The great war ended with the death of the legendary dragon Vespertine. The last gambit failed the wizards lost, and now a final sickness leaks into the earth.
There is no stopping it. it unfolds south as a bruise upon the sky, and forces Castrel and Shay from their small home days before their baby arrives. Now they wander, seeking food, seeking shelter, always trying to keep their daughter Hope safe.
And then they come upon the dragon. Vespertine. It is colossal, it is humbling, it is still. When Hope begins to change soon after, Castrel and Shay's promise to keep their daughter alive is set to become even harder, and so much more important. For now she has the heart of the dragon, and - while a dragon still breathes - there is hope for new life in this ending world.
Author Biography
Peter Higgins read English at Oxford University and Queen's, Ontario. He was a Junior Research Fellow at Wolfson College, Oxford and worked in the British Civil Service. His short stories have appeared in FANTASY: BEST OF THE YEAR 2007, BEST NEW FANTASY 2, ASIMOV'S SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY MAGAZINE, ZAHIR and REVELATION, and in Russian translation in the St Petersburg magazine ESLI. He lives with his family in South Wales.
