Dragons of Dragon Disciples: Resurrection

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Last week was prologue week as I spent the week writing two prologues: one for Dragon Disciples: Resurrection and the other for book two; Dragon Disciples: Diaspora. Today I am going to share the one for Resurrection. In this prologue I introduce the dragons and how they came to be on Earth at such an important time in Earth’s history.

Tatsu and Dryas stood with their huge heads bowed before their fiery master, Satan. Satan’s anger weighed heavy on the dragon pair. Tatsu hated being in this position and was sure when Satan finished, he would find a way to make Dryas pay. If her sister, Myrria and the Creator had not interfered, he would now be in control of Ramajadin, or rather his master would be.

“Tatsu, you have failed me,” Satan roared, setting fire to straw in the corner of the cave.

Dryas trembled as Tatsu cleared his throat, releasing a small amount of acid on the floor. “Master, it was Dryas’s fault. Her sister, Myrria tricked her, misled Dryas…”

Another burst of flame landed at Tatsu’s feet. “I don’t care! All that matters is that you failed!” The dark demon rose from his icy throne. Chains rattled as his midnight dogs pulled at them. Satan strode to the ten-foot dragon and glared into the dragon’s eyes. “I am feeling magnanimous today, so I will give you another chance. Do Not Fail Me, for the will be no third chances.”

“Thank you Master,” Tatsu answered.

“Do not thank me. Tomorrow, I will transfer you to another world, Earth; a small, inconsequential world in need of some direction.”

Tatsu perked up. “Small world. That should be easy to subdue.”

Satan stepped away from the jade-colored dragon and stood in front of Dryas while still glaring at Tatsu. “Do not be so confident. You will not be the only one working on this world. The Creator…” Satan grimaced. “has already sent one to teach and convert humans and dragons alike. He will not be so easy to defeat, especially if the Creator sends some of His own dragons.” His gaze shifted to Dryas. “I am sure Myrria, Alorn and Cielo will be the ones appointed to fulfill this mission. And you have already proved they are difficult foes. So, no this will not be easy.”

Satan slowly faded into a cloud of black and red smoke. “Do Not Fail Me!” echoed off the stone walls of the cave.

Tatsu and Dryas materialized on Earth. The year 30 A.D., the place Mount Gerizim in Samaria Israel. The mission; to prevent, enslave and eliminate a new group known as Yeshua followers.

*****

Myrria, the purple dragon glided into the cave she shared with her mate, Alorn and Cielo, her mother. Their last mission for the Creator continued to be successful.

As Myrria landed, Alorn, the red dragon greeted her, “The Creator is here. It’s time.”

Myrria nodded and followed Alorn into the cave. Alorn, Myrria and Cielo bowed before the Creator.

“My beloved children, you have done well. The people of Ramajadin are firmly planted in their faith.”

“Thank you, Mighty Creator,” Myrria said.

“There is another world that needs your unique talents as my messenger dragons to guide them. This mission will be more complex than Ramajadin. For besides battling Tatsu and Dryas, you will be building a new group to continue My Son, Yeshua’s work on Earth.

“We are ready and able, Oh Glorious One,” Alorn said.

“This will be more difficult than you have encountered before.”

“How so Holy One,” Cielo asked.

“Cielo, you will search for other dragons that have been persecuted and driven into hiding by the unknowing and unbelieving. For they will be necessary for the continuation of Myrria and Alorn’s work,” the Creator answered.

Cielo bowed her great silver-colored head. “And what of Alorn and I?” Myrria asked.

“My beloved Son is already on Earth planting the seeds. You will arrive on Earth three days before, like the dragons, my Son will be persecuted and put to death. Starting with that you will have a threefold mission. First to rescue two Samaritan young people from their Roman persecutors. Once you succeed the second part of the mission starts as the dragons along with Yeshua’s disciples will convert and train them to fulfill an ancient prophecy and establish the Dragon Disciples. And the third, eventually this group will be tasked with spreading and protecting God’s word. One more thing, you will encounter many things that are different from what you know, but I am sure that it will not present a great challenge to you.”

The three dragons bowed. “Let Your will be done,” Myrria responded.

The Creator faded into a gentle amethyst colored mist. “I am sure you will not disappoint. I will be with you always.”

Myrria, Alorn and Cielo materialized on Earth. The year 33 A.D., the place the Mount of Olives outside of Jerusalem, Israel. The mission to rescue two Samaritan children, Chana and Naftili and to establish the Dragon Disciples, tasked to protect and spread the Word of God.

This is an excerpt from Dragon Disciples: Resurrection. Read the full story of Chana, Myrria and Tatsu in Dragon Disciples: Resurrection to be published by Pandora’s Order in the near future.

Dragon Disciples: Resurrection ; On Writing

This week I decided to share a little bit about my writing process for Dragon Disciples: Resurrection. I’m often asked what the inspiration for my books is, and most of the time it is hard to pin down. But with Dragon Disciples: Resurrection there was a distinct point when I felt the inspiration hit. In this and part two I will discuss that inspiration and how it went from inspiration to a written story.

So what was my inspiration? One Sunday morning I was sitting at mass listening to the Gospel proclaimed by our priest. This particular Gospel story: Jesus feeding the 5000 with bread and fish supplied by a boy in the crowd. My wheels started turning. What if that boy was a Samaritan? Now I have a character and the beginnings of a conflict for him.

With that information I now take a deep dive into my process. I’m not a plotter. I let the characters dictate the story for me. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have some work to do, in the form of research. With this book there were a lot of little and big details needed to set the scene, to give the characters life, to provide the ambiance necessary to flesh out the story. My process: do enough research to get the story rolling, continue through writing the first draft and then a few jewels for the final draft to make the story shine.

What kind of things do I research? I tend to start big. In the case of Resurrection two details were important to nail down; A timeline of Jesus’s ministry and the relationship between Jews and Samaritans. I had to ensure that the story timeline lined up with Jesus’s ministry. In spite of the fact this is fantasy I still wanted to keep things as close to real as possible. To accomplish that I started big and worked to the small. City layouts in first century Israel, what buildings looked like, how they were constructed. And while I am still on the big stuff what were the relationships with and between the groups of people that have a part in the story.

This sets up the framework or the skeleton of the story. In Part 2 I will dive deeper into fleshing out the skeleton by adding muscles and skin.