Hi Flame Nation,

 55 BACKERS! 🐉🔥

You all continue to amaze me.

As our little gathering of dragon lovers keeps growing, I thought we should celebrate this milestone with something a little different.

Not another stretch goal.

Not another upgrade.

A story.

Or perhaps I should say... a secret.

Today, we're opening the archives for a little Dragon Origins lore drop, told through a brand-new piece of flash fiction.

Before Nanna crossed worlds. Before she met Baldr. Before the dragons awakened... she was a woman in Carthage who had already begun questioning the stories told by the gods.

At 55 backers, I'm opening the archives and sharing a tiny piece of Dragon Origins lore.

A storm is coming. Ten orphaned children need reassurance.

And Nanna is about to tell them a story she probably shouldn't.

The sea’s howl screeched across the high wall of Carthage. Storm clouds blacked out the sun. Lightning ripped across the sky and the emergency bell clanged, alerting all to seek shelter.

“Come, children,” I called after those in my care. They were the ones often overlooked, orphans who’d been abandoned or disregarded after years of battle.

Though the tall walls might protect us from much of the storm, we still needed to brace ourselves.

In the small room, I ushered in the last of us, pushing hard against the wooden door as the wind battered back.

“Nanna.” Isolde pulled on the edge of my tunic for my attention. “Is Baal angry at us?”

I cupped her tear-streaked face and glanced around at the ten of us.

“Oh, but we must take heart. For what we have outside is not a spectacle of rage but of protection. For tonight Baal fights Lotan, the dragon of the sea.”

The myths of the gods gave us hope and understanding. And often when I stared out at the sea, I too wondered where Lotan was and if Baal truly heard our cries without fire sacrifice.

The horn blew loudly in the distance as gusts battered the door and shuttered window.

“Are all the dragons bad?” Isolde asked. Dirt streaked her heart-shaped face. I plucked a leaf from her hair.

A shiver coursed through me, like the first time I’d heard a ram stuck in the thicket right outside the city walls. Its piercing cry for help as its horns rubbed against the stone walls.

Grating.

Violent men raced forward with blades drawn. I knew no one was coming to help it.

Only kill it.

Still, its cries didn’t cease. Its pleas grew louder. Even now, faintly, I heard it on the breeze. The memory made my mind hiccup, my soul crying out for belonging in a world that regarded vulnerability as opportunity.

But would it have mattered if it were a ram or a lion?

Both were stitched together with this city’s fate.

“Dragons are like people. Those who are evil must be dealt with, and those who are good can find goodness, too. But Lotan, it is not that he is bad, but that he fights because of his brother...”

“He has a brother?” Isolde asked.

Family bonds were difficult for those who did not have them. We understood that blood did not mean relationship any more than a cloudy sky meant rain. Yet knowing such devotion could exist, even among those depicted as evil, warmed my spirit in a world filled with contradictions.

“We pay for Koran’s refusal to kneel, caught in the middle of this cosmic battle.” I lowered myself to eye level. “A long time ago, my grandmother passed on a secret about Koran, Lotan’s brother, who refused to kneel for the gods and was turned into a dragon. Maybe that is why Lotan fights so hard. For his brother. For family. Honor is not black or white.

“And the gods are not always good.”

A gasp rippled across the room.

What I had said was akin to treason, at least enough to put me at the top of the temple’s list to pay homage. But if these children did not learn the truth, they would end up where all of those who lacked care and family ties did: the pyre.

Lured there by the promise of eternal glory for a god who gave not a damn.

The storm raged on.

Thunder made the ground quake. And as the rumble moved over us, I wasn’t sure if I heard a ram’s cry or a lion’s roar.

Either way, a shiver coursed through me.

Something lay on the horizon. Something I couldn’t quite discern.

As lightning flashed, water pounded against the building. The bell tolled ever louder.

In the battle between the gods, could we mere humans ever win?

Thank you for getting us to 55 backers and for continuing to show up for this world.

I hope you enjoyed this tiny glimpse into Nanna's life in Carthage and one of the secrets hiding beneath the mythology of *Dragon Origins*.

And now we keep going.

🐉 NEXT UNLOCK: 75 BACKERS

When we reach 75 backers, we'll add a ribbon bookmark to the Dragon Origins Ancient Tome, another beautiful upgrade to our collector edition.

We're only 20 backers away.

And after opening the archives today...

I have a feeling there are still quite a few secrets waiting inside. 🔥

One question before I go:

Do you think Lotan is the monster the stories claim he is... or is there more to his war with the gods?

Thank you for helping me awaken the dragons.

Yours in dragon fire,

Tina