A Prophecy of Fire

Legend of the Torchbearer - Book One

Most children are lulled to sleep by softly sung lullabies or the sound of snoring family members, I fell asleep to the roar of dragon-song thundering through the mountain known as Beinn Na Nathrach; named for the creatures who first made it their home.

Dragons roamed the world long before men, and at their height, nobody could have foreseen their downfall. Now Beinn Na Nathrach is the last nest, and the riders of Dùn Ceò - the ancient fortress carved into the mountainside - are the crumbling remnants of a once noble and powerful sept of armies the world over.

As an orphan brought up within the walls of a dragon keep, following orders and watching the riders train is as close as I'll ever get to joining their ranks. Life for me is laid out as a servant, with my place secure as the ward of one of the commanders. I can see it ahead of me; the years of mucking out stables, fetching food, mending clothes and equipment, when all my heart aches for is to know how it feels to see wings stretched out either side of me.

Yet the monotony of life is shaken when a hatchling is found in the forest, and rumours of rebellion in the most Northern villages begin to spring up. But why would a few unruly farmers require an entire contingent of well-armed soldiers who seem overly interested in the goings on in Dùn Ceò? If the hatchling didn't come from the last known nest, where did he come from? And what does it have to do with a legend told as a bed time story?