Dawn Dragon - Part 2

[Mark Robson]

First, a recap:

Elian dropped to his hands and knees to crawl the last few feet. His heart raced as he neared the crest of the ridge, for he was sure that the sounds he had heard during his climb would prove his suspicions correct. There had been fresh dragonspore in the Haleen valley yesterday and Elian believed that one of the magnificent creatures was hunting there. If so, this could prove a unique opportunity to get a good view.

Dragons rarely ventured this far from the mountain ranges of the north, and though some of the other boys from the village had claimed to have seen them in the past, Elian suspected that these were merely tales told to enhance the boys’ status. Could this be his chance to fulfil his most burning desire? Dragons were an obsession. He had idolised them since he had first understood the stories of their brave, and noble breed. Even the dark dragons were a source of fascination, but he hoped against hope that this would not be one of those dread black dragons come south to feed, for though that would be exciting to see, it was one of the famous day dragons that he really wanted to see.

Creeping forward slowly, the floor of the valley gradually eased into view and Elian’s breath caught in his throat. His eyes widened in disbelief as he gazed in wonder at the awesome sight below him. There, standing in full view, was indeed a dragon – but what a dragon! This was no dark dragon of the night, black as coal and filled with dread anger. Neither was it a day dragon, blue as cornflower and more noble than the greatest of knights, nor even was it a dusk dragon, rare as sapphires, dusky blue-grey with proud eyes of silver. No. To Elian’s pure astonishment and delight his eyes alighted on the most rare of all of the dragon family. There, in resplendent orange-gold glory, stood a dawn dragon, its wings partially furled and its head held high, carefully surveying the valley with its beautiful shining eyes.

Elian’s chest began to hurt and he realised that he had been holding his breath, lost in wonder. Slowly, he forced the air from his straining lungs, desperate not to make the slightest of sounds in case the dragon became aware of him. This was a day he would never forget, he thought excitedly.

The story continues:


The dawn dragon’s head suddenly became still, its eyes fixed on a point further down the valley. Had it spotted prey? Elian risked raising his head slightly to see if he could pick out what the dragon was looking at, but whatever it had spotted appeared to be shielded from his sight by a stand of trees some way along the base of the valley.

Slowly, like a cat preparing to pounce, the dragon’s muscles began to bunch and its wings raised, still only partially extended. Then with a great roaring cry that momentarily froze Elian’s heart in his chest, the beautiful creature exploded into the air, its wings snapping forward and out to their full span.

Elian gasped. He could not help it. The dragon’s wings from tip to tip must be a full fifty paces he marvelled as the enormous creature’s first great downstroke powered it forward and upwards with a terrific whoosh of displaced air. One further great stroke and the dragon entered a glide that carried it forward at a surprising speed. Just when Elian thought it would surely crash into the ground, the dragon suddenly adjusted the angle of its wings to generate more lift. At the same time it raised its great taloned feet into a forward attack, disappearing behind the stand of trees as it struck its target.

There was another ululating roar, this time sounding with a more triumphant note, followed by silence as the dragon began to feed.

‘Wow!’ Elian breathed. ‘That was amazing! She’s so beautiful.’

Elian did not know how he knew the dragon was a female. It was instinctive. There was something about the way she moved - an elegance and grace that simply denied the possibility that she could be anything but feminine.

I wonder if I could get a closer look, he thought.

It was madness really. The dragon was feeding. What sane person would choose to get close to a hungry dragon? Elian knew it was anything but sensible, but he could not help himself. He felt strangely drawn, partially by curiosity and partially by something indefinable – almost like a mental tug.

Slowly, despite any misgivings, Elian rose to his feet and began to walk down into the valley…

[Seth God Of Chaos]

This is a really good story. I really enjoyed it.

[Silk]

Its too tantalizing I can’t ever wait to hear the next part!!!

[Mark Robson]

Originally Posted by Silk

Its too tantalizing I can’t ever wait to hear the next part!!!

Thanks chaps. The strange thing is that each time I think about this now I can see the potential for a book or two in it and I was really only messing around to begin with. I might post a couple more bits on over the next month or two, but if I still feel the same way then I'll keep the rest off the web and see what happens. I imagine that dwndrgn would probably be pleased if I did decide to foray into the world of dragons!

[dwndrgn]

Originally Posted by Mark Urpen

Thanks chaps. The strange thing is that each time I think about this now I can see the potential for a book or two in it and I was really only messing around to begin with. I might post a couple more bits on over the next month or two, but if I still feel the same way then I'll keep the rest off the web and see what happens. I imagine that dwndrgn would probably be pleased if I did decide to foray into the world of dragons!

I'm please when anyone who enjoys their craft can get lost in it! The fact that this story just happens to be about dragons is just putting the chocolate bits in the cookie for me

[littlemissattitude]

I like that, Mark.

[Mark Robson]

Not sure what to call my next book. Should I go with themed titles for the series, or should they be totally different? I could follow on with 'Imperial Agent', or 'Spy and Assassin', which would sort of link the books into a series

The benefit of themed series titles is that they are more imediately recognizeable. The problem with them is that they become interchangeable and hard to differentiate between for the reader - unless they clearly define themselves. For example, The Stainless Steel Rat series all have "The Stainless Steel Rat...blah blah blah" but the 'blah blah' bit gives you a hint of the plot. Going from 'Imperial Spy' to 'Imperial Agent' doesn't really have a hook for the reader to identify the story with. Not that it would be a bad thing, I'm just pointing out the pros and cons. I just thought I'd give my opinion, all two cents' worth