebreaker grinned evilly as he watched the line of goblin warriors rush up the hill. The Skulkers were armed with small wooden shields, clubs, and axes. Their armor was a patchwork of leather and iron.

  Warriors of the Cave Crawler tribe waited for them. Their tribe was the largest in the southern reaches of the Grey Mountains. Half their warriors carried swords, and some wore chain mail. They hurled insults at the Skulkers, confident in their superior numbers.

  The Skulkers crashed into the line of the Cave Crawlers, howling and shrieking with bloodlust. The goblin defenders fell back for a moment, staggered by the ferocity of the charge.

  The Cave Crawlers quickly regained their composure, hacking and slashing at the Skulkers. Within a minute, they were slowly pushing them back down the hill. The goblins on either side of Rend growled as they watched their new allies fall beneath the blows of the enemy.

  “Hold!” Rend snarled. The Bonebreaker warriors were eager to join in the fight. One of his warriors, astride a great boar, had surged forward toward the battle, eager to spill blood.

  The goblin savagely pulled back on the reins. With an angry snort, the hairy beast pawed at the ground. The warrior turned the beast around and trotted back to the line. He didn't want to face the wrath of his chief, Rend, who slew those who disregarded his orders.

  The goblin chief rode a huge, armored boar. He was armed with a sword and his wooden shield was reinforced with iron bands.

  Rend was big for a goblin, several inches taller than the tallest of his warriors. His best warriors were in a line on either side of him, sitting on their own hogs. Behind them stood the rest of the Bonebreaker fighters.

  Rend’s eyes scanned the caves at the top of the slope opposite him. The Skulkers had been pushed to the bottom of the hill. They were falling back towards the small hill where the Bonebreakers waited.

  The goblin chief had already subjugated the Skullhammer tribe and the Toothbreakers, besides the Skulkers. Now he wanted to defeat the Cave Crawlers, the wealthiest tribe in the area.

  Rend had carefully planned his attack. He needed to draw the Crawlers into open battle. If he went into their caves, the Crawlers would have the advantage.

  The Skulkers were getting slaughtered as they retreated. Rend didn’t care. They were expendable. There was movement at the cave entrances. Goblin warriors mounted on boars emerged and formed a line at the top of the slope. They had twice as many boar riders as the Bonebreakers.

  A fat goblin with an iron helmet on his head led them. A two-handed axe was in his hands. Rend smiled. He had lured Madgrin out of the caves.

  “Forward!” Rend called out to the goblin line of calvary. His warriors struggled to control their beasts as they moved down the hill towards the slaughter below.

  The goblin cavalry on the other hill was cheering and yelling profanities at them, confident in their numbers. “Charge!” he heard Madgrin yell.

  The goblins on their great boars rushed down the hill in two lines. They pushed through their own soldiers, carelessly trampling some of them as they fell on the Skulkers.

  “Attack!” Rend yelled. His boar riders surged forward, joining the fray.

  The goblin chief held back though, letting his men crash into the Cave Crawlers. The two groups hacked and slashed at each other. Howls of pain and triumph punctuated the sound of weapons clashing against each other.

  After the initial impact, his warriors were being pushed back by the superior numbers of the enemy. Madgrin urged his goblins onwards as his axe cleaved a Skulker’s head.

  All of the Cave Crawler warriors were on the flat land now. Rend pulled out a ram’s horn and put it to his lips. He blew one long note.

  From over the ridge, to the left, and to the right, poured waves of boar riders and goblin footsoldiers. They were screaming at the top of their lungs as they crashed into the Cave Crawlers from either side. In a moment, Madgrin’s warriors found themselves surrounded.

  Rend tossed aside his horn and drew his sword. He pushed his spiked boots into the sides of his great boar. The beast sprang forward. The Bonebreaker chief’s black eyes searched for Madgrin among the warriors.

  Rend urged his armored boar onward, knocking aside friend and foe, as he spotted the rival chief. Madgrin snarled in anger as he saw Rend bearing down on him. He howled and shook his two-handed axe angrily.

  A Crawler foot soldier stabbed at Rend as he rode by, tearing a gash in the chief’s thigh. He snarled and hacked at the enemy goblin, his sword smashing through the warrior’s collarbone.

  Rend’s boar ripped open a goblin’s stomach with his tusks and then trampled another Crawler that stood between them and Madgrin.

  The two goblin chiefs crashed into each other, hacking and slashing. Madgrin’s axe bit into Rend’s shield, splinters flying as the shield cracked. Rend’s sword glanced off the other boar’s armored head. If the beast hadn’t tossed its head up, his sword would have found Madgrin.

  They exchanged blows, then Rend ducked under a wild swing of the axe. The Bonebreaker chief grinned. Madgrin was strong, but he was slow.

  Before Madgrin could recover from his swing, Rend leaned forward and drove the point of his sword into the fat belly of the rival chief. Madgrin howled in pain. Rend caught the backswing of the axe on his shield, the blade sticking into the wood.


  The Bonebreaker chief yanked his shield arm back, ripping the axe from Madgrin’s hands. Then he drove his sword into the other goblin’s throat. The fat chief tumbled from his boar onto the trampled ground.

  Rend tossed his tangled shield aside as he leapt to the ground. The Cave Crawler warriors near him tried to run away as he cut down two of them. With a mighty blow of his sword, he cut Madgrin’s head from his body.

  “Cave Crawlers! Surrender! Your chief is dead!” Rend yelled.

  The Crawlers looked on in dismay as Rend lifted the head of the fat goblin.

  “Hold! Hold!” his captains yelled as both sides ceased their fighting. The battle was over.

  Rend tossed aside the severed head with a howl of triumph. He was now the undisputed chief of the southern tribes.

  “Rend! Rend! Rend!” His goblin warriors chanted triumphantly.

  1

  Chapter One

  I strode into the room and took my seat at the head of the long table. Queen Yvette sat to my right and Edward, the chief steward, sat to my left. Monica was seated between Yvette and her father, General Bloodwin.

  The dwarven woman Molina, representing the merchants, and Kelly, the farmer’s representative, sat farther down the table. Lord Dunsy, the wealthiest noble in Avalon City, sat across from me at the far end of the table.

  Lord Farmington, Lady Delp, and Lady Wellers sat in the chairs near Lord Dunsy. They represented some of the oldest and wealthiest families in the city. Lord Dunsy had recommended that I choose one of them to be the new Baron of Buckwood.

  I had gone a different route and elevated Marco, a commoner to the title. If the nobles were disappointed that I had not chosen one of them, they hid it well.

  A boy, who I didn’t recognize, was seated next to Edward. Sitting on the table, in front of the boy, was a ledger, quill pen and ink.

  “And who is this young man?” I asked the steward.

  Edward smiled at the boy. “This is my new assistant. He’s eager to learn the skills needed to become a steward. One day he will be ready to serve in one of the towns or cities of the kingdom.”

  The boy was thin, with brown hair and gray eyes. “What is your name?”

  “My name is Kevin, my lord,” the boy stammered nervously.

  I held back a smile. “How old are you, Kevin?”

  “I have seen fifteen summers, my lord.” Kevin replied, his voice steadier.

  I gave him a reassuring smile. “I'm sure if you listen to Edward's teachings, you will do well.”

  The boy nodded. “Yes, my lord.”

  Yvette gently kicked my ankle with her slippered foot. I glanced at her, and she looked towards the nobles at the far end of the table. It was her way of reminding me I should address the nobles first.

  “Lord Dunsy, do the nobles have any business to bring to the meeting?” I asked as I looked at the white-haired noble.

  Dunsy raised his chin proudly. “My king, the nobles of Avalon City, as always, stand ready to serve the throne.”

  I noticed he had said the throne and not me.

  Lady Delp gave me a small smile. “We are here to help you in any way possible, my lord.”

  The other two nobles also nodded. I assumed they had no business to bring up, so I turned to General Blodwen.

  The general frowned. “We have 37 new recruits, my lord, but unfortunately, no mages. All of them are from Avalon City and the surrounding villages. It will take some time for the messengers to reach all of the outlying towns and villages and to post the recruitment notices.”

  “Were any mages located that did not wish to serve?” I asked.

  The general shook his head. “No, my lord. I have instructed the messengers to specifically ask the locals if any of the residents is a mage. None have yet been located.”

  I rubbed my chin. While it was certainly great that we had 37 new soldier recruits, I needed more dragons. And to get more dragons, I needed more mages. It was going to be the surest way to protect my kingdom.

  I looked at the chief steward. “Do you have any news to share, Edward?”

  Edward leaned back in his chair and folded his hands over his stomach. “I do miss Alison, my old assistant, my lord. But it has been fortuitous that you have sent her to be Baron Marcus's steward in Crowford.”

  I gave the steward a puzzled look. “Why is that?”

  “Alison has discovered that Grand Baron Malak was withholding custom duties that he was collecting from Oldport. This has been going on for almost two years, my lord.” Edward shook his bald head.

  “That does not surprise me. Malak was a selfish traitor.” I had no regrets about killing him. The bastard had sided with the Savonians against the late King Harold.

  Yvette’s fingers tapped angrily on the table. “The man was a snake. I am glad we are rid of him.”

  “What a dastardly deed! To think a noble of Avalon would stoop so low as to skim money from the kingdom!” Lady Delp had a shocked look on her face.

  “I wouldn't be surprised if Alison discovers other discrepancies in Buckwood’s ledgers,” Monica added.

  Edward sat up straight and turned to me. “Do not worry, my lord. Steward Alison will diligently search the ledgers of Buckwood to make sure that everything is accounted for. In addition, Alison has forwarded gold from Buckwood's treasury for the revenue withheld by Grand Baron Malak.”

  I nodded and then looked around the table. I could see that the merchant lady wanted to say something.

  “Merchant Molina, what news from the merchants?” I asked.

  The dwarven woman gave me a shrewd look. “My lord, we hope that, with the new leadership you represent here in Avalon, perhaps you would be willing to negotiate a better trade deal with Mersylvan for our merchants.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “Port Meralon is the only deepwater harbor that we have on the island. Much of the trade passes through its harbor and is loaded onto the large trade ships of the Trade Federation. The fees the Countess charges our merchants are very high.”

  I remembered that Port Meralon was once the most important port of Avalon. Before the territory broke away from the Kingdom’s authority. “Do they charge every merchant a fee?”

  Molina frowned. “I, my lord, but they charge our merchants more.”

  “They treat our merchants unfairly,” Yvette’s voice held a hint of bitterness.

  Edward coughed to get our attention. “I suspect it is a way of paying Avalon City back for all the years that Mersylvan had to tithe a portion of their custom duties to the king.”

  “I asked the late king to negotiate with Countess Sizuna, but he declined.” The dwarven woman added.

  Queen Yvette tilted her chin up. “My grandfather would not lower himself to deal with those traitors.”

  The dwarven merchant wanted a better trade deal with Mersylvan. I wanted more than that. I wanted the territory, including its busy port, back under the kingdom’s control.

  “I will take your request into consideration,” I said. Molina smiled and nodded. I wasn’t ready to share my plans of conquest yet with my council of advisors.

  Next, I turned to the farmer’s representative. “Kelly, do the farmers have any concerns?”

  The sturdily built woman shook her head. “No, my king. The crops are going well, and the weather has been kind. We should have a plentiful harvest this year, my lord.”

  I gave her a smile. “That is good news.”

  Lord Farmington cleared his throat. I looked towards him and nodded.

  “My lord, do you think Savon will return,” he asked nervously.

  I gave the man a half-smile. “That is a difficult question to answer, Lord Farmington. Perhaps General Blodwin can explain the time frames involved.”

  The general leaned forward in his chair to better see the nobleman. “It will be several weeks before they learn the fate of their ill-timed expedition, and that is assuming that Lady Danella makes it back safely to Savon. If not, it will take even more weeks until news from merchants and travelers reaches them about what occurred here.”

  The general paused for a moment before continuing. “Savon will need time to prepare an army, as well as ships and dragon ships, for their journey to Avalon. It will be difficult for them to arrive before autumn. The storms on the sea at that time of year will make traveling more difficult for them. If we are fortunate, the Savonians won’t return until next spring at the earliest.”