Read History

2026 | Score: 4

Classic fantasy story with just a bit too much plot armor. I did think it was a cool way to use dragons and the fact that they are big enough to carry far more than a single rider, that aspect was really cool. I also liked the behind the scenes politics happening, but the front face of the story was just pretty bland. There were enough elements I liked that I may finish it someday, but I hope in the future books it can cut down the random nothingness and keep advancing the plot. This sort of just feels like worse Bound and the Broken, so for most people I recommend just reading that.

Format: Kindle

Days: 12

Date: 7/28/2026 -> 8/9/2026

Summary (Spoilers)

Through Blood and Dragons
R. M. Schultz
The Forged and the Fallen #1

Through Blood and Dragons Summary

In the prologue we see a dragonguard of Belvenguard accidentally kill the king of Murgare when his dragon mage makes the dragon they are riding move at the last second. They manage to capture the Queen and escape. Dragons carry a guard, a mage, and multiple archers with big crossbow turrets.

Cyran Orendain is a dragonsquire (guard in training) at the outpost keep of Nevergrace, guarding the edge of the Evenmeres, a massive forest separating Belvenguard from Murgare. Him and his fellow squires, Garmeen, Brelle, and Dage, sneak into the forest to hunt and accidentally observe the funeral for the recently deceased lord of Nevergrace and meet his daughter, Menoria. They return to the keep for the festivities celebrating the old lord's life. Cyran plays some songs for people and apparently is a pretty good bard as well as a great swordsman and archer.

Sirra Brackenglave, the dragonqueen, is a dragonknight, someone who is both a dragonguard and a dragonmage. Normally mages are crippled so knights have a big advantage against normal dragon teams. She is enraged by the death of her king and the capture of her queen and leads a small force to attack Belvenguard.

Pravon the dragon thief is working for a mysterious employer and has been paired with another dragon thief and a mage named Kridmore. Kridmore seems to love violence and is the most powerful mage Pravon has ever seen. They burn some villages and stuff.

Cyran returns from training one day to learn his brother, Tamar, was killed by a falling tree in the forest. His sister, Jaslin, is distraught and seems angry at Cyran. Cyran is sad but feels there was more to it, his brother has been humming a strange tune lately and gave Jaslin a mysterious vase artifact thing. Sir Kayom, the leader of the dragonguard at Nevergrace, is summoned to the palace in Galvenstone and tells the squires to ride after him (on horses). They bring along another person injured in the accident that killed Tamar, but halfway there the unconscious man disappears and they see some strange lights.

Cyran and his friends reach the keep in Galvenstone but are told Sir Kayom has not yet arrived (strange, dragon faster than horse). They go to a tavern and drink and play games until they receive a strange note saying that someone in the castle may want them dead. Most of the other squires drink themselves silly so Cyran alone goes with Sir Kayom when he comes to retrieve them. They witness the interrogation of the Murgare Queen, who vows vengeance and says her kingdom is innocent of some stuff that King Igare accused her spies of doing. Later, at a more private meeting Cyran is allowed in, it is revealed the queen was assassinated in her cell.

Sir Kayom petitions the king for help defending Nevergrace, fearing a retaliatory attack from Murgare, but the King’s Orator, Riscott, is the loudest voice in shutting this down. Cyran meets Sir Paltere, the only dragonknight in Belvenguard, and receives some brief tips. Cyran and the other squires are sent back to Nevergrace but Kayom has to stay in Galvenstone.

Shortly after arriving back at Nevergrace, it is attacked by Sirra, riding her massive shadow dragon Shadowmar, and several other dragons. They take the keep and kill a lot of people. Cyran was riding a dragon that crashed into the Evenmers but survived. He is approached by elves and kills one then the dying dragon kills the rest. He takes one of their strange, sharp silver swords and flees to Galvenstone for help. Along the way he finds empty villages and some people in distress, and realizes two of them are Murgare soldiers in disguise. He kills them and continues on.

Cyran reaches the capital and shares the news with Paltere, Kayom, King Igare, and his council. Riscott accuses Cyran of being a traitor but someone says they already discovered who the traitor is. Sir Kayom is allowed to lead a small force to do recon and report back, but Igare is afraid to commit more soldiers in fear of a larger Murgare attack from a different direction. Riscott manages to make them take a silver dragon ill-suited to the mission, and while waiting near Nevergrace the silver disobeys Kayom and attacks the dragonqueen, forcing Kayom and Cyran to help. Kayom is killed by the queen (Along with the silver dragon), but Cyran is suddenly able to connect with Eidelmere (Kayom’s dragon) and is now a dragonknight. Together they flee into the Evenmeres, where they almost die to strange magical beings, but manage to retrieve Sir Kayom’s blade.

Cyran and Eidelmere return to Galvenstone and convince King Igare to send a larger force to take back Nevergrace. Cyran wants them to be careful since his sister Jaslin and his girlfriend Emellefer are hostages. Jaslin and Menoria (the daughter of the ex-lord) have been trying to organize prisoners to escape. Cyran and his team wait near Nevergrace.

Pravon the dragon thief and his small team show up at nevergrace and kill the imprisoned lord and lady, which is odd since we thought they also worked for Murgare, then steal the last 3 forest dragons trapped in Nevergrace. After taking the dragons a short ways away however, Kridmore kills all three dragons.

Cyran and his team attack the remaining Murgare soldiers, it is a close battle. Cyran somehow manages to use a lance to knock the dragonqueen off Shadowmar and into the Evenmeres, where people assume she died. Everyone celebrates and Cyran is a hero. All of his fellow squires survived except Garmeen. However, when Cyran asks about the traitor, it is revealed to have been Garmeen, so he must have fled north to Murgare. THE END.