Page 3
D R A G O N I A : T a l e s O f T h e G o l d e n T a l o n
A Cursory Overview
A Portal In The Storm
2005 cover design by Brock Munson
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Flames Of Fortune
2005 cover design by Brock Munson
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The Hope For Zargahn
2005 cover design by Brock Munson
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An Introduction to LAIRS Of The FIREDRAKES
(unused subtitle)
Despite its long title and three volumes, DRAGONIA: Tales Of The Golden Talon follows only thirteen critical days in the life of princess Boja, the royal heir destined to reign as queen of all Dragonia. Move over humans and hobbits, make room for dragons who take center stage and tell their own story from within a world inhabited exclusively by dragons and other, dragon-related creatures.
Boja and Shelldon are the two dragon-like heroes of Tales where flights of fantasy abound in this epic fable which blazes forth with fireworks galore, thrills, chills, and laugh-out-loud humor. Travel with the princess and her devoted guardian, Shelldon, as they struggle to defeat the mad tyrant, Dragragon, who has forced the young ruler into exile on another world called Earth, and prevented her from assuming her role as the rightful queen of the sovereign world known as Dragonia.
Set against a backdrop of action and intrigue, populated by original, colorful characters, and sprawling with spectacular landscapes, TOTGT brims with nonstop adventure while following the trials and heartaches of youth and innocence. Of a fateful journey for the untried princess as she comes of age and confronts a nightmarish world of unimagined perils. A forsaken land of fire and terror that awaits her back home. Back where everything began. Where all will end unless she can somehow triumph over impossible odds, invincible enemies, and over her own reluctance to fulfill the destiny that fate has thrust upon her. Racing to avert a final showdown, Boja and Shelldon pursue a desperate plot to save Dragonia from total destruction.
In an ageless story of honor, loyalty, love and courage, this meticulously rendered realm of wondrous splendors and unforgettable inhabitants is designed to rank high among the better fantasy stories of our time. Gigantic, fire-breathing super-dragons, plus wholly unique breeds of others, battle amid volleys of both exploding flames and passions. At a smile-per-minute pace, sparks fly and suspense runs fever-pitch in an allegorical tale that culls new energy and powerful drama from traditional themes of morality and sacrifice. Forget your musty notions about dragons, ancient lore, magic and mythology, for Tales strives to set new standards of excellence in its fresh, unorthodox brands of gothic monsters, shining knights, and damsels-in-distress.
In describing the story, words like funny, fast-paced, frightening and thrilling are not just more of the same hyperbole so common to the promotion of an author’s work; for Tales such terms may well define this modern parable. Full of whimsy, surprises, and unlikely heroes, the trilogy spins an “old fashioned” yarn for readers of all ages. It wants to change forever our stale concepts of cutesy animal characters acting predictably human. As a result, the three-volume set forges an eclectic mix of modern philosophy, humor, pathos, and medieval melodrama. Each book in the DRAGONIA series is a full length, fully illuminated novel, both written and illustrated by the author/artist, Robert Anton. The entire project, however, was based upon an original idea spawned by my wife, Madeline. She even wrote the first draft of the story, which became a full-blown trilogy by the time I was through with it.
In the meantime, the authors invite their readers to embark upon a leisurely voyage of imagination and wonder. But proceed with caution for the journey ahead contains descriptive scenes of terror and violence that may not be suitable for younger children. While innocent in appearance and overall content, DRAGONIA was designed neither as a typical story only for kids, nor just another fanciful tale about dragons. Written with a devotion to detail, part fable, part allegory, part comedy, but all adventure, the excursion is for lovers of fantasy, both young and old alike.
Boja and Shelldon are the two dragon-like heroes of Tales where flights of fantasy abound in this epic fable which blazes forth with fireworks galore, thrills, chills, and laugh-out-loud humor. Travel with the princess and her devoted guardian, Shelldon, as they struggle to defeat the mad tyrant, Dragragon, who has forced the young ruler into exile on another world called Earth, and prevented her from assuming her role as the rightful queen of the sovereign world known as Dragonia.
Set against a backdrop of action and intrigue, populated by original, colorful characters, and sprawling with spectacular landscapes, TOTGT brims with nonstop adventure while following the trials and heartaches of youth and innocence. Of a fateful journey for the untried princess as she comes of age and confronts a nightmarish world of unimagined perils. A forsaken land of fire and terror that awaits her back home. Back where everything began. Where all will end unless she can somehow triumph over impossible odds, invincible enemies, and over her own reluctance to fulfill the destiny that fate has thrust upon her. Racing to avert a final showdown, Boja and Shelldon pursue a desperate plot to save Dragonia from total destruction.
In an ageless story of honor, loyalty, love and courage, this meticulously rendered realm of wondrous splendors and unforgettable inhabitants is designed to rank high among the better fantasy stories of our time. Gigantic, fire-breathing super-dragons, plus wholly unique breeds of others, battle amid volleys of both exploding flames and passions. At a smile-per-minute pace, sparks fly and suspense runs fever-pitch in an allegorical tale that culls new energy and powerful drama from traditional themes of morality and sacrifice. Forget your musty notions about dragons, ancient lore, magic and mythology, for Tales strives to set new standards of excellence in its fresh, unorthodox brands of gothic monsters, shining knights, and damsels-in-distress.
In describing the story, words like funny, fast-paced, frightening and thrilling are not just more of the same hyperbole so common to the promotion of an author’s work; for Tales such terms may well define this modern parable. Full of whimsy, surprises, and unlikely heroes, the trilogy spins an “old fashioned” yarn for readers of all ages. It wants to change forever our stale concepts of cutesy animal characters acting predictably human. As a result, the three-volume set forges an eclectic mix of modern philosophy, humor, pathos, and medieval melodrama. Each book in the DRAGONIA series is a full length, fully illuminated novel, both written and illustrated by the author/artist, Robert Anton. The entire project, however, was based upon an original idea spawned by my wife, Madeline. She even wrote the first draft of the story, which became a full-blown trilogy by the time I was through with it.
In the meantime, the authors invite their readers to embark upon a leisurely voyage of imagination and wonder. But proceed with caution for the journey ahead contains descriptive scenes of terror and violence that may not be suitable for younger children. While innocent in appearance and overall content, DRAGONIA was designed neither as a typical story only for kids, nor just another fanciful tale about dragons. Written with a devotion to detail, part fable, part allegory, part comedy, but all adventure, the excursion is for lovers of fantasy, both young and old alike.
And now for something completely different . . .
Begun in or about 2010, in an effort to satisfy my desire to present a more serious, more adult dragon story, the three eBooks in the DRAGONS AMONG US series take Young Adults (and others) on a journey far different from the innocence and gentility found in the DRAGONIA novels.
D R A G O N S A M O N G U S
T h e S e r i e s
Fig. 1. Original concept poster art.
Ghosts Of Walker Pines
The non-illustrated first cover
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Lost City Of The Dead
The non-illustrated first cover
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The Preliminary Outlines
The non-illustrated first cover
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Shown above are the unfinished covers for all three eBooks in the DRAGONS AMONG US series. Even after color was applied, it was never intended that these remain as the final covers; they would simply serve as temporary stand-in’s until such time that additional eBooks (and / or printed versions) had been completed, and a consistent pictorial theme devised which would tie all the volumes together.
They've been living underground for fifty-thousand years.
Now they're returning to the surface, to reclaim the Earth.
And they have the firepower to do it.
One World. Two Top Predators.
Fig. 2.
Parte Um
The Ghosts Of Walker Pines
At times violent and profane, humorous and dark, this sci-fi fantasy, action-adventure series drags the dragon stereotypes out of their dusty caves and turns the whole genre on its proverbial head.
As the first in a new series of dragon-themed novels designed for older, more mature Young Adult readers, DRAGONS AMONG US: The Ghosts Of Walker Pines introduces readers to fifteen-year-old Katie Baxter who has unraveled the planet’s greatest but most hidden truth. A discovery which has come at a painful personal price for the teen whose mother died giving birth to an only child. Katie has since suffered from years of mysterious and debilitating hallucinations, visions, and nightmares that have not only threatened her relationships with others, but her very sanity itself.
On the brink of her sixteenth birthday, Katie has finally uncovered something else about herself. She may not be entirely human. When she and her family make contact with the secret, underground world of highly intelligent, shape-shifting dragons, the feisty teen endeavors to fulfill an ancient prophecy and lead the dragons back to a life on the surface, living again among humans. In the process, she must overcome her own personal demons in addition to ruthless enemies both human and dragon.
As the first in a new series of dragon-themed novels designed for older, more mature Young Adult readers, DRAGONS AMONG US: The Ghosts Of Walker Pines introduces readers to fifteen-year-old Katie Baxter who has unraveled the planet’s greatest but most hidden truth. A discovery which has come at a painful personal price for the teen whose mother died giving birth to an only child. Katie has since suffered from years of mysterious and debilitating hallucinations, visions, and nightmares that have not only threatened her relationships with others, but her very sanity itself.
On the brink of her sixteenth birthday, Katie has finally uncovered something else about herself. She may not be entirely human. When she and her family make contact with the secret, underground world of highly intelligent, shape-shifting dragons, the feisty teen endeavors to fulfill an ancient prophecy and lead the dragons back to a life on the surface, living again among humans. In the process, she must overcome her own personal demons in addition to ruthless enemies both human and dragon.
Fig. 3.
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Fig. 4.
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The Quick Take:
Fig. 5.
Half human, half dragon hybrid Katie Baxter struggles to be sixteen, keep her sanity, and fulfill her destiny as
the prophetic “One Chosen”. Fending off enemies both known and unknown, human and otherwise, action and adventure ensue as the plucky teen finds herself involved with subterranean dragons who plan to return to the surface world of present-day humans.
"While the escalator spilled its passengers onto another wide expanse of landing at the bottom, the scenery on all sides began to move on its own. Bushes shook and shrubbery wiggled, as loosened leaves drifted down from the higher branches of nearby trees.
The animals had taken notice of their visitors."
-- Excerpt from Book I, The Ghosts of Walker Pines
The Journey Continues:
Fig. 6.
Parte Dois
The Lost City Of The Dead
Fig. 7.
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Fig. 8.
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Fig. 9.
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Now available, the second, full-length novel of the series entitled DRAGONS AMONG US: The Lost City Of The Dead continues the adventures of Katie Baxter who must cope with being a teenager in addition to making sense out of a world turned upside down. Accompanied as before by a quirky macaw parrot and adopted by a stray dog no less strange than her newfound dragon friends, she is surrounded by people and animals who aren’t who they appear and situations which are far different from how they seem.
Both novels are peppered with adult language and situations, including frightening scenes of intense violence; neither is a fanciful tale involving dragons as brute beasts who play second to the humans in the story. Readers are instead treated to socially advanced creatures living in cavernous kingdoms located throughout the globe. Facing slow extinction due to their prolonged underground life, the dragons are desperately racing to both find a cure and coordinate their long overdue migration back to the sunlit upperworld of the humans.
Having come of age, Katie, who is half dragon herself, is seen as the Deliverer who with the help of an adopted uncle named Rutger Drako, will lead the dragons back to living side by side with humans. Not everyone favors the decision to be friends again with their former enemies, however, and Katie becomes increasingly entangled in a power struggle between epic, epochal forces of good and evil.
As we again join Katie with her entourage of friends and family, both animal and human, her friendship with Rutger continues to grow more intimate and complex. Joined again by her grandmother Ruthie and friend Nela, her dad and his fiancée Liz, plus a host of other hybrid creatures too strange to describe here, Katie is torn between a prophesied commitment to her dragon friends and trying (with little success) to live some kind of normal life as a more or less typical teenager. Good luck with that.
Amid all the turmoil of the times, Katie has survived two assassination attempts and remains surrounded by shape-shifting dragons masquerading as both people and animals. She can never know for sure who is who or what is what. Who would hug her warmly, or who might plunge a dagger into her chest.
Uncle Rutger finally takes the Baxter family on a wild ride into Arizona’s Grand Canyon. Some kind of “lost city” has caught his interest and he’s decided to investigate. What follows is an amazing adventure into the unexplored depths of the Canyon where discoveries no less incredible than the existence of real-life dragons await our brave band of explorers.
When Katie’s father and step-mother get married, leave on their honeymoon, and the story concludes, things are just beginning. For better. And worse.
Authored by a professional artist, the three eBook-only texts brim with vivid descriptions that read as though they were "painted" with words. Although each book is profusely adorned with black and white illustrations, limited edition art prints are also available and sold separately through this website.
What follows is a sneak peek into more of the first book in the DRAGONS AMONG US series. Take a look and see what you think.
Both novels are peppered with adult language and situations, including frightening scenes of intense violence; neither is a fanciful tale involving dragons as brute beasts who play second to the humans in the story. Readers are instead treated to socially advanced creatures living in cavernous kingdoms located throughout the globe. Facing slow extinction due to their prolonged underground life, the dragons are desperately racing to both find a cure and coordinate their long overdue migration back to the sunlit upperworld of the humans.
Having come of age, Katie, who is half dragon herself, is seen as the Deliverer who with the help of an adopted uncle named Rutger Drako, will lead the dragons back to living side by side with humans. Not everyone favors the decision to be friends again with their former enemies, however, and Katie becomes increasingly entangled in a power struggle between epic, epochal forces of good and evil.
As we again join Katie with her entourage of friends and family, both animal and human, her friendship with Rutger continues to grow more intimate and complex. Joined again by her grandmother Ruthie and friend Nela, her dad and his fiancée Liz, plus a host of other hybrid creatures too strange to describe here, Katie is torn between a prophesied commitment to her dragon friends and trying (with little success) to live some kind of normal life as a more or less typical teenager. Good luck with that.
Amid all the turmoil of the times, Katie has survived two assassination attempts and remains surrounded by shape-shifting dragons masquerading as both people and animals. She can never know for sure who is who or what is what. Who would hug her warmly, or who might plunge a dagger into her chest.
Uncle Rutger finally takes the Baxter family on a wild ride into Arizona’s Grand Canyon. Some kind of “lost city” has caught his interest and he’s decided to investigate. What follows is an amazing adventure into the unexplored depths of the Canyon where discoveries no less incredible than the existence of real-life dragons await our brave band of explorers.
When Katie’s father and step-mother get married, leave on their honeymoon, and the story concludes, things are just beginning. For better. And worse.
Authored by a professional artist, the three eBook-only texts brim with vivid descriptions that read as though they were "painted" with words. Although each book is profusely adorned with black and white illustrations, limited edition art prints are also available and sold separately through this website.
What follows is a sneak peek into more of the first book in the DRAGONS AMONG US series. Take a look and see what you think.
Fig. 10. You just know these people are up to no good.
But first, a quick plug for the latest [and last] in the series . . .
D R A G O N S A M O N G U S
Parte Tres
THE FLOODS OF CHAMADAR
Parte Quatro
DRAGONOPOLIS
T h e P r e l i m i n a r y O u t l i n e s
includes
The DIARIES Of KATHRYN BAXTER: Dragon Hunter
Book I
SINS Of The BROTHERHOOD
Book II
The SEARCH For STRAKX
Book III
DRAGONOPOLIS
SINS Of The BROTHERHOOD
Book II
The SEARCH For STRAKX
Book III
DRAGONOPOLIS
Please refer to page DRA4B for full reviews of the
first two books in the DRAGONS AMONG US series.
Plus an additional look at the concluding volume:
DRAGONS AMONG US:
THE PRELIMINARY OUTLINES
first two books in the DRAGONS AMONG US series.
Plus an additional look at the concluding volume:
DRAGONS AMONG US:
THE PRELIMINARY OUTLINES
D R A G O N S A M O N G U S
Parte Um
The Ghosts Of Walker Pines
The following excerpt is lifted from the Prelude to the story, for which I substitute the Portuguese synonym, Preludio. I did so for a somewhat subtle but important reason which I hope becomes as self-evident as I intended it to be. Parte Um is also Portuguese for Part One. The national language of Brazil is...oh, never mind; I think you get the idea. Here, presented in its entirety, is a reader's first glimpse of a world just like our own. The only real difference is that in this one, extinct dinosaurs play second to other creatures. Other reptiles for whom evolution took a very separate, very profound and ultimately deadly path.
P R E L U D I O
Fifteen-year-old Adelia had finally escaped from the youth asylum, but fleeing into the early morning Amazon rainforest posed as much of a threat to the terrified girl as did the ruthless guards who drew closer by the heartbeat. Gasping to catch her breath in the thick, humid air, she could hear the men shouting and dogs barking in the distance. Barefoot, desperate, wearing only a thin, soiled gown, she feared a separate presence even more than the guards or the Brazilian jungle. Something else was chasing her, hunting her. Pursuers that would have already caught and killed her if she hadn’t stabbed the attendant molesting her. And jumped from a second-floor window.
The ground was wet and soggy from the near constant rain; everywhere the leaves of plants dripped with steady streams of water. Whenever Adelia stopped to rest, ants, spiders, and other insects scurried up her bare legs, biting, stinging, sucking, as if her presence was little more than a next meal for whatever was hungry. She could feel other things crawling inside her uncombed hair, lengthy locks that hung past the small of her back and tangled on branches and bushes as she ran.
Like overhead searchlights, columns of sporadic sunlight penetrated the forest canopy, threatening to spotlight her fragile figure among the backdrop of primeval terrors that surrounded her. None the least of which were the humans who followed her clumsy trail. Who, when they caught her, would no doubt shoot her with the flint-lock rifles they carried. Unless she reached the river in time. And even they, with their guns and knives, were less of a threat than the real monsters who hunted her--creatures who sniffed the air with scaly, narrow snouts and drooled saliva from jaws filled with long, dagger-like teeth.
As Adelia burst from the protection of some giant ferns and stumbled deeper into the jungle, she jerked to a stop and listened. Though still far away, the raspy "hissing" sounds were unmistakable. It was them. She then heard the crack-snap of rifle and pistol shots, screams, finally high-pitched yelps. The lusus naturae moved fast, like snakes swimming, and had apparently reached the guards, even slaughtering their dogs. A moment later, the forest had resumed its more normal cacophony of non-human voices. Only the calls of birds, macaw parrots, and the howling of monkeys echoed amid the towering Kapok trees. The noises from all of them again ceased completely as the others approached. Others who were ideally suited to survive--and kill--in a jungle.
They had detected her scent and it was simply a matter of time before Adelia herself was trapped and murdered. Not as food for hungry predators, but because only she knew her assailants’ true identity. Who and what they were and more importantly, where they came from. If found before she got to the river, the flesh would be chewed from her bones--if she was lucky.
Os dragoes violentos. Adelia feared their throated fire more than anything else. She had seen people torn to shreds by scythe-like talons and spear-point fangs, and death had come quickly for them. Other, less fortunate victims had been engulfed in the creatures’ flames and struggled for long, agonizing minutes while they were horrifyingly burned alive.
But her persecutors had come too late. She smirked at the realization of how the cruel sanitarium guards themselves, had delayed the others' attack and given her the extra time she needed. Time to reached the sanctuary of the rushing water that awaited her. She had arrived there in time, but with little to spare. Standing on the precipice of a high cliff that overlooked the river, a place she had sought since her confinement years ago, the girl realized her frantic flight to freedom--her long-sought escape--lay only steps away.
Exhausted and struggling to find her breath, loud, uninhibited exclamations of laughter replaced the adrenalin-charged panic that had freed the inmate from her unjust imprisonment. No more would she suffer the nightly visits from the guards, and especially gone would be the terrible visions that had haunted her dreams for as long as she could remember. Nightmarish images of lizard-like monsters who could think, even talk like people. And kill like them as well.
Closing fast from behind, she heard the oncoming, rapid steps of long, reptilian toes and talons as they crushed the understory of the forest floor. The hideous snarls and hisses grew louder, deafening, and either teeth or flames would find her at any moment.
An instant later, Adelia had already leapt from the rocky promontory and plummeted to the water and jagged rocks far below.
The ground was wet and soggy from the near constant rain; everywhere the leaves of plants dripped with steady streams of water. Whenever Adelia stopped to rest, ants, spiders, and other insects scurried up her bare legs, biting, stinging, sucking, as if her presence was little more than a next meal for whatever was hungry. She could feel other things crawling inside her uncombed hair, lengthy locks that hung past the small of her back and tangled on branches and bushes as she ran.
Like overhead searchlights, columns of sporadic sunlight penetrated the forest canopy, threatening to spotlight her fragile figure among the backdrop of primeval terrors that surrounded her. None the least of which were the humans who followed her clumsy trail. Who, when they caught her, would no doubt shoot her with the flint-lock rifles they carried. Unless she reached the river in time. And even they, with their guns and knives, were less of a threat than the real monsters who hunted her--creatures who sniffed the air with scaly, narrow snouts and drooled saliva from jaws filled with long, dagger-like teeth.
As Adelia burst from the protection of some giant ferns and stumbled deeper into the jungle, she jerked to a stop and listened. Though still far away, the raspy "hissing" sounds were unmistakable. It was them. She then heard the crack-snap of rifle and pistol shots, screams, finally high-pitched yelps. The lusus naturae moved fast, like snakes swimming, and had apparently reached the guards, even slaughtering their dogs. A moment later, the forest had resumed its more normal cacophony of non-human voices. Only the calls of birds, macaw parrots, and the howling of monkeys echoed amid the towering Kapok trees. The noises from all of them again ceased completely as the others approached. Others who were ideally suited to survive--and kill--in a jungle.
They had detected her scent and it was simply a matter of time before Adelia herself was trapped and murdered. Not as food for hungry predators, but because only she knew her assailants’ true identity. Who and what they were and more importantly, where they came from. If found before she got to the river, the flesh would be chewed from her bones--if she was lucky.
Os dragoes violentos. Adelia feared their throated fire more than anything else. She had seen people torn to shreds by scythe-like talons and spear-point fangs, and death had come quickly for them. Other, less fortunate victims had been engulfed in the creatures’ flames and struggled for long, agonizing minutes while they were horrifyingly burned alive.
But her persecutors had come too late. She smirked at the realization of how the cruel sanitarium guards themselves, had delayed the others' attack and given her the extra time she needed. Time to reached the sanctuary of the rushing water that awaited her. She had arrived there in time, but with little to spare. Standing on the precipice of a high cliff that overlooked the river, a place she had sought since her confinement years ago, the girl realized her frantic flight to freedom--her long-sought escape--lay only steps away.
Exhausted and struggling to find her breath, loud, uninhibited exclamations of laughter replaced the adrenalin-charged panic that had freed the inmate from her unjust imprisonment. No more would she suffer the nightly visits from the guards, and especially gone would be the terrible visions that had haunted her dreams for as long as she could remember. Nightmarish images of lizard-like monsters who could think, even talk like people. And kill like them as well.
Closing fast from behind, she heard the oncoming, rapid steps of long, reptilian toes and talons as they crushed the understory of the forest floor. The hideous snarls and hisses grew louder, deafening, and either teeth or flames would find her at any moment.
An instant later, Adelia had already leapt from the rocky promontory and plummeted to the water and jagged rocks far below.
T H E A R I Z O N A S T A R N E W S
E y e s O n S c i e n c e
Medieval Scroll Found Inside Ruins Of European Monastery.
Iconoclastic Discovery Said To Rewrite Standard Lore On Dragons.
Scholars Debate Meaning As Ancient Tome Goes On World Tour.
Story by Suzy Jenkins
The Arizona Star News
For immediate release: Archeologists today made public the first translations of the closing passages obtained from a newly discovered scroll found among the ruins of a German monastery dated 12th Century A.D.. Balance of the scroll’s enigmatic text is expected to be deciphered and made available by the end of the current month, and is highly anticipated by academicians of medieval literature, religious scholars, and the many popular organizations and cults who lay claim to dragon esoterica.
Scientists and students of antiquities alike remain baffled as the 700-year-old scroll began a six-month tour of the world’s finest universities, including our very own NAU in Flagstaff. In a statement released to the international press corps, Dr. Hans Gruber, leader of the team that recovered the scroll from where it appeared to have been purposely buried, reported that translating the document has stirred widespread controversy over the meaning and significance of the parchment’s alleged contents.
Sources close to the project tell this reporter that if initial indications are accurate, the ancient tome stands to blow the lid off our previous notions about not only when human civilizations first began, but whether dragons might indeed have shared the earth with advanced races of human beings.
Skeptics, of which there are many, assert that even if proven authentic, the work is likely to be little more than the rambling, superstitious dogma of some secret sect or society that were common in the Middle Ages -- especially during the Dark Ages. Survivors of the Black Plague, doctors say, were often left delusional as a result of brain damage caused by high fever or oxygen deprivation.
While experts continue to debate among themselves, the scroll will be on public display for the next six months as archeology departments of the world’s most respected institutions scrutinize the parchment up close and personal.
Although the following excerpt has been cleared for release via all media outlets, readers of this column are invited to submit their own comments which we will forward as a public service to Dr. Gruber and his team. So come on all you dragon enthusiasts. Let the good doctor hear how we knew all along that dragons have always been real—and that they rock!
Scroll excerpt courtesy of Dr. Hans Gruber, National Geographica Internationale --
"…and it was said of this foretelling that dragon clan would unite with dragon clan, and rise against those who might yet break the truce, tear the peace asunder, and seek to destroy the Truebloods once and for all. The event would mark the beginning of the last of days, and nothing could save the children of the world except a child. A human female would come among men and dragons alike, and show to all the great truth of the world. How the hearts of firedrakes and humans flowed with the same blood. That it was this lass whose kin witnessed the slaying of a dragon at the hand of a man, had brought forth the lasting Pact of Peace. And it shall be the same who might mend all wounds for all time yet to come.
Should brothers under scale and skin fail to merge their differences, be unable to make the world whole again and leave unhealed the numberless wounds that have held each apart, one from the other, the prophecy speaks to the Armageddon of Old and the demise of both worlds. A great war shall once more be waged and consume the Earth in flames breathed by dragons, and from the machines of men. None would be spared in this final conflict between brethren of blood who had become as strangers, knowing not, that as the slain die, so do their slayers.
And thus it must be that a child of dragonspawn might weigh decidedly the balance between the forces above, pitted against those below. But should this innocent perish, her life in harm's way since birth, the prophecy declares that none shall awaken from a moonless night to see the morrow’s sun.
The name of the lass is unknown to the Brotherhood, as is the time when she will again walk the Earth and be as a dragon among us. The prophecy marks a path that can be followed only by the few who might know her, and who would wish to protect her. Many will seek her death and it is yet to be written as to who shall prevail.
And while the mighty pageants of men and of dragons went about their diligent, industrious ways, the great pillars of the Earth trembled on the precipice of a future where neither beast nor human may live to hear a single word spoken, nor see any that be written, ever again."
The Arizona Star News
For immediate release: Archeologists today made public the first translations of the closing passages obtained from a newly discovered scroll found among the ruins of a German monastery dated 12th Century A.D.. Balance of the scroll’s enigmatic text is expected to be deciphered and made available by the end of the current month, and is highly anticipated by academicians of medieval literature, religious scholars, and the many popular organizations and cults who lay claim to dragon esoterica.
Scientists and students of antiquities alike remain baffled as the 700-year-old scroll began a six-month tour of the world’s finest universities, including our very own NAU in Flagstaff. In a statement released to the international press corps, Dr. Hans Gruber, leader of the team that recovered the scroll from where it appeared to have been purposely buried, reported that translating the document has stirred widespread controversy over the meaning and significance of the parchment’s alleged contents.
Sources close to the project tell this reporter that if initial indications are accurate, the ancient tome stands to blow the lid off our previous notions about not only when human civilizations first began, but whether dragons might indeed have shared the earth with advanced races of human beings.
Skeptics, of which there are many, assert that even if proven authentic, the work is likely to be little more than the rambling, superstitious dogma of some secret sect or society that were common in the Middle Ages -- especially during the Dark Ages. Survivors of the Black Plague, doctors say, were often left delusional as a result of brain damage caused by high fever or oxygen deprivation.
While experts continue to debate among themselves, the scroll will be on public display for the next six months as archeology departments of the world’s most respected institutions scrutinize the parchment up close and personal.
Although the following excerpt has been cleared for release via all media outlets, readers of this column are invited to submit their own comments which we will forward as a public service to Dr. Gruber and his team. So come on all you dragon enthusiasts. Let the good doctor hear how we knew all along that dragons have always been real—and that they rock!
Scroll excerpt courtesy of Dr. Hans Gruber, National Geographica Internationale --
"…and it was said of this foretelling that dragon clan would unite with dragon clan, and rise against those who might yet break the truce, tear the peace asunder, and seek to destroy the Truebloods once and for all. The event would mark the beginning of the last of days, and nothing could save the children of the world except a child. A human female would come among men and dragons alike, and show to all the great truth of the world. How the hearts of firedrakes and humans flowed with the same blood. That it was this lass whose kin witnessed the slaying of a dragon at the hand of a man, had brought forth the lasting Pact of Peace. And it shall be the same who might mend all wounds for all time yet to come.
Should brothers under scale and skin fail to merge their differences, be unable to make the world whole again and leave unhealed the numberless wounds that have held each apart, one from the other, the prophecy speaks to the Armageddon of Old and the demise of both worlds. A great war shall once more be waged and consume the Earth in flames breathed by dragons, and from the machines of men. None would be spared in this final conflict between brethren of blood who had become as strangers, knowing not, that as the slain die, so do their slayers.
And thus it must be that a child of dragonspawn might weigh decidedly the balance between the forces above, pitted against those below. But should this innocent perish, her life in harm's way since birth, the prophecy declares that none shall awaken from a moonless night to see the morrow’s sun.
The name of the lass is unknown to the Brotherhood, as is the time when she will again walk the Earth and be as a dragon among us. The prophecy marks a path that can be followed only by the few who might know her, and who would wish to protect her. Many will seek her death and it is yet to be written as to who shall prevail.
And while the mighty pageants of men and of dragons went about their diligent, industrious ways, the great pillars of the Earth trembled on the precipice of a future where neither beast nor human may live to hear a single word spoken, nor see any that be written, ever again."
Dawn & Dusk: the platinum daggers known as The Twins of Eventide
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The scroll text in its entirety is printed on page DRA11.
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On page DRA4A, we return to DRAGONIA, including reviews
of the trilogy both by Bowker Books-in-Print and Writers Digest.
Click below to learn more about the DRAGONS AMONG US series
including the Readers' Favorite website reviews of the first and second
volumes of the DRAGONS AMONG US series. The Ghosts Of Walker Pines
and The Lost City of the Dead. Also reviewed is the newest and final book in
the original trilogy: DRAGONS AMONG US: The Preliminary Outlines.
DRAGONS AMONG US.
HUMANS AMONG US.
One World. Two Top Predators.
