Excerpt—The Spring Dragon
The Spring Dragon (Dragos Primeri 2) releases March 1, 2025. Curious about what happend after the events of book one?
Here is a first look inside the pages of The Spring Dragon. Huzzah!
Chapter 2
Ishna
The Spring Dragon by Natalie Wright (March 1, 2025).
Their wings, thousands strong, blotted the light of the two suns, casting long shadows on the ground below. Winged silhouettes loomed over the lands now ruled by people known to dragons as the Two-Leggeds or Walkers.
During Dragos Teplo—the Age of Dragons—before Indrasian’s rise to power, Ishna never considered how humans viewed dragons. Even during the Dô’bedri—the long sleep—Ishna did not reflect on Two-Leggeds. To her mind, Walkers frightened dragons as much as her dragonkin worried humans. People had hunted and slaughtered dragons, dwindling their numbers to less than a thousand. Walkers even desecrated remains of dragonkin, many her own hatchlings. To Ishna, people were a plague upon her species. So many of my beautiful children are gone, she thought.
Yet… she’d lived in an unnatural but tangible co-existence with a human. She and Quen were intertwined. Quen had been a host—albeit unwilling—to Ishna’s soul. And now, I host the essence of Quen. The strange symbiotic life had softened Ishna’s view of humans. I do not forgive their careless and selfish slaughter of my kin. But I now understand that Two-Leggeds fear dragonkin as they fear anything they do not understand. Or cannot control.
And Ishna despised admitting, if only to herself, that Vahgrin had been right. Dragons and humans cannot coexist. Not as it stands now, anyway, she thought. And especially not until we make the Dragos family whole again.
Of the four Primal dragons, Ishna knew her own location and Vahgrin’s. Vahgrin, the dragon of Summer and Primal Fire and the founder of the Ignati faction, remained at Volenex. The location of the other two Primal dragons remained unknown. To complete their Dragos family, she needed to find Zedris, the dragon of Autumn and Primal Earth, and Veridia, the dragon of Spring and Primal Wood. Until all four Primals are together, we can neither mount a proper defense nor stake our claim on this world.
While Ishna knew Vahgrin’s whereabouts, liberating him would have to wait. Veridia—Ishna’s sister, oldest friend, and ally—had not answered Ishna’s call. The dragon of Primal Wood and Spring was missing, though Ishna did not think she was dead. Veridia’s youngest hatchling, Aurixia—the last dragon hatched before the Dô’bedri—claimed she sensed Veridia, her egg-mother. It may be wishful thinking.
Aurixia’s “feeling” was little to go on but reason enough to mount an expedition to search for Veridia, all of dragonkin’s favorite Primal dragon. Such a mission involved significant risk. The search party would likely encounter humans, something Ishna wanted to avoid, both for the sake of dragons and Quen’s human family.
For now, Ishna led all dragonkin who answered her call to the farthest northeastern reaches of Xathi Tol’galen, or what humans called the Bídean Archipelago. Like a stone bracelet shrouded in clouds and mist, the sweeping archipelago contained hundreds of small and large islands.
At its western edge, less than a hundred fifty leagues from the human city of Partha, Xathi Tol’galen was soaring basalt, granite spires, and sheer cliff faces. As the chain of islands wound northeast, the islands flattened but grew colder, the northernmost covered in snow and glaciers. Inhospitable to and mostly unexplored by the Two-Leggeds, Xathi Tol’galen was the perfect gathering location for dragonkin.
Being removed from human encroachment was a benefit, but it also had a drawback: lack of food. Home to millions of nesting birds and surrounded by seas teeming with fish and ocean mammals, the islands provided enough food for a small group of dragons to survive long term. But all dragonkin cannot live by the bounty of these islands alone. Eventually, dragonkin will face our age-old dilemma. How do we survive alongside people?
That is a problem for another day, Ishna thought. After the thousand-year Dô’bedri, the dragons were in a celebratory mood.
Formed by Veridia, the Spring Dragon, Cantiva was the oldest Dragos faction. Though its founder remained missing, Cantiva had taken over the high ground of the largest island in the western archipelago. The oldest, most social, and largest faction, Cantiva welcomed hatchlings from all four Primals.
Usually looking to their founder, Veridia, for leadership and guidance, they unanimously decided that Owaanir, one of Veridia’s oldest hatchlings, should be their shepherd until Veridia’s return. Owaanir’s bright-green skin and red eyes contrasted with the misty sky and gray rock where he perched. The black scaly ridge on his back was relaxed and flat, his eyes closed as he soaked in what little sun the misty grey day afforded.
From the cliffs below, younger dragons launched and dove into the water, calling and laughing as they plunged into the frigid sea to catch fish and hunt seals. Docar, one of Vahgrin’s hatchlings, warmed the rock face with his breath, making it glow orange and yellow. Liejala and Myvishi, the twins, preened on the cliff above and taunted Docar with icy breath, landing a patina of ice on his black scales. Docar shook and flung ice shards that melted in the warmth of his heated stone.
He returned their prank by breathing fire that sizzled on the stone between them. The twins laughed and took wing as Docar’s fire sputtered on the icy stone ledge above him. They taunted him to chase them, but Docar remained in the warmth he’d created.
Ishna and Aurixia, the Spring Dragon’s youngest hatchling, sat with Docar.
“Why could we have not gathered somewhere warmer? Like the volcanos of the southern Sulmére?” Aurixia asked. She spread her wings, gathering warmth.
Docar harrumphed and thumped his tail twice, a sign he disagreed with her. “Have you not heard? My egg-father is held captive there by dragomancers. That land is no safer for Dragos than we would be in Partha or Qülla.”
Her voice was a whisper. “Dragomancers? In Indrasi?”
Docar spit fire against the rock, and it glowed again. “I know my egg-father’s betrayal wronged Ishna and all dragonkin. But even Vahgrin does not deserve enslavement, does he?”
Ishna fluffed her wings and scratched her chin with a dewclaw. “I have asked the minds of Nao faction to consider how best to handle Vahgrin and the dragomancer problem. I am certain Niezhan and the Lít council will provide options.”
“Yes, of course. But… What do you think?”
Ishna rose and flapped her wings a few times as though trying them out. She sidestepped his question. “Come, Docar. Leave thoughts of your egg-father behind for a while. Let us enjoy the air, sea, and fresh fish in our belly.”
They took to the sky and circled with several others before flying to a neighboring island to hunt seals.
Dragons gathered in small social cliques and factions on islands scattered like pebbles strewn by a giant across the sea. Though three major factions were missing their beloved founders, they reveled in their reunions just the same. Vahgrin’s Ignati faction, true to their isolationist roots, gathered on a small island tucked far to the northeast. Zedris’s Nao faction gathered and spent hours speaking the oral histories and debating Dragos ethics and philosophy.
Later in the afternoon, Ishna visited one of her oldest and dearest friends, Niezhan, there. A dragon of earth and one of the largest dragons ever hatched, Niezhan’s white scales shimmered in the midday light. He sat on his haunches and stroked his snowy beard. With bright-yellow eyes in a focused gaze, he listened to Côzhili, another Zedris hatchling, and Naja, one of Ishna’s hatchlings, discuss Dragos ethics relating to people.
They spoke in Dragosi, and after “listening” for two decades to humans speak, the sound was a sweet relief to Ishna’s ears.
“If we exterminate them—” Naja said.
“Assuming we can,” Côzhili cut in.
Naja slowly nodded her iridescent blue-grey head and thumped her tail once to acknowledge her point. “That would not be easy. But for this conversation, assume we could rid this world of the human scourge.”
The thrumming vibration between Ishna’s eyes hammered. Quen. Ishna bellowed aloud from the sudden, intense pain.
Naja dipped her chin. “I apologize, egg-mother, if this discussion harms you. It is difficult to remember that you spent time… as one of them.”
Murmurs rose among the gathered dragons.
Ishna closed her eyes and breathed deeply of the sea air. She thumped her tail once, a sign for the speaker to continue. “It is I who must apologize, Naja.” Ishna then looked at the crowd and raised her voice for everyone to hear. “As you know, I still carry a human soul within me.”
The murmurs rose again.
“Hear me and take this to your hearts. I made a solemn Dragos vow and intend to keep it for myself and all dragonkin. There is one human family that must remain unharmed by dragonkin. Quen Tomo Santu di Sulmére’s kin are neither food nor foe to dragonkin.” Ishna searched their faces and got blank stares in return. The buzzing within her skull pinged, and her forehead throbbed.
This is most unpleasant, Quen. We must find a better way to communicate. One that does not cause such pain that I screech aloud.
Niezhan, acting leader of the Nao faction since its founder, Zedris, was still missing, spoke on behalf of the gathered. “Rest easy, Ishna. Nao is a philosophical lot, not a faction of action.”
The dragons of the Nao faction laughed and thumped their tales in assent.
Niezhan continued. “Look to Ignati, Cantiva, and your own faction, Iska’van, to make grand plans and pursue action. We of Nao are content, as we have always been, to stuff our bellies and, with satiated appetites, ponder complexities while doing not a damned thing.”
More laughter erupted, and even Ishna laughed, as she knew it was true. The buzzing in her skull lessened. “You just rose from a thousand-year slumber, and this is how you spend your time?” She laughed again. “Only Nao faction finds endless debate entertaining.” She gazed at her dragonkin, and a tear gathered in her blue eye. “Zedris would be proud. Is proud.” Wherever the dragon of Primal Earth is, she thought.
Côzhili rose and cheered, “To Zedris!” She thrust her snout to the sky, “Time to take wing, sa’gamlin.”
The rest of the Nao cohort let out throaty calls, and several took to the sky. Tails thumped, and the heavens shook from their cries for their founder and beloved leader, Zedris.
Niezhan likely knew Ishna had come to speak to him, but he did not press her, and she did not immediately speak. They did not hasten to fill every silence with sound.
After several moments, Niezhan said, “I know you, sa’gamlin. You would not give up an afternoon of hunting or nuzzling with Docar to seek an afternoon of Dragos history and ethics lessons with Nao. What brings you to our humble pile of rock?”
Ishna smiled and rested her forehead against his. “How I missed you.” She remained in that position for what, to Two-Leggeds, would seem an overly long time. Finally, she said, “After a thousand years in Vay’Nada’s void, no one desires a rollick more than I, Niezhan. Do not worry your old white head. Docar and I are making up for our lost time.”
Niezhan lowered his chin, shook his head, and exhaled a dry puff of dragon breath. “Please, spare me the sordid details of your loving time.”
Ishna’s laugh, throaty and multitonal, hung in the misty air. “By the gods, Niezhan, we never change, do we?”
He stroked his white beard with digits ending in long black talons as he returned her smile. “To quote one of Zedris’s aphorisms: ‘To live is to remain.’”
“We remain,” Ishna said.
Again, the dragons allowed silence to swell, each considering the full meaning of Zedris’s wisdom.
Finally, Ishna said, “To answer your initial question, I seek counsel from my oldest and wisest friends. You, of course, but also Naja and Côzhili.”
To that, Niezhan called their names in a slow, low speech that carried a great distance. Before long, Naja’s blue-grey scales shimmered as she turned in their direction, still swallowing a harbor seal whole. Côzhili, too, ceased frolicking on the wing with three other dragons and gracefully landed beside Niezhan, belying her great size.
Naja belched, emitting a briny odor to which Côzhili hissed and flapped her wings to rid their area of the foul smell. Naja said, “A gathering of what remains of our small council, the Lít.” The gathered thumped. “It has been long since our tiny council of inexpert experts gathered.” Naja laughed, and the others joined in her mirth.
Ishna said, “After my time in the Void, aware of all yet unable to interact, and then my time among humans, trust me when I say our Lít is a most adept counsel indeed. Aurixia—”
“Veridia’s last hatchling?” Côzhili asked.
“The very same. Rixi, as I call her, claims she senses Veridia,” Ishna said.
Niezhan stroked his beard and narrowed his pale yellow eyes. “Have you sensed our dragon of Primal Wood?” He asked this of Ishna.
She thumped her tail twice, indicating no.
“Then it is likely hopeful thinking,” Niezhan said.
“This is what I fear,” Ishna responded.
Niezhan continued. “Aurixia is still a young hatchling. It is natural for her to yearn for Veridia, her egg-mother.”
Naja and Côzhili thumped their agreement.
“True, and thoughts I have considered. Yet Rixi is an uncommonly perceptive Dragos. Her egg-mother poured much of her essence into Aurixia.”
“You believe, then, that Aurixia truly senses Veridia?” Naja asked.
Ishna thumped. “I do. The young Dragos implores me to take up the search now.”
Naja and Côzhili both thumped, but Niezhan remained silent. “Does she sense where Veridia is located? This world is vast. Even a dragon can be quite difficult to locate if they choose to remain hidden.”
Côzhili thumped and added, “Like my egg-father, Zedris.”
All thumped in agreement.
“Aurixia believes we’ll find Veridia in the wilds of the continent the Two-Leggeds call Tinox. The region they refer to as the Vatnoyer.”
The dragons hissed at the mention of the Vatnoyer.
Naja gave voice to their disapproval. “That land is crawling with Two-Leggeds of the foulest sort. Wildings. They war with each other nonstop and kill anything nonhuman that crosses their path. And they wear the skins of creatures they have killed.” Naja shuddered.
Ishna had spent years observing Quen and her family curing animal skins for trade and crafting them into wearable items. It was an odd custom, and Ishna initially struggled to understand it. But the practice made sense to her in the Sulmére, where little grew that humans could use or eat. I will keep these memories to myself, though, Ishna thought. My dragonkin will not understand this as I now do.
Instead, Ishna said, “The Vatnoyer is a dangerous land, to be sure. I will force no one to come with me.”
“You are intent on traveling, I see,” Niezhan said. “Then what counsel do you seek of the Lít?”
Ishna had hoped Niezhan would agree more with her idea of mounting a search-and-rescue mission for Veridia. She hadn’t desired counsel so much as to gain assent. He is never one to agree with my every word—perhaps why we have remained friends for over two thousand years. I do not require companions to be easy with me so long as they remain faithful, Ishna thought.
Ishna said, “In truth? Yes, I plan to find Veridia. She is not only my sister but my oldest friend and ally. Being the dragon of Primal Wood, Veridia carries the essence of life itself. I saw firsthand what the Rajani dragomancers have done to Vahgrin.”
The gathered dragons hissed.
Ishna continued. “Using him as a weapon to pursue their own vile ends. Dragos have been free of Two-Legged control since the Jik’Madar when Zedris broke the Drowned World to free us. We cannot allow Two-Leggeds or dragomancers to gain control of Veridia.”
They all thumped once and gave a cry of approval for Ishna’s words.
Though Ishna still seethed at her brother, Vahgrin, for his role in her first death, that another species shackled any dragon rankled her. “We will, of course, need to mount a mission to liberate Vahgrin. But that must wait. Without the other two Primals, I have no hope of subduing the Rajani dragomancers and Vahgrin. I fear a thousand years has not dimmed his anger with me and lust for vengeance.”
Niezhan slowly nodded and thumped once. “Wise words, Ishna, and I fear they are all too true. Nao is pondering the dragomancer problem. We will continue to consider how to sever the Rajani hold on our brother, father, and friend.”
All thumped once. Ishna continued, “But for now, I need recommendations on who to take with me on my hunt for Veridia. And counsel on how best to avoid involvement with Two-Leggeds. All dragons on this mission must return. Alive.”
Naja let out a throaty call of assent, and Côzhili matched it.
“Come then, settle your lusts, sa’gamlin,” Niezhan said. “Let us consider the problems Ishna lays before us.” Niezhan’s pale eyes glimmered as he spoke, clearly happy to be called upon to think and ponder again.
Ishna smiled, gladdened to see her friends together, cooperating on the problems as only Dragos can. “I leave you to your discussions, my Nao friends. You know where to find me after you have formulated your suggestions.”
Niezhan shook his head. “Do not begin speaking of your lusty cavorting with Docar again.”
They all laughed, and Ishna took wing. She twirled as she soared, icy wind rippling her snowy hair. Ishna shook and sent twinkling iridescent scales raining onto her friends. She flew west toward the glowing rocks of dragon-heated spires. To the open wings of her lover, Docar.
