A warrior-queen, the dragon she hunts, and a destiny forever changed.
Welcome to the kingdom of Sanctuary, where the would-be queen, Desdemona, fights to reclaim her throne.
It’s a simple matter, really. All she has to do is find and kill the last dragon of Sanctuary.
But the dragon has no intention of falling into the queen’s trap.
Seeing as you’re so eager, why don’t I let him tell you himself?
The Prologue for Stormborn: A Tree of Silver Novella
For days before the warband’s arrival, the acrid scent of woodsmoke and blood drifted toward me. Generations into our conflict, and still the would-be rulers of Sanctuary remain unaware of the sharpness of our senses. From miles off, we can hear the pounding of hooves and drumming of feet that announce their presence.
Then why have dragons been driven to the point of extinction, you might ask.
The question is fair, albeit unoriginal.
There’s no need for you to be anxious. I am, as yet, unoffended.
Dating back one thousand years, less than a century after the fall of Orison, the Orbaskiers made their foolish vow upon the field of battle. Line upon line of rebel soldiers stood quaking in the face of Erdris’s wrath.
It was there she made her last stand, and there, upon that field, that Ilvan Orbaskier swore to the earth below and sky above, to all who could hear—he and his line would not rest until the last dragon of Sanctuary had been eliminated. And in our stead, they would rule this land of ours.
Erdris breathed out her curse upon the commander. She, blessed by each of the three fates, condemned her murderers to a life of ill fortune. None would be so unlucky as Ilvan and his offspring.
You are free to shrug at this if you must, but let me assure you, it is no small thing.
For every ill turn there is another. Every opportunity, shimmering gold at a distance, rendered down to ash. The Orbaskiers survived Erdris’s curse, but only just. Like ours, their numbers have dwindled. A line that was once many has been reduced to two, and only the faintest trace of their blood flows in the veins of other royals of this land that was once ours.
This land once ruled by dragons.
In making a vow of her own, casting shadow upon the revolutionary and his heirs, Erdris bound their fate to ours. For eternity, our roots intertwine and mingle. The Orbaskiers seek not only our extinction—they wish to drive the very memory of our names from existence.
But we cannot fall, not truly, until they are undone as well.
This much of the story you know, I see. Well enough. Allow me to skip over hundreds of years of turmoil and in-fighting—heir against heir with a smattering of dragon-slaying in between.
We will open instead on that scarlet-glow morning, the day Desdemona Orbaskier led her warband to the foothills of my mountain hideaway. I had assumed that one of the heirs of the Orbaskier line would find me eventually. Of the two remaining heirs, Desdemona seemed far more likely to succeed in such a quest than her cousin Tavian, though he figures in our story as well.
Yes, if you must put it that way, you are right. The day I lost myself and fell in love.
You cannot imagine what a sight she was, seated atop her great black horse as she and her warband crested the hill outside my lair. Desdemona grasped a sword in one hand and bridle in the other. No flash of fear flickered across her face at what she was about to do. No twinge of regret either, I might add.
I had learned to be careful of the two-legged creatures who had overrun our domain, the children of the elves and fae more than the rest. Their keen senses could penetrate the dark of my lair in ways those descended from the Lycan, the humans, had lost.
The wind caught in Desdemona’s raven hair, pulling strands across her olive skin. It was a moment I had imagined plenty of times before. When the time came, would I fight or flee? But I had made up my mind already.
My truest chance of survival was to disguise my identity.
Unlike you, lorekeeper, the rulers of Sanctuary remain unaware of this special draconic ability.
To keep reading…
Stormborn is available now in paperback and hardback from your favorite bookstore! But if you’re anxious to get your hands (or claws) on it even faster, fear not! It’s available for free, exclusively to members of the Circle of Story!