Striped Dragons come in a dazzling array of colors complemented by an intricate pattern of stripes. These bright colors and patterns help attract their favorite food, insects. Because their prey is so tiny, striped dragons must spend a large portion of their day eating. The color of the offspring is usually determined by the dragon’s mate.

Dragons are highly-intelligent reptilian creatures that—from a human perspective, at least—appear to live forever. Many different varieties of dragon exist, each with their own unique qualities, habitats, and behavior. Adolescence in dragons is usually marked by the growth of a hatchling’s wings, although not all breeds of dragons grow wings and some breeds have other traits that indicate the beginning of maturation. In Galsreim, dragons and humans coexist peacefully.

Kicel blinked, drinking in the oddly reassuring blackness of the caves.

He thought he would never wake up again.

He'd been sure he'd never wake up again. He'd been conscious long enough to register this fact before the Velha had knocked him out. Yet he was awake now...not really certain that was a good thing. He'd seen enough in war to realize that sometimes the enemy just liked to watch the life leave your eyes.

He acknowledged a booming pain in the back of his skull as he tried to get up. Nope, not happening. It was like that day when he'd first seen ice. The complete idiot he was, he had attempted to rush across it and fell flat on his face. Brei and Shalts had never laughed so hard.

His heart skipped a beat. Brei! Shalts! Questions began flying in his head. Were they okay...where were they...did they get captured too...he tried to look around and finally really took in where he was. All he could do was gasp and gape. What the...

(Story continues with Jailu)