at the start of all things at the start of all things there were only the stars there were only the stars Many different stars light upon light upon light but alone they were not enough To cure their loneliness their light combined and of them were born the High Beasts each belonging to their own quadrant of heaven To the skies of the South were born the High Fly the Glimmer Snake and more And the stars of the South became known as the Waters To the skies of the East and West were born the Dust Ram the White Bull the Star Twins the Prism Scorpion and more These traveled together one after the other a ring of High Beasts in a never ending loop These stars became the Ring To the skies of the North were born the White Bear the Shadow Dragon the Starhound and more But of them all the stars loved the firstborn Bear best And so the northern stars became the stars of the Great Bear When from the earth Man emerged from the darkness looking to the sky for guidance the stars stretched out their light and sent these beasts to lead him bringing them into the flesh And Man worshipped the stars and he worshipped the beasts and the beasts were sacred to him
Thus beneath the heavenly sea of the Waters the Highen of the Waters was born Beneath the Ring’s milky skies grew the Highen of the Ring And beneath the crisp dark skies of the Great Bear the mighty Bear Highen began the writings of bern the writings of bern On the Founding of Highens The Fore Star Writ
PROLOGUE THE Shadow Dragons were screaming Their cries rose out of the dark echoing over the peak of Mount Draccus Men had come for their eggs Quintin Wyvern crouched in the shadows of a rocky outcrop watching the retrieval party approach the nests The young prince had promised his father he would stay in the castle by his ailing mother’s bedside An outbreak of firelung had taken hold of the Kingdom of Dracogart and Mother was just one of many fighting to survive But that night when the dragons began wailing Lady Wyvern had squeezed Quintin’s hand Go she told him her breath ragged from the sickness Go and witness their sacrifice And so Quintin left her He had followed hidden paths so as not to be seen the mountain’s breath thick and fetid and burning his lungs From his vantage point behind an outcrop of obsidian Quintin Quintin saw the lights of the city of Dracogart below saw the men in impressive armor walking up the main road their horses sidestepping with nerves The mother dragons hissed at their approach plumes of smoke billowing from their gaping mouths in warning Only three eggs had been laid that year each one a precious gift from the stars They would take a further two years to hatch
One of them would never get that chance There was a chirrup at his back and Quintin startled He turned and saw a Shadow Dragon a juvenile female crouched on the stones above him She blinked at him her yellow eyes anxious Umbra Quintin pressed a finger to his lips and turned back to watch the soldiers The mother dragons paced encircling their nests The light of the men’s torches danced and glinted off their dark stony scales Quintin knew they would not give up an egg without a fight Shadow Dragons did not abide the laws of men And yet the law demanded an egg all the same Word had reached Dracogart a week ago from the Major the Kingdom of the Shadow Dragon must surrender one egg And that egg would pay for the firelung cure that could only be found in the land of their enemies the Ring Highen We can’t his mother had said fuming when she had still been well enough to stand There has to be another way Chancellor Furia King Wyvern’s most trusted advisor had agreed even though Furia and Queen Wyvern rarely agreed on anything Sire it is too sinful even to think of The eggs of the Shadow Dragon were sacred Blessings from the holy stars themselves How could Dracogart allow anyone to take what had been given by the stars The Major was chosen to be Major because he is favored by the stars King Wyvern told them If the Major believes this is the way to save our people then we must trust that he is right Save the people yes And more importantly now thought Quintin save Mother Her condition was worsening by the hour But still he felt a nervousness in his gut What if Father was wrong to allow this Umbra chirruped again as if she could read his thoughts
