Excerpt – The Blood of a dragon, scene 1
This is fun. I’m going to post a scene from a book and then break it down with a little author annotation. I’ll start with the first scene of the first book in the series.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Anuka turned the bone-handled dagger over in his hand. His tiny red legs dangled over the edge of his cot as he frowned at the weapon. The handle was whalebone and carved with designs more commonly found on an Elven dagger than a Goblin weapon. It clearly wasn’t Gobin made. The sleek steel blade was more finely crafted than anything any Goblin smith could make. His father had told him it was Dwarven, which meant very old. No one had seen a mountain dwarf for centuries.
He ran a finger gently along the side of the blade, careful to avoid the well-honed edge. Like the dagger, Anuka was also of a strange composition. His father was a goblin, a legendary pirate, and a respected engineer. Among other things. His mother was something different. It hadn’t bothered him that he didn’t know what kind of creature his mother was. Until Papa had disappeared. Without his papa around to entertain him, he missed his Mama more. He thought about the day she drowned a lot more often. Once aboard the Sea Pocket, he started having nightmares again about that night.
Having seen some of the world, Anuka sorted through all the creatures he had encountered, trying to figure out what type of creature his Mama had been. She sure wasn’t a goblin. She was as tall as a human with blood-red skin, like his. Her voice was musical, like the strumming of a harp, and her eyes were dark and deep. He thought she must have been a witch or something like that. Anyone who used magic without using DragonsBlood or actually being a Dragon was a witch or sorcerer. And as good as dead. Her magic hadn’t gotten her killed. But she was dead just the same.
The Sea Pocket, the rotting collection of boards on which he was crossing the Dragonblade Sea, rocked violently while a handful of passengers groaned. If we make it to Usban, I’m sinking this heap, Anuka thought.
Usban Port was the first stop on his journey to find his missing Papa. He needed a boat. Then a crew. And a pile of coins wouldn’t hurt either. The coin would probably be easier than the crew. Even though the Sea Pocket was crammed full of people, Anuka hadn’t yet found one soul fit to serve on his crew.
Most of the passengers were headed to Usban to find work. Usban, like every city in the swamp-laden providence of Zhazie, was ruled by the Black DragonLord Caustimis, or “Bog” as everyone called him. Bog was an enormous Black Dragon who could turn a turd into a mountain of gold. He built massive warehouses where everything from the finest silks to the strongest liquors were made. Those people heading for Usban weren’t going to make silk or booze, they were aiming to be sea scavengers. Mostly water-breathers, like Sea Elves or Sea Dwarves would scour the bottom of the sea for shipwrecks from ages past. It was dangerous work, but those who survived were well paid. Dragons paid well for relics of the past, especially weapons. More than half of the passengers of the Sea Pocket were likely after that kind of work.
Occasionally, you would meet a Sea Dwarf with a talent for sailor work, but most of those Anuka had met were violent, stupid, and crazy. Not good crew material. Sea Elves weren’t much use on a boat. It was too hard to keep them out of the water. There was a Minotaur on board who might be useful on a ship but he had screamed at anyone who tried talking to him. Anuka had also met a High Elf but he had turned out to be some sort of religious nut. A cultist of some kind. Anuka had even seen one big guy that he dubbed Fish Man. But he saw the man talking to dolphins one day and decided against approaching him. Too bad. He could have made an excellent sailor. But based on how he staggered around the deck, this was likely his first time aboard a ship. None of those folk would fit in with Anuka’s crew. He looked up in time to see Fish Man walk past an open doorway muttering to himself.
Anuka sighed, slid his dagger smoothly away, and hopped off his bunk. He hadn’t yet talked to everyone on board. Straightening his tunic, he painted on his best smile. “Time to go be charming,” he said. Then he set off to find someone crazy enough to join his adventure.
Anuka’s dagger! I wanted to start the book with a hook that showed Anuka’s special relationship with his Papa. A lot of young men in the rural area I hail from have memories of their father passing down and old Case knife or something similar. I really wanted to invoke that sentiment.
One of the criticisms I get about book 1 is the slow start. Also, we see a vulnerable side of Anuka that’s only hinted at throughout the rest of the series. That was intentional. I wanted the first image to be positive before his antics began to pile on.
There is some exposition here about the world that I could have done without, but love Dorwine and the world so much!
I heard a story one time about Elvis Presely singing gospel music with a group backstage before a concert. His manager kept pestering him to stop and go do what needed to be done. Elvis got up and said something like, “Sorry guys, I have to go be Elvis.” Anuka would absolutely see himself in Elvis, were the two worlds to collide. In the same way, Anuka has to go pretend to be the guy that makes his money and gets stuff done. He would rather sit and lament the loss of his parents. Sometimes we just like to wallow 🙁
If you don’t have this story already, you can find it HERE.