Please note: this is a third-draft story but is not revised. More than a century ago, dragons and the blue-eyed Shaderi flew together. Then they were brought down by jealous men who feared their power. Now blue eyes are a curse and dragons are a laughingstock, neither seen outside of slavery. Born a slave, her fair features mark her as a witch who is worth less than even the right to a name. He is a dragon who was raised in the arena, a life that left him unable either to fly or to breathe fire. Thrown together by an ambitious showman, they are united by a bond as old as the legends. Together, they have a hope for something more than the lives to which they were born, if only they can learn to trust each other. The words of a mysterious minstrel point them west, where rumors say their people live in freedom. The road there is hard, and at the end of it they find themselves a world embroiled in a secret war. This new world is ruled by a king who values tradition above all else. At every turn their new friendship is tested, and they are forced to decide how much they are willing to pay for a place to call home. He wants to help her learn the truth of where she came from, and she wants to give him what every dragon deserves: a chance to soar.

There is no night in the Everburning City. There can never be. ***** For four hundred years the Everburning City has withstood the advance of the life-strangling fog known as the Gloam. Its walls have held back five invasions, but on the eve of the sixth, the city's inhabitants know things have changed. Golems are coming out of the mist, and the bodies of the dead are rising at the Gloam's bidding. The city's last and most desperate line of defence comes in the form of the Crafters, individuals who can channel the power of fire, though they risk their sanity each time they do. The brightest of these valiant heroes are Tabitha a'Loria and her apprentice Gerald Reath. Risking their lives, they mount their airships, determined to save the last bastion of humanity - the Everburning City. [[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]]