The Veiled Dragon

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I would also like to thank the following people for their contributions to The Veiled Dragon: my editor, Phil, for his prompt reviews, apt suggestions, and our long discussions; my instructor, Master Lloyd Holden of the AKF Martial Arts Academy in Janesville, WI, for his remarks on Shou culture and combat; and, as always, Andria, most especially.

Far across the surging dunes of moonlit sea, the dark wyrm wheeled and, with a deftness surer than any desert falcon, struck again at the distant and battered caravel. The serpent caught the topyard in its ebony claws and snapped the thick timbers like twigs; the topsail tore free and away it flew, a gift to the wailing salt winds. From the caravel’s distant decks rose a flurry of tiny splinters, arrows and spears hurled by men who looked like insects beneath the belly of the monster. The black shafts struck its thick scales and bounced away without causing harm. The beast swooped low over the stern, spun upon its leathery wing, and returned at once to the vessel. Its talons tore into the wooden hull as the claws of a lion tear into the flanks of a camel.

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