The Hidden Crystal

Iris is an orphan, leading what she considers a normal life. As the oldest in Father John's care, she works hard to help bring in the money needed to feed and clothe the younger children, and she does it without complaint. Everybody in town knows her and loves her. Someday, she'll get married and start her own family, but a war looming over her home makes someday a distant prospect. Then magic invades her simple life, and everything she knows is turned upside down. She's suddenly the center of a war between dragons and humans, and the only person she can turn to for help is a stranger who may or may not be the enemy.

Char and his brother Rath are dragons and certified troublemakers. They're a favorite at parties, especially among girls, and a pain in their commanding officer's side. But Char's familiarity with humans earns him a scouting mission that brings with it more trouble than he could ever anticipate: a simple orphan girl. She's too innocent for the tangled web of magic tightening around her, and he's too impulsive to stay out of it, even if that means lying to his brother and risking his life to keep her out of the hands of a psychotic mage.

Their adventure is about to begin.

*****

This is a bit of a writing experiment for me. I usually write in first person, but I wrote this in third person, and I alternate between Iris and Char's perspectives every ten chapters. Comments and constructive criticism are welcome. I haven't finished writing the ending, so what you see is what you get until I get around to that. This will probably be the first in a series of fantasy romance novels.

Content/trigger warning: There is no explicit content, but themes and content are mature and include instances or mention of alcohol, blood, death, depression, loss of a loved one, murder, off-screen rape, racism, religion, sexual assault, torture, violence.