Prologue

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Draykon

(Book One of the Draykon Series)

by

Charlotte E. English

Copyright 2011 by Charlotte E. English

Cover design by Elsa Kroese

All rights reserved.

Prologue

   On one cool afternoon when the rain fell in gentle, glittering droplets and the ground underfoot was spongy with moisture, nine-year-old Llandry Sanfaer walked with her mother beneath the trees far to the south of the Glinnery forests. They were gathering mushrooms, diminutive little fungi with stems fat with juice and caps painted with colour. Llandry crowed with delight each time she found a new mushroom ring, picking the fattest or the most colourful specimens with nimble fingers. Their baskets were growing heavy with gathered produce when Ynara began to speak of returning home.

   'Not yet, Mamma, just a little bit longer!' Llandry loved these excursions, loved the hours they spent in close companionship, just her and Mamma. She gazed up into her mother's face with her most hopeful smile, and of course Mamma relented.

   'All right, little love, but don't pick too many more mushrooms, or we'll never be able to carry them home.' Llandry promised and was off once more, her small form a whirlwind of activity.

   Then a faint melody reached her ears and she came to an abrupt stop, her keen eyes searching the mossy slopes for the source.

   'Ma, what's that sound?'

   'What sound, love?' Llandry looked up to find nothing but incomprehension in Mamma's face. She frowned and dismissed the thought, dancing onward once more.

   There; again, a hint of music. Not a sound at all, in fact, more of a feeling of spiralling harmony, drawing her onward through the vast, pale trunks dotted like serene guardians over the meadow. In the shade of a particularly broad-capped glissenwol tree was a glade encircled by tall, variegated fungi. The mosses that carpeted the circle of ground were not of the customary colour. Instead of the deep blue that matched the eventide sky, these were lavender touched with green. Golden sunlight drenched the clearing, bright and glittering in spite of the glissenwol cap that rose above. And the drifting motes of light that filled the air of Glinnery were thickly clustered here, twinkling far more brightly than their paler cousins, sparking with energy and laced with colour. Llandry stood, mesmerised by this scene. She was distantly aware of her mother's voice calling her name, but she was unable to answer.

   The thin sound of an animal in distress reached her sensitive ears. Something moved in the centre of the glittering circle: she saw a flash of grey, heard the faint wail of unhappiness repeated.

   Mamma had caught up with her. Llandry was aware of her footsteps approaching, then halting a short distance behind her. She could imagine her mother's reaction to this place; she must be filled with wonder and delight, just as Llandry had been. She was surprised, then, to hear a note of horror creep into Ynara's voice as she called.

   'Llandry! Llandry, stop there. Don't move, love.' The footsteps approached, and Mamma's arms closed around her. To her dismay and confusion, she was lifted and carried backwards.

   'No! Mamma, there's an animal, don't you hear it? It's hurt.' The movements of the mysterious creature had ceased, but now Llandry saw it again: a small body, long and thin, with sleek, pale grey fur. She struggled out of her mother's arms and ran forward.

   When she stepped into the circle, she felt the golden light bathing her skin as if it was a physical thing, like water. The effect was beautiful, soothing and warm, but not wholly pleasant, for a feeling of tension hung heavy in the air and Llandry's skin prickled with unease. For a moment she forgot about the sleek-furred creature, but another squeak of distress drew her eyes downward into the centre of the strange lavender-hued moss.

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