Star-drake: Lodestone Tales, #4

By J.M. Ney-Grimm

Gefnen—troll-herald and hound for Koschey the Deathless—hunts life across the moors of the far north.

Not deer, not pheasant, not meat for the table. His master eats choicer fruits. When the piercing scent of youth tingles his senses, Gefnen focuses his chase. The prey—a boy—lacks guardians strong enough to best a troll. Swift triumph awaits.

But other seekers tilt the chances of this game. Spirit of storm, poignant memories of a sea-prince, and something more ancient than memory or the wind shape the looming tumult.

Gefnen hunts victory, but a darker victory hunts him.

(This edition of Star-drake includes its prequel story Rainbow's Lodestone.)


The Lodestone Tales

In the years that came before the ancient days of the North-lands, a brilliant inventor fabricated the lodestones—powerful artifacts that concentrate magical force.

And while men and women walk the earth but a short while, the lodestones persist through centuries and millennia. When they fall into the hands of mortals, history changes.

Follow the lodestones down through the ages as adventure follows adventure, and ordinary folk rise to meet extraordinary challenges.

(Although the Lodestone Tales form a rough history, each story stands alone. You need not read them in order.)

Skies of Navarys (1)
The Tally Master (1.5)
Resonant Bronze (2)
Rainbow's Lodestone (3)
Star-drake (4)


Praise for Star-drake and Rainbow's Lodestone

"...almost "Tolkienesque"...the stories feel like they're happening on the Earth we know, but long before our recorded history...[Star-drake] has a deep sense of importance to it, of destiny...written very much in a storyteller's fashion, you can imagine it being told around a campfire in the snows of the North, but it has a satisfying sort of weight... All in all, these are wonderful stories... Ney-Grimm's unique blend of Nordic fantasy and fairy tale mentality is a refreshing take on the genre." —James J. Parsons, Speaking to the Eyes


Excerpt from Star-drake

On horseback, Gefnen inhaled, long and lingeringly. He could smell them—his prey—somewhere ahead, warm and live and vibrant.

My lord Koschey will be pleased with this catch.

Pure and piercing amongst the scents of the elders came the perfume of the young one. Gefnen would secure him first, then the others as chance permitted. But Koschey's deathless essence would expand threefold on the boy's vitality alone.

Gefnen glanced at the star patterns in the black sky.

Moonrise would come before he reached the travelers' camp, but no matter. His troll blood gave him an advantage in the dimness of starshine, mapping his surroundings by smell alone, while his human foes blundered in the dark. But they were little better under lunar light. And they would not be expecting him.

He felt his lips stretch in a not-smile, their dry surfaces cracking at the center points, oozing fluid. His sweeping tongue caught the droplets before they stained his chin. Slightly salt, strongly metallic.

He frowned.


About the Author

J.M. Ney-Grimm lives with her husband and children in Virginia, just east of the Blue Ridge Mountains. She reads Robin McKinley and Diana Wynne Jones and writes stories set in her troll-infested North-lands.

• Language: English
• Publisher: J.M. Ney-Grimm
• Release date: Aug 1, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386566380

J.M. Ney-Grimm

J.M. Ney-Grimm lives with her husband and children in Virginia, just east of the Blue Ridge Mountains. She's learning about permaculture gardening and debunking popular myths about food. The rest of the time she reads Robin McKinley, Diana Wynne Jones, and Lois McMaster Bujold, plays boardgames like Settlers of Catan, rears her twins, and writes stories set in her troll-infested North-lands. Look for her novels and novellas at your favorite bookstore—online or on Main Street.

Book preview

Star-drake

~ A LODESTONE TALE ~

includes a bonus story

Rainbow’s Lodestone

by J.M. Ney-Grimm

Star-drake. Copyright © 2012 J.M. Ney-Grimm

Cover art:

Dragon by Netfalls / Dreamstime

Starry Night Sky by Silvertiger / Dreamstime

Rainbow’s Lodestone. Copyright © 2012 J.M. Ney-Grimm

For Miles,

who loves dragons

Table of Contents

Star-drake

Rainbow’s Lodestone

Author Bio

More Titles by J.M. Ney-Grimm

Star-drake

Láidir couldn’t find her anywhere. He was the strongest of the wind spirits, but still he couldn’t find her.

Not in the long, hard blow from the northern seas down to the first fringe of green land.

Not in the wild updrafts along the mountains’ flanks.

Not even amidst the sun-haloed thunder-battles of late summer afternoons.

At first he didn’t worry. He and Geal trusted chance to rule their meetings. If he didn’t chase her at sundown, then he’d dance with her at dawn.

So it had always been: the wind and the rainbow. Who could keep them apart? He blew rain into mist, and she shone within it.

He dashed ahead of himself to catch his playful companions, the erratic puffs heralding a storm.

If you see her, tell her the sun is strong at my back! he told them.

Léim, the littlest, somersaulted, laughed, and called, We miss her, too, Láidir. Tell her to visit soon!

But he didn’t see her. Not then, not the next day, or the next.

He blew south to the warm and brilliant seas laving white sands to find Odhéas, the changeable zephyr. Sometimes she gusted hot and rough. Others – like now – she drifted languorously.

Geal, she purred. Geal.

Have you seen her? he pressed.

Odhéas smiled. No.

How could she be so calm? He didn’t feel calm. Nor confidant. Not anymore.

It’s been too long.

Her eyelids lowered. Has it?

He blew away in irritation, blasting the fronds of a palm forest, then whipping the tepid sea into vigorous waves. Somewhere mid-ocean his annoyance ebbed. Láidir sighed and paused, gliding through air so still it felt like liquid moonlight.

It’s been too long, whispered a voice.

Láidir turned mid-air, surprised. You’ve noticed, he observed.

Translucent skirts flowing, gauzy curls unfurling, the gentle breeze swirled toward him. Your speed and my serenity accord rarely, Milis agreed. Drift with me, she invited.

I didn’t mean you, he blurted. I meant Geal.

The rainbow’s daughter, she murmured. I see her more rarely than I see you.

But have you seen her? Láidir probed, slowing his slow drift.

Milis considered. No. I haven’t. But you should have.

Yes. I should.

Milis collected herself, twisting her trailing bannerols into a narrow tail, and inclined her languid self