Here There Be Dragonnes

THE RING'S THE THING ...

•  Thing was a young girl who hid beneath a mask. Her companions included a crow, a toad, a goldfish, and a kitten. Never had a more unlikely band of unheroic heroes set off on a difficult and dangerous quest. But Thing had a ring with unusual powers. . . .
• Summer was an orphan who only wanted to find a husband and settle down. But first she had to help out a blind knight with amnesia and a winged pig. But how to get those two, as well as a raggle-tail assortment of other creatures in distress, to the far-distant place where they belonged? Summer owned almost nothingexcept a certain magic ring. ...
• Summer was cast adrift in London by the untimely death of her parents. Then an uncle left her a legacy that would lift her up from povertyif she took a dragon's egg into uncharted Asia. The task was daunting and time was short, but her late uncle had also left her a very remarkable ring. ...

Three very unusual heroines in widely separated eras, each wearing for a time a ring made from a unicorn's horn, a ring with extraordinary powers. . . .

Publisher's Note: Here There be Dragonnes has been previously published as three separate novels: The Unlikely Ones, Pigs Don't Fly, Master of Many Treasures. This is their first combined publication.

Dragonne's Eg is the fourth book in the series.

"People who think they hate fantasies are going to like this one."
USA Today

"Endearing characters. . . . Brown's incredible journey is a find."
Publishers Weekly

"Compelling ... a rare treat for fantasy lovers."
Library Journal

"Don't miss this brilliantly conceived, superbly crafted, and eminently beguiling fantasy foray."
Romantic Times

Illustration by Carol Heyer

Trade

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

First Omnibus printing, March 2003

Distributed by Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN: 0-7434-3596-6

Copyright 2003 by Mary Brown

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.

A Baen Books Original
Baen Publishing Enterprises
P.O. Box 1403
Riverdale, NY 10471
https://www.baen.com

Production by Windhaven Press
Auburn, NH

Electronic version by WebWrights
http://www.webwrights.com

DRAGONS HAVE NO SENSE OF HUMOR

The unicorn-like creature heard the roar from where he lay in the mid-morning shadows among the bonsai trees. Ky-Lin sprang upright, thinking for a moment that the Blue Mountain had erupted again, but recognised immediately that the noise came from the harsh, cacophonous voices of the dragons. They were clearly upset.

He did a quick transformation, desk-ornament size to pony size and trotted along in the afternoon heat, his hooves throwing up little puffs of dust.

As he neared the Blue Mountain, he heard a sudden clatter of leathery wings above. Claws seized his shoulders and he was borne upwards into the air with a whoosh! and a sinking lurch in his stomach. He saw the plain beneath him disappear with alarming speed.

One of the dragons had pounced on him and was carrying him higher and higher towards the northeast, but to what purpose? Was he to be dropped from a great height, to be smashed to smithereens? Made into a snack for the dragons' dinner? But perhaps they had something less violent in mind.

The next moment they started to drop like stones. Beneath them the black maw of the mountain rose up with frightening speed: a dark blot, an inky puddle, an ebony lake—the mouth of Hell itself!

The dragon braked sharply at the last moment, then did a neat landing in the middle of a circle of six scaly others, dropping Ky-Lin unceremoniously to the ground.

All the dragons were hissing. They were not amused. . . .

BAEN BOOKS by MARY BROWN

The Unlikely Ones
Pigs Don't Fly
Master of Many Treasures
Strange Deliverance
Dragonne's Eg

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