![]() ![]() Third in line should the worst happen to Roland and Nico. There was a long line of male heirs to the throne of Draconia, and Hugh was neither heir nor spare. ![]() Hugh had always felt like he was the odd man out. Nico and Arikia-Riki for short-were more a ceremonial couple than actual rulers, but they held the respect of the elusive, canny and altogether too crafty Jinn. Nico had married into that den of spies, the Jinn Brotherhood, and become their de facto king, since his wife was their hereditary queen. He would have preferred the straightforward approach, but Nico had convinced their older brother, Roland, the King of Draconia, to approach the Doge of Helios with caution. So he remained firmly on two feet for the foreseeable future while in this strange land. One lone dragon against so many gryphons was terrible odds, and Hugh preferred not to try his luck with all those hawk-headed flying lions on patrol. At least until Hugh figured out if the gryphon army that ruled the skies was there to fend off dragons. Being a black dragon meant something among those people.Īmong the natives, it could only mean trouble. If Hugh ran into trouble, he’d look for help among the Jinn. Not the few dragon shifters of the Black Dragon Clan, but other, extended clansmen. The famous musician known as Drake of the Five Lands had counted Helios as one of his lands when he’d been a travelling bard. To Nico’s credit, the Prince of Spies had checked with Drake and his Jinn network before sending Hugh on this mission. At least none of the dragons of Draconia. The seer, Shanya, had had a vision and his brothers had sent him winging off to places dragon folk had never visited before. His brother had sent him here undercover as a result of a prophetic vision. He hadn’t been able to fly in over a month now, as he got the lay of this foreign land where gryphons dominated the sky. In formation or in pairs, singly or in groups, they were everywhere. Everywhere he looked over the city of Alagarithia in the Doge of Helios’s domain, gryphons flew. Creeping around in a land not his own was nothing new to him, but he’d never been spying in a land where he stood out so badly from the rest of the population.Ī land where he couldn’t even shift to his dragon form if things got tough. What the hell was he doing there? Hugh had done a lot of crazy things in his life, in service to his family, country and kind, but this had to be one of the craziest. She curled up in a corner out of the rain and cried herself to sleep. She’d never been outside the cave before and everything down here was different. The ground rushed up to meet her and she landed on four paws. She tried everything she knew or had seen-unfurling wings that were too weak to support her. She twisted, hoping to find something to grab onto. Tumbling downward in the cold night air, she cried out in terror, but no help came. ![]() He swiped at her, and in her fear, she scrambled too close to the cave’s edge. ![]() “I should have put you down when I first saw your ugly face. She was too young to really understand, but she learned more each day, hiding her deformed body in the background. He only listened to his warriors and those with whom he plotted the downfall of some woman she didn’t know. “Papa,” she pleaded, but he would not listen. “You are no child of mine!” Her sire’s voice made her cringe toward the opening of the cave. You are my motivation and my dear, good friends. I’ve gotten to know many of you through the various conferences and events I go to and you are the real reason I keep going and keep trying to tell my stories as best I can. It’s been tough finding my way, but I think (hope) I’m on the right track now.Īnd to the readers who make this all possible. And to Dad, who I’ve gotten to know so much better in these past three years since losing the center of our mutual universe. First and always, my work is dedicated to my Mom, who I miss every single day. ![]()
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