The time has come for me to make the biggest announcement of 2023: I have a short story in the upcoming anthology, Captain America: The Shield of Sam Wilson! Take a look at that cover and tell me if you see anyone familiar…
This wonderful anthology will be hitting bookshelves January 14th, 2025. Description and pre-order link below.
The new Captain America has a big shield to carry. Is he up to the task? In these short stories inspired by the Marvel comic book universe, Sam Wilson takes up the shield and proves his mettle.
Sam Wilson has a heavy shield to lift as the new Captain America. Read an action-packed anthology of stories about Sam Wilson. Inspired by the Marvel comic book universe, the stories will see Sam prove he is ready to carry the shield as he faces Skrulls, Sabretooth, Kingpin, and other infamous villains.
A revolutionary anthology of stories written by authors of African Heritage and inspired by the Marvel Comics universe. Slated to take part are several noted, award-winning authors including bestselling author Kyoko M., fantasy author L.L. McKinney, crime writer Gary Phillips, sci-fi author Sheree Renée Thomas, comics creator Alex Simmons, horror and mystery writer Nicole Givens Kurtz, and many more. Edited by Jesse J. Holland, distinguished visiting scholar in residence at the U. S. Library of Congress who edited the Marvel anthology Black Panther: Tales of Wakanda and wrote the novelization of the graphic novel Black Panther: Who Is the Black Panther?, which was nominated for the NAACP Image Award for outstanding Literary Work.
I am happy to announce that I will be appearing on this week’s Authors’ Corner hosted by ConCarolinas TV! Please join us at 7:30pm EST on August 24th, 2023 where we will be discussing science fiction. Details are in the poster above. I look forward to seeing you all there!
Edit: ICYMI, here is the link to watch the recording on YouTube:
I am very excited about returning to Multiverse Con this October. In the meantime, I was featured on Go Indie Now’s Spotlight last night along with the amazing Violette Meier. Take a gander at the interview here:
Of Wings and Shadows (Of Cinder and Bone #5.5) is now available on ebook and in paperback! Get it today-only for .99 cents. The price will increase tomorrow. Read excerpt one here if you haven’t already.
In a modern-day world teeming with marauding dragons, there is only one solution: The Wild Hunt.
The United States government has decided to hold a tournament called The Wild Hunt to determine who will be responsible for the capture of wild dragons by the Knight Division. The four challengers Noah Wilson, Charlie Howard, Su Jin Han, and Beowulf have to catch five deadly dragons alive if they want to win the tournament and become the new Knight Division dragon hunters. Their journey will take them through the mountains of South Carolina, the seas of Key West, the caverns of Ruby Falls, the Redwood forest, and finally, the murky bayous of Louisiana. Will they succeed against their competition, or will the dragons of the Wild Hunt be too wild to tame?
Here is an all-new excerpt for your reading enjoyment!
–
“Well, at least we picked a nice day.”
Charlie chuckled as he held his hand out for the camerawoman to steady her as she stepped onto the bay boat. She was a stocky Brazilian woman decked out in a fisherman’s rain slicker, the camera rig on her shoulder already outfitted with waterproof plastic as well. Rain pounded down from the heavens, thick droplets splashing all over the marina, but that was normal for this time of year in Key West. After all, they were currently in hurricane season, which might have been why the storm dragon had been so active in the area.
“I’m Elena,” she said, shaking his hand once before letting it go. “The fella with your eye in the sky is Kevin. We’ll be coordinating to make sure we get a good capture, but I’ll stay out of your way as much as possible.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m assuming you’re well-versed in boat safety?”
“Absolutely. They tapped me for this specifically since I’ve shot a few documentaries about fishermen in the area, so we’re good to go.”
“Great.” He pointed to one of the larger boats to their right. “The Florida Department of Natural Resources is on standby to help us transport the storm dragon once caught. They can back us up if things get really ugly and we have to reassess how to catch it. The plan is for Penelope to spot it, then we’ll chum the water to draw it closer and employ the netting.”
Elena saluted him. “Got it. Yo-ho, a pirate’s life for me and all that.”
“Ha! In this kind of weather, it does feel like we’re in a Pirates of the Caribbean movie, doesn’t it?” Charlie took his spot by the helm and fired up the engine to pull out of the marina. Elena took a seat at the stern and began to film.
“Agent Okamura, do you read me?” Charlie said into the comm-link.
“I’ve got you, Charlie,” Yusuke replied. “Though it is a bit spotty on account of the bad weather.”
“Tell me about it. I wish I had windshield wipers on this helmet. We’re leaving the marina now. How’s Noah?”
“He’s seen a medic for the bruised ribs. Should be headed for New Orleans shortly.”
“Good. That midnight dragon was one tough customer. I’m glad he’s alright.” He glanced at the panel on his armored suit. “We should reach open water in a bit, but it’s likely going to be a long hunt. There is a lot of ground to cover, metaphorically speaking.”
“Understood. Just be careful. We’ve already seen these creatures can throw quite the left curve at you when you least expect it.”
“Amen to that. I’m gonna check in with Penelope; back in a few.”
Charlie switched channels. “Penelope, this is Charlie, over.”
“Got ya, Charlie,” the pilot replied. “Having fun so far, over?”
“Oh, I’m having a ball. Lead the way; we’re ready to rock and roll, over.”
“Great. The dragon’s last sighting was a little after six o’clock this morning.” She read out the coordinates of where they were headed and Charlie adjusted the boat accordingly to follow. Once they left the marina, he went to full throttle. The DNR boat followed at a safe distance. Most of the path had been cleared by the Coast Guard. Key West saw less visitors during this part of the year, so unlike Libby’s hunt of the aquatic dart-backed wyrm, civilian interference was far less likely.
“Charlie, I’ve got a visual. Can you confirm, over?” She read the updated coordinates to him and he adjusted his course, then slowed the boat. He then adjusted the HUD scope to zoom in as he spotted the shifting waves.
The storm dragon had been circling a school of fish, borrowing some technique from the local sharks—it would stalk them at a distance, then close in and attack from below, pushing the fish up to the surface where they would be easier to catch. Its dark blue scales blended in with the deeper sea water and made it harder to detect. It also shared traits with seabirds, being covered in plumage that allowed for buoyancy and protection against the salty waters and harsh winds during hurricane season. It had a long, narrow body that was fifteen feet from snout to tail and webbed feet with sharp talons on each, its wings doubling as fins when it was fully submerged.
Charlie whistled. “Thar she blows. Sighting confirmed, Penelope. I’m going to start chumming the water and I need you to keep an eye out for other predators in the area, since it’s bound to attract some that want a free meal, over.”
“Roger that, Charlie. Be careful, over.”
“Thanks. You too, over.” Charlie headed towards the stern where he’d had a cooler waiting, the bucket of frozen chum inside already prepped. “Elena, we’ve got the dragon in view.”
“Fantastic.” She headed for the bow and took a look. “Wow. Que linda. You all ready to go, Plankton?”
Charlie paused. “Plankton…cute. And yeah, let’s see if we can get Moby Dick over here.”
He shut off the engine once they were several meters out and then dropped the anchor. He picked the side of the boat facing the marine reptile and lowered the metal mesh chum bucket into the ocean. Though visibility was harder thanks to the storm, he could see bubbles and blood beginning to blossom out from the bucket and spread into the ocean water.
They waited. The storm dragon had submerged but hadn’t left the area. Charlie knew from experience that it wasn’t always an instantaneous reaction. He resisted the urge to pace, as the vibrations it would cause in the hull might deter the dragon.
“Uh-oh,” Penelope said over the channel. “We’ve got incoming. I’m spotting something on radar headed your way, to your starboard about fifty meters out, over.”
Charlie went over to the right side of the boat and peered through the rainfall, muttering under his breath, “Please be a hammerhead. Please be a hammerhead.”
As it reached twenty meters away, Charlie could see a fin and a wake, giving him an idea of the species. “Shit. Looks like a Mako, at least ten feet long. Things are about to get messy.”
“Why?” Elena asked. “What’s wrong?”
“Not all sharks are aggressive,” he told her as he pulled up the anchor and then turned the engine over. “In fact, Key West has never had a fatal shark attack in its entire history, but Mako sharks are among the aggressive ones, which means we might have a confrontation here in a second. We need to be ready to boogie if that happens; a fight could capsize us.”
Sure enough, the storm dragon changed directions to head for the chum just as the Mako made contact and began eating the bits of barracuda that had floated loose from the bucket. Charlie gave the boat a bit of gas to help it float along at a steady pace, then began working on laying the net while keeping a wary eye on the two approaching predators.
The storm dragon circled behind the Mako and then dashed towards it, aiming a bite at its caudal fin. The Mako had anticipated as much and darted out of the way, then swung around to face its rival. Its powerful jaws snapped as it attempted to bite the right wing of the dragon when it swam past, missing by mere inches.
The storm dragon dove out of sight beneath the boat, the water swirling behind its long, powerful tail.
“That can’t be good,” Elena remarked, practically reading Charlie’s mind. He gave the boat more gas as he started to try and strategically lay the nets in a wide semi-circle around the area. The storm dragon proved them both right when it surged up from below and rammed the shark, causing it to flip upside down. The shark wriggled for less than a minute, but then went completely still on its back along the water’s choppy surface.
Charlie’s eyes widened beneath his helmet. “Holy hell. It’s figured out tonic immobility.”
“Who-whatta-huh?” Elena asked.
“If you flip a shark upside down, it enters a kind of trance and can be motionless for up to fifteen minutes or so. It’s how orcas sometimes catch and eat sharks. This dragon’s not only smart, but definitely experienced.”
Both of them jumped as the storm dragon grabbed the motionless shark and bit a hole into its side. The water churned red with blood as it began tearing chunks of its soft sides and belly off.
Elena swallowed hard as she watched. “Yeesh.”
“You said it,” Charlie agreed. “Nature don’t play.”
He switched back to the comm-link. “Agent Okamura, we may have a bit of a problem. Our storm dragon decided it wanted some Mako shark instead of sushi for lunch. I’m working on laying the nets now, but I’m not sure how long it’ll stay stationary.”
“If it gets airborne, we might have trouble following it with this weather. The best bet might be to dart it and slow it down while it’s distracted with the meal.”
Charlie winced. That was risky, but he knew he was running low on time. The tournament timer had already clocked him past the hour mark, so he had to finish this hunt now or it would hurt the team’s average. “Copy that.”
He grabbed the tranquilizer rifle leaning up against the helm and checked that it was properly loaded. Then he stepped over to the starboard side of the ship and took careful aim at the wriggling mass of dragon beneath the Mako shark carcass, which it had already eaten a great deal of in only several seconds.
“Charlie, we’ve got more incoming,” Penelope said. “One to your one o’clock, the other at your three o’clock, over.”
No sooner than she said it, the storm dragon released the Mako shark’s corpse and swam deeper beneath the surface.
“Dammit,” Charlie swore as he readjusted the sights on the rifle to look at the surface of the water. “We’ve got a feeding frenzy on our hands. Visibility is next to none. I think I’m gonna have to go down there.”
“What?” Yusuke demanded. “Charlie, that’s too dangerous. You can’t possibly out-swim it and there are other predators being drawn to that spot.”
“With all due respect, sir, we’re already lagging behind. If I can get in range, I can attach a syringe to a harpoon gun and dart it from a distance. The sharks will be more concerned with the chum and the Mako carcass than me.” He pulled open a waterproof suit bag that contained scuba gear as well as a diving oxygen tank. “I’ve spent my entire adult life around these animals. I need you to trust me, Okamura.”
There was a long pause, then he heard him sigh. “Alright. I trust your judgment.”
“Thank you.” Charlie removed his helmet and replaced it with the breathing apparatus, sliding his arms into the straps for the tank. He removed one of the syringes from the tranquilizer rifle and attached it to the end of the harpoon gun he’d brought with him. He fitted the flippers onto his feet and took the mouthpiece out long enough to address Elena. “I’ll be back as fast as I can. Keep an eye on the activity at the surface. If it gets too rough, move the boat.”
She nodded. “I will. Be careful, huh?”
“I will.” He smiled before putting the mouthpiece back in and grabbing the harpoon gun. The boat rocked slightly as he walked to the port side away from the bloody mess and jumped into the water.
Charlie let his weight allow him to sink several feet below the surface and switched on his head lamp. The two sharks that closed in on the Mako shark’s body were a bull shark and a tiger shark. The two predators didn’t want to be bothered with one another, so in the time it took him to prep, they’d torn the corpse in half and were devouring the remains. He swam below them, keeping a wide berth, and spotted a dark shape moving towards the chum bucket that was up near the surface.
Though a formidable opponent, the storm dragon must have reasoned it couldn’t fight two fully grown sharks for the rest of its meal, so it returned to sate itself with the chum. He knew he had to work fast; once it was full, it would likely fly away or simply swim back into open water. The nets he had lain had straightened out and surrounded them, meaning he would need to dart the dragon and then guide it into the netting, so he swam forward steadily to make his presence known.
And it didn’t take long for the storm dragon to notice him.
The marine reptile had been nosing at the bucket to release more tidbits, but it angled its head when it spotted his light. The glow of the flashlight shone over one of its pale blue eyes, its pupil contracting, and then the dragon let go of the chum bucket to focus on him instead. There had been many a time it was just him and a large aquatic predator in the shifting seas and something in him was always awed and terrified at the same time.
The dragon swam towards him much like a crocodile, its streamlined body cutting through the water, and stopped just shy of a few yards to examine him. The creature had encountered humans before, and unfortunately took a man’s life, but it had been an accident when the fishermen pulled up their nets. It seemed rather curious instead of afraid or agitated. Charlie let it observe him for a moment, then cautiously offered his hand to the creature, palm out. The dragon drifted closer. His hand landed on its snout and petted it gently. It didn’t seem to mind.
Its curiosity satisfied, the storm dragon glided past him. Charlie prayed for the safety of himself and his colleague as he let it go by, then turned and fired the harpoon gun. The syringe struck the dragon’s tail on the underside near the base. He hoped with the creature’s size that such a small prick wouldn’t be felt.
The dragon’s head snapped around, its teeth bared.
Hope is a thing with feathers, Charlie thought to himself.
Then he swam as fast and hard as he could for the boat.
–
Read the conclusion to Charlie’s hunt in Of Wings and Shadows, out now on all platforms! Thanks for all of your support so far and happy reading!
I’m happy to say that I will be doing a live reading of my upcoming novella, Of Wings and Shadows (Of Cinder and Bone #5.5) on July 20th at 7pm EST. It is a live event and the information is in the poster below. Please join me so you can enjoy an all-new excerpt from the book. Don’t forget that the release date is July 22nd for the ebook, but the paperback is available now.
Of Wings and Shadows (Of Cinder and Bone #5.5) will hit ebook shelves next month on July 23rd, but you can order it in paperback and get it now! Only $5.99 on Amazon.
If you haven’t read the first excerpt yet, you can right here. Add it to Goodreads as well. Blurb below.
In a modern-day world teeming with marauding dragons, there is only one The Wild Hunt.
The United States government has decided to hold a tournament called The Wild Hunt to determine who will be responsible for the capture of wild dragons by the Knight Division. The four challengers Noah Wilson, Charlie Howard, Su Jin Han, and Beowulf have to catch five deadly dragons alive if they want to win the tournament and become the new Knight Division dragon hunters. Their journey will take them through the mountains of South Carolina, the seas of Key West, the caverns of Ruby Falls, the Redwood forest, and finally, the murky bayous of Louisiana. Will they succeed against their competition, or will the dragons of the Wild Hunt be too wild to tame?
Of Wings and Shadows is the sixth book in the Of Cinder and Bone series. It takes place in medias res of Book Five, Of Claws and Inferno. It follows Of Cinder and Bone, Of Blood and Ashes, Of Dawn and Embers, and Of Fury and Fangs.
Want to know more about the upcoming book? Then check out Hot Off the Presses Episode 99! I’m featured with a bunch of other cool authors, so if you’re curious about more details related to Of Wings and Shadows, then look no further!
Ready to catch dragons with the Knight Division? If so, please enjoy the first excerpt from my upcoming novella, Of Wings and Shadows (Of Cinder and Bone #5.5).
–
Agent Okamura then used the clicker for the projector to get the slide started. “I thought it best to show you one of the group hunts by the Knight Division. This is their capture of a crystal dragon that was discovered near the Wegner Quartz Crystal Mines in Arkansas last spring. Crystal dragons have the second hardest scales next to the Highlander dragon, hence the name, and they’re among the rarest dragons in history. As you can imagine, it made subduing it quite a challenge.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Beowulf said. “How the hell did something called a crystal dragon end up in a place full of crystals?”
“The working theory is that when it’s not the illegal dragon cloning farms, it might be conservationists who clone and release them not only to repopulate the Earth, but also to study the effects they have on the environment. This one is specific enough that it’s likely a conservationist released it into a habitat where it would have naturally lived had dragons not been hunted to extinction. Crystal dragons lived in quartz mines. That’s how they evolved to have their eponymous crystalline scales.”
Yusuke hit Play. The footage had been taken from the bodycam of one Dr. Rhett “Jack” Jackson—the MIT scientist responsible for the dragon resurrection project that had later kickstarted the resurgence of the reptiles into modern society. He stood at 6’2’’, dressed in an armored suit similar to theirs, but it was gunmetal grey. The visored helmet provided a heads-up display with different kinds of information like the area’s temperature, the distance to target, and the vital signs of his three other team members. The small plaque built into the armor had his codename, Gawain, embossed upon it.
Jack had just stepped out of the Knight Division van and turned to help his fellow hunter and girlfriend, Dr. Kamala Anjali. She was a petite but curvy woman at 5’4’’, her long jet-black hair pulled back in a bun at the base of her neck, her helmet tucked under one arm. She had a gold stud in her nose and her suit’s plaque read Parvati.
She was followed by a slightly taller, slender, tattooed black girl in her early twenties, Libby Calloway, and her older brother, Bruce Calloway, who was near Jack’s height and muscular with a beard neatly trimmed into a goatee. Their plaques read Bast and Sobek respectively. The last person out of the van was a tall, dark-haired man in a black suit, black tie, and crisp white dress shirt with a gun on his hip.
“Quite a day for a hunt,” Agent John Shannon said as he tucked his aviators into the front pocket of his suit jacket. He walked around to the back of the van and pulled open the double doors. Their equipment was neatly stored in the rear, either bolted to the walls or in large reinforced cases. There was already a shatterproof cage in the parking spot beside them that had been provided by the Arkansas Department of Natural Resources. “Libby, can you get an eye in the sky for us?”
“Yep, I’m on it.” She opened one of the smaller cases and retrieved a fairly small drone and the tablet that controlled it. She held the drone flat on her palm and then switched it on. The four rotors began to spin and the drone took off into the air. “What’s the last known location?”
“There should be a burrow near the Phantom Mine according to the dragon tracker,” Shannon answered, handing her brother one of the net launchers. “The park rangers said it’s been collecting quartz pieces for its lair, so they’ve cleared the area and set up security cameras to track its movements.”
“Got it. Let’s see…” She guided the drone away from the parking lot and onto the premises of the Tailings Pile—a huge open area with blasted soil from the mines where visitors could dig to find different types of crystals. The soil had a reddish-brown hue and it was easily walkable as it had been set in a field. There were trees and picnic tables surrounding the pile and the whole area was inside of a valley in Ouachita National Forest, giving them a rather breathtaking view. “I’m seeing tracks towards the bottom edge of the Pile. They look fresh.”
“Crystal dragons are sensitive to light,” Kamala said as she pulled on her helmet as Libby and Calloway did the same. “It’s possible it went searching for quartz to bring to its lair last night and it’s resting right now.”
“Good call,” Calloway said as he shouldered the net launcher onto his back. “After all, it’s not exactly the most inconspicuous dragon there is and it probably wouldn’t want to draw too much attention to itself. From what I’ve read, it’s not one of the more aggressive breeds.”
“Which is a blessing and a curse.” Jack shut the doors to the van. “That means it might opt for flight instead of a fight, which could drag this hunt out for a while if we’re not careful.”
“Agreed. Your main focus is to try and keep it on the ground. Once Libby locates it, we’ll use the drone to lure it out into the open. Jack and Calloway will flank and Kamala will run point. I’ll keep an eye on the perimeter to make sure we don’t have some meddling kids interfering.”
Jack snorted softly. “I’d say that was a Scooby Doo reference, but there is no way in hell you’ve seen a single episode of that, even as old as you are. You were probably alive when Hanna Barbera was first created. Hell, they probably based Captain Caveman off of you, didn’t they?”
Shannon didn’t even blink at the insult. “Who?”
Jack shook his head. “Heathen.”
“Aha!” Libby said, perking up a bit as she watched the drone footage. “There. We’ve got some movement. Looks like it’s digging to expand its burrow. Sending the coordinates to your HUDs now.”
She tapped a few keys. A moment later, the digital panels on their right forearms chimed and then the coordinates loaded into their helmets’ displays. The team left the parking lot and entered the grounds. Once they were several yards out, they split up. Jack and Calloway stayed upwind of the dragon’s nest and settled above the entrance to the burrow, which had an outcropping of a few feet. Calloway prepared the net launcher while Jack switched his HUD to X-ray so he could examine the tunneling that the crystal dragon had completed so far. The burrow went into the hill horizontally for about ten feet, then expanded down twenty feet into the earth. They weren’t directly above it, so the dragon hadn’t noticed anything yet. Often, the element surprise was the best way to capture a dragon safely, after all.
“Alright, crew, the early reports appear to be accurate,” Jack said quietly as he knelt beside Calloway. “It looks to be about nine feet long from snout to tail. It’s not as dense as, say, a Hercules dragon, so it’s probably very agile. If we don’t get it with the first shot of the net launcher, I’ll try and keep it from going back into the burrow while Kam and Libby intercept. Ready, little bit?”
“Ready,” Libby said.
“Hit it.”
Kitty Kallen’s “It’s Been a Long, Long Time” began to play from a small speaker built into the drone.
Jack held his breath as the shuffling dirt inside the burrow stilled. Then, a moment later, the crystal dragon emerged.
It was a long, slender creature with sharp spines down its back and a few horns along either side of its jaws. Its unique scales gleamed under the sunlight, nearly transparent, and colors of the rainbow reflected off of them. Its eyes were pale blue and its claws were blacked and hooked much like a bird of prey with webbed skin in between each one for digging. Its wings were tucked against its back as it walked outside of its den and focused its gaze on the drone hovering twenty feet overhead.
The dragon cocked its head as it listened to the song, which was part of the Knight Division’s strategies for catching dragons. They had discovered that there was an underlying tone embedded in the song that could sooth certain wild dragons. It appeared curious, its tail lashing back and forth in the rust-colored dirt as it observed the device.
After thirty seconds, Kamala emerged from the forest and approached the dragon slowly, her tone friendly as she held out a hand. “Hello there.”
The dragon shifted its body weight, its nostrils flaring as it drew in her scent. Kamala continued forward until she stood within arms’ length of the reptile, allowing it to smell her. It gave her an uncertain look as her gloved fingertips grazed its snout.
“That’s it,” she cooed as she gently stroked between its brow. “I’m not going to hurt you. It’s alright.”
“The dragon whisperer,” Calloway murmured to Jack. “Never ceases to amaze me.”
“Right?”
Just then, Shannon spoke over the comm-link. “Shit. We’ve got incoming.”
“What is it?” Kamala asked.
“Someone must’ve seen Libby’s drone,” Shannon said. “We’ve got a second one that just appeared out of the tree line to your ten o’clock.”
“I thought the park rangers cleared this place,” Jack said as he adjusted the helmet’s field of view to zoom in on the second drone. It was larger than Libby’s and had a camera on front, likely recording the capture for whomever was controlling it.
“They did, but sometimes these little punks skirt the rules by parking outside of the area and then send their drones in so they can sell the footage. I’m concerned shooting it out of the air is gonna spook the dragon. Calloway, do you have a clear shot?”
Calloway lined up the sights on the net launcher. “If Kam steps to her right, I should.”
“Alright, we’ll try to do this simultaneously. On three.”
“Got it.”
“One…two…thr—”
The second drone’s top compartment burst open with a tiny explosion of brightly-colored confetti and the strobe lights on its hull began flashing.
The crystal dragon roared and leapt into the air after it.
“Dammit!” Calloway pulled the trigger on the net launcher. The net shot out from the barrel and expanded in the air, but missed the dragon by a scarce inch.
“Jack!” Kamala called out as she raced uphill towards him. “Spring board!”
“On it!” Jack cupped his hands together and dug in his heels as she ran towards him, then jumped. She landed with her feet in his grip and he then launched her up. She spun backwards, twisted her body, and then landed on the dragon’s back in mid-air. The dragon screeched and went into a spin, trying to get her off. Kamala planted her feet on its hindquarters and held on for dear life, dragging herself up so she’d be straddling it as one would a horse.
“Madarchod!” Kamala exclaimed. “I did not think this through!”
She wrapped both arms around the dragon’s neck and pulled its head back towards the ground, which was quickly getting farther below them.
“We’ve got you, girl!” Libby hurried over to Jack and Calloway, who were quickly unraveling the diamond wire net and spreading it out. Kamala craned her neck to look at the dragon’s wings as they flapped up and down trying to keep the two of them aloft, then placed her feet onto its shoulder appendages and pressed hard. The dragon’s wings then extended outward into a glide and its body pitched towards the ground.
“Incoming!” Kamala waited until they were just a couple of feet from the net and then launched herself from the dragon’s back. The crystal dragon landed in the center of the net as she rolled across the dirt and skidded to a halt in a crouch. Jack, Calloway, and Libby twisted the net around the creature so its limbs and wings were pinned to its sides, then lowered it to the ground carefully. The dragon wriggled, but ultimately stilled when it realized it couldn’t move.
“Jesus, Kam,” Jack said with a sigh. “They ought to have you as a guest acrobat on Cirque du Soleil.”
“Not my smartest moment, I admit, but at least it worked.”
Jack snorted. “Now you sound like me.”
“Yes, recklessness is usually your department, isn’t it?” she teased as she grabbed one corner of the tangled net and helped lift the struggling reptile between the four of them.
“Hey! You’re not wrong, but hey.”
“I’d thank you to leave it to him next time,” Agent Shannon said as he descended the hill. “My blood pressure’s high enough as it is.”
Then, without even blinking, he pulled out his gun and shot the second drone out of the air. It exploded into a shower of sparks and metal scraps as it tumbled to the ground. “Now let’s get this show on the road.”
In a modern-day world teeming with marauding dragons, there is only one solution: The Wild Hunt.
The United States government has decided to hold a tournament called The Wild Hunt to determine who will be responsible for the capture of wild dragons by the Knight Division. The four challengers Noah Wilson, Charlie Howard, Su Jin Han, and Beowulf have to catch five deadly dragons alive if they want to win the tournament and become the new Knight Division dragon hunters. Their journey will take them through the mountains of South Carolina, the seas of Key West, the caverns of Ruby Falls, the Redwood forest, and finally, the murky bayous of Louisiana. Will they succeed against their competition, or will the dragons of the Wild Hunt be too wild to tame?
Of Wings and Shadows is the sixth book in the Of Cinder and Bone series. It takes place in medias res of Book Five, Of Claws and Inferno. It follows Of Cinder and Bone, Of Blood and Ashes, Of Dawn and Embers, and Of Fury and Fangs.
