P. C. Keeler, Migon

excerpt

Migon

Author: P. C. Keeler
Publisher: Fairfield Scribes
Vendor: Amazon
Date: July 21, 2018
Length: 284 pages
ISBN: 9781949122008

“There's nothing wrong with being one of the bright spots.”

Gyndri was born a human boy. But now he’s one of the brightest spots of all. He’s a Migon, a miniature dragon created to help humanity survive. His life changed completely when a dragon’s attack ripped him from his loving family and set him on a new and frightening path.

Along with his human companion, Piet, Gyndri is now tasked with finding out two things. First, where he came from and who he wants to be. Second, the cause of the growing crime wave threatening Landing, the largest city on the planet of Respite.

Migons are a creation of the Ancients, bound to guard and assist humanity, and to obey human commands. Gyndri needs freedom. To accomplish his mission, Gyndri must become something brand new.

* * *

Chapter 1: Festival

“Festival! A time for all Respite to celebrate together and share in the year’s achievements. Farmers bring their crops to market, journeymen unveil their masterpieces, and everybody joins in the fun. Feasting and dancing are the rule of the day-don’t miss out!”

The sight of glittering scales overwhelmed Gyndri. It was the first time he had seen a Migon from close enough to be seen back. The proud, beautiful creature, perhaps two feet long from nose to tail-tip, sat on the shoulder of a man in a fine long red coat and stout boots, with no trade-sigil hanging from his pocket-the little dragon on his shoulder was enough to mark him a wizard. The streets were filled with similar sights: long cloaks of dyed cloth, shining jewelry, men in colorful long coats and fancy top hats, women in the season’s new gowns, and booths along the roadsides each as gaudy as the proprietor could make it. It was Festival, and those rare, powerful men who carried the miniature dragons were guests of honor. His friends claimed it was to keep the wizard’s scaly familiars from becoming angry with the city and wreaking havoc.

As the laughing, merry crowd surged back and forth, Gyndri’s eyes were fixed on the beast. Not beast, he reminded himself, being. Migons clearly weren’t people, but neither were they mere animals. That light-speckled head swiveled to lay its eyes on him, and Gyndri was transfixed by that gaze. He couldn’t breathe under its regard-not because the Migon looked angry, nor because it was so undeniably beautiful, but because those jeweled eyes speared into him with ancient and alien depth. He looked away, trembling. His friends told him that Migons could do things that no human could match-they could teleport from place to place without anybody lending them power, and they could break through even the strongest of mindshields, and they could kill people just by wishing it so.

Gyndri’s skin prickled as it looked at him, and then the itchy feeling curled through his entire body. He was sure he could feel the Migon staring, watching him, getting ready to leap from its master’s shoulder and attack him.

Gyndri’s nerve broke. Before the creature could fly at him, Gyndri ran.

Unseen by Gyndri, the wizard’s mouth closed unseen, and a brief expression of curiousity crossed his face. “Him? Really?” he said. A moment later, though no one had replied, he murmured, “Yes, that is so,” and turned back to rejoin the festivities.