Landon Brown, fifteen year old high school football star, is always on the top of his game. That is until he receives a visit from an uncle he's never met with information about Landon's father, who disappeared without a trace thirteen years before. Landon learns that the life he's been living is a lie and that his true nature is powerful and dangerous. He's half dragon and a threat to the delicate balance that has kept dragon society hidden from humans for hundreds of years.
Landon now must learn about his dragon heritage and train to control his incredible abilities with the help of the Elder Dragons, a bizarre trainer named Alpha, and other dragonoids like himself.
He quickly realizes that the mysterious world of dragons, spirits, and secret societies are not for the weak. Tasked with finding the Dragon Sphere, an ancient relic harboring a terrible power that could destroy the world, Landon recognizes that he just might be way in over his head. Will he be able to control his new-found power in time for the fight of his life?
EXCERPT ONE:
“HA! Every year I come the brood of half-lings gets more pathetic. I have no form, stupid. So how can I show myself?”
“Don’t call me stupid!” I roared back.
I felt my temperature rising and my muscles tense up. I couldn’t see him yet his voice seemed to echo all around me. Aurora, however, had her eyes fixed on something.
“What is it?” I asked her.
“I can see him,” she said in disbelief. “I can make out his form. It’s as if the air is bending around his body. He is about twenty yards straight ahead and about ten feet off the ground. It looks like he’s waiting for something.”
Just then I heard a loud rush of wind swirling towards me. The force knocked me to the ground. I picked myself up right away.
“WATCH OUT!” yelled Aurora, as I felt the full force of a fist against the left side of my face.
The wind demon swirled towards Aurora. She rolled to the side, then put her hand up and blocked a blow from above. With a clenched fist and eyes closed, Aurora pounded the air, hoping to hit the demon. It was a powerful blow that summoned a strong gust of air with its force. I noticed dust and small fragments of rock blast off from the ground as the demon’s invisible body landed on them. I ran to the spot where the demon had hit the ground, hoping to hit him while he was down. Before I could even swing, though, I was lifted ten feet in the air and dropped straight down.
As I was about to land, Aurora pushed a pocket of air towards me to break my fall. Unfortunately she missed and I ended up hitting the ground. I landed hard on my back. Nothing was broken and my head didn’t hurt; I took it as a good sign.
EXCERPT TWO
“Whichever one of you dudes can knock the other one down three times or knock him out completely wins the match.”
Alpha said “Go!” and James immediately ran after me. His hands were up by his face in a boxing stance, waiting in anticipation for what I was going to do. My game plan was to catch him off guard and bring him down with a defensive takedown. He lunged at me, thrusting his right hand towards my face. I barely blocked it with my left forearm. Before I had time to think, his left hand was coming in for an uppercut. I managed to slightly move my head in the nick of time, feeling the breeze of his fist passing right by my ear. My only reaction then was to push myself away from him. With open palms, I slammed my hands against his chest and gave myself some breathing room.
He charged at me again, swinging his fists but always snapping them back in place to defend. I dodged a few jabs, some uppercuts and barely inched away from a right hook. I was so busy defending and dodging that I couldn’t attack him. I had to try and bring him down―and soon. He came at me with a right cross but I was able to side step to my left. I caught his arm and rotated it down back towards his body. Then I was able to flip him onto his back.
“One point for Cyclops!” yelled Alpha.
I could hear my teammates cheering for me.
Before the next round began, he stared me down with those deadly blue eyes. I was trying to use James’ aggressiveness against him since he didn’t seem to let up. He was back to jabbing at me and trying to set himself up for the knockout punch. The force of his punches was so hard, even blocking them hurt. And the focus in his eyes was unsettling. He was determined to take me down. He sent another right hook towards my ribs but I jumped back to evade the swipe. Then he rushed in and jabbed me with his left hand square on my chest. The force knocked me back but I stayed on my feet. He rushed in again, launching his right fist towards my face. I ducked underneath it and stuck a knee into his gut. I immediately followed that with an elbow to the back of his head that sent him towards the ground face first.
“Two points for Cyclops,” Alpha shouted.
Abel Gallardo was greatly influenced by Greek mythology, comic books, and the fantasy/mystery novels he had read as a child. Shortly after graduating with his Bachelor's Degree in Sociology, he began writing stories that reminded him of the adventures he cherished growing up. Abel Gallardo now lives with his wife and children in Albuquerque, NM.
AbelGallardoAuthor.com
"Elexium is a dark ancient practice of transforming a human or half-ling into a dragon. In order to perform it, one must consume a dragon’s heart."
From The Dragon Sphere
