Title Of Book: Darragh: Dragon
By: Arden Erimitis
Genre: Fantasy
Sub-Genre: Coming of Age, Dragons & Mythical Creatures

Blurb:

Quiet and curious, Dragon Gaelen isn’t a typical dragon. For one, she was raised by gnomes. Having lost everything before she was hatched, Dragon knows very little about her origin. Growing up among the cob and wood houses of peaceful Gnome Colony, she’s always felt accepted and loved—but never quite like she belonged.

When her adoptive family enrolls her in the impressive Breezemaple Academy, Dragon believes it holds the key to the missing pieces of her past. Surrounded by students and teachers from all across the enchanted land of Darragh, she hopes she’ll finally stop feeling like an outsider.

However, Breezemaple isn’t at all what she expects. On her first day, she feels lost, overwhelmed, and betrayed. She believed meeting other dragons would help her find herself. Instead, she finds herself more lost than found, and the target of their jokes—teased for her difference and never embraced as one of their own. Filled with shame and self-loathing, Dragon must choose to stay silent and bury her past—or find her voice among the pain.

A powerful story about being true to ourselves, Dragon takes us on a journey of self-acceptance—illustrating how the choices we make impact the magic we wield.

Excerpt

“Rainlock!” Odelia bubbled joyfully. “We’ve been waiting for you!”
The sleepy-eyed turtle-like creature trotted over and reached up to place a dwarf crabapple in front of the giddy gnome.
“What a delight!” Odelia picked up the tart fruit with both hands to inspect it. “How did you know they were my favorite? It’s perfect for a new batch of jams.”
Dragon stared at Rainlock. Was he supposed to be another dragon? With his feathery shell as white as the first snow? Dragon inspected the odd creature with great intrigue.
And he had wings?
“Good day, Odelia. Agnes.” Tufts of pale teal hair bobbed back and forth as Rainlock offered them each a quick nod before nudging a second crabapple in Agnes’s direction. Dragon couldn’t tell if it was a snarl or a smile that the sphinx offered as thanks for the unexpected gift.
Crabapple. That’s fitting.
Rainlock toddled over to greet Carrick and Dragon.
“Sir. Miss.” Rainlock extended his stubby wings and did a funny half bow, half curtsy. Dragon couldn’t help but giggle. He was an awkward little thing, whatever he was.
Rainlock glanced Dragon up and down. His gaze trained on Carrick, where he sat on Dragon’s shoulder, and his face lit up with a goofy grin.
“I assume you’re Dragon?” Rainlock said, his grin widening.
Carrick and Dragon exchanged a confused look. Odelia guffawed behind them, and Rainlock snickered.
“Oh, you’re—I get it. It’s a joke.” Carrick slapped his knee to humor Rainlock.
“Rainlock Greenclaw, at your service.” Rainlock gave Carrick and Dragon an awkward salute and bowed again. “All jokes aside, are you ready to get the grand tour of the place?”
Dragon glanced wearily at the large stack of bulky books to her left.
“Ah! Yes! Not to worry,” Rainlock said, as if reading her mind. “I’ve got the perfect place to keep those until we get to your classroom.” He tugged on a strap across his left shoulder, revealing the smallest of leather satchels.
Dragon raised an eyebrow. “My books will fit in there? But how? I mean, look at them. They’re much too big.”
“Don’t be fooled. This satchel is quite the trickster. Wait and see.”
Pulling it from his shoulders, Rainlock reached into the satchel, which was not much bigger than the palm of his hand. Mumbling under his breath, he dug around for a bit and then pulled his arm out, revealing a handful of bright, colorful flowers.
“Aha! Agnes, your desk could use some cheer.” Rainlock dug his other hand in the bag and pulled out the dazzling tip of a lightning bolt.
Odelia gasped. “Rainlock! Not inside the school!”
“Not to worry. I simply grabbed the wrong thing.” He quickly shoved his hand back in, creating a thunderous rumble as he jammed the lightning bolt back into the cramped space.
“Yes. This is it.” He slowly removed a tall glass vase that was nearly three times the length of the satchel, careful not to spill any of the fresh water inside. Plopping the handful of flowers into the vase, he set them on the counter next to Agnes’s workspace. There was definitely a snarl on her face now.
Rainlock swirled around and beckoned to Dragon with one hand. “Now, then. Give those here.”
Dragon handed over one of the thickest tomes in her stack, a book that was almost half as thick as Rainlock’s jutted out gut. She was curious to see how he would accomplish getting the book in his bag.
“Ah. Draconian Legends. A fantastic read.” Rainlock lifted the flap of his satchel, stuck the corner of the book inside, and attempted to push the book in. It hardly moved an inch.
Dragon chuckled.
“Hmm.” Rainlock readjusted the book in his hand and attempted to stuff it in again, spine first this time.
His face flushed with embarrassment when his satchel refused to give way to the large tome. “Well, then. Perhaps you’re right. Might be a bit too big.” He set the heavy book on the ground and drummed his chin with his claws.
“Could it be because it’s too big compared to the outside of the bag?” Carrick stood up and leaned over to glance inside the open satchel. He had to hold on to one of Dragon’s neck spines to keep from falling completely off his perching spot.
“On the outside? The outside?” Rainlock’s face brightened. “Of course! Mr. Gaelen! Brilliant! How silly of me.”
“You can call me Carrick, Rainlock. That’s perfectly acceptable.”
“Well, Carrick.” Rainlock reached nearly his entire arm into the bag this time. “You’re absolutely right. We have to shrink the book down before we can stuff it into the bag.”
“Shrink it down?” Dragon whispered to Carrick, who shrugged.
Rainlock pulled out three more items—a green-beaded abacus, a handful of red-and-yellow-striped parachute, and what looked to be a shadow—before reaching down to the bottom of the bag for the precise item he was searching for.
“Almost there . . .” He grimaced and grunted and grabbed around a bit more.
“Aha!” A huge grin spread across Rainlock’s face as he removed the item he was looking for: a burgundy drawstring bag made of velvety material, intricately embroidered with silver thread. “This should do the trick.”
“Another bag?” Dragon said skeptically.
“Well, yes, of course another bag! This type of bag comes in all shapes and sizes. Some larger. Some smaller. We can fit your books in here . . .” He held up the cloth pouch in one hand. “And then put this bag into the first bag.” Rainlock gave the open satchel a bit of a jiggle with his free hand.
“Is that unicorn hair?” Agnes stood on her hind legs and leaned on the countertop. Rainlock beamed. Even Agnes was enthralled with the mysterious thing.
“The thread? Oh, most likely. A nice dose of a little bit of everything to give it just the right kick. Unicorn hair. Mermaid scales. Even tail of dragon.”
Dragon gulped and took a step back. “Really? Tail of dragon?”
“Naw, I’m only pulling your talon. Not sure what makes this thing tick, really. But I wouldn’t put it past the designer to have used a bit o’ hair of unicorn.”
“Fascinating! Where does one find such a bag?” Carrick’s eyes lit up with excitement.
Rainlock clicked his tongue. “One must never reveal his secrets.” He grinned playfully. “Truth be told, I wish I had a secret to reveal. The elders actually gave them to me. As a gift. A thank you for all the years I’ve served as the Breezemaple tour guide.”
Odelia nodded rigorously. “Rainlock is the best.”
Rainlock tugged the drawstring of the second bag loose and started stuffing the large stack of books easily inside, one by one. “See? Much better fit in here.”
Once the last of the books had been placed inside, Rainlock gave the cloth pouch a quick shake. Dragon expected to hear the bulky books thunk against each other, but the pouch remained flimsy, apparently completely empty.
“That’s amazing!”
“Isn’t it, though?” He rolled up the limp cloth bag and tucked it back into his satchel, clicking the flap’s locks into place and patting it three times for good measure.
Dragon’s jaw dropped.
“Shall we, then?” Rainlock asked and waddled toward the office door.

Meet Arden Erimitis

Arden is an author, poet, and mixed-media artist based out of the Midwest. As a dedicated joy-enthusiast, she loves encouraging awe and wonder, and sharing inspiration to embrace the world from a lens of hope and possibility with her loved ones.