My Fiction – Page 2 – Everything Is Better With Dragons

Maria and the Space-Dragons Investigate #1 -November 2024 Instalment

In this month’s instalment, Sarah reveals her true identity, and Maria realises just how dangerous Aurox is.

Enjoy!

Chapter 11 – Sarah McLintock – Aurox

Maria was solidly asleep, and snoring loudly in the guest room, it was safe for Sahrai to be herself now. She stripped, stretched and shifted.

Her wing nubs strained to grow, pushing against the caps the Elder had insisted be installed while she was on this mission. Her snout lengthened, eye and nose ridges rising. Her human ears shrank into her skull, leaving her ear holes unprotected. Her tail unwrapped from its place along her spine, curling around her newly lengthened feet and claws. Her haunches thickened, while her arms became smaller.

It was a relief but hurt!

Maria and the Space Dragons Investigate #1 – October 2024 instalment

To catch everyone up:

Our protagonists, an autistic human named Maria and their supervisor, Lah-Shah, who is a member of an alien species known to humans as ‘star dragons’, have been sent to investigate possible illegal actions in a newly inhabited planetary system. The organisation they work for is an intergalactic association of species deemed sentient enough, and humans are the newest, most junior members, after several hundred years of contact.

Lah-Shah has deposited Maria on the plant, pretending to be a research student interested in xenobiology, while he searches the system for the signs of an earlier team sent to do a thorough review of the planets for sentient life, who haven’t been heard from in a month.

Maria and the space-dragons investigate #1 – September 2024 instalment

Chapter ten – Maria – On Aurox

The carriage shuddered to a holt. The aurochs screamed again. Maria felt the creature’s pain shudder through the vehicle.

“Come on Doc, this is our stop.”

“I’m not a doctor.”

“You will be soon.” McLintock grinned.

“Thanks.” Maria responded, doubt showing in the lines of their face.

The steps dropped down, orange light and damp air filtered in, lighting up the face of the major, Collins, and the other soldiers. They looked grey and exhausted to Maria.

Maria and the space-dragons investigate #1 – August 2024 instalment

Did you know you can generate AI art images on WordPress? I didn’t but I wanted an image for this post, because Maria takes their investigation down to the planet of Aurox.

Maria and the Space-Dragons #1 – May 2024 instalment

We continue the story at the tundra base, as Elder Pjang-Nich explains why Maria and Lah-Shah have been called to the distant base.

Chapter 4 – Pjang-Nich explains

Pjang-Nich whistled, a light-screen appeared above the table. A star map lit up on the screen, tool tips showing their location and the location of their target. It was some distance across the galaxy but still easily done with the jump gate system. Pjang-Nich clicked her tongue a couple of times, the screen shifted and zoomed in on the target system.

A star, bigger, older, redder than Ascend’s star, surrounded by two rocky planets and two gas giants. The rocky planets orbited each other. The first gas giant orbited close to the star, while the second gas giant seemed to be nearer to the star than expected, with dozens of moons, squeezing the rocky planets between them.

Maria and the Space-Dragons Investigate #1 – April 2024 instalment

Hello, it’s the second Sunday of the month and this is the April instalment of my little story.

Maria ponders the existence of a secret base.

Chapter three – Maria

Maria got to their feet, muscles stiff and complaining after so long in high altitude flight, head whirling from the burst of radio waves and mostly empty stomach threatening to empty itself all over the chilly stones of the landing pad. They turned their back, allowing Lah-Shar some privacy to shift. Maria grimaced as his bones and muscles made a cracking, slurping sound. They heard her friend growl quietly with the pain and irritation that shifting caused and felt a moment of distress for their friend.

Maria and the Space-Dragons #1 – March 2024 instalment

Alright! We’re back with Lah-Shar and Maria’s adventures. This time we get some insight into Lah-Shar’s life and thoughts.

Chapter two – Lah-Shar

Lah-Shar felt the air change as they came closer to the base. He’d seen planets with ice sheets miles deep that extended almost to the equator. He’d seen planets that were tidally locked, one side burning the other freezing. His own planet, Ran-Nang, the one he was an egg and youngster on, had a warm damp climate except for the desert for 20 degrees either side of the equator. Ascend was chilly by Ran-Nang standards, but humans found it comfortably warm.

28th May Writing Prompt

Do you remember that writing prompt experiment I was trying in April? I only managed to get a few prompts written, for various reasons. I tried again this month, and failed miserably, but I have managed to make something decent out of the prompt from 28th May, ‘bloody footprints’.

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Ahh! Copies of my book have arrived!

A box of books turned No automatic alt text available. up this afternoon. My books, ten of them. A lot sooner than I expected. I’ve sold four already, so the rest are for the book launch. I’m considering ordering more, but I haven’t got enough money yet.

It’s rather exciting and i like the feel of the books. I’ll probably be making some changes for the next book, smaller text probably.

In other news, I’m working on the short story that goes with this novel. It might become a novella at the rate I’m going 😀

Hidden Fire Cover Reveal

It’s time! With many grateful thanks to the incredibly talented Michelle Conner, whose work I have shared here and here, I present to you the cover for my first novel, Hidden Fire.

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