Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

Here is a big scene from Legends of Windemere: Allure of the Gypsies.  I’ve kept this on the shelf for a long time, but I want to share.  Enjoy.

Without warning, the dragon launches into the air and whips the ground with its tail. Luke and Sari scramble to get away from the flurry of destruction, but the gypsy trips over the remains of an orc zombie. A swarm of flaming metal orbs hurtle toward the girl who uses the last of her energy to flip, leap, and roll to safety. Sari makes a desperate jump, her right ankle bending the wrong way upon landing. She staggers a few steps before falling to one knee, gritting her teeth in pain. She can feel the hungry stare of the Sword Dragon, eyeing her like a helpless snack. A terrifying shriek of victory ripples through forest and the predator’s neck stretches and it dives to gobble her whole.

The world slows down as Sari watches the approaching beast, which seems almost too surreal to comprehend. She barely notices Luke slide in front of her with his sabers glistening in the sunlight. The dragon stops abruptly without the warrior putting his swords up to block. At first, Sari cannot understand why the monster froze just short of the forest tracker. She sees Luke’s shoulders and arms lose their tension, but she is unable to see his face. Her curiosity getting the best of her, Sari grunts in pain as she stands up and looks around the half-elf. Standing in the open maw of the dragon is Aedyn whose shimmering staff is straining against the massive jaws. The priest winces at the pain from a tooth piercing his shoulder and another passing through his right leg. The monster rears back and returns to the sky where it thrashes in an attempt to dislodge the priest.

“He’s insane,” Sari whispers, hopping on her good ankle.

“Get the hell out of there, Aedyn!” Luke screams in a sudden burst of anger. In desperation, he drops his sabers and grabs the rusty weapons of the fallen zombies. He hurls them with all of his strength, but the dragon is too high for him to hit.

“Tell Kellia what happened to me!” Aedyn requests as another tooth catches his left leg.

“This isn’t happening again,” the forest tracker mutters, watching the priest’s staff shine like a star. Another glow begins to rise from the back of the dragon’s throat. “I can’t let this happen again.”

“Also, if you see him again . . . tell Nimby that I forgive him!”

“We have to do something, Luke,” Sari helplessly pleads, silently praying Nyx or Talos appear to help.

A primal, roaring screech erupts from Luke’s mouth and a brown light throbs from underneath his shirt. The gypsy stares in awe as the chaotic scene before her gets even stranger. Feathers sprout from the half-elf’s head and fur ripples out of his skin. His body lurches with a sudden growth spurt, leaving him at ten feet tall until he falls to his hands and feet. Another screech tears out of his mouth when wings burst from Luke’s back and leave his shirt in tatters. He awkwardly hovers off the ground, his hands and feet becoming lion-like paws. The griffin that was once Luke rockets toward the Sword Dragon with a curtain of feathers in its wake.

“Wow,” Sari mumbles in shock.