Characters Welcome: Aaron Drake + $25 AGC Giveaway

I am pleased to welcome Aaron Drake, a dragon shape shifter, to my blog today. Aaron is the hero of Bound by a Dragon, a debut fantasy novel by Linda K. Hopkins. She has chosen to introduce Aaron to us through a special bonus scene that takes place shortly before the start of her novel. And now, in her own words …

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Aaron watched the girl with narrowed eyes as she ambled along the path, oblivious to the danger lurking just a few yards away. She was pretty, with long hair that swung as she moved and bright eyes not yet shadowed by troubles of the world. She hummed as she walked, a soft tune that stirred a long-ago memory in Aaron’s mind. He pushed it roughly aside and continued to watch the girl as she drew closer. Her scent wafted on the breeze, fresh, young and sweet, and he could see her pulse just below her skin, vibrant and healthy. He drew in a deep breath, savoring the fragrance of her, and his eyes grew a little brighter. The girl, this creature, was the perfect prey. Young and innocent, she would be mourned when she did not return to her village. People would miss her, just as he missed his parents. Her people were no different to the ones who had killed his. His parents had been murdered in cold blood. And the murderers had congratulated themselves. Now he would return the favor. He would kill this girl and leave her family mourning just as he had mourned. It was a worthy sacrifice. After all, what was one more dead human? The fact that these were not the same people did not trouble him. All humans were the same, after all, and just as inclined to wrong-doing as another.

So then. He shifted slightly, not making a sound despite his size. He wanted to watch this girl as she walked towards her doom. Wanted to savor her innocence for a few more moments before he pounced. She was drawing closer, still completely unaware of the threat to her life. She lifted her hand to her face as she walked, pushing a stray strand of hair out of her eyes. Aaron watched the movement, mesmerized. It has been years since he had been this close to a young woman without her features being twisted with dread. There was something about this girl that seemed almost familiar. He cocked his head slightly, trying to figure it out. The movement made the leaves rustle slightly, and the girl glanced around, interest alighting her features as she looked for the source of the sound. It was clear she felt no fear, and when she saw nothing to relieve her curiosity, she shrugged with a very slight movement before turning back to the path. She had stopped humming for a brief moment, but as she continued on her way, she started to sing under her breath:

‘Summer has come in, loudly sing Cuckoo,’

The words hit Aaron full in the chest, and he pulled back slightly, as though struck by a physical force. The sound didn’t reach the girl, and she continued to sing, the volume growing.

‘The seed grows and the meadows bloom …’

Memories assaulted Aaron, blinding him to his surroundings. Instead of the girl, it was his mother’s voice he heard, her lilting voice singing the same words as she walked with him through the woods behind the castle, his small hand secure in hers. He closed his eyes, the memory transporting him back through time, before snapping them open again, pulling himself back to his surroundings. He pushed at the memories, willing them away. This girl was not his mother. She was dead and cold in her grave while this creature walked through the woods in the sunlight. But the sound of her voice had reached into his soul, twisting through his need for revenge. He pulled at the memories – other memories – of his mother dying as she lay in the dirt, his father being killed, slowly and painfully, but instead of his usual anger he felt only a deep sense of weariness weighing against his heart. Dimly he heard Favian’s voice warning him that he was turning into a monster, but it wasn’t that that made him pull back. It was the thought of his mother, the look of horror she would wear if she could see Aaron now. And with a flash that left him gasping, he realized that he was no better than those monsters who had killed his parents. If the thought had occurred to him before, he had pushed it aside, driven by his need for revenge, but this young girl, this snip of humanity, had forced something into his soul that nothing else had done. Slowly, so as not to startle her, he pulled himself back, gently easing himself through the trees. He saw the girl turn around, once again looking for the source of the sound, before her eyes widened with shock as her gaze came to rest on him. For a brief moment he saw her horror, before he turned around and launched himself through the trees.

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Bound by a Dragon

Bound by a Dragon

Linda K. Hopkins

The dragon turned its head and seemed to look straight at Keira. Pulling her arm out of her sister’s, she drew herself upright and stared straight back, meeting the golden eye of the dragon before it turned its enormous body in a slow, fluid motion and lazily flew towards the mountains.

A dragon has moved into the neighborhood of Keira’s small, medieval village, unsettling the residents as they fear for their safety. All except Keira, who is fascinated by the creature, both dangerous and beautiful. But when Aaron Drake decides to take up residence in his ancestral home of Storbrook Castle, set deep in the nearby mountains, Keira finds herself unsettled by the handsome stranger. Why did he decide to move to Storbrook, almost eighty years after it was last inhabited, and does the dragon really live in the caves below the castle?

Excerpt

Keira watched as the great beast circled slowly through the sky, blocking the sunlight for a few seconds on each turn. Fire spewed occasionally from its mouth, dissipating in the cool air before it could set anything alight. All around her people were shouting, grabbing their children and running for their homes, slamming the doors shut behind them before barring them from the inside. Keira shook her head in amusement. A mere door wouldn’t stop a dragon – it could just burn the house down! Anna was tugging on her arm, shouting at her to come, but Keira shrugged her off.

The dragon had taken up residence in the mountains some six months back, and although it was regularly seen soaring above the village, it had yet to kidnap and devour a single innocent maiden. And there were no reports of girls snatched from the other villages, either. Keira knew the stories about the last dragon that had lived in the area. For many years it had peacefully inhabited its mountain lair, until one day it had suddenly turned on the village, burning down half the homes before being killed by some brave soul. But the only questionable thing this dragon had done was to take a few head of cattle and a couple of sheep. And since the dragon always left some form of payment for the animal taken – a small bag of gold, a few precious stones – the villagers didn’t complain too loudly. These payments always far exceeded the worth of the animal. But still, stories about dragons abounded, and the villagers were convinced that it was just a matter of time before the dragon set the village alight and snatched the village girls.

“Come on, Keira.” Anna’s words broke through Keira’s thoughts, reminding her that her parents shared the same fears as the other villagers. “Mother will be furious if we don’t get back to the house now!”

“Stop pulling me! I’m coming!” was Keira’s annoyed response. She glanced back at the sky one more time, admiring the way the scales of the dragon caught the light, throwing back a thousand rainbows against the sky. The dragon was heading away from the village, but before Keira looked away, it turned its head and seemed to look straight at her. Pulling her arm out of Anna’s, she drew herself upright and stared straight back, meeting the golden eye of the dragon before it turned its enormous body in a slow, fluid motion and lazily flew towards the mountains.

AUTHOR INFORMATION:

Linda K. Hopkins lives in Calgary, Canada, with her husband and two great kids. When she’s not writing, she’s usually reading (a great pastime when you are trapped in a snowbound landscape eight months of the year!), tinkering on the piano or just living life!