The Captain's Dragon

Right man… right time…

Captain Liam O’Dare finds himself talking with a sea dragon. Not just any sea dragon, but the lord of them all, Skelaroth. The sea dragon brings information and a request to aid in Liam’s decades-long quest to bring the pirate Fisk to justice. Not only is Fisk a murderer many times over, but now he’s stolen a dangerous artifact that could unbalance the entire world. It must be retrieved at any cost. With the mighty sea dragon trailing the wake of his ship, Liam sets out on the pirate’s trail.

Right woman… right man…

Lady Rivka of the Black Dragon Clan, Jinn warrior and huntress, sets out after the pirate, but she’s not a sailor and she needs a cunning seaman with a fast ship to follow where Fisk has gone. Landing on Liam’s ship in her compact black dragon form surprises him, but there’s no other way but to reveal her shapeshifting secret. She gives him the information she has and he agrees to have her help on his quest.

Liam is stunned by the dragon who turns into one of the most compelling women he’s ever seen. She is fierce and no-nonsense when it comes to her quest. He likes that and knows he can work with her. But can he resist the temptation of her? He’s been true to the memory of his late wife for a very long time, but Rivka gets under his skin from almost the first moment he becomes aware of her amazing secret ability to shift from dragon to woman and back again.

A recipe for triumph… or disaster…

When the chase leads from the sea to the land, Liam, Rivka and Skelaroth set out to track the pirate by air. Rivka has the skills, Skelaroth has the strength and Liam knows their prey like no other. Together, they are unstoppable - until they come face to face with evil magic being used against them. In the final battle, it will take all three of them - plus the help of a mysterious virkin friend. Will they prevail? Will Liam find his justice and the missing artifact? And will Liam and Rivka have a chance at a future of love and joy? Or, will it all turn to fiery dragon ash before their very eyes?

“Captain?”
Benyon’s voice came to Liam from just outside his stateroom door. Liam had already been up for a while, but he’d postponed going on deck to consult his maps.
“Yes, Mr. Benyon,” he replied without moving from his study of the map he was currently looking at.
“Sir, you really need to come out here.”
The note of panic in Benyon’s voice struck Liam as odd. He made sure he had all the weapons he habitually wore on his person and headed cautiously for the door. The sight that met his eyes as he stepped through into the sunshine made him stop short.
There, on his quarterdeck, stood a compact black dragon with a black leather pack affixed to its back. He was no expert, but this did not look like a juvenile, though it was on the small side compared to the dragons he’d seen before. This dragon looked fully grown, just…smaller, and much less colorful than other dragons.
Liam took in the way his men all stood back from the beast. There was a lot of fear and curiosity on his ship at the moment, and he didn’t blame them one bit. Liam strode forward to meet the dragon head on.
“As you were, Mr. Benyon.” Liam snapped out the order, and his first officer seemed grateful for permission to get back to his station near the helm, leaving the dragon problem to his captain.
Liam moved to face the dragon, waiting to see what would happen next. The dragon’s neck bent sinuously as its head lowered and maneuvered so that it was directly opposite Liam.
“Can you hear me?” came a decidedly feminine voice in Liam’s mind. “Your daughter has the gift, so I’m betting you do, too. I am Rivka. Can you speak with me, Captain O’Dare?”
“Lady Rivka, I have neither the time nor patience to play games. What are you doing on my ship?” First Lord Skelaroth and now this. Was this voyage to be plagued by dragons?
The long neck jerked back in surprise. “You can hear me! I knew I was right about you.” The female dragon seemed genuinely pleased, then her tone changed. “There isn’t much time,” she told him. “I know you’re chasing Fisk, but he has put ashore in Tipolir. The Jinn are doing their best to keep him in their sights, but he is a tricky one, and he has some sort of magic that allows him to foul his trail. Our one advantage is that he seems to believe he went ashore undetected.”
“But you saw him, somehow,” Liam said almost sarcastically. Was he to ask how high when this unknown dragon said jump? He thought not. His daughter was the one who had tied her fate to dragons, not him.
“Not me. The sea dragons. They stationed themselves all along the coast and have been physically watching every dock and every port. They spotted him and passed the information through the Jinn.”
“And you got it how?” Liam challenged her further, though he was beginning to appreciate that this lead might actually be a good one.
“I am Jinn,” she told him. “I am Rivka of the Black Dragon Clan.”
“I have, of course, heard of your Clan, but I thought the name was just a euphemism,” he said quietly, knowing many eyes were upon them. He trusted his men, but this seemed like sensitive information, and he didn’t want to be party to revealing something he shouldn’t. He wouldn’t like to have the Jinn hunting him. They were said to be relentless.
“It’s not,” she said rather curtly. “Look, I don’t have time to waste here. Will you make haste for Tipolir or do you give up the search?”
“I will never give up on the justice I seek from Fisk,” he answered truthfully.
“Then, you’d better head for Tipolir. We believe he is going to go overland from there, but if he turns about and heads out to sea, again, it will take a fast ship like yours to follow him.”
Liam frowned, thinking through his options. Up to this point, he’d been spinning his wheels and had found no traction on his search. Perhaps this un-looked-for help was just what he needed to move forward on his quest. He made a snap decision.
“Mr. Benyon, make our course for Tipolir at top speed,” he shouted to his first mate.
“Aye, Captain. Tipolir at top speed,” Benyon repeated, then turned to the helmsman and reissued the orders. He then got the mates moving to unfurl the mainsail and get the ship moving as quickly as it could.
Satisfied that his crew were hopping to it, Liam turned back to the black dragon. “Will you remain with us or go aloft, Lady Rivka?” he asked politely.
Rivka seemed to sigh. She looked tired to him. “If it’s all the same to you, Captain, I would like to stay on your ship. Do you have a hatchway large enough for me to squeeze through? I have been flying in the sun for some time, and I am rather overheated. The scales reflect a lot of the sunlight, but black still absorbs a great deal of heat in these Southern climes.”
Liam thought fast. Where could he put her that was nice enough? One didn’t just toss a dragon in the hold of a ship with the crew. Dragons were special. Respected. Scary, when they felt insulted. Even Liam recognized the need to tread lightly.
“The doors to my rooms are large,” he told her, trying his best to sound gracious. “Perhaps you could duck down a bit and fit through there?” He pointed to the back of the ship where his room took up most of the stern on this deck. “I can have water delivered. We have plenty of fresh water since we resupplied not two days ago.”
She seemed to be judging the size of the double doors, her head tilted to one side. “I believe that will be adequate. Thank you, Captain. If you’ll just open the doors, we’ll see if I fit.”