The month of January is all about character interviews. Today, I’m firing questions at Trelleir from author Helen Henderson’s latest release Fire and Amulet, a fantasy novel.
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1. First off, tell us who you are and what role you play in the novel.
Trelleir: Thank you for having me. My name is Trelleir. Please don’t run away. You won’t know as long as I use my magic to maintain the form of a human, but I am a dragon. I don’t know how old I am because I am the last of my kind. My hatchery was destroyed shortly after I broke shell so there was no one left to tell me. I can tell you I have lived several human lifetimes. In that time, I roamed from the high mountains to the desert, searching for another dragon. My lair is a cave high above the desert town of Darceth.
2. Share with us your hobbies and interests, and why you enjoy them.
Trelleir: While dragons of legend are supposed to hoard gold and silver, am a voracious reader. My lair is not only full of books, but journals of the knowledge I accumulated in my travels. Other interests are watching the people living in Darceth and befriending them when they need help, especially Deneas. She is the daughter of one of my first friends, and when her mother was murdered I promised to take care of Deneas. Her visits to my cave to bring supplies are a rare joy. In return, I shared what I knew of the world and taught her how to use sword and bow.
3. Tell us how you feel about being in a novel, and if you are happy with how your author presented you to readers.
Trelleir: Being in a novel is dangerous. Although it allows me to interact with humans, I have to be extra careful of my actions such as when I teaching Deneas how to use weapons. She is a slayer and if she ever found out my true nature is sworn to kill me. In the deepest part of my soul, I hope that the exposure of being in a novel will result in finding another hatchery, one that is not destroyed and still inhabited by my kind.
4. If your author was to create another novel with you in mind, give us a quick blurb of what it would be about. And be sure to give the title.
Trelleir: Trelleir, searched for another dragon to share his life with. By sharing his magic, he can offer a human long life and the ability to take on a dragon form. But dare he? The only human he cares enough for to share his life and his future is a slayer – sworn to kill him.
5. Which character in the novel do you like the most, and why?
Trelleir: Deneas, she is the daughter of one of my earliest friends. She is quick-witted and has a good sense of humor as well as a thirst for knowledge. Perhaps the think I like most about her is her empathy and caring for other people. When she was sent out of quest by the town council, she knew Caldar, head slayer and leader of the town meant to conscript her home for his son, who was too busy to build his own. Deneas thwarted Caldar’s plan by using his own laws against him. Since the quest meant she could not return until she killed a dragon (and she knew if did return successful, that she would be tried in the chamber of justice as a witch,) she gifted her home to a pair of newlyweds. And to make sure Caldar couldn’t take it back, she tore the house down in such a way it could be easily transported to another town and rebuilt.
6. Which character in the novel do you dislike the most, and why?
Trelleir: Caldar! He killed Deneas’ mother and even though Deneas was still a child would have killed her also if the village blacksmith and I hadn’t stopped Caldar and his mob at sword point.
7. Tell us why we should read the featured novel and what we will find most intriguing about you.
Trelleir: Experience the adventure as you journey in a world of imagination of dragons, magic horses, and other mythical creatures. Come along in a search for love and friendship. What those who learn my story have to decide is whether to accept me as a man or in my true form as a dragon.
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Title: Fire and Amulet
Series: N/A
Author: Helen Henderson
Genre: Fantasy
Heat Rating: 2 Flames (kissing, hugging, etc.)
Length: 69,000 words/228 pages
Release Date: March 28, 2022
Publisher: BWL Publishing
Having a slayer as a friend is dangerous when you’re a dragon.
Blurb: Trelleir is a true dragon whose magic allows him to take on human form. The last of his kind, he longs for companionship. However, his only friend is not only a human female, but a slayer. Sworn to kill all dragons, including him.
Summoned by the village council, Deneas is sent on a quest to kill any and all dragons, and cannot return without proof of her success. Finding the mythical creature and avoiding its deadly talons and fire are not her only problems. Another slayer follows with orders to kill her. As she retraces her slain mother’s footsteps, she learns the world is not what it seems.
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Deneas opened her eyes to a darkness unbroken by even the faint glow of the crescent moon. Unease permeated her being. Her mother’s presence filled the empty house. The echo of words hung in the air, elusive and refusing to be captured. Her finger grazed her cheek where warmth from the light touch of a kiss still lingered.
The dream was obviously a warning, but of what remained unknown. The nightmares had been coming more frequently since the new moon, growing stronger each night. “Tonight’s was the worst.” Although she didn’t mean to do so, the words came out in a whisper.
When no answers appeared to her unspoken questions, she sat up, swung her legs over the side of the bed, and slid her feet into the sandals she had crafted the season before. The supple leather protected her feet from any stray rocks that escaped the children tasked with removing them from the sandy pathways. A belt knife in one hand, and snatching up a warm cloak as much for protection against the cold around her soul as from the night air, she headed outside. Her unconscious mind controlled her feet as she walked past the clusters of homes with darkened windows and along the winding path through the communal herb and vegetable gardens.
The familiar smell of herbs filled her nose, reminding her of the days spent weeding around the thick bushes and between the neat rows of root vegetables. Her shoulders ached in memory of the buckets of water pulled from the deep well in front of the council hall then carried to the gardens. The task not only kept the plants green, but saved the elderly villagers from having to lug the heavy weight.
A quick stoop snatched a twig with a trio of deep green leaves from its stem and she rubbed it between her fingers. However, the comfort the scent usually provided failed to come.
Her nerves still vibrated when she climbed to her usual spot on the stone wall that ringed the village and separated it from the desert. As she had for the past six turns, she tried to remember the night her mother went away. In her mind, the darkness of the desert shifted to the moonless night when the head slayer, Caldar, and the other village elders summoned her mother. A meeting from which Adais never returned. What had been suppressed, crystallized into a vivid recollection of her mother’s light touch. “Be safe, my daughter. The Goddess and Trelleir will watch over you.”
Pain of loss surged through Deneas. Rivulets of tears chilled by the night air ran down her cheeks. Each drop took with it the sorrow, leaving only a mournful void. “Mother, I miss you. Why did the Goddess take you?” She clenched her fists as more tears threatened to fall.
The head slayer’s hard tone replaced the memory of her mother’s soft lilt. His cold, “A slayer cannot show emotion,” was often accompanied by the sting of a slap.
A streak of light in the sky pulled her attention from her thoughts. Although there was no breeze, she heard more than felt the whisper of air. Deneas held her breath and searched the black dome above her head, expecting to see a dragon gliding through the heavens. Training stated the only ways to see a dragon at night would be if its silhouette crossed the moon or blocked out stars, or if the creature looked down so the red glow of its eyes was visible.
She mentally catalogued the familiar groupings of stars learned at her mother’s knee. On the left was Serth the mountain goat named for the four points of its antlers. Grafanc the cat filled the lower sky. If one looked carefully, they could see strings of minor stars hanging from the three bright points of each paw. Deneas checked each twinkling group of lights as well as the other sky designs her mother had taught her. All were accounted for. None were missing either in total or part.
Still the sense of impending danger loomed.
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A published author, feature-story writer and correspondent, Henderson has also written fiction as long as she could remember. Her heritage reflects the contrasts of her Gemini sign. She is a descendent of a coal-miner’s daughter and an aviation flight engineer. This dichotomy shows in her writing which crosses genres from historical adventures and westerns to science fiction and fantasy.
Join her on travels through the stars, or among fantasy worlds of the imagination.
Follow Helen: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | BookBub | Amazon
Maggie Blackbird 