Excerpt – Suddenly they all died. The end.

Today I’ve got an interview with Aurelia, a character in the book Firedragon Rising by Mary Fan. Let’s see what she’s got to say, shall we?

Why do people call you “the Firedragon”?
Because in this world, monsters are given straightforward names that are mishmashes of words, like bloodwolf or fleshsnake. And I’m so good at fighting that to them, I’m the monster. I don’t know exactly who came up with the nickname, since by the time I heard about it, everyone was already saying it behind my back. Best I can guess is that it’s because I fight like I’m on fire, and I’m scary like a dragon. But also one of the good guys. I like to think that dragons aren’t like regular monsters—they’re good monsters. But no one’s ever seen one, so I don’t know. I think they’re actually myths.

What’s going on in your life?
School, of course. But it’s not a regular school. I’m a Cadet at the Academy of Supernatural Defense, which means I study how to fight monsters. You know, what kinds there are, what their weaknesses are, what weapons work on them, and where they like to hang out. But only half my day is spent on the classroom stuff. The rest is for training. Except when there’s a monster near the Capital—then I’m sent to gank it.

What kind of training do you do?
What do you think? How to kill monsters! Since there are so many kinds out there, you’ve gotta be good at a lot of different types of combat. You can shoot some of the monsters with a gun, but most have super-healing powers and will just regenerate. Arrows work on some of them, since the monster can’t heal around the shaft. Personally, I like stabbing weapons the best, because all monsters are vulnerable to silver blades. Double swords are my favorite.

What’s the most dangerous monster out there?
See the answer behind the cut!

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Great! Because today I’ve got an excerpt from Darkhaven by A.F.E. Smith. It’s a great scene, and I hope it hooks you as much as it hooked me. 🙂

Stay tuned afterward, because I’ve got all the deets on a great Rafflecopter giveaway at the end of the post!

As was fast becoming their habit, she and her father had started that evening by arguing. They’d always argued, of course, but not like this. Not as if each would rather kill the other than concede the fight. Ayla knew she couldn’t beat Florentyn in a real fight, either in human or in creature form, but she hoped this battle of words would be different. Her father probably wouldn’t go so far as to physically chastise his wayward daughter.

Probably.

She had to keep trying, anyway, for Myrren’s sake.

Scavenger_day05 ‘You can’t do that to him,’ she said for the tenth time in as many days. ‘He is your true heir, your pure-blood son. I’m only half a Nightshade.’

On the other side of the desk, her father sat motionless and in shadow; no need for light when only Changers were present in the room. Ayla resented the fact that he’d summoned her into the library as if he had every right to control her movements. That he’d made her stand in front of his desk like a stripling awaiting punishment, not a fully grown woman. She resented a lot of things. But she had to concentrate on the one that mattered.

‘You can Change.’ Florentyn’s face showed no more emotion than the ancestral busts adorning the bookcases to either side of him. ‘Myrren cannot. I have no choice but to disinherit him.’

‘I won’t take his birthright away from him, Father.’ She lifted her chin, but he was as impervious to her defiance as his Firedrake form was to steel.

‘You will start accompanying me on state visits. It’s time you began to learn what is required of Darkhaven’s overlord.’

Ayla bit her lip. Always he dangled that in front of her: