Book Blurb:
Steeped in blood. Ruled by those with dragons.
Cimeren is a world divided by a mysterious forest and the vast Lake on Fire. Suspicion brews on both sides, and the south has fallen into chaos as battles and quarrels rage between kingdoms.
In the border outpost of Nevergrace, Cyran Orendain is dealing with the loss of his brother and his lord as he strives to face the mounting challenges of a squire of the dragonguard.
But when Cyran’s guard-master is called to face the most powerful of the southern kings and bear witness to a secret stolen from the north, Cyran is dragged into a war that has been bubbling under the surface for centuries.
Dragons are not only weapons—they are engines of war. And even though Cyran is not trained in the ways of the dragonguard, he must adapt and learn to become one of them or his homeland and all of Cimeren will be destroyed.
But he was not born a champion.
He may break, and he will bleed.
Extract
Turin clenched his mounted crossbow as the dragon beneath him swooped over the peaks. The frigid wind of the north blasted his face and clawed at his blond hair and beard before streaming his cloak out behind him.
Sir Mirell, the dragonguard seated just behind the rose dragon’s head, released a cry of alarm. The newly appointed dragonmage behind Mirell peeked around the guard’s massive armor and shield and angled their flying mount closer to the scene. Their dragon screamed over the slopes, skimming just above rock and ice.
“There!” Mirell pointed.
Below, on the pass, the Murgare king—with his gold and platinum crown—hurried along beside his queen. Several dragons lay dead around them, as did a field of armored men.
The king’s massive ice dragon shrieked, an echoing blast that rang the surrounding peaks and rolled away into the north. The dragon flapped wings like curtains of frozen leather as the king and queen rushed for their saddles.
Distant calls sounded, those of man and dragon.
Author Bio:
After reading Tolkien, R.M. Schultz wrote his first 100,000-word fantasy novel as a freshman in high school. When he’s not saving animals, he continues reading and writing fantasy and science fiction, and has done so for over two decades. R.M. founded and heads the North Seattle Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers’ Group and has published over a dozen novels.
And more than anything, he wants to be knighted by George R.R. Martin.
Everything Is Better With Dragons 