*Book 1 in the DragonKin series*
Vada and her siblings spend their days carving out a living in the Rystwith Mountain village of Riska. Together they live as outcasts in a small two-story hut just outside the lowland village centre, cast out due to...
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Cas and Bram stood side by side in identical poses, their arms folded across their chests, heads titled slightly and confused frowns contorting their features.
'Are you seeing what I'm seeing?' Cas asked.
'Vada fast asleep against a hill that's shaped like a dragon?' Bram replied.
'Great, so I'm not crazy... but am I dreaming? Hit me or something!'
'It's pretty lifelike, don't you think?' Bram noted, taking a step towards the sleeping girl.
She looked so different when she was asleep, he thought. Her face was free of its usual frown replaced by a look of serenity that he'd never before seen. She looked smaller and more vulnerable from this perspective. He crouched down to get a better look at her. Even though there was still some distance between them he could feel the heat that her body radiated, Diya felt so cold to him now and more distant than ever, he reflected.
Unable to resist, Bram reached a hand out towards the soft skin of Vada's bare arm, to wake her he reasoned. Before he was able to make contact, however, the hill formations stony tail shot up slamming into his stomach, swatting him like a fly.
'Bram!' Cas yelled, running after him across the hill all the while trying to keep one eye on the dragon that wrapped his sister up in its scaly embrace. 'It's the real deal Bram, eyes and all!' he said, helping the hulking Dragonkin to his feet.
Vada began to stir, making soft mewling sounds as she stretched with a smile.
'Do not be alarmed Kin, but we are under attack,' the dragons velvety voice explained.
In those brief moments between deep sleep and slowly waking, Vada had thought the dragon was just a dream, conjured by her exhausted mind to ease her heartache.
'By who?' she asked, attempting to stand. The dragon held her tightly with its tail, refusing to allow any wriggle room at all.
'Vada!' Bram boomed, 'Where the hell did this thing come from!'
'Thing?' The dragon raged, taking to its feet. 'I am a powerful elemental creature, he is but a boy and he dares to disrespect me.'
'I can explain, kind off,' Vada replied still struggling against the tail that had slowly begun to shed the appearance of rough stone and lichen to reveal shimmering scales of the richest emerald green, flecked with gold, that shone as the sun peaked out from behind its cloud cover.
'You do not need to explain a thing to him,' the dragon asserted, 'you are above him.'
'They're kin too, the shorter one is my brother,' Vada replied, Bram frowned but Cas had heard the voice of a dragon before so he quickly realised what was happening.
'Yes, I was too brash, I can smell the blood of your brother,' he replied loosening his tail slightly, Vada quickly scrambled over him to create space between them, 'But the big one, I do not like.'
