Prologue
A cold mist hung in the air, the late evening sun casting its last rays through the thick canopy of trees. Spots of light danced on the forest floor from shadows cast by the leaves being gently pulled about in the breeze. Hidden underneath the thick branches of a sycamore, there was a young woman crouched among its roots. She had a hunting knife if her hand and was cutting away at the roots of a plant with deep blue flowers.
Her hood was pulled high over her face, falling just above her brow. Her breath came out as billows of white and the occasional shiver made her retreat further into her fur lined cloak. She continued to collect the plant, pausing momentarily when she heard a distant roar. She thought nothing of it, but then she heard it again. Her first thought was a lone dragon on the other side of the island. Her theory was quickly disputed as a scream ripped through the air. A scream that sent goosebumps up her arms and made her grip tighten on the knife.
The small growth of the blue flower was located at the bottom of a hollow, with a steep rocky cliff on one side and a much shallower slope on the other side. Getting to her feet she quickly snatched up the blue flowers and tore off up the slope, following the sickening chorus of screams and shouts.
When she finally reached the village, fires were raging everywhere she could see, houses with collapsed this, that and the other and men, women and children desperately running around trying to deal with the fires. But the woman's eyes were fixed to the sky, searching for the only beasts capable of causing destruction of this size. Before she could go any further a large scaly creature swooped down in front of her sending a flaming balls of carnage towards a house.
Her breath caught in her throat as the flames engulfed the wooden structure and without a second thought she ran head-long into the blaze, shouting "Mum! Corey!"