Dragons of the Marog

Ever since I was a small child I was fascinated by monsters.  Whether it was those that appeared in B-rated movies, or in novels, the battle between mortals and these monsters enthralled me.  Usually I felt it was impossible for the hero to defeat such forces, but somehow they always found the way.  In particular, dragons have always been my favorite monster.  Part dinosaur, part flame thrower.  Some are winged and terrify from the air, some earth bound, or hidden in the crevices waiting for an unsuspecting victim.

When I began developing the plot for my mythological trilogy, The Chosen One of Allivar, monsters had to be present to heighten the adventure and danger.  I began book one, Rise of the Fallen, by giving the reader hints of the history of my created worlds and the wars once held against dragons.  In one narrative, Arimar the hero as a young boy listens to his caretaker’s stories over a campfire about the dragons of the Marog (Forbidden Lands) and how they were bound to those lands in a previous age.   The hero is told to avoid the Marog at all cost.  An event in the first book leaves no option open for the reluctant hero.  For him to return home, the Marog is his only path.  This is a clue to the reader where the plot is bound to.

In book two, Bound to Forbidden Lands, I play around with two meanings of the word “bound.”  Bound to the Marog are four guardian Dragons that watch over the northern and southern entrances. In the Marog is Gold and other resources that people covet for greed and power sake.  The creator placed the watchers, the Gregoron, to watch over the gold.  Like the tale of the Nephilim the watchers kidnap and imprison mortal women, to give birth to their offspring, the Luminars and Luminags. Evil forces also experiment with creating giants, also bound to the lands. The Marog is heavily watched and guarded, none that have entered ever leave.  But Arimar has no choice, it is his only path home with five hundred thousand followers. So, his company is bound to the Marog.

I ratchet up the adventure in book two, with the battles the company engages with their enemies inside the Marog.  When the remnants of the company are almost safe they come to a dead end where the guardians converge upon them with fiery wrath.  How does it end or do they escape?  This is the hook, the catch, the cliff hanger.

In book three, Last Stand of the Living, I bring the reader into the frenzied pace of all out war.  A war which includes the unleashing of all evil forces bound to the Marog and the underworld, and yes all of the dragons.  I recall in the Simarillion, the battle of the sudden flame, where Dragons, Balrogs and Orc are unleashed upon the lands.  The imagery of that simple narrative inspired me to the unleashing of my imagination and the monsters of my mind.  If you are up to the challenge of this story, book three is intended to exhaust you emotionally.  And like the imagery witnessed in the movie version of Lord of the Rings, my narrative should capture your imagination of the greatest battle ever fought between the forces of good and evil.

In December we will all be able to see how the narrative of The Hobbit is played out on the screen, and get a glimpse of Smaug the Golden.  I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait.  In the meantime, if you are up to an epic adventure, give my trilogy a try.  Be forewarned, you must invest time in the first nine chapters, which deal with creation and history. There are many clues embedded in the narratives that will explain the following 2-1/2 stories.  You may find yourself rereading to uncover those clues.  Then, all the compressed history of those nine chapters shall be unleashed in the sixteen stories to follow, the Chronicles, with even more battles of dragons and monsters.

Are you ready for dragons?