Dragon Fire and Other Fantasy Stories

By Celesta Thiessen

Dragon Fire is a collection of clean fairy tales for teens and adults including, Fire at Night - The Days of the Dragons.

When the realm is over-run with dragons, Lyre considers his grandfather’s counsel: only magic can save them now. But his mother and the rest of the kingdom are depending on the brave knights to defeat the dragons. The fiery beasts are many, and the warriors’ failure could mean starvation for the people. If Lyre searches the river as his grandfather urges, what magic will he find there?

This book is rated 13+

• Language: English
• Publisher: Celesta Thiessen
• Release date: Feb 2, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301490851

Celesta Thiessen

I live in Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada with my husband and two young daughters. We're homeschoolers and entrepreneurs. My husband and I make iOS apps and I write stories. Being a writer is magical - spinning nothing into stories - stories that can light the way to a different world.You can connect with me on Faceboook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCelesta

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DRAGON FIRE AND OTHER FANTASY STORIES

Celesta Thiessen

Copyright 2013 Celesta Thiessen

Call of the Dragon Fire

The King’s Promise

Mischief in the Garden

The Shoemaker’s Daughter

From the Tidal Pool

To Be Free

Jed and ‘Singing’rella

By Way of the Golden Shell

A Fair Husband

Fire at Night: The Days of the Dragons

Call of the Dragon Fire

The sun was low in the sky. Panic closed her throat as she stood, shivering on the dry, cracked mud. Terellis knew she had to be inside before dark. Every child knew.

Don’t be out in the high country after dark. Beware the call of the dragon fire.

The Dragon people. Eyes of burning yellow. Ravenous, mindless, savage. They would eat anything - a deer in the wood, a tender young maid.

Terellis frantically scanned the plain before her. No dwellings. Nowhere to flee from the coming darkness. She had wandered too far from her home and now she was lost.

She heard a rustle in the grass. The woods were her only chance. She fled back into them. Perhaps she could hide among the dense bushes there.

Only half of the large, orange orb still cast a fading light. Her long shadow distorted as she scrambled in amongst some wild rosebushes, her leather jerkin protecting her from its thorns. Then all was darkness as the last of the glowing sphere dipped below the horizon.

Terellis listened. At first, all was silence. Her heart pounded in her ears. Then she heard it. Terrible breathing, close by. Too close. It was getting louder. There was a snarl, impossibly near. Her mind raced with fear. She dug her fingers into the hard earth. There were movements, sounds. They seemed to be coming from all around her. She hunched down further, all her muscles tensing.

Run. She must run. Terellis threw her head back and looked up into the sky. There was a sudden, piercing, animal-dragon sound. She leapt from her hiding spot and ran, with all her speed, down the hill and across the plain below.

The dragon cry came again. A wild sound of joy and freedom. The wind whipped through her hair. Her powerful limbs – scaled; her eyes - bright amber; her teeth - pointed and many; her body - fully transformed.

Do not be out in the high country after dark. Beware the call of the dragon fire.

Lest your own soul answer.

The King’s Promise

Janisia looked at her sisters. They swirled around the room, dancing and clapping to the lively music. She could never be like them. With light blonde hair and deep blue eyes, Janisia was as pretty as her sisters. But she couldn't hear the beat in the music. Not that it would have mattered if she had been born a commoner. Then she could have taken up farming or some trade or just been a wife. But no. She had to be born a princess. As a princess, if she couldn't make music, if she couldn't dance, if she couldn’t do the proper princess things, she wouldn't be able to secure a prince for a husband.

She sighed. And marrying some commoner just wasn't an option. Nor was running away. One day, her father, King Telis, would choose one of them as the next monarch. Somehow she would have to attract a worthy mate so she would not dishonor the family.

***

Janisia weaved her way through the crowded market place. Her lovely, full, blue gown swished as she walked, and the less observant peasants brushed against her while others looked her way in curiosity. Why had she been chosen to deliver the message? Would it not have been more appropriate to appoint a servant to the task? This really was too much! Janisia looked at the cream-colored envelope in her hand, sealed with the king’s burgundy seal. Who was this Alexaviour anyway, to warrant such favor as to have the king’s own daughter deliver the message?

As she neared the inn, she slowed. Vagabonds, thieves, and drunkards filled the tavern, even now in the morning hours. If only her father had allowed her to take a palace guard to accompany her!

She hesitated only a moment before she plunged into the darkness beyond the inn’s front door. She paused as her eyes adjusted. All heads turned toward her. There he was, in the corner. The mercenary, the commoner, Alexaviour. His bushy, brown