Fantasy Novel by Jason Hightman.
Provides examples of:
- Axe-Crazy: Pretty much all of the dragons are this, except for the Chinese Black Dragon. The most notable examples are Brakkesh the Water Dragon of Venice and Tyrannique the Parisian Dragon.
- Badass Normal: Both Aldric and Simon. The only natural benefit they gain from their dragon-slaying bloodline is the ability, if they look carefully, to see through a dragon's Glamour. Nothing to defend against their incredible strength, magic or fire.
- Blow You Away: The Venetian decides to summon a tornado in a jewelry shop, all because Aldric refused to give him his coin.
- Crazy Cat Dragon: Russki the Red Dragon of Russia in a nutshell.
- Death-Activated Superpower: Although she doesn't actually die, Alaythia's powers as a magician start to awaken after she is nearly drowned by one of the Venetian's henchmen.
- Defector from Decadence: The Black Dragon of China is very old and seems quite meek, in notable contrast to the pride and sadism demonstrated by every other dragon in the book. He claims that there are as many good dragons as there are evil, known among their own kind as Light Dragons, and that they'll be delighted to meet some dragonhunters that want to help defeat their evil counterparts. Aldric is understandably suspicious, as even an old, frail dragon can be incredibly dangerous, but Simon pities the Black Dragon who seems so harmless after meeting him sat in an old armchair, drinking soup. His affection for his little canary and a nightmare he has about being killed by dragonhunters while on said hunter's boat only endears him to Simon more. This is what hurts Simon the most about being lured into a trap by the Black Dragon, who had been lying the whole time about there being any Light Dragons... and also what saves them when the Black Dragon regrets tricking the boy that was so kind to him, having truly grown weary of the relentless cruelties of his kind.
- Extra Eyes: The Russian has this, but they are always closed.
- Famous Ancestor: Aldric and Simon St George are descendants of, you guessed it, Saint George himself.
- Happy Rain: Played With in that the "rain" involved isn't rain at all, but an explosion of various colours of paint that rains down when the Parisian Dragon, the last one still trying to fight, is killed by an arc of black lightning by the Chinese Dragon within the Manhattan Dragon's Palace, as the paint he had swallowed throughout his life splatters the clinical whites that Venemon had been so obsessed with.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Aldric may be rather gruff and unfriendly towards Simon at first, but does later prove that he really does care for his son.
- Light Is Not Good: Venemon The White Dragon of Manhattan.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: The Coast of the Dead.
- No Name Given: The dragon Aldric and the knights fight early in the story, The Ship With No Name (unless you count that as its name) and the Chinese Dragon.
- Our Dragons Are Different: While still called dragons, they also have the alternate names of Pyrothraxes, Serpents and Serpentines. They were apprently born from the first evil thought ever had by human beings. This certainly doesn't seem to be an unfounded belief, as thus far all of the dragons witnessed are selfish and cruel, delighting in causing suffering and hoarding everything from power to possessions with little care as to who gets trampled in their wake. This doesn't exclude other dragons; the naming convention that indicates each dragon is from a specific location is because they can't stand to be in close proximity to each other for too long, their own ambitions and desires inevitably clashing with each other. To keep from destroying themselves, they keep to their own territories for the most part, and so the multi-dragon team up that occurs in the book is both unheard of and very bad news. Physically, the dragons resemble the most common perception of the T-Rex, standing at about 7ft tall on average. This is explained to be a result of dragons evolving as humanity became more advanced, instead hiding among them in beautiful magical disguises and using these human positions of power and wealth to hoard and hurt as they see fit. The dragons have their classic fire-breathing abilities, and other powerful inherent magics aside. They summon various small creatures to themselves just by proximity, usually insects but some attract birds or cats, and if the dragon stays in one place for a long time their magic slowly seeps out into their surroundings unwittingly. In the case of the Chinese Black Dragon, despite being elderly and quite feeble, entirely unwilling to try and fight even the young Simon when his home was invaded, his magic had nonetheless effected the people on the streets above him, slowly fusing them together like conjoined twins over the years. Dragons can recover from almost any injury, and the only way for human dragonhunters to kill them is to place a hand on the dragon's heart (an arduous and dangerous feat) and recite their Deathspell. Each Deathspell is unique to each dragon, and is listed in a magically-created book that dragonhunters have been utilising for centuries. Dragons can also be killed by another dragon's power, which is one of the reasons they tend to avoid each other, as for all their pride they are cowardly.
- Psycho Electric Eel: Downplayed with the ones living in the Venetian's home, as they only knock Simon unconscious.
- Taking You with Me: The dragon in the beginning kills Aldric's brother and fellow knights with a wave of fire as he dies, but not before he tells Aldric that the dragons now know about Simon.
