Genre: Young Adult (Fantasy Romance)
Date Published: November 17, 2013
Publisher: GMTA
Dragons. Right. Teenage girls don’t believe in fairy tales, and sixteen-year old Elena Watkins was no different.
Until the night a fairy tale killed her father.
Now Elena’s in a new world, and a new school. The cutest guy around may be an evil dragon, a Prince wants Elena’s heart, and a long dead sorcerer may be waking up to kill her. Oh. And the only way Elena’s going to graduate is on the back of a dragon of her own.
Teenage girls don’t believe in fairy tales. Now it’s time for Elena to believe – in herself.
“Dad, dragons...” I took a deep breath. Dragons didn't exist, but then the image of the huge thing that had flown past me a couple of seconds ago sprang into my head. “You mean that thing that passed us was a dragon?”
He nodded, and looked over his shoulder, the terror returned to his stony features.
Another one flew in front of the truck, and Dad hit the brakes. I shrieked as the car spun around on the turf a couple of times and came to a standstill on the dark stretch of road.
Pushing my face against the cool glass of the passenger window, I searched the horizon for any sign of life. Apart from the pickup's headlights, there wasn’t a single light peeking through the blanketed darkness, and the rain crushing down played with my mind's eyes. Dragons don't exist.
“You okay?” my father yelled.
“I'm fine. Daddy,” I cried, as I tore my eyes away from the window.
“Elena, I need to get out, okay─”
“No, no, please don't leave me here!” I could feel the fear beginning to rise up again and my vision became blurry. Why am I afraid? Dragons aren't real.
He cupped my face and made me look at him, his hands trembling. “Listen to me, Elena. Listen!”
I tried to swallow my tears, but it was no use. They were caught in the back of my throat, silencing me as he said his goodbye.
He hugged me tight and kissed me on my forehead. I could feel the love he had for me behind that kiss. My strength returned as I slowly came to terms with what I had to do.
“You drive like hell, you hear me? Don't slow down for anybody. There's a motel on Interstate 40.
Just stay on this road, you can't miss it. Someone named Matt will meet you there.”
“For the love of blueberries Dad, it's pouring dogs and horses outside. I can't leave you here with whatever...” I screamed. We can rationally sort this out.
Dad cringed and looked down for a minute. When he looked at me again, that set to his jaw was back. I knew my words hadn’t made an impact on him whatsoever. He had already made up his mind for the both of us.
A man appeared in the middle of the road. The rain made it hard for me to see him, but the headlights of the truck outlined his figure. I squinted to see him clearer. The man was tall, with long black hair hanging in wet strands that clung to his face. He wore a pair of pants, no T-shirt, and it looked like no shoes either. He stared at the pickup for a couple of minutes, and it made my heart pound faster. He began to walk slowly towards us.
“Daaaaad?” I slapped his shoulder, trying to expel the fear from my body.
“Elena.” He grabbed my wrist. “I'll be fine. You need to go. Now. And, Bear, I'm so sorry.
Whatever happens, don't stop for anything.”
“Dad?” Tears streamed down my face and my lower lip quivered like mad. He kissed me one more time on my forehead and wiped away my tears gently with his thumbs.
“I'll meet you there.” He climbed out the truck and slammed the door in my face. I just kept staring at macho loon making his way towards Dad. I moved quickly into the driver’s seat, took a deep breath, and buckled up. With my hands trembling on the steering wheel, I took another deep breath.
You can do this, my conscience rambled a couple of times in my head. The key sat lazily in the ignition, and I jerked it to the right. The pickup sputtered and died. The guy disappeared into the darkness, and a new set of fear pumped through my veins.
“No, no, no, no! Please don't die on me now,” I mumbled frantically as I tried to restart the engine.
The man appeared again by the faint glow of the headlights. He was getting closer.
“Start you stupid piece of crap!” I yelled over the roar of the blood pumping in my ears.
The engine came to life and I screamed as the man's figure leaped toward the pickup. Dad jumped from the asphalt and tackled him in mid-air. “Go, Elena!” he shout over the pounding rain.
He nodded, and looked over his shoulder, the terror returned to his stony features.
Another one flew in front of the truck, and Dad hit the brakes. I shrieked as the car spun around on the turf a couple of times and came to a standstill on the dark stretch of road.
Pushing my face against the cool glass of the passenger window, I searched the horizon for any sign of life. Apart from the pickup's headlights, there wasn’t a single light peeking through the blanketed darkness, and the rain crushing down played with my mind's eyes. Dragons don't exist.
“You okay?” my father yelled.
“I'm fine. Daddy,” I cried, as I tore my eyes away from the window.
“Elena, I need to get out, okay─”
“No, no, please don't leave me here!” I could feel the fear beginning to rise up again and my vision became blurry. Why am I afraid? Dragons aren't real.
He cupped my face and made me look at him, his hands trembling. “Listen to me, Elena. Listen!”
I tried to swallow my tears, but it was no use. They were caught in the back of my throat, silencing me as he said his goodbye.
He hugged me tight and kissed me on my forehead. I could feel the love he had for me behind that kiss. My strength returned as I slowly came to terms with what I had to do.
“You drive like hell, you hear me? Don't slow down for anybody. There's a motel on Interstate 40.
Just stay on this road, you can't miss it. Someone named Matt will meet you there.”
“For the love of blueberries Dad, it's pouring dogs and horses outside. I can't leave you here with whatever...” I screamed. We can rationally sort this out.
Dad cringed and looked down for a minute. When he looked at me again, that set to his jaw was back. I knew my words hadn’t made an impact on him whatsoever. He had already made up his mind for the both of us.
A man appeared in the middle of the road. The rain made it hard for me to see him, but the headlights of the truck outlined his figure. I squinted to see him clearer. The man was tall, with long black hair hanging in wet strands that clung to his face. He wore a pair of pants, no T-shirt, and it looked like no shoes either. He stared at the pickup for a couple of minutes, and it made my heart pound faster. He began to walk slowly towards us.
“Daaaaad?” I slapped his shoulder, trying to expel the fear from my body.
“Elena.” He grabbed my wrist. “I'll be fine. You need to go. Now. And, Bear, I'm so sorry.
Whatever happens, don't stop for anything.”
“Dad?” Tears streamed down my face and my lower lip quivered like mad. He kissed me one more time on my forehead and wiped away my tears gently with his thumbs.
“I'll meet you there.” He climbed out the truck and slammed the door in my face. I just kept staring at macho loon making his way towards Dad. I moved quickly into the driver’s seat, took a deep breath, and buckled up. With my hands trembling on the steering wheel, I took another deep breath.
You can do this, my conscience rambled a couple of times in my head. The key sat lazily in the ignition, and I jerked it to the right. The pickup sputtered and died. The guy disappeared into the darkness, and a new set of fear pumped through my veins.
“No, no, no, no! Please don't die on me now,” I mumbled frantically as I tried to restart the engine.
The man appeared again by the faint glow of the headlights. He was getting closer.
“Start you stupid piece of crap!” I yelled over the roar of the blood pumping in my ears.
The engine came to life and I screamed as the man's figure leaped toward the pickup. Dad jumped from the asphalt and tackled him in mid-air. “Go, Elena!” he shout over the pounding rain.
Character Introduction:Name: Master LongweiAge: 3000+True form: Fin tail dragon, one of the most noble dragons inside of Paegeia. He fights evil in all forms and love to be surrounded by people in need.Ability: Fire tails don’t have abilities, the one thing he does have is a tail with spikes that release tiny spears like a porcupine.
Facts about Master Longwei: He opened Dragonia Academy with King Albert more than one hundred years ago, and he’s still the head master of the Academy. His wardrobe consist of ankle shorts and ugly Hawain shirts. When he’s not being the head master of the school, he is either busy with a royal council meeting as he’s one of the members and loves to play poker. Fin tails aren’t scared of anything and are the most important dragons in a war.Favorite color: Anything bright and Khaki. Favorite drink: Anything containing Firepowder. It’s a condiment that all dragons love. Favorite meal: Raw fish giblets and guts.Children: Master Longwei had a son. He was King Albert’s general and served in the DragonLeague, and Constance, the doctor on the premises, is Master Longwei’s daughter in law. Nota lot of people know that but it will get revealed in upcoming novels.An Interview with Master Longwei
With all the dragons that I’ve met, I have to say that I was really looking forward meeting Master Longwei tonight. His surname literally means Golden dragon in Mandarin. The door open and a Oriental man in his mid forties walked in the door.
Me: Good day, I’m Tanya, please make yourself comfortable, this won’t take long.
Master Longwei: Thank you Tanya, it’s very nice to meet you too. (He sat down on the chair opposite of me.)
Me: So tell us about yourself?
Master Longwei: I’m 3400 years old and I’m a Fin-tail dragon. I’ve fought many wars, and was present when the treaty against humans and dragons got signed. I had the privilege to meet and work beside the Greatest King that ever lived, King Albert, and I’m proud to say the vision he had for all dragons are becoming true. I had a good life, and can possible still have for the next thousand years, I hope to accomplish more.
Me: Sorry, your how old?
Master Longwei: (Chuckled.) Yeah, age is but a number when it comes to dragons.
Me: (I giggled too.) But you look so young.
Master Longwei: We age different than humans do. We are filled with what Paegeians called the Essence of Life. Meaning we don’t get old as fast as humans do. Recently, and I mean by a couple of centuries ago, we discovered that dragons can grant their riders that essence if
they want and it fills their dragonians with life too. King Albert was 250 years before he died.
Me: Wow, I guess we don’t need vampires anymore to stay young forever.
Master Longwei: (Just laughed) Nasty business if you ask me, being bitten by a vampire.
Me: So tell us about Dragonia Academy?
Master Longwei: It used to be a very old castle of a dragon, he had sorcerers working for
him, or that is how the story goes. One day, he decided to build the most beautiful castle with so many rooms that he would be able to put away all his gold. When he was happy he asked the sorcerers to put a spell on it and to let it rest on air. I think personally it’s just a old wife’s tale they used to tell dragon children not to go and play there. King Albert bought the property and turned it into an Academy for dragons and their riders, which is human children with gifts.
Me: I personally loved that story. How do you explain the castle in the air thing?
Master Longwei: (Laughed again) It’s easy, it magic.
Me: (I laughed too) It is the easiest I guess. Can you tell us more about your duties in the Royal Council?
Master Longwei: Do you want to sleep?
Me: Is it that boring?
Master Longwei: (He laughed) Most of the times, yes, but now and then you really get someone special that ask something completely out of this world. We mostly decide on Paegeia’s finances and things like that. It’s also up to us to decide on important quests some of the young people take nowadays. We live by foretellings and when someone needs to find the answers it’s up to us to decide whether it’s wise or not for them to take that trip. I am one of the first Royal Council members and hope it would stay that way. We are about 500 people in total now.
Me: 500 people, that is really a lot.
Master Longwei: A place like Paegeia does have a lot of problems, young lady.
Me: I bet. I would’ve loved to see it, but not able to come back is a bit of a problem for me.
(He laughed.)
Me: Thank you so much for meeting with me today and I hope you do live long enough to fulfill all your goals.
Master Longwei: Thank you so much for having me.
He got up and left. What a nice 3000 year old man, I mean dragons.
I'm very passionate about my writing and my first novel Firebolt will be released the 20th November 2013. It's the first part of a four part series called The Dragonian Series. I'm planning to get the second part out next year same time.
When I'm not writing, I love to read and review other upcomming authors on my blog. I'm a host with a virtual tour company and I'm soon going to start reviewing for GMTA Publishers, who also will be publishing my series.
Love, love, love my family, and wouldn't have been able to do any of this without their support.
To learn more about Adrienne Woods and her books, visit her blog & the series blog.You can also find her on Goodreads, Facebook, and Twitter.
I loved the introduction thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by :o)
DeleteThanks for hosting me Gabby and thanks Mary for reading the post.
ReplyDeleteAdrienne
Thank you Adrienne! :o)
Delete