My 1968 copy!

I’ve always wanted to write my own dragon riders story ever since I read the first book in the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey serialized in Analog magazine in 1967. Like everything I thought there needed to be more romance but considering the time when she wrote it, it was probably lucky there was as much romance as there was.

I’m primarily a science fiction romance author (and yes, I know Pern has science fiction at the core but oh, those beautiful dragons…) so from time to time I have written a fantasy story, those were few and far between. I’d established my world, however, known as Claddare and I was sure I could fit dragon riders into the ongoing magic of the place. Someday. I didn’t want to write my version of Pern though. I wanted to firmly establish my own dragons and their riders. No one can write Pern but the late Ms. McCaffrey!

The finale of the zombie planet series!

So I’d finally figured out the structure of my dragon riders organization and where it would fit into the world of Claddare and I had what I thought was a great story, about a witch who is called upon by a dragon late one night to save his rider, who happens to be the Commander of the Western Fortress Dragon Riders. But if I can be completely honest here, my fantasy/romantasy books don’t sell particularly well, not compared to my scifi romances. Partly it’s because there are so few of them to date. It’s sort of a self fulfilling prophecy. I need to pay my bills, including the costs of self publishing, so I usually allow myself one book a year that isn’t SFR but is a project close to my heart. I LOVE my scifi romance world of the Sectors but it’s fun for an author to write different genres and times and it rejuvenates my Muse.

When I finished the fifth book in my zombie planet series, which was also something I’d wanted to write forever, I was zombied out and I needed a complete change of pace. Voila, time to write dragon riders! I sat down at the computer the first day and banged out over 1000 words and the story just kept coming. Usually it’s like pulling teeth until I hit the 10K words point. This was one of those magical books that arrived fully realized and ready to just download from my brain to the ‘paper’ and only took two weeks to write 47K words. Then of course there were edits, etc. I love it and have sequels in mind – it’s just finding the time around other books and commitments. But there will be more!

The excerpt:

The floor underneath her shook a bit and her dishes clinked in the cupboard. Lyra grabbed at the table and gasped, unable to fathom what was happening. The strongest possibility, that a dragon had actually landed nearby, was too unlikely to be believed.

Help is needed, said a voice in her head insistently. You must come.

Grabbing her shawl, she ran to the door, hesitating only to slide a knife into her boot and grab a lantern. Once outside she was buffeted by the wind and it was hard to make her way beyond the shelter of the cottage. As if someone had a grip on her hand, she walked forward, heading for the orchard and the field beyond.

The wind lessened among the apple trees and she walked faster. “I’m coming,” she said out loud, feeling foolish, but the sense of urgency inside her hadn’t faded and the pull on her grew stronger. Coming out the other side of the fruit trees, Lyra stopped in astonishment and fear.

A huge dragon sat crouched in the meadow beyond, wings folded, forked tail thumping against the ground as it twitched. The creature swiveled its head to her, opalescent eyes gleaming in the dark. The Commander is hurt. He requires your help.

The voice was slightly sibilant in her mind, beautifully resonant.

Lyra hesitated. Dragons in the sky or in the abstract were one thing but this monster taking up nearly her entire field was quite another.

I won’t hurt you, girl, unless you seek to harm my rider.

“I’m a white witch,” Lyra said with pride. “Sworn to provide only beneficial magic. Where is this person and what’s wrong with him?”

Here, on the ground. He couldn’t hold on any longer so I had to land and we’ve flown over your cottage enough times for me to have tasted your magic. I know you’re a healer.

Now Lyra could see a figure lying in a heap next to the dragon’s tree trunk-like front leg. The man groaned and she rushed forward, kneeling beside him. The copper smell of blood rose to her nostrils and her magic sparked. Setting aside the lantern, she tried to roll him over onto his back. He was a big man but she managed by locking her fingers around the leather vest he wore and tugging. As he lay flat, she saw the slash in his tunic. ”A deep wound,” she said in dismay. “What happened to him?”

Not waiting for an answer, she tore a strip from her petticoat, made it into a pad and put it to the wound, pressing as hard as she dared and muttering a healing spell. She needed to stop the bleeding before she could try to move him out of the cold into the cottage. As the white and gold sparks of her magic danced over the wound, she got a strange rush of sensation, as if his magic welcomed hers. She’d never felt that before and nearly pulled her hand free in shock but after a moment the feeling faded. Under her palm the pulsing of the blood subsided in response to her efforts.

“I’ve got to get him inside,” she said. “He’s going to have to help—he’s too big for me to move alone.”

The dragon nudged at the man’s shoulder gently and he groaned. The healer says you must rise and walk to her cottage.

Lyra heard what the creature said but there was no response from the man. Rising herself, she hooked her hands under his shoulders and tugged. She added a small burst of power to help him. She had to be careful or at this rate she’d exhaust all her energy before she even had the chance to do a proper healing. His magic must have agreed with her about the necessity to get out of the field because he got to his feet shakily, towering over her by at least a foot.

“Lean on me,” she said, putting her arm around him.

They made their way through the orchard at a stumbling, halting pace and she knew only her magic was keeping him on his feet. He must have lost a great deal of blood before the dragon brought him here. He never would have made it to their fortress in the distant mountains.

She was exhausted when they finally crossed the threshold of her cottage. The wards flared green and gold as he passed them, as if greeting an honored guest. Lyra had no time to wonder at the reaction because she was trembling and her knees were about to give way under the weight of the man she was supporting. Hastily she guided him to the bed in the far corner where he collapsed onto the mattress without a word.

Hands on her hips, breathing hard, Lyra looked at the dragon rider in her bed. He was tall and handsome, with golden brown hair to his shoulders, knotted from the wind in the skies. Her spell was weakening and the blood would begin flowing from the slash again so she went to retrieve her basket of equipment and herbs. Returning to the bedside, she pulled off his boots, which were of rich leather and then undressed him from the waist up to get access to the wound and see if there were any other injuries she needed to treat. She had to quell an inappropriate clenching at her core as she removed his shirt and saw the defined muscles  of his torso and abdomen. A trail of hair led below the waist of his pants and she was sure he was equally blessed in that as well. The fairy tales and myths didn’t lie about the devastating attractiveness of the dragon riders.

Depositphotos

CONOR (DRAGONS OF CLADDARE) by Veronica Scott

Lyra is a White Witch in the distant countryside of the land. She tends her herbs and does healing and small spells for the nearby village and dreams of a different life. When the legendary dragon riders of Claddare fly overhead she watches them, longing to soar the skies just once. She wishes for one of them to swoop down and carry her away from her humdrum existence to their Fortress but knows fairy tales aren’t meant to come true.

Conor is the Commander of the Western Fortress Dragon Riders. When he’s severely injured in an assassination attempt far from home, his dragon brings him to the cottage of the nearest healer. Lyra cares for him while his dragon goes to fetch help. When Conor’s men come to rescue him, he takes Lyra with him. The attraction between them is undeniable.

Once at the Fortress Lyra isn’t sure why Conor insisted she had to be there. Life in the dragon riders’ home isn’t exactly the fairy tale she imagined and there are plots and problems on every side. She’s falling in love with her patient but he gives her conflicting signals about his feelings for her. Conor’s never before contemplated asking a woman to be his one and only, to take the title of Commander’s Lady and bond with him and his dragon. His hesitation to declare his love leaves an opening for agents of the Shadow to sweep in and threaten Lyra. Will Conor place everything on the line to save the woman he’s come to realize he can’t live without?

Find out in Conor (Dragons of Claddare). This 47K word novel takes place in my established fantasy world of Claddare and is a standalone with an HEA.

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My 4 titles set in the world of Claddare: