Name:  Unknown, aka “Red Claws”

Type:  Midnight Stalker

Birthdate:  Born on September 9 in Zandadorian year of 3393 during Calvin the Collector’s reign

Current Age:  807

Status:  Wild Dragon

Residence:  Cave in Midnight Territory

Personality:  Mean, Violent, Territorial, Domineering, Shrewd

Favorite Food:  Bear meat

Biggest Fear:  Thunderstorms (the noise of the wind, rain, and thunder overpower his sensitive ears)

Unique Fact:  He is the tallest, strongest, largest dragon ever to live, and his red claws and red eyes make him appear extra ferocious.  Only one other dragon has dared threaten Torkan’s territory or status as the preeminent dragon in Zandador:  Silverspike.  These dragons battled one another for hundreds of years until Javan’s great-great-great grandfather Kenton managed to collect Silverspike. 

“Red Claws” is one of two new dragons introduced in The Dragon Hunter.  The following is an excerpt from the book that highlights his appearance.

Micah grabbed the reigns as he jumped on Mertzer’s back.  The jerk of the reigns woke the dragon.  “Get me to the Midnight Stalkers.”  Mertzer shook himself awake from his head down to his tail, stretched out each leg, and took off toward the fighting dragons. 

Past the soldiers.  Through the snow.  Over rocks.  Around trees.  Until they reached a clearing.  The Midnight Stalkers whose scales were slowly turning from grey to black circled each other.  Every time one attempted an approach at the prize in the middle—a dead bison—the other would breathe a bolt of electricity to keep the offender away. 

Serenity did not appear to be winning.  She had a stripe of missing scales along her right side and was favoring her front left leg.  The other dragon bore no battle scars and appeared to be in perfect condition.  Its red claws matched its red eyes.  Considering its size, Micah was surprised Serenity was still alive.

The dragon was a good ten feet taller than Serenity and made Micah feel like a midget sitting on top of Mertzer.  Midnight Stalkers weren’t supposed to be as big as this one was.  And they certainly weren’t supposed to have red eyes.  If Micah could capture this unusual and frightening dragon, his father wouldn’t just forgive Micah; he would be bound to surrender the throne to him.

Micah’s breath hung in the air as he watched the dragons battle over their dinner.  He could hear the stampede of approaching soldiers behind him and was aware of Vasilis’s presence above them.  Neither Midnight Stalker seemed to notice the commotion.  They were too focused on dinner.  As much as they hated noise, that focus wouldn’t last much longer.  Micah needed to take advantage of this opportunity while he could.

He maneuvered Mertzer so that he was standing sideways to the Midnight Stalkers rather than facing them.  Micah drew his sword, stood on Mertzer’s back, and waited.

Red Claws was approaching from Micah’s left with his long tail dragging along the ground behind him.  All Micah had to do was jump on the dragon’s tail and slice through it.  Then the dragon would be his.

“Come on, come on, come on,” Micah muttered.  He had practiced this tail-jumping move thousands of times.  Even so, Micah felt his heartbeat kick up a couple of notches.  The real deal was always more exciting than training.

The black tail inched closer.  “Almost…”  Micah made himself wait another second, then jumped. 

His feet landed exactly where he wanted them, right in the middle of the tail.

The dragon’s scales were slicker than he expected.  He slid a few feet but managed to stay on, drop down, and wrap his legs around the thick tail.

“You’re mine!”  With both hands on his sword handle, Micah reached up.  Just as he was about to slash the sword through the dragon’s tail, a bolt of lightning hit the sword, shooting it out of his hands.  “What the…?”

Micah couldn’t finish his sentence.  Not when he was staring right into the flaming red eyes of a hungry dragon.  );

Name:  Kisa

Type:  Dawn Stalker

Birthdate:  Born on July 17 in Zandadorian year of 4184 during Omri’s reign

Current Age:  15

Status:  Wild Dragon

Residence:  Lives in a secret cave in Upper Keckrick

Personality:  OCD about Cleanliness, Adventurous, Eager to Learn, Protective

Favorite Food:  Dragon Fruit, yellow balls the size of a human head with a tough exterior

Biggest Fear:  Being separated from Taliya, her unofficial Protector

Unique Fact:  She is a mere four days younger than Javan, the Dragon Collector.  She was smuggled to earth in the form of an egg on the same night as the newborn Javan and hatched four days later.  Immediately upon her return to the Great Rift, she was whisked away to Keckrick and hidden there so that only the family protecting her knew of her existence.

Kisa is one of two new dragons introduced in The Dragon Hunter.  The following is an excerpt from the book that highlights her appearance.

He brushed himself off and continued his walk.  Since Varjiek was out looking for the dragon that may or may not be living somewhere along the northwestern shore near a family of Dragon Protectors, Javan felt free to walk down the beach without thinking of what he needed to do, where he needed to go, or how to collect a Dawn Stalker that could teleport away from him at the slightest hint of danger.

He was also free to explore his surroundings, and his surroundings appeared worthy of exploration up ahead.  The palm-tree lined beach gave way to a ragged cliff hundreds of feet high.  The rocks of the cliff were as clear as glass and shimmered in the bright sunlight.  And the strangest, most beautiful flower he had ever seen covered the base of the cliff, the hill leading to the top of the cliff, and all along the top of the cliff.

Wanting to get a closer look at the flowers, Javan began jogging.  He soon found himself past the palm trees and in the midst of head-high flowers with green stems so thick that his fingers barely touched when he wrapped his hands around them. 

Thin leaves as long as his arms grew sporadically up the stem leading to the round top that leaned to the side like sunflowers.  The petals that lined the perimeter of the circle also reminded him of sunflowers, but these were purple instead of yellow.  What truly mesmerized Javan, though, was the web of neon blue strings that burst out from the center of the flower.

Each individual string originated from the base of a petal and stretched downward for about a foot where it intertwined with all of the other strings.  Curious about what it felt like, Javan touched one of the strings with his finger.  It felt soft and smooth and alive.  As soon as Javan touched it, the web immediately retreated to its base where the petals wrapped it in a protective covering.

“Cool,” Javan said, touching each flower as he walked by so he could watch them all coil up.

Then something else caught his attention:  the sound of a waterfall.

He abandoned his ploy to frighten all the flowers and sprinted ahead.  He cut through the last of the flowers right before the land started rising, fought his way through about fifty yards of thick foliage he couldn’t identify, and stood in stunned silence at the sight of the most majestic waterfall he had ever seen.

He stood at the right corner of a U-shaped canyon.  White water flowed down the curved end of the canyon into a pool of water so clear he could see the bottom and all the fish in between.  The straight edges of the U formed the walls of the canyon, were topped with those bizarre flowers, and were made of the same shimmering rocks as the cliffs bordering the ocean.

The clear rocks also formed an island in the middle of the water, and laying on that island basking in the sun was a living, breathing, white-scaled Dawn Stalker.  It looked at him, scowled, and said, You’re not Taliya.  

He was about to respond when a female burst through the trees right in front of him and cut him off.  “Kisa, leave!”  The dragon obeyed and immediately teleported herself away. 

Javan sighed and turned his attention to the woman who had delivered the orders.  She was about five inches shorter than Javan and wore her black hair in a braided crown atop her head.  A machete dangled from her tiny waist, and she held a slingshot in her left hand and a dart in her right. 

She had on an unbuttoned long sleeved green shirt over a green tank top and matching green pants.  Her outfit allowed her to blend in with the trees, but it didn’t camouflage her short, slender figure, gorgeous tan face, and bright blue eyes.

“You must be Taliya.”  He extended his hand to introduce himself but didn’t have the chance.  Because right after hearing her name, she lifted the slingshot, loaded it with the dart, and shot him in the neck.

Name:  Varjiek

Type:  Noon Stalker

Birthdate:  Born on Oct 21 in Zandadorian year of 3302 during Lancert the Destroyer’s Reign

Current Age:  622

Status:  Wild Dragon

Residence:  Lives free in Noon Stalker Territory in northeast Zandador

Personality:  Fun-loving, Sensitive, Outgoing, Independent

Favorite Food:  Trellis Leaves and Deer

Biggest Fear:  Ladybugs; he is severely allergic and nearly died when he ate one as a small dragon

Unique Fact:  He is in love with Skylark, a dragon currently hiding on earth from the Dark King

Varjiek is the final dragon to appear in The Dragon Collector.  The following is an excerpt from the book that highlights his appearance.

The dragon he was after made his home in the jungle. 

               Only the jungle was the size of Hawaii, and Javan was on foot in a time trap with no help of any sort.  The long, drawn-out songs and chirps and slithers of the animals around him didn’t exactly put his mind at ease.  He slowed to a walk but ate a few more energy balls just in case.  If any of those noise-making animals were dangerous and tried to attack him, he liked knowing he had the ability to outrun them.

“Okay, Noon Stalker, where are you?”  Javan crossed over a creek, dipped under an ivy canopy and walked through a cluster of pointy ferns.  No matter which way he twisted and turned, though, he couldn’t avoid their prickly tips.  “Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch!”  He finally spun his way out of the cluster and collapsed onto a bed of clovers. 

Which he shared with a black panther. 

The jolt of pain from his fresh wound colliding with the ground was nothing compared to the fear coursing through his system as he stared from his hands and knees into the panther’s yellow eyes.  It hissed, snarled and bared its fangs. 

Fortunately it did so in slow motion, allowing Javan time to stand and begin backing away.  He inspected his wound in the process and was happy to note that the sealing mud had done its job and kept his cut sealed.

A human?  Where did he come from?  If he causes my meal to run away…

Forgetting about his cut, Javan reached for his stalker swords and surveyed the narrow clearing in which he stood.  Vines draped across the palm trees that surrounded him and dangled to the green, puffy-leafed plants and barbed ferns all around him.  He could hear the dragon’s thoughts but couldn’t see him anywhere. 

How could he not see a gigantic golden dragon in the middle of all this green?

Hmm…he looks like he’s looking for me.  But that’s not possible.  I’m cloaked.  He can’t know I’m here.

“You’re cloaked?  Ha!  That’s why I can’t see you.”

You can hear me?

“Yes.”  Javan sighed.  “I can hear your thoughts.”  He hated having to explain this thought-reading thing to every new dragon he met.  He needed a shirt that said “I am a Collector and can read Stalker’s minds.  Get over it.” !this.isVa

Name:  Vasilis

Type:  Noon Stalker

Birthdate:  Born on Dec 19 in Zandadorian year of 3302 during Calvin the Collector’s Reign

Current Age:  897

Status:  Enslaved by King Omri

Residence:  Lives in the Dragon Quarters below the castle in the capital city of Japheth 

Personality:  Callous, Merciless, Rude, Loner       

Favorite Food:  Antelope

Biggest Fear:  Ants; he has nightmares about disturbing ant hills and becoming covered with the insects

Unique Fact:  Oldest living dragon

Eli appears in The Dragon Collector.  The following is an excerpt from the book that highlights his first appearance.

“Disobedience is not tolerated in my kingdom,” Omri said.  “We are here today to remind you of that fact and to remind you what happens when you rebel.”

Omri motioned to the trumpeters.  They played three sharp, unnerving notes.

               “When you rebel, my Stalkers deliver justice,” Omri said.  “Today that honor falls to Vasilis, my Noon Stalker!”

               The Dark King turned and pointed to the sky in the direction from which he had flown in on moments ago.  The crowd began to murmur as the golden dragon appeared in the distance.

Javan had to take action before the dragon arrived.  He stepped forward, but Astor caught his arm.  “Not yet.”

Micah moved to the far front corner of the stage while Omri moved to the corner just above where Javan stood.  That left Esmeralda all alone at the front and center of the stage, easy prey for the hungry Noon Stalker on his way.

The dragon passed the castle walls. 

Javan looked to Astor.  He shook his head, telling him to wait. 

Wide-eyed and anxious, Javan held himself back and watched the dragon float over the crowd.  Just as it was about to reach the stage, Astor let go of Javan’s arm.  “Now.”

“Finally,” Javan said.  He sprinted the five steps to the column in front of him and touched the stone seconds before the dragon’s claws snatched Esmeralda.

               The stone Javan expected to feel as he pressed his palms against the column wasn’t stone at all.  It was actually a soft, malleable surface that lit up and vibrated when he touched it.  A perfect mold of his hands remained once he stepped back.  The vibrations stopped but the glow lingered, and a vertical line of four triangles the size of dragon scales appeared above his handprints.

               “Halt!”  The Dark King ordered Vasilis to a hovering standstill above Esmeralda and peered over the edge.  “Who touched the column?”

               The people around Javan jumped back, sweeping Astor with them.  How they were able to create a fifteen foot berth around him in an instant in the midst of such a packed crowd amazed him.  And spoke volumes about the fear this king instilled in his people.

No one had stood up to this man by daring to compete in the Battle for the Throne in centuries.  With the Dark King’s gaze fixed on Javan, Javan began to understand why.  An obnoxious form of power-hungry evil emanated from the Dark King, and Javan was tempted to join the quivering crowd behind him.  A glance at his mother, however, encouraged him to stand his ground. 

Javan adjusted his hat, cleared his throat and said, “I did.”

               Think I’ll eat him, too, just for disturbing my meal, Vasilis said.

I would, Serenity said.  As lean as he is, he won’t be very filling, though.

Doesn’t matter.  He’s young.  He’ll have a nice crunch to him.

Hearing the telepathic dragon conversation unnerved Javan further.  They were, after all, discussing his demise.  But he didn’t want to clue them in to the fact that he could understand them.  As long as he was able to eavesdrop, he might be able to pick up some interesting information about dragons or the Dark King that could provide an advantage for him in the competition.

Nevertheless, he couldn’t resist looking up into the angry eyes of the half-golden dragon as he floated just above the heads of those standing on the stage.  The view into the two large black pools of hatred sent shivers down Javan’s spine.  He didn’t detect one ounce of kindness in the dragon’s heart, but maybe that was because they were meeting at the height of its feeding time and it wanted to make a meal out of him.

Vasilis snorted a puff of smoke in Javan’s direction, then began making slow circles above the people in Stalker Square while awaiting his master’s command to commence his meal.

Name:  Serenity               

Type:  Midnight Stalker

Birthdate:  Born on Mar 13 in Zandadorian year of 3700 during Lancert the Destroyer’s Reign

Current Age:  500

Status:  Enslaved by King Omri   

Residence:  Lives in the Dragon Quarters below the castle in the capital city of Japheth 

Personality:  Vicious, Cunning, Selfish, Merciless, Cocky

Favorite Foods:  Mushrooms and Raxens

Biggest Fear:  Thunderstorms

Unique Fact:  Originally named Drak by the Protector who guarded her egg and watched her hatch; Omri changed her name as an insult to her when she acted too serene during a city-destroying mission and didn’t hurt as many people as he wanted her to; those from the Protector Bloodline still refer to her by her original name

The following is an excerpt of her first appearance in The Dragon Collector:

“People of Zandador,” Micah said, now standing in front of Esmeralda.  His booming voice quieted the conversation of the dragons and the cheers of the crowd.  “People of Zandador, welcome Serenity the Midnight Stalker and your King, King Omri the Omnipotent!”

Micah turned and pointed up to the sky in the direction of the castle.  The trumpeters played loud, bold notes as a dark grey spot in the light grey sky grew bigger and bigger. 

Omri was approaching on his winged dragon just as they expected.  Javan’s heart began to beat a little faster.  The arrival of the Dark King signaled the start of their plan. Serenity spewed a string of lightning bolts as she flew the Dark King over the castle walls.  The brilliant flashes of bright lights were met with shrieks of both terror and awe from the crowd below her. 

The shrieks didn’t stop the trumpeting soldiers from playing, however.  They maintained their tune and their focus even as they moved to the back edge of the stage to create a landing space for the Midnight Stalker.

Esmeralda wasn’t as accommodating.  Despite Omri and the Stalker hovering above her and the wind from the dragon’s wings blowing her already disheveled hair, she maintained her position.  Javan was sure he saw her smirk until Micah snagged her arm and forced her to the front of the stage. 

With the landing area cleared, Omri masterfully landed the massive dragon onto the platform.  The entire platform and the columns it rested on shook from the weight of the grey-scaled beast.  The stage was just long enough to hold the twenty-five-foot long dragon, but not long enough to hold her stumped tail.  It hung over the edge and came close to scraping the ground near where Javan stood.  Had its tip not been cut off, it would have easily reached the ground.

Serenity snorted several puffs of electrified smoke as she brought her pointy wings to rest alongside her body and bent her tall, fifteen-foot high frame to allow Omri an easier path of descent.  The Dark King took his cue and slid down the dragon’s right front leg.  The moment his feet touched the stage, he lifted his hands in the air, palms to the sky and shouted, “Welcome!”

Name:  Eli

Type:  Dusk Stalker

Birthdate:  Born on Aug 15 in Zandadorian year of 3533 during Lancert the Destroyer’s Reign

Current Age:  667

Status:  Enslaved by King Omri

Residence:  Lives in the Dragon Quarters below the castle in the capital city of Japheth 

Personality:  Quiet, Stubborn, Loyal

Favorite Food:  Peas and Peanuts

Biggest Fear:  Doing anything that would disappoint Kenton, his original master

Unique Fact:  Collected by Kenton but willingly sacrificed his place in Kenton’s collection in exchange for the freedom of his Collector’s wife (who had been captured by Omri)

Eli is the sixth dragon to appear in The Dragon Collector.  The following is an excerpt from the book that highlights his appearance.

More triumphant notes sounded from the stage followed by another announcement.  “Prepare the way for Eli the Dusk Stalker and the thirteenth son, Micah the Mighty!”

“Eli?” Astor said, sounding surprised.

They hadn’t expected Eli, the dragon who was once a part of Kenton’s collection and Mertzer’s brother, to make an appearance today.  Javan took a few steps to his left and strained his neck around Dahlia’s massive body to catch a glimpse of the dragon Omri had used to cheat his way into power.

At the castle gates, Micah stood at the base of the Stalker’s neck.  Micah’s black skin and even blacker uniform contrasted sharply with the white scales of the Dusk Stalker he stood upon.  One hand held the reigns of the halter while he pumped the other in the air in victory fashion.  The crowd erupted in applause, and Micah forced the dragon to trot forward.

The dragon was not an impressive Stalker specimen.  His long body was thin and gaunt with patches of missing scales.  His vacant eyes and defeated posture didn’t exactly strike fear in the hearts of the onlookers.  Nor did the halter the dragon was forced to wear.

While Dahlia’s halter looked similar to the halter he used on his horse Storm, Eli’s had a muzzle attached to the noseband which prevented him from opening his mouth.  The leather strips also weren’t sitting flat against Eli’s scales thanks to spikes on the underside of the halter.  The cruelty of the halter reminded Javan of Micah’s cruelty.  n

Name:  Dahlia

Type:  Dawn Stalker

Birthdate:  Born on May 1 in Zandadorian year of 3350 during Calvin the Collector’s Reign

Current Age:  850

Status:  Enslaved by King Omri

Residence:  Lives in the Dragon Quarters below the castle in the capital city of Japheth

Personality:  Shallow, Vain, Selfish

Favorite Food:  Kudzu (because it grows in abundance and she has to do no work to hunt it)

Biggest Fear:  Being sent on a mission at feeding time rather than being able to stare at her reflection in the lake and feast on kudzu; she fears her beauty will diminish if she can’t admire herself daily

Unique Fact:  She lost her ability to breathe acid after becoming ill and almost dying at age 721

Here is an excerpt of her first appearance in The Dragon Collector:

“Prepare the way for Dahlia the Dawn Stalker and Viviana the twelfth queen, mother of the thirteenth son!”

The twelfth queen?  Javan coughed to cover his surprise.  How many queens were there?  Were all thirteen sons hers?  Or did some of them belong to some of the other queens?  Javan was thoroughly confused and wished learning the hierarchy of the royal family had been part of his training.

He was about to ask Astor for a quick lesson when the castle gates opened once again.  The crowd gasped and pushed back to form an even wider walkway than the one they formed for Esmeralda, allowing Javan to easily see the white-scaled Dawn Stalker from where he stood.  Standing atop the dragon and holding its reigns was a dark-skinned woman with a long black braid draped over her right shoulder.  She wore a flowing purple gown, jeweled necklaces and a diamond-studded golden crown.

She slowly guided the dragon forward, soaking in the reverence of the bowing crowd as she proceeded.  The dragon kept her nose stuck in the air just like the queen.  Javan wasn’t sure if that was because the dragon was a snob or because that’s how the queen forced Dahlia to walk by the way she held the reigns of the halter.  Then he heard the dragon’s thoughts.

That’s right, people.  Back away and feast your eyes on my magnificence.   I know I’m beautiful now, but I’m even more stunning when my scales change colors.  Dahlia stuck her nose even higher in the air and walked a little slower.  But at least I do get to enjoy the admiration without wanting to eat everyone.

Javan could practically feel the dragon’s arrogance the closer she walked to him.  As self-absorbed as she was, Javan wondered how she functioned without a mirror to stare at herself in wherever she went.

When the queen reached the stage, she turned the dragon around to face the gates.  That’s when Javan noticed Dahlia’s tail ended in a ragged stump rather than its naturally thin point.  He felt a stab of sympathy for the vain dragon and wondered what it was like to be marked as a slave who was stripped of all free will.

Name:  Mertzer

Type:  Dusk Stalker

Birthdate:  Born on August 12 in Zandadorian year of 3533 during Lancert the Destroyer’s Reign

Current Age:  667

Status:  Wild Dragon

Residence:  Lives free in Dusk Stalker Territory in southeast Zandador

Personality:  Self-reliant, wise, confident, compassionate, loyal to the core

Favorite Foods:  Gorzelles and strawberries

Biggest Fear:  The ocean (the sight of the water and the sound of the waves paralyzes him)

Unique Fact:  He is the last wild Dusk Stalker in the Land of Zandador

Mertzer is the fourth dragon to appear in The Dragon Collector.  The following is an excerpt from the book that highlights his appearance.

Javan flew in a slow circle around Astor while staring at the ground, trying to see what the old man saw.  Finally, a streak of blue caught his eye.

The blue streak turned out to be the dragon’s tail.  As the dragon inched out from under the trees, Javan saw that the streak extended across Mertzer’s back, over his head, between his green ears, down his short snout and ended at his two black nostrils.  Horizontal streaks of green and pink scales colored the sides of his sleek, twelve-foot long body.  Patches of purple and blue scales dotted his otherwise white legs.

“Aw, he’s a pretty dragon,” Javan said.

“He’s deadly,” Astor snapped back.  “He moves with incredible speed; you don’t know he’s coming until he’s already gone.  By then it’s too late:  he breathes poison on his prey as he passes.  The poison sinks into the skin, rushes through the bloodstream and strangles the heart.  Death takes moments.  Once his prey is dead, he comes back and takes his time eating his kills.”

Javan gulped.  This dragon wasn’t as friendly and gentle as he looked.  “No more gawking at the pretty dragon.  Got it.”

“When he’s not in hunting mode, he can be a sensitive, caring creature.”  Astor lost some of the sternness in his voice.  “The Dusk Stalker is the one with the strongest emotional connection with his Collector.  All the Stalkers are loyal to their Collectors, but the loyalty of the Dusk Stalker is unmatched by the rest.”

“I could use a loyal companion.”

“You must also know that he has an irrational fear of water.  He’ll only drink from streams, never lakes, and he won’t go near the ocean.”

“Why is that?”

“I can’t explain it.  That’s why I said it was an irrational fear.”  Astor put his finger to his lips to silence Javan.  “Watch.  He’s ready to attack.”

Javan looked down in time to see a bluish green blur dart to the snake, down the hill to the raxens, up the hill to the gorzelles and back across the valley to his starting point.  It couldn’t have taken him more than a minute to cover the tricky terrain and what had to be a total distance of more than a mile.

“His attack is over,” Astor said.  “Now he’ll wait for his prey to die.”

All seven of the raxens were laying in a motionless heap in the valley.  One of the gorzelles had dropped to the ground while the other two ran away.  As for the snake, it was still coiled.  Javan knew, however, that it had been poisoned.  Mertzer was confidently walking towards it, ready to make it the first part of his meal. his.delega

Name:  Opny

Type:  Dawn Stalker

Birthdate:  Born on April 7 in Zandadorian year of 3386 during Calvin the Collector’s Reign

Current Age:  814

Status:  Wild Dragon

Residence:  Lives free in Dawn Stalker Territory in Southwest Zandador

Personality:  Selfish, Vain and Territorial; lashes out at anyone or anything who enters his territory

Favorite Foods:  Okties and lily pads

Biggest Fear:  Mosquitoes (faints when sees or hears them flying around him)

Unique Fact:  Sulks and forgets to eat when he sees butterflies because he’s jealous of their beautiful colors and their ability to fly

Opny is the third dragon to appear in The Dragon Collector.  The following is an excerpt from the book that highlights his appearance.

They set up a hiding spot behind a dense row of bushes fifty feet from the shore of the lake while the okties perched themselves in some trees above the bushes and dozed off.

               “How long do you think we’ll have to—”

               “Shh,” Ravier said.  “He’s coming and has incredible hearing.  Not another word until he’s gone.”

               Javan pretended to lock his lips and threw the invisible key over his shoulder.  He started to yawn, but when a dragon appeared out of nowhere on the far side of the lake, Javan was too astonished to close his mouth.

               The stunning creature was a good ten feet tall and fifteen feet wide with a long pointy tail and four muscle-bound legs that each ended with three sharp claws.  Two spear-like antlers adorned the top of its head between its pointy, oversized ears and above its round black eyes. 

This dragon had no wings, which Javan found odd.   In his mind, all dragons should have wings and be able to fly.

               The dragon’s most striking feature was its scales.  Many were a bright white, but more than half were dazzling colors of red, orange, pink and purple.

               Apparently the dragon also thought his best feature was his colorful scales.  He stared at his reflection in the water, mesmerized by his own beauty.  As more scales slowly changed colors, he became more entranced by his reflection.

               Then he struck a pose.  He cocked his head down and to the left, bent his right leg so that his claw was just under his long snout and stuck his tail straight out so that it was parallel to his back. 

               Gorgeous, Opny, the dragon said, just gorgeous.  Your scales are looking especially bright and shiny today.

               Had Javan not been able to read the dragon’s mind, he probably would have been able to overcome his amusement.  But when Javan heard the fierce-looking dragon praise himself with such shallow vanity, a burst of laughter escaped from Javan’s lips.

               Ravier’s hand immediately covered Javan’s mouth.

Too late. 

In less than a second, the dragon disappeared and reappeared right in front of the bushes where Javan and Ravier were hiding.  He stepped on the bush in front of Javan and looked straight into Javan’s eyes.  Humans, he said.  You must die!

Name:  Skylark

Type:  Midnight Stalker

Birthdate:  Born on June 9 in Zandorian year of 3699 during Quartu the Destroyer’s Reign

Current Age:  501

Status:  Collected by Kenton in Zandorian year of 3700

Residence:  Currently hiding on earth with Kenton and Midnight Stalker Silverspike

Personality:  Easy-going, fun-loving, adventurous; hates being stuck in one place too long

Favorite Food:  Poison Ivy

Biggest Fear:  Lady bugs (tries to dig tunnels to hide when she sees a lady bug)

Unique Fact:  Loves baseball and makes herself invisible so she can watch games from the air

Skylark is the second dragon to appear in The Dragon Collector.  The following is an excerpt from the book that highlights her appearance:

Silverspike, stop scaring the kid.  The ground rumbled as a similar creature landed a few yards away from Javan.  Only this one was smaller, spikeless and sported round wings on its grey, scaly body.

I don’t trust him.  Silverspike splashed the water with his long, pointy tail.  Something’s wrong with his eyes.

“Really?”  Javan smacked the ground.  “Even these bizarre creatures know about my eyes.  Why do I even bother with these color contacts anymore?”

No way.  The land-based creature crouched to Javan’s level.  You can hear us?

“Of course.”  Javan cocked his head toward the creature, half-expecting it to open its mouth and bite his head off.  “I mean, I can usually sense what animals are thinking.  Can’t everybody?”

No.

“Oh.”  Javan gulped.  “Well, it is a little weird that I can understand you so clearly.  That’s definitely new.”

“You can understand the dragons?”  The human voice of Kenton—who arrived on the back of Izzie, one of the ranch horses—joined the conversation.  “You can hear their thoughts?”

Javan winced.  Like his bright green eyes, his way of communicating with animals made him a freak.  So he preferred to keep his peculiar communication skills between him and the animals.  “It’s no big deal.”  At least it wasn’t until Kenton’s description of the creatures sunk in.  “Hold on.”

Javan rolled over and slowly stood.  “These guys are dragons?”

“Dragon Stalkers to be exact.”

“Dragon Stalkers?  Are they stalking me?  Do they want to eat me?”

“Relax, kid.  This here is Skylark, a Noon Stalker,” Kenton said, pointing to the smaller dragon.  “And that is Silverspike, a Midnight Stalker.  Skylark only eats around noon, and Silverspike only eats around midnight.  It’s just past four o’clock, so you’re good.”

“That makes absolutely no sense to me.”

Skylark chuckled and puffed a cloud of smoke in Javan’s face.  Sorry, she said.  I tend to smoke when I laugh.

“It will make more sense once we get you to Zandador.”

“To where?”

“The Land of Zandador.  Where you’re from.  We had to hide you on earth to protect you.  Now that you’re old enough to fight for the throne, you’re needed.” fffffffffffff