Average weight of heart: 2 stone
General notes: Males have a horn that grows halfway down their snout and can reach two strides in length. However, it is not a defensive anatomical feature, as many believe, but a part of their mating ritual where two males will interlock the horns and tug until one of them submits.
Dunfar Sand Strider/Draconis arenus natans
Very sneaky. They like to build false lairs in the shade of tall cactus trees, then burrow a foot or two underneath the sand near the mouth of the lair, waiting for something to walk past. Look carefully for queer impressions in the sand and you can generally spot them. Throw a rock at the beast, let it strike the stone, then rush in to cut its head off.
Small, golden desert dragons with a very limited dispersion.
No samples studied.
Western Ghost Moth/Draconis wisp somnium
Since Ghost Moths don’t eat livestock or attack people, writs aren’t generally put out for them. It’s a good thing. The Moths are gentle and graceful. Driving a spear through one’s brain seems wrong somehow.
An extremely rare, medium-sized dragon occurring in Almira and Papyria.
Coloring: Scales are pale white, with hues ranging from ivory to gray-smoke.
Average length: 18 strides from nose to tail
Average weight of heart: 5½ stone
General notes: The common name, Ghost Moth, comes from the pale coloring and twin tendrils that run down the breed’s snout and resemble the antennae of a moth. There is a white powder on the tendrils that may assist the dragon in locating the dens of subterranean prey, such as foxes and badgers, which are common in both Almira and Papyria.
Known for their lack of aggressiveness toward human settlements as well as their rolling, almost ethereal wing beats, as if they are swimming through the air instead of flying.
A lesser known but equally important characteristic is the breed’s longevity. The natural lifespan is anywhere from eighty to one hundred and fifty years. This unique attribute has led to certain anatomical irregularities that require further investigation.
Ghalamarian Stone Scale/Draconis lapis numquam
These are tricky bastards. Their scales are the same color and thickness as rock slabs. They’ll generally tuck in between a few boulders and ambush unsuspecting mountain goats or unlucky travelers. They’re basically fortresses while they’re lying in wait, but vulnerable while they’re eating. If you think you’ve found one, find a vantage point from above and throw a goat at it. When it starts to eat, a gap in the scales between their spine and skull opens while they’re chewing. That’s where your spear goes.
Large and reclusive breed occurring primarily in the foothills of the Razorback Mountains.
Coloring: Scale hues range from sandy gold to bark-brown skin.
Average length: 47 strides from nose to tail
Average weight of heart: 10½ stone
General notes: The stonelike scales are durable beyond comprehension—acids that normally dissolve dragon scales within a few hours appear to have no effect. A blacksmith could spend an hour pounding on a scale without causing damage to anything except the hammer.
The material would make for wonderful armor if a scale the size of a woman’s hand did not weigh as much as a full-grown warden.
Naga Soul Strider/Draconis mare spinatea
Massive and terrifying, but luckily they stick to the open water. Not sure how you’d kill one. Tow yourself behind a boat as bait with a seashell in your mouth?
Large dragon that roosts on the rocky, uninhabited islands of the Sea of Terra.
Coloring: Scale hues range from azure to indigo.
Average length: 33 strides from nose to tail
Average weight of heart: 7½ stone
General notes: Tail is twice as long as the body, which makes it slow moving and cumbersome on land, but an unrivaled fisherman when flying across the sea. Breed will typically hook the tail beneath its body and trawl the ocean. Diet includes marlin, sea lion, dolphin, and on rare occasions, orca. Adolescents and males will typically eat their catches fresh, while mothers with a brood will return to the interior islands to feed their hatchlings.
The breed’s role in the underwater system of Terra is both mysterious and enticing. What must the marlin think of this airborne creature that appears from nowhere and snatches it upward to the waterless hell above?
Almiran River Lurker/Draconis flumine daeas
Massive, muddy-brown river demons. Best to try and kill them in the winter, when the rivers are cooler and they’re sluggish until early afternoon.
You can spot their underwater lairs because the mud along the banks will be a lighter shade of brown and the water lilies will be tall, healthy, and topped with blue flowers. Get a longboat—at least thirty strides from bow to stern—and paddle out until you’re right above the lair. Drop a big rock down there and it’ll surface for you, but it’ll have to distend its jaw to account for your boat, which leaves it vulnerable. Stab it through the roof of its mouth as it breaches the surface. If you hit the brain, it’ll be dead before it can close its jaw and devour you.
A large, aquatic breed native to Almiran riverways.
Coloring: Scales appear muddy, but can actually range in hue from emerald green to azure blue.
Average length: 42 strides from nose to tail
Average weight of heart: 11½ stone
General notes: Diet consists mostly of bottom-feeding river shrimp and catfish, or the occasional unlucky otter, but their intimidating size has made them needlessly feared by the people of Almira.
The River Lurker, as they’re called colloquially, is vital to the natural balance of Almira. Their feces enrich the riverbanks, leading to healthy water lily and creek-side plants whose roots prevent erosion during the rainy seasons while also providing food for herbivorous wildlife.
Snub-Nosed Blackjack/Draconis var coruptan
Size varies—some are no bigger than a horse, others can tear down city walls. They have thick scales and a ridged back. They generally bed down like deer in meadows—ask around for groves with a lot of Dainwood trees if you’re on the hunt. They like to burrow beneath them for some reason.
The upturned snout makes it difficult to stab it in the eye. Use a longer spear and go for a nostril—the shorter snout means you can reach the brain from there.
A common dragon in the Dainwood jungle.
Coloring: Unique marble scaling of jet-black and bone-white hues.
Average length: 12 strides from nose to tail (note: average not representative due to many outliers)
Average weight of heart: 1¼ stone
General notes: Breed is prone to respiratory infections, likely due to their unique snouts. It’s possible they are able to alleviate these breathing problems by ingesting a white fungus that thrives on the roots of Dain trees. This has created an interesting and mutually beneficial relationship. If one species were to disappear, the other would also perish.
Almiran Lake Screecher/Draconis luc vocifera
Not very large or dangerous, so you don’t see many writs for Screechers. If one of them spends too long at a lake near town, most small lords will just send out a few of their wardens to deal with it. That way, they don’t have to pay taxes on the oil they harvest.
If you pulled a light duty and are hunting one, they are easy to find. Just bend down by the side of an Almiran lake and start splashing the water. They’ll find you.
A common dragon of the Atlas Coast and Gorgon Valley of Almira.
Coloring: Deep green scales that typically present as black, especially when wet.
Average length: 7 strides from nose to tail
Average weight of heart: 1 stone
General notes: The presence of a resident Lake Screecher is a clear sign of a healthy body of water. Just as herons keep frog and fish populations in check, the Lake Screecher typically hunts medium-sized mammals, such as otters, coyotes, and raccoons. If a lake no longer receives freque
nt visits from a Screecher, these mammals tend to overhunt the nests of local birds and snakes, which disrupts the balance of these delicate systems.
Yellow-Spined Greezel/Draconis hallucina favar
Most are only the size of large dogs, but don’t let that fool you. Small means their blood heats up quick, and they move faster than a diving falcon. You’ve got to get them on the ground, but be careful when you start grappling. Those yellow spines are poisonous, and you will not like the visions they bring.
A small dragon common to the deepest parts of the Gorgon River Valley. They have also been known to skirt the Papyrian islands during the summer months.
Coloring: Black scales on the body, bright yellow spines on the back.
Average length: 2 strides from nose to tail
Average weight of heart: ½ stone
General notes: Their compact bodies are extremely efficient when it comes to generating heat. The most remarkable aspect of this breed is the venom carried in their spines, which causes hallucinations, tremors, and, in some cases, a paralysis that leads to death. Juveniles do not begin producing the toxin until their second summer, suggesting that their diet plays a role in the poison’s creation. More research needed to draw further conclusions.
Gray-Winged Nomad/Draconis ravus vargus
Medium-sized, color of smoke. Very difficult to hunt because they spend almost the entire day in flight, covering hundreds of leagues between dawn and dusk, then making their lairs on isolated peaks. But they have a soft spot for Almiran giant river turtles. Tie a turtle down as bait on an uninhabited river island so the Nomad thinks it’s safe, then hide in a blind nearby. The Nomad is vulnerable while it’s trying to crack open the turtle’s shell. Go in through the mouth.
A rare dragon with the largest range of any known breed in the realm of Terra.
Coloring: Hues range from white-smoke gray to deep charcoal.
Average length: 17 strides from nose to tail
Average weight of heart: 3½ stone
General notes: Due to their massive hunting range, this breed affects almost every environment in the realm of Terra. They typically feed off animals watering themselves along the riverways, which keeps the bankside plants and algae from being overgrazed.
There is a rumor that Silas Bershad forged a functional dagger from a Gray-Winged Nomad tooth, but efforts to replicate the process in the eastern tower have been unsuccessful.
Papyrian Milk Wing/Draconis pallida vela
Only killed one. The beast was sick—both eyes rheumy and generally it was disoriented and unwilling to fly. Not sure how or why it came so far south. Walked up and jammed a spear through its eye. Felt like shit afterward.
Common dragon native to the Papyrian Islands.
Coloring: Consistent hue pattern of pale-white wings and jet-black body.
Average length: 14 strides from nose to tail
Average weight of heart: 3½ stone
General notes: Native to Papyria and rarely observed anywhere else. Diet primarily consists of smaller fish and woodland game. Despite their common name, the breed’s oil is a thick and viscous black, which Papyrians dilute and then use to dye the hulls of their ships. Apparently, a single dragon can provide coloring for nearly one hundred ships. Curious what other properties this oil may have that are, as of yet, unknown.
Ghalamarian Green Horn/Draconis cortex circumsta
Big, green, and aggressive. They heat up fast, too. Had one take flight twenty minutes before the sun rose once. Look for them in aspen and cedar groves. You can track them by following the trail of chipped and scarred bark—they rub their horns against them all day.
The horn makes it hard to spear them in the eye, but their underbellies are soft. Squat down with your spear over your head when it charges. If you’re lucky, the mean bastard will disembowel itself.
Common dragon in the forests of Ghalamar.
Coloring: Hues range from turtle-skin to light mint green.
Average length: 23 strides from nose to tail
Average weight of heart: 4½ stone
General notes: Curious habit of rubbing their horns against tree bark. Upon dissection, discovered hollow ducts that run from the horn all through the body. Remarkable—the horn rubbing is used as a method for heating the body, which explains the breed’s alacrity and energy in the morning.
Overhunting in Ghalamar has led to the breed congregating in confined and remote areas. Reports of widespread aspen deforestation have become more and more common.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Writing is a solitary process, but making a book is not. Many people helped me along the way, and without their aid the Flawless Bershad and his crew would never have traveled beyond the recesses of my brain.
First, I would like to thank my agent, Caitlin Blasdell, and my editor, Christopher Morgan. They believed in me and my story from the beginning, and provided me with invaluable advice, insight, and wisdom every step of the way. I would also like to thank the talented team at Tor, as well as Bella Pagan and everyone at Tor UK.
Thank you to Melora Wolff, Greg Hrbek, and Gary Blauvelt for the dedicated instruction and confidence you bestowed upon me as a young writer. Thank you, Justin Anthony, for reading one of the earliest drafts and encouraging me to keep going.
Thank you to my mother and father. Without your love and support, none of this would have happened. Also, my brother and sister, who never let me get away with anything.
Lola, my brave and stalwart German shepherd, slept at my feet while a large portion of this book was written and came up with all the good ideas.
Most of all, thank you, Jess Townsend. You have brought immeasurable joy to this story, and to my life.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
BRIAN NASLUND had a brief stint in the New York publishing world but quickly defected to tech in Denver, where he does internet marketing. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Map
Part I
1. Jolan
2. Garret
3. Bershad
4. Bershad
5. Garret
6. Bershad
7. Ashlyn
8. Garret
9. Ashlyn
Part II
10. Bershad
11. Ashlyn
12. Bershad
13. Jolan
14. Bershad
15. Jolan
16. Garret
17. Bershad
18. Ashlyn
19. Bershad
20. Jolan
21. Garret
Part III
22. Ashlyn
23. Bershad
24. Bershad
25. Bershad
26. Ashlyn
27. Bershad
Part IV
28. Vera
29. Bershad
30. Ashlyn
31. Vera
32. Bershad
33. Bershad
34. Bershad
35. Bershad
36. Ashlyn
37. Garret
38. Bershad
39. Ashlyn
40. Garret
41. Ashlyn
42. Garret
43. Bershad
44. Garret
45. Bershad
46. Garret
47. Bershad
48. Ashlyn
49. Vera
Appendix. The Dragons of Terra
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work
of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
BLOOD OF AN EXILE
Copyright © 2019 by Brian Naslund All rights reserved.
Cover art by Larry Rostant
Map by Jennifer Hanover
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates
120 Broadway
New York, NY 10271
www.tor-forge.com
Tor® is a registered trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows: Names: Naslund, Brian, author.
Title: Blood of an exile / Brian Naslund.
Description: First edition. | New York: Tor, August 2019. | Series: Dragons of Terra; 1 | “A Tom Doherty Associates book.”
Identifiers: LCCN 2018052929 | ISBN 9781250309648 (trade pbk.) | ISBN 9781250309631 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781250309624 (ebook) Subjects: | GSAFD: Fantasy fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3614.A757 B57 2019 | DDC 813/.6—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018052929
eISBN 9781250309624
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at [email protected].
First Edition: August 2019
Blood of an Exile Page 46
