Long ago—before the gods left the mortal world—the Green Man gave the races of man seven Great Beasts to protect them. The Wyrm, the Phoenix, the Gryphon, the Unicorn, the Dragon, the Blooddrinker, and the Drake were passed down from parent to child for hundreds of years, until, inevitably, things went sour.
The Gryphon accused the Phoenix of intending to invade the other Beasts' lands, and persuaded the others (except the Unicorn) to imprison it to keep themselves safe.
Now, a thousand years later, the Phoenix seems to be taking its revenge—armies are coming from the north and south to invade the lands of the other Beasts and conquer them in the name of the Phoenix. The princes of the Gryphon's land, Edonia, flee north to Spring Thaw, where they discover that they may have to travel a lot further than they thought.
This is a work-in-progress written by Kippurbird and Chloe K. Evil.
This book provides examples of:
- Anti-Hero: Meknor has already plotted out how he'd take over the rest of the kingdoms, much to the discomfort of the others. But he's a good guy.
- Cast from Hit Points: Nalina's healing gift works this way. The more she uses it the more delicate she gets, but she refuses to stop.
- Ho Yay: Latov and Valmir are very close, in spite of the difference in their statuses.
- Nature Hero: As a priest of the Green Man, Kellen qualifies.
- Noble Fugitive: The Princes of Edonia plus the Ice Drake and his siblings are forced to flee when the Phoenix attacks their lands.
- Our Dragons Are Different: There are three different Forms based on dragons: The Silver Wyrm, the Ice Drake, and the Black Dragon, each of which has different qualities and abilities.
- Our Gryphons Are Different: The Gryphon Form was taken away from the Edonia people before the story starts and has not been seen since.
- Our Vampires Are Different: the Blood Beast is part shadow, part vampire, and can become both a bat and a wolf. It's considered to be physically the strongest of the Great Forms.
- The Phoenix: That's the Great Beast who is trying to take over the other lands
- Power Crystal
- Sibling Rivalry: Between Meknor and Shanlin and their hordes.
- Warrior Prince
- The Woobie: Latov certainly counts, between his young age, his difficulty with controlling his Beast, his desire to eat his best friend, and his precarious position on the throne. However, Xaner is the biggest example.
- Nalina has also taken ranks in woobie— a sickly healer who is left behind at Spring Thaw when the rest of her surviving family leaves.
