Dragon's Nest (book)

Dragon's Nest is the first book in the third Deltora Quest series.

Book description
"The evil Shadow Lord has been banished, but famine still stalks Deltora, and only monsters thrive. As the starving people weaken, Lief, Jasmine and Barda discover a terrible secret. The Enemy left seeds of death behind him. Four vile creations of sorcery called the Four Sisters are hidden in the land. They are slowly killing it while the Shadow Lord gloats, awaiting his triumphant return.

The companions must find the deadly Sisters and destroy them. Their only clue is a fragment of an ancient map. Their only hope of help lies with seven unlikely allies - the last of Deltora's dragons."

Plot
King Lief, Barda, now named Captain of the palace guards of the Del palace guards, and Jasmine destroy the Enemy's Crystal. By doing so, they learned the existence of the Four Sisters, embodiments of evil created by the Shadow Lord and hidden in the most remote territories in Deltora. These four beings have for centuries starve the land and made it impossible to grow food. With a determination to end Deltora's suffering, Lief and his companions set out to destroy these hideous creations, leaving Doom in charge of Del. Using a map created by Doran the Dragonlover, they set out for Dragon's Nest. Along the way, Lief woke the Topaz and Ruby dragons, which had been sleeping for centuries. Doran has persuaded all the last seven dragons to sleep and wait for the day when a great king would wake them up in his quest to destroy the Four Sisters. Lief destroyed the Sister of the East with the Ruby dragon and killed the guardian, Rolf the Capricon. He learned that the second sister is in Shadowgate.

Characters

 * Lief, the king of Deltora
 * Barda, now captain of the Del palace guards
 * Jasmine, close friend and ally of King Lief and Captain Barda
 * Filli, Jasmine's pet siskis and close friend
 * Kree, Jasmine's pet Raven and close friend
 * Lindal of Broome
 * Doom, Jasmine's father
 * Josef, the chief palace librarian
 * Paff, Josef's new library assistent
 * Iris, a citizen of Del
 * Brid, a palace guard
 * Rolf the Capricon
 * Topaz dragon
 * Sister of the East
 * Ruby Dragon
 * Doran (mentioned)