CHRYSALIS
"Chrysalis" in "Dragons Composed", James Ferris, editor. Kerlak Publishing, Memphis, 2009.
"Dragons Composed" is an anthology of stories from Kerlak Publishing featuring, as you might readily well guess, stories about dragons. I'm pleased to have made this anthology because most of my output is horror or science-fiction; I don't get around to fantasy as often as other subjects, and then what fantasy I do write doesn't seem to sell as well as my other work (which isn't saying much in the first place, I realize). To an extent, I think this is a reflection of the fact that I don't read as much fantasy as I do in other genres; I'm not hip to what's cliche and what isn't.

So, when writing "Chrysalis", I wanted to do something different to differentiate from what is, after all, a staple beastie of the genre. First of all, the setting: rather than opting for your generic, European-inspired fantasy setting, I've based a lot of the story on the lore of Central Asia, drawing off Turkic and Tatar mythology and languages (particularly the Volga Bulgars and Chuvash peoples), mixed in with Mongolia Tengrism and a steppes vista where Genghis Khan would have been at home. Second, I tried to elaborate a unique biology for my dragons (inspired by the distinct Chuvash vision of the dragon) which owes as much to insects as to lizards. A species with extrene sexaul dimorphism, the males are called 'drakes', and fit your usual idea of a dragon, albeit smaller since this is not an abundant ecosystem that could support such large creatures. The females, or
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nymphs, are more humanoid and can appear to change shape (as an aside: I discovered, during my research, that pretty much everything in Turkic mythology is a shapeshifter) thanks to iridescent wings they wrap around themselves. None of which you need to know to read the story, of course--I just thought these were unusual enough sources to merit some detailing.

Plot? Oh, yes--there's a plot in there, too. The story depicts a conflict between humans and these dragons, told with more-or-less equal time from both perspectives. Khan Streamingsteel and his loyal warriors have arrived in the villages bordering Thundershear Mountain, who have been beset by raids by the dragons of the nearby mountain and forest. The arrival of a large army has not, meanwhile, gone unnoticed by the dragons, who are reaching the end of their generation's lifespan and are determined to act now lest their children awake to find the limited resources of the steppe entirely in the hands of humans. It's a clash of cultures and species with tragic consequences for all concerned.

The anthology can be purchased from Amazon here, or Barnes & Nobles here.