The Oeuvre

THE DYING SUN

Shai'Khal is changing. The impenetrable mists that hug its coastline are waning for the first time in nine hundred years. From those mists, two women emerge: Ruya, the high priestess of death, and Sarka, the champion of war. They claim they come in peace but unrest follows wherever they travel. The Akhenic Temple, the backbone of Shai'Khal, calls them cultists and heretics. The high priest begs the shah's permission for an inquisition. The women request an audience.

Merikh Madiaran, shah of Shai'Khal, has never been a man of much faith. The only son of a tyrannical and faithful man, Merikh has seen the worst religion has to offer. Since taking the throne, Merikh has fought the legacy of hypocrisy and corruption left in his father's wake. A religious inquisition is the last problem Merikh wants in the early years of his reign. But when a would-be assassin admits to being a cultist, it seems that peace may not be an option.

A DAY AT THE DRAGON SHELTER

You probably remember where you were when you heard the dragons had returned. No doubt, unless you were one of the first to see one, you thought it was a hoax, and I'm sure it took you a while to be convinced. And you have certainly seen how it has changed things--destroying some businesses, creating others, but in one way or another, having an effect on almost everyone.

For us, here at the shelter, it's seasonal. Every Christmas, parents see a cute little hatchling and think what a wonderful present it would be. And, in many cases, they're right. But too many don't even bother looking up even the most basic information about whatever breed they've settled on, and there are too many unscrupulous breeders who don't bother telling them to. Many of these well-intentioned dragon owners somehow miss the two most important facts about a dragonling – It will grow, sometimes very large, and it may not choose you.

That's why, every spring, things start to really pick up here at the City of Lakes Dragon Shelter.