Acknowledgements

This book owes its existence to my agent Mike Kabongo, and to editor extraordinaire Toni Weisskopf at Baen Books. My thanks to Artist Bob Eggleton for giving me a great cover, and to Jennie Faries and Carol Russo for fixing the last minute glitch with the name, which I appreciate ever so much.

My first readers: thank you my friends, for putting up with erratic grammar and worse spelling and helping me chop the story out from the raw state, for seeing its potential in the rough, and for the constructive shredding. It's the cutter who turns the gemstone from a mere rock into a jewel.

And finally thanks, to my wife Barbara, who somehow copes with a husband whose head is often in another world entirely, and still does more for my writing than anyone else.

Characters

Actaeon: Centaur exile.
Belet: A king among the creatures of smokeless flame.
Brennarn: Dragon, ruler of Cark.
Breshy/Dvalinn: The leading artificer of the dvergar.
Díleas: Black and white sheepdog.
Finn/Fionn: Black dragon. (The word means "fair").
Gywndar: Alv prince of Yenfar.
Groblek: Lord of the mountains. Possibly a mountain.
Haborym: A duke among the creatures of smokeless flame.
Hallgerd: Meb's stepmother.
Hrodenynbrys: Merrow and magical musician.
Hrolf: Meb's older step-brother, skipper of the fishing vessel.
Ixion: A centaur head of a phalanx.
Jakarin: Dragon who had lost her hoard. Friend of Myrcupa.
Justin: Scribe, petty thief, informer.
Keri: Innkeeper's daughter, Justins's lover.
Margetha: Chieftainess of the Merrow.
Meb/Anghared/Scrap: Human magic worker.

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