Prologue
A chill wind swirled the mountaintop, driving snowflakes into the face of a brown-haired girl and threatening to freeze the tears on her face. The wind tore at her mercilessly, but she did not feel it. She wrapped her arms tighter around the long scaly neck and pressed her forehead against the scales.
The last dragon on earth was dying.
In a final effort, the dragon lifted his head to come face to face with the girl. Leaning forward, the dragon touched his snout to the girl's forehead. The girl gasped as warmth flowed through her, and she knew at once that the dragon had transferred some of his spark to her so that dragons would live on in the rising race of humans.
Closing his violet eyes, the dragon folded his leathery wings and sunk to the ground. His emerald-green scales turned to grey, and the wind bore his ashes away to be forever united with Gaia.
The girl sobbed and went to bury her face in her hands, but a glint of something caught her eyes. Curious, she crawled on her hands and knees toward the object. Eyes glistening with tears, the girl clutched the thing to her breast; for lying in the snow, she had found a single, green, scale.
Chapter 1
"I'm home!" Amber called. She trudged into the house, wiping the mud off her boots as she went.
It was a rainy autumn afternoon. In the village of Dockwood, time seemed to pass slowly. In the forest on the outskirts of town lived Amber and her mother, Charlotte. Not many other people lived out that way, so Amber was accustomed to being alone.
The house where Amber and Charlotte Nakai lived was nothing much to look at. It was merely a single-story cottage with a small yard. A dirt driveway led to the house with an old Ford and Amber's bike as its only inhabitants.
Amber pushed her long, dark, wet hair out of her face as her mother came into the front hall.
"Amber!" Charlotte exclaimed upon seeing her daughter. "Look at you! Where is your coat?" Charlotte moved forward and placed a hand on Amber's cheek. "You'll catch cold out there on a day like this!" she exclaimed softly.
Amber looked down at her clothes. She had on a dark green t-shirt and khaki pants. Amber shrugged. "The cold doesn't bother me. Anyway, I like the rain."
Charlotte sighed. "I know you do dear." She turned and walked back towards the kitchen, calling over her shoulder, "I can't have you sick on your birthday!"
Amber smiled and followed her mother into the kitchen. That's right. Her birthday was tomorrow. She would finally turn fifteen. Normally birthdays weren't a big deal, but her mother had promised her something special.
Amber glanced at her mother, and Charlotte shook her head. Nothing needed doing. Amber had the rest of the day to herself. After a moment of thought, Amber decided to go to her room and settle down with a good book to the music of rain on her window.
The hall leading to the bedrooms and bathroom lay between the kitchen and living room. Amber turned down the hall aiming for her room. Of course, getting to her room at the end of the hall also meant going past her mother's studio.
Amber paused and looked at the door. A sign on the door read: Do Not Enter! She had never been in her mother's studio.
Charlotte was a bit of an artist. She always painted dragons. They were so life-like Amber kept expecting them to jump of the canvas and fly away.
Since Amber wasn't allowed in her mother's studio, she would listen at the door occasionally while her mother was working. Sometimes she would hear Charlotte singing or humming while she painted.
Every Sunday, Charlotte would take some paintings into town and sell them. They didn't make much, but it was enough to keep them happy.
Amber turned her attention to a painting hanging next to the studio door. It depicted a dragon on a cliff crouched to take off with its wings spread wide.
Amber sighed and walked to her room. She shut the door behind her and walked to the bookshelf opposite her bed. Plucking a book off the shelf, she crossed to her bed and propped her back up with a pillow. Opening the book to a dog-eared page, Amber tried to read, but couldn't concentrate. She sighed, shutting the book and laying it in her lap. Kicking off her boots, Amber slid down on her back. She stared up at the shimmering pattern the rain trickling down her window created on her ceiling. Her eyelids became heavy, and Amber slipped into sleep.
Charlotte cracked open her daughter's door and looked at the girl sleeping peacefully. Charlotte shut the door softly and walked to the door of her studio. Placing a hand on the doorknob, she looked towards Ambers room and shook her head. "Tomorrow will be a big day for you," Charlotte whispered. Then, opening the door, Charlotte closed herself in her studio to prepare for the most shocking day of Amber's life, although in more ways than Charlotte could imagine.