Girls of Dirt
It is five hundred years since the end of the great wars and Pree and Farthing's legacy is in tatters. The dragons are nothing more than children's tales, the population of Dirt is smaller, tiny countries are ruled by greedy kings and humans are poorer and struggling.
On the Isle of Hope, the weather is warm, the life is good and Silvi Farthing, the seventeen-year-old descendant of Johnson and Mistry, is making cheese and keeping goats.
But her little dream of independence is about to be turned upside down by her misogynistic and violent brothers, and she is not convinced that her rescuer is not actually worse!
So begins a new chapter in the saga of Dirt as humans and dragons once again join forces to battle those that would destroy them.
Includes a recap of Series One.
“Get out!” Silvi screamed, the fear making her voice shrill. In a panic, she turned and bolted into the gloom, splashing through the stream and out on to the scrub.
“After her!” Ike shouted, and the two men raced after the girl, evil etched on their drunken faces. The scrub was rough and Silvi ran only fifty paces in the growing darkness before she slipped and skidded across the ground, scraping her face.
“We got her, bro!” Ike shouted, staggering and giggling. “Quick, grab her hands and feet!”
“Leave her!” The voice boomed from the dark sky above the two men, and they slid to a halt.
“What was that?” Den shouted, spinning around and trying to shake the drunken fog from his head. A huge shadowy ghost appeared over the girl.
“I said leave her be!” The apparition lowered its head to the level of the men and drew two long, sharpened spears from its shoulders. “Leave or die. Your choice.”
“Den, let’s get out of here!”
“What is it?”
“I don’t care! Ghost or something!” Ike was scared and very drunk. The shadowy beast raised its head and roared, the terrifying sound echoing over the scrub. Den and Ike turned and ran, slipping and tripping and sliding over the rough ground, splashing through the stream, and then, grabbing their horses, galloped away along the path.
“Please, don’t hurt me,” Silvi said, her voice shaking with fear.
“Why would I do that?” The apparition sounded surprised.
“I don’t know! I don’t know what you are!” Silvi was curled into a ball between the huge, taloned feet.
“Oh. No, sorry, you wouldn’t, would you.” The massive, shadowy creature chuckled quietly and then spoke gently. “My name is Be-Elin, girl, and I’m a dragon.”