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This is both a clean story sample and the intro to a full novel. This novel won the NaNoWriMo 2012 challenge (to write 50k words in the 30 days of November) in just NINE DAYS! The completed novel is available for purchase. If you like what you've read, send me a note! For a mere $5 via PayPal, you can have the complete text document sent to your email.

(Note: Icon image is from the NaNoWriMo website, used with permission. I did NOT draw it. Thank you.)

If you would like to purchase the finished novel in printed form, it will be available as a paper-back book for $10. These are not limited.

Like the intro? Buy the book!
Digital text-only copy (rtf) - $5
Paperback book - $10 (Not yet available. I will post a link once the book appears on Amazon.)



Because I hate opening these things, here's the copy of the text above!

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Many years ago, in a small, isolated village in the mountains of southern France, a boy was born. He was like any other boy, but little did anyone then know that this boy was destined for greatness. Perhaps it was chance, perhaps it was fate, but this boy would one day be remembered as a hero.

"It's a boy!" the midwife told the young mother. As those waiting outside celebrated, the young mother held her son close to her. At long last she knew her firstborn child was a boy. "I shall call you Joshua," she said as she kissed the crying newborn on his forehead.

The boy grew as boys do, but he found at a young age that he was smaller than the other boys. He was courageous and unafraid, but the other boys picked on him all the more. He learned to shoot a bow with great accuracy, but they still joked he was too short to see the deer before they saw him coming. Discouraged, he stopped trying to play with the other boys. Instead, he turned to his dog for companionship and spent most of his time helping take care of and teach his little sister.

"Joshua, come on! I bet I can beat you to the top of the hill!" a little girl's voice called back at him.

"Tracy, don't run there! You could fall in those brambles! Come back here!" he called, a bit out of breath from chasing his little sister around the fields near their village. When he finally caught up to her, they were on top of a hill. From this hill they could see all the fields of crops and animals that surrounded their small village. "What have I said about running off, sister? You could have been attacked by a bear or worse!" he scolded.

The girl laughed at the tired boy. "Don't be silly. Bears don't come near the village. Papa makes sure of that," she nodded with a smile.

"Just because they haven't doesn't mean they won't. Please don't run off on your own, Tracy," he sighed.

"Oh, ok," she said with a smile, waving away his pleas. Just then, she spotted something in the distance.
"What's that?" she asked, pointing at something that looked as though it was falling from the sky and heading straight toward them.

Before he could even answer, the boy grabbed his little sister up and ran. "Dragon!" he yelled as he ran back toward the village. He kept yelling it over and over until he reached the town and someone sounded the alarm. Once he was near his home, he let his sister down and picked up his spear. "Stay here! Better yet, go find Mom and hide," he told her sternly. Before she could protest, he ran back the way they had come, spear in hand.

When he reached the fields below the hill, he could see a large white dragon with feathered wings tearing into their livestock. Several of the men were already ahead of him, shooting arrows and throwing anything they could at the massive beast. It stood nearly twenty feet tall at the shoulder and shrugged off the attacks of the humans who all looked so tiny beside it. He watched as it picked up a full-grown cow in its jaws and nearly swallowed it whole.

He saw his father leading the other men of the village in carefully timed and placed attacks. Their weapons could do nothing to the thick scales of this massive creature, but they could damage it in softer places or by wedging spears in between the scales. He winced as he saw the giant creature toss a few of the men out of his way with a gesture of his foot. He ran forward, knowing how dangerous the creature was. He was determined to help. His father yelled at him to get back away from the creature, but he didn't listen. He threw his spear at the creature with a well-aimed shot.

The spear hit the beast squarely in the eye. It didn't blind him, but it certainly hurt. The dragon screeched out and flapped his massive wings. He had had enough of this and had already eaten anyway.

"Yes! It's leaving!" Joshua shouted excitedly as he looked back at his father. He wondered why his father still looked so worried, even though the dragon was taking off and flying away.

"Joshua, that was stupid! Don't you ever ignore an order again! Do you understand? That thing could have crushed you with a single claw and not even noticed!" his father scolded him.

"But I hit it! Didn't you see? I hit it and it flew away. I know how to fight, Dad. Let me help!" he pleaded, upset that his father was ignoring his victory to tell him not to fight.

"Look out!" someone yelled. They both turned to look just in time to see the creature circling back. It screeched and began lighting the field on fire. They ducked into the tall grass just in time to avoid the creature's tail as it flew over.
"Joshua, it's heading for the village. We can discuss your fighting later. You're the fastest runner here. Go find your mother and sister. Make sure they're safe, and get them away from the buildings. Get everyone to grab buckets and stay near the water until this beast leaves. Understood?" his father told him sternly.
Joshua just nodded and took off toward the village. He saw his sister still standing where he left her. She ran out to meet him. "Where's Mom?" he asked, out of breath.

"I can't find her," Tracy cried. "I looked everywhere." The tiny girl hugged him around his legs, scared of the dragon and being left alone again.

"Don't worry. We'll find her. She probably already ran off to get away from the dragon," he said calmingly as he picked her up. He grabbed a bucket and started calling people to leave and head for the river with anything they could carry water in. He checked everywhere he could think of - the houses, the church, even the barns. When it appeared he had gathered everyone he could find, he ran behind them to the river.

The river was downhill from the village, but he could see the smoke rising. He knew his father would come for them when the beast left. It would not be safe to go back yet to try to put out the fires. He weaved through the crowd, still carrying his sister and asking if anyone had seen his mother, but no one knew where she had gone. One person said they had seen her in the fields tending to a horse that was injured, but that was well before the attack started. He figured she must have hidden in the forest on the other side of the field when the dragon attacked. He couldn't go look for her now. For now he had to keep everyone calm and together and wait for his father. He promised Tracy they would find their mother after everything settled back down.

They waited a good half an hour before their father returned with the other men. The dragon had finally decided to leave, but their village was in shambles and burning. Everyone gathered as much water as they could carry from the river and went back up the hill to try to put out the fires. Even little Tracy carried a cup and poured it on the embers in the grass.

After several hours of carrying water back and forth, everything appeared to be out. Everything was also soaking wet. Joshua was covered in ash that had been soaked and dried and soaked again. Even in the warm summer afternoon, he was dripping wet. After a final check to make sure nothing else was burning, they went home to check on the damage. Thankfully, their house was on the edge of the village and closest to the river. It was mostly intact with only a few holes burnt in the roof. A few items inside were charred or covered in ash, but it was all replaceable. After patching up the roof, he found his father.

"Joshua, have you seen your mother?" his father asked him. Joshua shook his head no. He had forgotten to go look for her, and his sister was worriedly tugging on their father to go look. Their father, however, was busy helping people rebuild or patch what they could.

"I'll see if I can find her. She's probably helping tend to the wounded at the church," he assured his sister before leaving them to look for her.

Joshua made his way to the church at the center of town, where the injured had been gathered to be tended to. Several people were injured in the attack, and a few had been killed in the field by the beast. He asked around, but no one there had seen his mother either. "Maybe she's still hiding," he thought to himself. If she weren't at the river with the others, she wouldn't have heard it was safe to return. He set off in the waning sunlight to find her.

"She was helping a horse," he said to himself, "so she should be in this direction." He looked out over the field where the horses usually grazed. It was just past the hill he had been standing on when he saw the dragon attacking. He looked around and saw several horses grazing. They were off to one side of the field avoiding the singed areas in the grass. "Mom?" he called out as he wandered through the field.

As he walked, he saw a horse that had been killed in the attack. It was partially singed, but it clearly had a bandage wrapped around its front leg. He ran over to it. It was their horse, alright. His mother must have been bandaging the wound, but he didn't see any other traces of her. He looked at the singed grass behind the dead horse reluctantly. "Mom?" he asked worriedly as he waded through the ashes. He found the bucket of water she had used to clean the horse's wound with. Well, it had water in it before being burnt, at least. Still there was no sign of her. Just then he heard running and turned around. "Mom?"

"No, son. It's me," his father said as he reached him. "We've found her. Come back home," he said as he put his arm around the boy and led him that way.

Joshua sighed in relief. "I'm glad. It looks like the dragon attacked her while she was taking care of the horse, but she must have gotten away. It looks like the horse didn't make it though."

"It's just a horse, son. We'll buy another," his father said, smiling down at him sadly. As they neared the village he added, "Your mother didn't exactly get away. She was injured in the attack."

Joshua wanted to ask a million questions at once. What happened? Was she alright? Where was she now? But he kept silent. He was sure his father would explain, and he was busy fighting back tears and trying to maintain what he could of manliness as a twelve-year-old.

They reached their home, but before they entered, Joshua's father stopped to speak to him. "Your mother is in bad shape, Son. Thankfully, the dragon didn't attack her directly. She was just hit with his tail as he was attacking the horse. However, since she was injured she was slow getting back to the village. Everyone was already gone when she got here. She tried to hide in the barn, but the roof collapsed on her. We found her while we were trying to clear the debris. She's awake now, but I don't know how much longer she can last. Please try not to upset your sister any more than she already is. I don't want her to think we've given up hope."

Joshua continued holding back tears and nodded before walking inside. He saw his mother lying on a bed. She was badly bruised and had obviously been quickly bandaged. She was still a bit dingy with the quickly wiped away blood. She turned and smiled at him. "Ah, there's my big brave son. I heard how you scared away that dragon all by yourself. You'll be a great warrior someday," she told him as she brushed back his long, dark hair.

"Mom. Are you - are you ok?" he asked quietly as he knelt beside her.

"Don't worry, dear one. No matter what happens, I'll be fine. I'm very proud of you," she said as she hugged him to her gently. As they embraced, he could feel how little she could move. Even as he started to back away, she couldn't lean forward at all. It seemed as though she could barely hold up her arms.

"I love you, Mom," he said as one of the tears he was choking back finally refused to wait any longer. He squeezed his eyes closed tightly and fought crying. Instead he turned his sadness to anger. "Don't worry, Mom. I'll find that dragon and kill it some day. I'll kill all of them!" he said angrily as he punched the wall support beside him.

"Now, now Joshua," his mother said calmly. "You must not hold such a grudge. It was only doing what it knows to do. It didn't attack us intentionally. It was hungry and eating, and we attacked it first." For all her injuries, she was not mad at the dragon for attacking her. She had to be the nicest person Joshua had ever heard of.

"But you didn't attack it!" he growled back. "You were just helping the horse. It didn't have to attack you. It deserves to be punished!"

"No, dear. It didn't attack me. It attacked the horse after the horse reared at it. I was just in the way of its tail, and it threw me down," she said calmly as she looked down at her legs. Joshua hadn't bothered to look that far down yet, but when he did he wished he hadn't. They were covered up by a think blanket, but he could still tell they were mangled beyond anything they could hope to repair. Even if she did survive, she'd surely never walk again.

"But... But... Well..." Joshua was at a loss for words. He wanted to be angry with the dragon, but he knew his mother was right. They attacked it first. It was eating. Sure, it was eating their livestock, but food is food to a dragon. It didn't know it was eating anything of theirs. Then he realized the dragon had attacked his mother after he hit it in the eye. Now he felt guilty. If he had listened to his father, the dragon might not have attacked the village or his mother. His father would have devised a way to keep it from flying off so they could have killed it without it hurting the village. "I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"Dear, you have done nothing to apologize for. You showed great bravery taking on that huge beast by yourself. You are young and still have much to learn, but I am certain you will learn fast and be a great hunter. Who knows? You could even be chosen as a knight some day." She smiled up at him and brushed her hand on his cheek to calm him. "All you can do is to do your best, and that you have done. You did an excellent job. You warned the people of the dragon, you led them to safety, and you did a fine job helping to put out the fires and patch the houses."

"It's not enough. I should have been there. I should have protected you. I - I -"

"Shush now. I'll hear none of that. You did a fine job today. So much, in fact, your father was quite pleased. He told me as soon as this mess is cleaned up in town, he's going to personally take you out and teach you to hunt properly. After the bravery you showed today, he says you are ready to learn to be a man, even if your birthday is not for another six months. Isn't that great?" she said as she held his hand.

Joshua was still upset, but the excitement of finally being allowed to hunt filled him with joy. Certainly he was still worried for his mother, but this could change his life. Maybe the other boys would finally respect him. "Thank you, Mother," he said as he sat down beside her. He knew she had convinced his father to let him hunt. His father had always been against it because of his size. He picked up a bowl of food that had been left nearby and helped his mother eat.

Within the week, the town was cleared of the ash and debris and most of the buildings had been repaired at least with temporary repairs good enough to hold out the weather. Joshua's mother had made significant improvements, but it was obvious she could no longer walk. She could sit herself up though, and had regained full use of her arms, at least. As promised, Joshua's father took him hunting, and he managed to learn fairly quickly how to hunt with both a bow and a spear. Even his dog seemed excited and did his part to bring back small game that had been shot. Everything was going well - except when he tried to play with the other kids.

Although he was accepted as a hunter, he wasn't a great one. His age set him apart from the other boys who still picked on him and refused to accept that he was at least as good as they were. The younger children no longer wanted to play with him because they saw him as an adult. Truth be told, several of the adults still held a grudge and blamed him for causing the dragon to attack their village. Everyone was worried it would come back and attack again, but it never did.

In all the village outside of his own family, Joshua had only one real friend. His friend's name was Luke. Luke was a hunter and a few years older than Joshua. Luke was an expert with a bow, but Joshua found he was much more adept at using a spear. The two often went hunting together. Luke was glad to have the company and the safety. While a bow was great for hunting smaller game, it was no match if they were attacked by a bear while out in the woods. The two had become good friends quickly after Joshua was allowed to hunt.

Luke knew the villagers were wrong about Joshua. He was a great hunter, a good fighter, and a loyal friend. Joshua had saved Luke more than once when they had been attacked by bears or wolves trying to scavenge their kills. But Luke's father was a farmer; he had much work to do at home. As much as the two loved getting to hunt together, the chances were not as often as Joshua would have liked.

Joshua, eager to be accepted as the great hunter he knew he was, went hunting nearly every day. Most days he and his dog only brought back small game. The largest animal he had actually killed was a young deer, and even that was a small doe. He simply wasn't patient or strong enough to kill anything larger. Despite his best efforts, he was still only twelve and small for his age.

One such day, Joshua was hunting near the river and having particularly awful luck. Exhausted, he decided he would go wash up in the river before heading home. However, as he drew near the river, he saw something large glistening in the afternoon sun. As he reached the edge of the trees, he stopped stiffly in his tracks. There, not ten feet in front of him, was a dragon!