Indigenouslead Stories

PhD Student Maria Yuquibo finds herself stranded on an unfathomably immense structure out in the middle of space whose surface holds not only endless space, but dark, endless rabbit holes on the nature of the galaxy and her existence. From lost societies, and political upheaval, to creatures with extra-dimensional power. What is this place? Where or when is it? How, and why did it come about? And most importantly who could built such a structure? Maria must navigate it all if she wants to find answers and get herself home.

"Born from the ashes, breathing its fire." ✷ Haunted by the fall of her homeland, Anutuya, twenty-five-year-old rogue assassin Khaliun lives a quiet existence in the shadows of the Border Woods. She spends her days hunting to survive and picking off the Vyaran knights who come into the forest to slaughter the dragons dwelling within it. Until a chance encounter brings her to Khaltmaa, an ancient dragon, who has chosen Khaliun as her rider. As the fate of dragons, hunted to near extinction by Vyaran knights, hangs in the balance, so does the world. Cracks form in the earth, and the fire beneath the crust is beginning to grow restless. Khaliun must now help the last dragonriders of the Damiran Realm restore equilibrium to the tumultuous lands. Four monoliths in the four far corners of the realm. Four wards to be activated to ensure the stability of the Damiran Realm. Four tests of strength and heart. But Khaliun can't do it alone. As a commander of his own dragon-slaying unit of knights, twenty-seven-year-old Abbas Shahbazi knows only his oath, for the oath guides him. By hunting dragons, he protects the people subjected to their fire, their chaos. But Abbas, son of Nazarin immigrants, has never belonged to Vyara. Tasked to track down the rogue assassin raining hellfire on the Knighthood to earn the respect of his fellow knights, the last thing Abbas expects is to find a twin flame in his enemy, his mission. Least of all, to be made into a dragon rider by Drifa, a young dragon dwelling in the Vyaran snowy mountains. Now, Abbas must decide: forsake his oath to aid the enemy he's learnt to hate, or complete his mission and cement his position in the Knighthood. As both Khaliun and Abbas navigate gruelling trials and endure being hunted to the ends of the realm by Vyaran knights, both must learn to look past their hatred and learn to work with one another to save the realm from shattering apart. © taryn NUMA