Their king
welcomes the foreign Prince hoping that he will solve his two problems: the
dragon and his strong-willed daughter. Coming from a warrior kingdom, Darinel
despises violence, but charmed by Princess Tuskja’s dare, he sets out to
confront the beast. Instead of finding a fierce dragon, he finds a friend. The
dragon’s malicious humor and his love of fairy tales entangle Darinel in a
summer of adventures, while danger
stirs in the East, the Dark Prince. Being refused by the Princess and
humiliated by the dragon, this proud prince seeks revenge.
In
compliance with the king’s decree, Darinel is torn between his friendship with
the dragon and his love for Princess Tuskja, whom he can only marry if he kills
his friend. Before he can make a decision, the kingdom is under attack. Now it
is up to the dragon to either help his friend or respect his wish to not
interfere.
Excerpt:
“A very human
viewpoint,” the voice agreed. “But it brings so much trouble.”
“Exactly. I just
didn’t fit in my father’s plans and... Well, I kind of got kicked out.”
“Really?”
“After I told my
father, I was leaving,” Darinel explained, his hands moving to support his
words. “I wanted to spare him the embarrassment so I packed my things and told
everybody I was going on an adventure.”
“And that’s why you
are here now?” the voice inquired, amused.
“Nah!” the prince
said with a smirk. “I just wanted to leave with a believable explanation, so my
father wouldn’t lose face for having a firstborn who doesn’t want to
fight...and to make room for my little brother.”
“Lose his face? Like
it would fall off?” the voice asked, confused.
The prince laughed.
“Man, what rock have you been living under?”
“Why? What’s so wrong
with living under a rock?” The voice sounded hurt.
The prince bit his
lip to stop the laughter building up in his chest, but failed miserably.
Laughing, he replied, “It’s just an expression. Haven’t you heard it before?”
“Not that I recall,”
the voice said, sulking. “And I pride myself on knowing quite a few phrases.”
The prince sat up
straight.
“I’m sorry. It is a
common phrase where I’m from and it stands for ‘to be embarrassed by someone’s
actions.’ But it also means to lose respect and honour.”
“Oh, I see. So, by
admitting that you hate fighting, you would be a disappointment to your father
and he would be embarrassed by you. Am I correct?” inquired the voice, eager.
The prince winced.
“Yeah, you could put it like that.”
“Ha! I learned
something new today!” the voice said, excited.
The prince smiled.
“Glad to be of help.”
“So, what’s that got
to do with your little brother?” the voice asked.
“Well, I’m the first
born and so would inherit my father’s kingdom. My little brother would have
been the one to leave and find his own place.” Darinel intertwined his long
fingers. “But he belongs there and is madly in love with the daughter of one of
the knights.” He smiled at remembering his brother’s astonished face.
“With me still being
unmarried, they weren’t allowed to wed either. You know, stupid rules royalty
have to live by,” he added, flinging his hands in the air. “So I decided to go.
This way he can marry and stay in my father’s kingdom.”
“Quite a noble
sacrifice.” The voice sounded impressed.
“Oh no...” The prince
smiled, embarrassed. “It’s not a big deal.”
“Of course it is!”
the voice boomed, and a few rocks splashed into the creek. “You gave up
everything for your brother.”
The prince shook his
head. “Isn’t that what any big brother would do?”
“I don’t know.”
The voice remained
silent for a moment and Darinel watched the stream as it rushed by.
“So why are you here
then?”
A grin flashed over
the prince’s face. “Princess Tuskja dared me.”
“Did she now?” The
voice sounded amused. “Knowing her, I can picture that.”
“You are acquainted
with the princess?” He looked up, surprised.
“Well, just from her
roaming around,” the voice admitted. “She has quite an inquisitive mind. She
explored my mountains for a while.”
The prince nodded.
“Yeah, sounds like her.”
“But then her father
found out and locked her up in the castle.”
Darinel shaded his eyes, but still couldn’t
make out where the voice was coming from.
“I heard rumours
about that. Anyway, all I wanted to do is settle here.”
“So what happened?”
the voice asked.
“I went to the king
to ask his permission to stay,” the prince said, “which he granted. But then he
threw in this assignment of killing the dragon and getting his daughter in
reward.”
“Really?”
“Yep, that’s the
deal,” the prince said. “I thanked the king and pointed out I was only interested
in settling down, not marrying. That’s when the princess dared me.”
“Ouch!”
“Yeah.” He sighed. “I
could not let that pass, could I? She ridiculed me in front of the whole court.
So I packed my horse and came up here.”
“That’s tough,” the
voice replied sympathetically.
“Yes, it is. But
anyway, it’s way too hot to fight today. And I’d rather make friends than
enemies. So, won’t you come out now and sit with me?” the prince offered a second
time.
Silence fell over the
little valley, where the creek bubbled quietly. He feared the voice had left
when a loud rustle like sails in the breeze filled the air. The sun disappeared
as the wind picked up. Little dust roses curled skyward and showered him with
debris. He leaned into the rock as the dragon landed in front of him. With
great care, the beast folded its wings, curling his tail around him. Darinel’s
eyes widened with admiration. Tall as three horses stacked on top of each other
and wide as a house, the dragon towered over him. His dark green scales
reflected the sunlight so intensely he had to shade his eyes. Impressive claws
scraped the ground as the dragon tilted his head and golden eyes studied him
with keen interest.
He smiled as he observed the dragon in return. For a moment, neither of
them spoke and Darinel had the feeling the beast was as curious about him as he
was about it. Slowly, it lowered his triangle-shaped head to take a good sniff
at him, revealing its horned eye ridges. Darinel held his breath, but strangely
he didn’t feel scared, more intrigued. The dragon didn’t look mean. Its golden
eyes radiated warmth and longing more than fierceness and malice. It was
intelligent with a wicked sense of humour. He liked that.
“You knew it was me
all along?” the dragon asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
The prince tilted his
head, so he could see the dragon better and smiled. “Who else would be out here
with a dangerous dragon lurking around in the mountains?”
Author Bio:
Born and raised in
Germany, Antje Hergt came to explore the Canadian Rockies in Canmore, Alberta
in 2003. Taking part in the Writing-with-Style Program at the Banff Centre for
the Arts in 2007 encouraged her to follow her passion: writing for children.
Darinel Dragonhunter is her first novel, which was inspired by her deep love
for classic children literature and fairy tales. Her thrill for science
fiction/fantasy movies and television shows had an outlet in various genre
short stories. She is a member of the Alberta Writer’s Guild and graduated from
the Justus-Liebig-University in Giessen with a degree in Modern Languages.
Currently, Antje still
lives in Canmore with her snoring cat, Sally, and gets inspired by the magic of
the Rocky Mountains. If she is not in Canmore, you can find her in Germany.
Buy from:
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1 comment:
It sounds wonderful!Best luck Antje.
:)
Rose
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