Prologue
Regina sat on the couch as she watched her young daughter play dolls on the floor. As she watched, she drifted off into a dream. Oh it was a wonderful dream indeed. It was all she could have wished for in that moment: Killian was by her side and Christy was on her lap. Regina turned her head and stared at Killian just as he was staring at her. He took her hand into his and lead forward to kiss her on her cheek. She closed her eyes as she embraced this truly wonderful moment. Regina was snapped back into reality when Christy called her name. “Mommy?”

When I awoke in the morning, my anxiety returned. Were the Americans still fighting? Was their flag, or the British flag standing? I was eager, yet frightened to know what had happened. Trying to see through the dawn with my own eyes proved to be a challenge, for I could strain them no longer. I earnestly hoped that the horrible, gruesome fight yesterday had not brought the Americans to surrender. Grabbing a spyglass from my pack, I returned to my post. I took a deep breath before I looked through it, fearing that the worst had come.

Kindle the flame,
Spark the fight.
Spread the wings
Of darkest night.
Tooth and claw,
Scaly might.
Swirled together,
Dark and light.

Sinuous strength,
Ice and fire.
Silent as death,
Beware his ire.
Come the flame,
Come times dire.
This black giant
Is the crier

Eyes of gold,
Spine-tipped tail.
As black as night
Is every scale.
Great broad wings
and blackest mail.
A shift of pinions
Creates a gale.

Pete and J-Boy pulled the boat further onto the island.
Once they had tied the boat safely to the tree, the boys walked around the island to get a bearing on where exactly they had landed.
It was an island, much the same as any of the other islands, with the express difference of being the only one they were currently standing on.
Measuring roughly thirty meters across in one direction and fifty in the other, it seemed to be on the smaller side. At least insofar as the boys could tell, not having much experience with these floating islands.

Gentlemen, we are fighting a war. A war that calls us to liberty. A war that calls us to fight against our captors. A war that calls us to regain what we have lost. Our homes; our families; our freedom. You have answered that call. We have fought battles. We have won. Now, when we have no chance of winning, we will not surrender!

They will fight brutally. They will come at us like dogs. We will look straight into their canons; we will stare up their guns; we will hear the clash of steel against steel, feel the blade at our throats—and we will fight on!

Captain Aurelius Cassian held his breath. He prayed to Juno for a son for months after he was told of the pregnancy, and he sent incense to Jupiter for a princely fellow, Venus and Cupid for a boy of comely appearance, and Mars for a suitable warrior of Rome. He begged the gods for an heir.
Now, he waited for the result of his prayers.

There at the door he stands with hope,
A lad of fourteen, tall and broad;
He knows not to what end he goes,
To take the ship that sails abroad—
That sails to places without hope.
Yet when he sees the pain that shows
On tender Mother’s brow so still,
He kisses her and softly says
“Dear Mother, I’ll come back, I will!”

Ileuad pulled her mud stained cloak tighter around herself, trying not to wake Ewen. She shuddered in the cold, and cast a glance over to the other side of the cave. There Adaon lay, never to rise again. He was shrouded in his dark cloak in the very farthest corner of the cave.

It had been hours. A doctor had been summoned, Grandfather was rushed into one of the rooms of the estate, and the party was disbanded. Ettore had waited long enough outside the room in which the doctor was with Grandfather. He sat at the bedside and he observed how sick the man who raised him was. The doctor said his heart had stopped, but somehow, Ettore’s thoughtless reasoning kept him alive a little longer.
The room was silent and dark.

This chapter has no definite name. Since this novel is structured for later publication, I'd prefer a chapter name. If any of you have suggestions after reading it I'd love that!