My son is raven cursed,
Slave of bone and fire.
Ice there is,
and empty halls
And a great tree burning.
Swords be broken
Shields be cleft.
Will no one love my son?
The raven falls.
Fire freezes and winter burns,
Ashes gather over the Niflheim.
All is lost or not lost
When roses bloom no more.
Ever by blood
Fate is slated.
Will no one love my son?
~~~
SNEAK PEEKSome distance away, the squirrel saw the spark that set fire to the fortress.
Tosk skidded to a halt, atop a small boulder, his nose lifted to the air. He sniffed, and as he did, his eyes widened in horror. He smelled smoke, of course, and the distinctly acrid scent of dragon. Like most creatures in the world, a dragon had its own unique scent.
The human had betrayed him. By sending him on this silly errand, she intended to keep him away just when things were getting really interesting.
He was going to miss everything.
The squirrel launched from the top of the boulder and across a long line of smaller ones sticking out of the snow. As he went, he shrieked and called that dragon girl every unkind name he could think of. Which was rather a long list, as Tosk had suffered many injustices and knew just the right word for each and every one of them. In his haste, he slid off one of the smaller rocks and disappeared into a snow drift. He emerged, his fur frosted in snow, even more irate.
This, too, was the dragon girl’s fault.
He clawed his way back onto the rock just as a second burst of fire roared to life on the plateau far above him.
He was going to miss everything.
Everything.
~~~
SYNOPSIS:
It is the age of dreams.
When Kenna, the raven, foresees a girl in the Mist, she believes she has finally found the one to break the curse. That has always been her mission, since the day her misguided anger cast the curse than engulfed both her and Odin's son, Baldur, complicating what was already an impossible nightmare. But the girl she sees in the Mist is different than the others who have come for the Trials, than the others who have failed and returned home terrorized by their experience. This girl actually wants to be here.
Astrid, the dragon slayer's daughter, has a plan of her own. She is not interested in dreams and curses. There is only one thing that she desires, and falling in love is not it. After all, some girls were never meant to fall in love.
Baldur, the bear, inherited the gift of dreams from his mother. His dreams are consumed with the one event in his future he cannot seem to escape: his death. For years, he and the Raven have tried to find a woman capable of loving him in spite of his monstrosity, and for years they have failed. The roses are dying and the sky burns red like fire. The times tell the tale of the end.
And the end is always the Dragon.
It is the age of dreams.
When Kenna, the raven, foresees a girl in the Mist, she believes she has finally found the one to break the curse. That has always been her mission, since the day her misguided anger cast the curse than engulfed both her and Odin's son, Baldur, complicating what was already an impossible nightmare. But the girl she sees in the Mist is different than the others who have come for the Trials, than the others who have failed and returned home terrorized by their experience. This girl actually wants to be here.
Astrid, the dragon slayer's daughter, has a plan of her own. She is not interested in dreams and curses. There is only one thing that she desires, and falling in love is not it. After all, some girls were never meant to fall in love.
Baldur, the bear, inherited the gift of dreams from his mother. His dreams are consumed with the one event in his future he cannot seem to escape: his death. For years, he and the Raven have tried to find a woman capable of loving him in spite of his monstrosity, and for years they have failed. The roses are dying and the sky burns red like fire. The times tell the tale of the end.
And the end is always the Dragon.
This is so great. I'd really love to see this in the collection so I can find out what happens.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Hannah, that's very sweet. I entered two stories this year and I honestly can't choose between them which one I would be more excited about winning...Wither was a long term project, that I put a lot of myself emotionally into. When Raven's Fall was conceptualized, written and edited within six weeks. I almost didn't get it done in time.
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