The Caein Legacy: Dragons and the Dragon-kind
As you’ve probably gathered based on my logo alone, I have a thing for dragons. And they play a big role in my upcoming series, The Caein Legacy. Or rather, one dragon in particular plays a big role.
If you’ve been following my blog or newsletter for a while, you probably also know that I’m currently writing another series that’s set in the same world, The Mage War Chronicles. Since that series is set about 1000 years prior to The Caein Legacy, the reader will get to see more of the dragons and the dragon-kind.
The Mage War Chronicles won’t be published for at least a couple of years yet, so unfortunately, you’ll have to wait to read that series. However, The Caein Legacy will begin releasing this year. Book 1 (Exile), will release on May 24, and for those interested, it’s half price until release day. (Link to preorder here: Preorder Exile)
But enough about that. We’re here to talk about the dragons.
The Dragons of The Caein Legacy and The Mage War Chronicles
The world of both series is not the dragons’ home world. They arrived in this world from another, seeking refuge from persecution. Early in Exile, it’s mentioned the dragons have since left for yet another world, since history has a tendency to repeat itself.
I may have drawn a bit of inspiration from Ancient Aliens and our real world mythology here. The dragons brought with them magic and helped the other species (humans, Merael, Sevanni, and even the Corodan to some degree) develop their societies. Then the dragons left for another world, leaving their legacy behind.
But they didn’t take every member of the dragon-kind with them. One person was overlooked.
Andrew and other Skin-changers
The main character of The Caein Legacy is Andrew. His father was a dragon-mage, but the two never met, as his father departed with the other dragons to their new home world prior to his birth. Andrew suspects his father wasn’t aware of his existence, but at the start of the series, he’s merely speculating.
Andrew’s mother was human. This leaves him in an odd position; he’s a skin-changer, the last of his kind, but he can’t reveal what he is due to the laws in Novania. The skin-changers in both series are all half dragon, which gives them the ability to shift forms between dragon and the species of their other parent (in Andrew’s case, human.) Because of the aforementioned laws, Andrew has rarely risked shifting to his dragon form and knows very little about it. Part of his story is discovering what he’s capable of.
I had a ton of fun writing Andrew’s story and bringing the various elements of his physiology into play. (Fun fact: The cover artwork for each book in The Caein Legacy depicts Andrew in both of his forms.)
In The Mage War Chronicles, there’s another skin-changer the reader will encounter: Dantellion Fohn (or Dan, as he’s often referred to). He was born in the Southlands, where the dragon-kind are respected, and didn’t suffer the same roadblocks as Andrew did in learning what he is and what he can do. Like Andrew, Dan is half human.
Not all skin-changers have a human parent, but both parents must bear the Mage’s Mark. Something about the magic inherent in the Mark allows for the development of a skin-changer. I have plans to include a couple other skin-changers into The Mage War Chronicles in the later books: One is half Merael (which presents some unique challenges—the Merael consider skin-changers unnatural), and another is half Sevanni, the aquatic species in the books.
While it may seem that a skin-changer is super powerful compared to humans, they have one very dangerous weakness. It’s something Andrew doesn’t fully understand until book 3 (Harbinger), so I’m not willing to share the details of that yet. For those who have read Exile and have seen how he reacts to certain characters he meets in the Southlands, you might have an idea of what this weakness is.
While I haven’t written point of view books for the skin-changers in The Mage War Chronicles yet, I am planning to give Dan his own book. He’s a major side character in book 1 of the series (The Triad Murders), and I really enjoyed his interaction with Tynan, the main character. Dan’s book will be #6 in the series.
I’m currently writing book 5, so I may be starting Dan’s book toward the end of this year. We’ll see how it plays out, as I have a science fiction project I’m planning to write next.
If you’d like to learn more about either of my series, check out the additional content I have on my website: