as hopelessly ordinary especially when compared to his noisy friends at the bar They never tired of telling their stories about armies castles or kings Our dragon did have a particularly splendid roar but he’d never used it in battle Magic had yet to claim him for its purpose as it had each of his friends He would have been embarrassed if anyone had told him he was destined for great things But in fact it was why he’d been born The girl as it turned out was no ordinary girl either although she would certainly have told you that she was She believed that mirrors don’t lie and her mirror showed a remarkably unremarkable reflection The magic that existed in her world sang only in poetry paintings colors or an excellent slice of almond cake If pressed she’d explain that her father a famous poet and her mother a dead but still famous painter were the special ones in her family She herself although finally eleven was just a girl with no particular talents Magic is funny in that way It chooses those who might not choose themselves In fact one of the many rules governing the world of magic is that if you pay attention attention you will understand how magic has chosen you And why 2
CHAPTER ONE Forest Creatures Back when the world was long ago and far away deep in the Black Forest a new dragon was born The new dragon was known as Grisha although his parents parents in the strange and mysterious ways of grown-ups everywhere had named him Benevolentia Gaudium The grandness of Benevolentia Gaudium meaning kindness and joy was far too grand for daily use but his parents liked the way it sounded They had waited fifty years for his arrival and were naturally thrilled with their son Normally it took thirty or so years for a new dragon to arrive in the world but the special ones took an extra twenty years No one knew why the world of magic selected particular dragons to be special but the signs were always clear One of those signs was the fifty years of waiting The more obvious signs almost always had to do with an unusual appearance
