I grudgingly began work on The Dragon Destroyer this week.

It’s not that I don’t want to write the story. I do. The story I foresee is filled with amazing action sequences and sweeping adventure as the characters I’ve come to know and love chase the elusive and formidable Midnight Stalker. The problem lies with Krystyn, the Dragon Destroyer herself.

I. Don’t. Like. Her.

You shouldn’t either! She’s loyal to the evil king Omri and wants all dragons to die. She also tried to kill Micah, beat up Taliya, and plans to sabotage Javan’s quest to win the throne. How are any of those things redeeming qualities?

They aren’t, so I don’t want to write her story. Writing her story means I have to get inside her head, understand how she thinks, and feel the darkness lurking in her soul. I prefer to identify with the hero, not the villain.

But this story isn’t about me or what I want. It’s about the characters and what they want. And the more I understand the characters, the better story I’ll be able to tell.

So before I can begin the actual storytelling of The Dragon Destroyer, I have to first do a deep dive into Krystyn’s character in order to grasp how she thinks and why she does what she does
As I tried to do that, though, I realized I first need to understand the philosophy of the Destroyer Bloodline. What has Krystyn been taught about dragons during her formative years, and why does this Bloodline despise the Dragon Stalkers? (In writing the previous books, I made sure I had a clear understanding of each of the Bloodlines…except for the Destroyers. I didn’t agree with their philosophy, so I didn’t give them much attention!)

To answer those questions, I realized I have to go back to the beginning of the Bloodlines and meet the very first Destroyer.
I did that. I discovered her name was Shebar, and her hatred for dragons began when a Dawn Stalker killed her son Kame.

And that’s as far as I got this week. My plan for next week is thus to flesh out the origin story of the Destroyer Bloodline and trace how their philosophy grew and developed over the centuries leading up to the time Krystyn was born.

While you wait for next week’s update, go do something fun and adventurous!