On his 18th birthday a boy gets drafted into the dragon army. He doesn't just have to come to terms with it, he also learns a lot about a whole new society and its very particular, if not even peculiar, rules. And that not necessarily everyone who seems friendly at first truly turns out to be a friend in the long run...

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Hmmm, wait a second (or two)! Wasn't this online before? Something like just about a year ago? Indeed it was! And it still is, just in the scraps section! But I finally gave myself a rug, and gave it a little overhaul - which it badly needed. Least of it all because of some formatting issues that plagued the original upload. And the odd spelling here and there. And phrasing. And moving around words. Well, whatever it is that you do when you give an old text another look. There's also a short coda now, to provide a better transition to the second chapter.

So yeah, I think the "Chapter One" that's now added to the title implies some very sprawling things! So this isn't simply just a short story anymore, but the introductory chapter to a whole book. Something that I actually already started to map out when I came to write the second half of the original short story, but wasn't too sure about if it really was worth the effort. But since the feedback was so encouragingly positive I came round and... got a little sidetracked almost instantly for various reasons. And I probably would sidetrack myself even more if I simply don't just get on with it. And do it, kind of, all anew. So what you have here is the proper and definitive version of the story I posted last September - in a PDF format to print out or to put it on an eBook reader. And as a little extra something it has three illustrations by  exindiv as well. Because... if I want it to be like a funky doorstopper then I better go the full mile and make it look like those Victorian classics that would have these pretty pictures every now and then hidden among their way too many pages. And Exindiv's style is a little akin to that, so he was my first go-to guy when it came to this!

If you want to take a look at said pictures in better resolution, then go right
1. here
2. and there
3. and thing!
...and don't forget to give him a watch if you like what a does! =)

And since it would be a little sloppy not to mention someone else's work related to this story: There was a
three
part
sequence
that I commissioned  nyhgault with last year and it's still awesome. =) So check it out too if you haven't seen it already!

Ermm... more words about something?

Ah yes. Initially I planned to tone down the rather extensive transformation sequence (which makes up almost seven pages in this version, yikes), because I began to see it as feeling a little out of place on this new readthrough. But you know what? This is FA after all. So why not simply revel in it? ;) Besides, it would have been a bit of a waste to cut it out, because I personally feel that this very section right there isn't all too bad. And it was one of the better transformation sequences I've written so far.

So anyway! See you on chapter two! :)