Chapter One
Krinza reached out and wrapped her long slender tail
around her mug. She had a book in one hand and some berries she was
munching on in the other. Curled up near her fireplace, she
unconsciously shifted her leathered wings to allow her tail over
her shoulder to sip her tea. It was cold. Distracted from her book
by the cold beverage, she ate the rest of the berries, put down her
book and poured her tea back into the kettle set next to the fire’s
embers. She needed to add more wood; it was getting too low for the
nights chill.
Seeing how little wood remained indoors, Krinza went
outside her little cottage to restock her pile. She looked up into
the sky, noting the massive crescent of the planet with which her
little moon travelled. She could also see the faint glow from
several other moons. Her moon was named Varga, a home for the
lesser half-breeds. Pureblooded creatures lived on Onara. Long ago,
the strongest of the mages opened a portal to allow passage. The
Purists used this as an excuse to rid their home of lesser,
‘dirty-blooded creatures’.
Krinza, scowled at the sky, a low rumble reverberated
deep in her chest. She still remembered when she was taken from her
mother, who had protected her since she hatched. She was sent to
the main city to be judged. It was not a long ordeal, she was very
obviously not human nor dragon. Others were close enough to a
single race that it was possible to hide their mixed blood.
Possible, but it rarely lasted long. Krinza had no chance.
Her rather human face had bright yellow eyes that
resembled a feline, long black hair that looked blue from the right
angle. A few black scales marred her olive-skinned face and throat.
Her humanoid arms culminated in hands that were dragon-like claws;
scaled skin covered the four, clawed digits. At least her human
father’s genetics allowed her an opposable thumb, even though it
was clawed; it was still nice to have. Most pure-blooded dragons
had thumbs, though some did not. Her torso had areas of scales,
accenting her smooth, olive skin. Her exceptionally human breasts
settled nicely above a well-toned abdomen. Her shapely back was
hidden behind decidedly dragon wings in a deep black that shone
with the same blue undertones of her hair. The base of her spine
sported a tail that she became more and more thankful for every
day. Its uses seemed to be endless. At almost five feet in length,
she had finally mastered its dexterity as well as that of her own
hands. As the eye trailed down her legs, they seemed to morph from
human to dragon. Knee to hip was mostly skin with only a few
scales. Below the knee however, Krinza was mostly scales. She
walked on the large balls and claws of her dragon feet, her clawed
heel never touching the ground.
If her appearance and memory served, she understood
why her human father and dragon mother were so smitten to allow for
a child. For a filthy half-breed, she thought of herself as
extremely beautiful. And she was.
Rekindling the fire, pouring more hot tea and
retrieving her book, Krinza settled in her little nest near the
fire to enjoy the rest of her night.
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Chapter Two
Terrian hesitated before the creature before him, a
dirty-blooded creature named Xil. It was his duty to explain the
lack of rights half-breeds had in the Pure-Blooded society of
Onara. It was his first day on exile duty at the portal. He was an
intelligent, handsome, and pureblooded dragon from the nearby
mountains of Ki’lara. He was smaller than most males because of the
altitude where he was hatched, so finding a way to make a living
was trying. He was too small to join the army, or any of the
defense and combat jobs on the small moon. Looking down on the
twitchy creature, he grimaced again before he continued his speech;
some half-breeds just weren’t lucky enough to get the better
genetics of their parents. Xil was supposedly a mixed mermaid,
obviously gone very wrong. He had no