It was out of character for Alexia to rise early. Normally her want was a slow beginning to the day, a long rest in the silken embrace of her sheets, disturbed perhaps by the maid but only for a few moments. And the staff didn’t quite count as a disturbance. Theirs was a presence eternal and overlooked. This would be followed by a light breakfast of refined cheese’s and delicately spiced and herb encrusted breads and crunching crackers, taken either in the immaculate and frequently v

Short Stories of the Dragonring




The rough circle of the dragonlands was marked in various ways around its vast circumference, a reflection of the humans who lived, pressed up to the edge. Fencing, or singular poles of wood or stone stood as it’s markers around the vast rural edges. But where the capital of humanity settled, dense and thriving, pressed between the thick woods and the endless sea, cut in two by a river that

Short Stories of the Dragonring: Merchantary




It was the most devious of rain that cascaded onto the long blunt muzzle of the dragon sitting just outside of Lia’ter. Water came down in a fine mist, so fine he could barely feel it against his scales. But the air was thick with it. In no time at all he was soaked and cold. He hated the rain, he reflected as he hunched his shoulders down, curling up as much as he could while s

Short stories of the dragonring: a romantic digestion




Muriel fussed over her stall; a perplexed frown affixed to her lips as she tried to figure out what was wrong with the dispersal of her wares. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but it was bothering her none the less. In vain she adjusted the hats, rubbed creases from the shirts and adjusted for the fifteenth time that morning the collar on the fine sturdy jacket that w

The town of Lia’ter, translating in the older tongues as veined stone, sat on the north-western edge of the ring of civilisation that looped solidly around the untamed dragonlands. The reason for the naming of that place was a lot more obvious than that of Lia’ter.

The market was loud as usual, voices crying out fresh deals as competition stirred, the whiney of horses coming from the traveller’s quarter at the northern end of the long, open path that ra