Wilde Thing - Dragon Home
/One of the best things about being an author is filling in the details of the worlds I create. I enjoy the time and thought that goes into setting the scene. It could be decorating a room, designing futuristic vehicles, or creating something like Dragon Home.
In the Creatures of Myth series I have a coven of Dragon Witches. There are six mature witches and three fledglings that live at Dragon home, which exists in a separate dimension, in a magically created bubble of time and space. This bubble is filled with the same flora and fauna seen in the deep woods of North America. It offers plenty of room for the coven of Witches and their dragon-familiars to live and work in harmony. In fact, there is room for at least a dozen more.
The first time Dragon Witches appear is in Midnight’s Mystery - Dragonkynd Menage, Creatures of Myth Book 7. They are also in book 8, UnDuplicated Magic in a supporting role, and Book 9 which is coming this fall, and titled Autumn’s Awakening.
Since Dragon Home wasn’t created with manual labor, but with magic, it is a living thing. Dragon Home can transform a room, or the entire structure to be what the witches need. It changes as they change, as they age and grow and add to their family. It transforms as the Dragon Witch’s role evolves in the supernatural community. Eventually housing a small hospital and well… that would be a spoiler.
Here are a few small excerpts detailing some of the wonderful things about Dragon Home. I hope you enjoy!
Excerpt One
Dragon Home soothed her. It was perched on the rock cliffs overlooking a lush green valley that was sliced in two with a raging river. Forests of old growth pine trees and a few meadows filled with wildflowers completed her version of heaven. The similarity to the human world ended when you looked up in the sky and saw dragons flying overhead.
Excerpt Two
Midnight would have to go to her mother’s chambers and gather up the sacred writings. Both she and Dawn would soon need to claim anything they wanted from the room. Their dragon-home hadn’t been wrought with manual labor, but with magic. Eventually, the castle would shift a little. The magic would make Midnight’s apartment larger, providing her the space a coven leader would need for all the ancestral records and for informal meetings with the other Dragon Witches. Natura’s (Midnight’s mother) space would eventually cease to exist.
Dawn surprised her with her next words. “I’d like to help with the reinforcement ritual. I know I can’t use my blood. But I could be there for you.” Shrugging her shoulders without unseating her golden dragon, she tried to explain. “It would help me feel as if I were saying goodbye to mother.”
The words reminded Midnight that this long night was far from over. Sometime before she went to bed she had to reinforce the castle’s shields and magic with her own blood. Natura’s influence would start to dissolve in the next few days and it could be dangerous if Dragon Home wasn’t strengthened. Midnight would never take chances with the coven’s safety.
The blood-rite would insure that the castle, surrounding forests, and the airspace above would remain hidden from mortal vision. The ritual required her to anoint all the standing stones of the foundation with droplets of her blood and a protection spell. With hundreds of pillars, it would take her all night and part of the next day. When the reinforcement ritual was completed, the dragon-castle’s physical existence in this dimension would be guaranteed for her lifetime.
Using her blood to mark the stones would also prevent anyone—other than members of the Draconigena Naturalis coven—from popping in without out notice. Without the blood-rite, anyone could use either the simple cave hidden on Earth’s physical plane or a Witch’s ability to shift time and space to gain access to their fortress.
Midnight didn’t expect any visitors, but she wouldn’t stake their lives on it.
Excerpt Three
She loved Dragon Home. When it was empty, all the dark windows peered out over the land, a silent guardian. Some of the rooms had balconies that had been added in recent years, and thanks to Spring and Summer, those balconies were havens for all types of plants and trees. When the Witches were all home, and the windows were lit from within…that was when the castle truly came alive.
Excerpt Four
She took him to a cliff overlooking Dragon Home and their valley. From here, he would see the magnificence of her home. With lights beaming from the windows it looked incredible. There were dragons flying in the moonlit sky, so some of the other coven members were already there.
Lushy you can go, she murmured and her beautiful black, russet, and orange beast popped out and quickly grew to the size of a house, and soared into the sky.
Evidently, Matyas wanted to check things out as he appeared in all his black and red glory, chasing after her.
Matei chuckled, “This is a new experience for him.” He turned back to survey the fortress. “Dragon Home is incredible. The gray stone edifice just meanders from the cliff to the valley floor. I love all the flower-covered balconies—and the moat and drawbridge—the last two give it a wonderfully medieval look.”
“What!” she exclaimed and tore her gaze from the dragons. She looked down and did a mad little boogie, shaking her hips and pumping her arm in the air. “It’s about time!” She turned to Matei and threw her arms around him. “I’ve got a drawbridge! And a moat!” She enthused.
He laughed and hugged her back. “I take it that wasn’t here when you left?”
Giggling she turned back and surveyed her home, slipping from his arms. “No, it was not. I’ve been requesting those additions for centuries.” She put her hands on her hips and peered down. “Dragon Home is always changing, giving us what we need without hesitation, and sometimes what we want…as a gift. This is definitely a gift.” She said a quiet thank you to the night, to the all-seeing essence that protected her dragon-kin.
