Hey! Here is the prologue to my book, I would love to hear what you think of it, and what you think will happen next! Enjoy!

*Agnar, Akaelius, Kora, Ember, and Kenji are dragons. Kyla, Kairo, and Curren, however, are people.

Agnar glared at his general, Akaelius, “I told you not to be late!” He growled. Akaelius muttered something under his breath.

            “What did you say?” 

            “If it mattered, I would have told you. Mind explaining to me why you wanted me here in the first place?” Akaelius said coolly.

             “I need Curren’s son, Kairo, and I need you to get him and bring him to me, unharmed.”

“Do you really think I would hurt a five-year-old kid? And why do you need Kairo anyways?”

             “Because he represents the future, he is the only dragon rider.” Agnar could barely keep back the annoyance in his voice. He did not like that Akaelius knew how much he needed him. 

            “What of his sister?”

            “Get rid of her. We cannot risk having two dragon riders.”

            Akaelius nodded and stretched out his bronze wings. His scales flashed in the moonlight as he launched up into the air. Agnar watched as he flew off to complete his mission, imagining how he would train Kairo up in his courts and teach him the ways of the dragons. All the while feeding lies about his past, and, in time, he would begin to hate his own race and eventually help Agnar defeat them. 

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            Akaelius hid in the shadow of a mountain and watched as Curren pointed out different stars to Kairo. He watched for a moment before launching silently and swooping in just behind Kairo. Curren jumped and turned around, but, as soon as he realized who it was, he stood and watched as Akaelius took Kairo from him. 

            “Dad! Help me!” Kairo’s screams fell on deaf ears. Curren stood with his hands in his pockets making no effort to help his son. Kairo stared for a moment in disbelief, watching his father turn and walk back into his house. He shivered and gripped Akaelius tighter.

            “Where are we going?”

            “To your new home with the dragons.”

            Akaelius flew across the Ice Plain. He had half a mind to take Kairo away with him and never speak to Agnar again. He had known that Curren was helping Agnar with his schemes, but he had not expected him to turn his back on his own son, because he thought the government was a little messed up. Akaelius flew upwards and carefully let go of Kairo before dropping under him and letting Kairo land on his back. After about an hour of flying over the Ice Plain, Akaelius came to the foothills of the mountains. He flew closer to the ground now, keeping to the shadows and hoping no one would notice the small boy who had fallen asleep on his back. He wove through the mountains, until he came to the enormous black mountain, where Agnar lived. Akaelius landed on the balcony,

            “I have the boy.”

He let Kairo, who had just woken up, get down while he waited for a reply. Ember, Agnar’s queen, came out. She beckoned to Kairo, and he walked over to her. Putting her wing around him protectively, she walked him into the mountain, leaving Akaelius on the balcony alone. He watched as they left, feeling a strange sadness. He decided to go for a flight to clear his head. 

This whole thing made no sense. First Curren just let him take Kairo. Then, Ember acted like he was the villain, when he was only following orders that she knew about! And poor little Kairo and his sister, Kyla, were caught up in it all, because of something they did not even have control over! Akaelius flew higher, stretching out his massive wings. The moon light glanced off his bronze scales. Once he was as high as he could go, he folded his wings and let himself free fall, snapping his tail and catching on fire. When he was practically at ground level, he stretched out his wings, allowing the wind to bring him back up. He leveled out and his fire faded just in time for him to realize he was heading straight for Vinnia, the capital city of Antarctica. Not the best place to go right after kidnapping one of the councilors’ children. There seemed to be smoke coming up from the edge of the trees. It could not be a forest fire, they were far too careful for that to happen. No, it must be something else. Akaelius flew closer, determined to find out what was happening. Suddenly, he saw a flaming arrow shoot up and watched as it barely missed him, hitting the dragon city and starting a fire. He decided now was a suitable time to leave, when he felt a searing pain rip through his right wing as another flaming arrow hit it, lighting it on fire. He lost control and plummeted to the ground, his vision blurred as his speed increased unchecked. Akaelius hit the icy snow, and everything went black.

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            Akaelius blinked slowly, trying to remember why he was alone on the ice plain in the middle of the day. Without warning, all the events of last night flooded into his mind. He groaned and rolled over, looking at his wing, which was severely burnt. Well, he would not be flying for a while. He got up and started walking towards the coast. Thankfully, he was not that far away. In the distance, the city of the dragons smoldered, making the air smell foul. Akaelius hoped to get to Paradise Bay. He had heard of a clan of Sea Dragons that frequented the bay. Perhaps they would let him join their ranks, considering that he would probably never fly again. He wondered what would happen to Kyla, since he had failed to complete that part of Agnar’s plan. He couldn’t really see any of the dragons kidnapping another child of the same family so soon after Kairo’s kidnapping. But, then again, he couldn’t see Agnar just letting her live either. The Dragons of Antarctica had an unhealthy loyalty to their king, and hundreds of them would gladly die trying to wipe out the race of mankind, if he asked them. If he wanted to, he could easily find someone else to kill Kyla, but there was nothing Akaelius could do about that right now. 

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*Two months later*

Akaelius sunbathed on the beach with the Sea Dragons, absently watching the clouds meander across the sky. The other Dragons were napping or digging further into the warm coarse sand, enjoying the summer sun while they could. Despite common belief, Antarctica wasn’t always one big frozen block of ice, and, in the heat of the summer, most of the snow melted away. This only lasted for a few weeks, so whenever it occurred, the Antarcticians (dragons and people alike) never failed to make the most of it. The Sea Dragons were different from the Mountain Dragons in quite a few ways. The most noticeable difference was their wings, which were not as wide as the mountain Dragon’s wings. This made it easier to make sharp turns or quick stops underwater but were useless for flying. They had accepted Akaelius into their clan, because, although he would probably never fly again, he could learn to swim and keep up with the pack. Akaelius stretched out his wings across the course, warm sand and was about to fall asleep when a huge shadow passed over the sun. A dragon. The mountain dragons never flew over the sea, so Akaelius decided to find out what was going on. Keeping his eyes on the dragon, Akaelius slipped into the water. One of the sea dragons, Koralia, noticed him and glided in after him. Koralia, more commonly known as Kora, was light green, with cyan colored eyes. She knew the waters well and had been helping Akaelius find his way around in them. She came up next to Akaelius, watching the dragon above them, who was carrying something. The dragon hovered in the air for a moment, looking around as if to make sure there were no dragons following him. The reflection of the sun on the water prevented him from being able to see either Akaelius or Kora. Once he had convinced himself that he was alone, he dropped what he was carrying. As it got closer to the water, Akaelius realized that it was Kyla. For a moment he froze, afraid that he would not be able to reach her in time. But in the same instant, Kora catapulted herself through the water towards Kyla. Kenji, the dragon who had dropped Kyla, finally noticed her, and started diving for her. Akaelius swam towards them, making sure that they did not notice him. Kora slapped Kenji on the face with her tail, as she grabbed Kyla and Akaelius rammed Kenji, pushing him deeper under water. Finally, Kenji gave up trying to get Kyla back and swam to the surface, gasping for air and trying to catch his breath before liftoff. Akaelius watched him leave before following Kora back to the shore. They landed, and he looked on as Kyla curled up with Kora, who wrapped her wings around Kyla and watched as she fell asleep.