On Wings of Passion (On Wings Saga Book 0.5) by M.D. Grimm
Dreamspinner Press
Published July 12th 2019
Cover Artist: Aaron Anderson
BUY LINKS: Dreamspinner Press
Good day! M.D. Grimm here with an exclusive excerpt for my newest release “On Wings of Passion.” I want to give a big thanks to Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words for hosting me today.
“On Wings of Passion” is the prequel to my surprisingly popular story “On Wings of Thunder.” The great dragon Asagoroth is different in this story then when we met him in “On Wings of Thunder.” He is young, ambitious, and without the wrath of imprisonment and the poison of grief to drive his goals.
There are other dragons alive in this period of time and they battle each other for dominance. While Asagoroth participates in the battles he has a bigger plan—to conquer all the realms. He doesn’t do so with malicious intent, it is simply how dragons function. They are born fighting and spend their entire life doing more of the same just to survive. However, his plans are shaken when he meets Roland, an angelic artist of some note.
Roland is thrown for a loop when he meets Asagoroth, and his fascination with the dragon continues to grow until he finds the courage to ask questions. To talk to him. Roland has no idea that he’s caught the dragon’s eye, and Asagoroth has no idea that he could be worthy of an angel’s attention.
Enjoy!
Exclusive Excerpt
**
Still moving carefully, Roland grabbed a blank piece of parchment and some charcoal, then began to sketch. The compulsion wasn’t something he could deny or ignore. Besides, what was the harm? Asagoroth’s calm breathing was almost hypnotic, and it lulled Roland into a steady rhythm, weirdly comforting. It wasn’t long before he realized his own breaths had changed to match. Smiling slightly, Roland did the best he could to draw an accurate representation of Asagoroth. Yet it just wasn’t enough. As he grew more frustrated, he realized he would never be able to do the majesty of the dragon justice. It was disappointing to acknowledge that.
“What do you draw?”
Roland jumped, and the charcoal fell from his stained fingers. His heart skipped a beat as he looked up to find Asagoroth focused on him with unnerving intensity.
“Um. I—nothing. Nothing. Just….”
Asagoroth watched him, waiting.
With a shaky sigh, Roland stood on unsteady legs and took hesitant steps forward. Holding his breath, he turned the parchment around and lifted it above his head. Asagoroth flickered his gaze over it.
“That is me.”
It wasn’t a question. He knew it was him. Well, thank the Light he didn’t sound offended, merely surprised.
“Yes. But I can’t capture you right. I don’t know why I even attempted it. You’re just too, well, massive for me to accurately represent you.”
Asagoroth grunted. “You are saying I am too fat to fit on your parchment?”
Roland’s eyes bugged out of his head as he lowered the sketch. “What? No! No, not at all. That’s not what I—”
A light rumble trembled out of Asagoroth’s chest, and Roland exhaled in relief.
Laughter. He was teasing again.
Roland smiled. “What I mean is your energy, your being, is just too massive to convey with any medium.” He felt himself blushing. “You’re majestic, and I can’t capture you with my meager talents.”
Asagoroth lowered his head until his eyes were level with Roland’s. Roland hoped his gulp wasn’t audible.
“Your talents are not meager. I like that you want to draw me. I enjoy you looking at me.”
Uh. What?
Roland blinked, speechless.
Asagoroth settled his body on the ground, resting his stomach against the stone. He set his chin on the tops of his forearms and sighed in apparent relief. He snaked his tail all the way around his body. Roland didn’t think it would be a horrible fate to gaze into those startling eyes forever.
The slit pupils dilated slightly, and he was reflected in the black. He looked rather haggard, and his hair was tangled and stringy. His robes were also clingy, and he doubted he smelled the best. He barely stopped himself from cringing. It was rather humiliating to be so dingy when compared to the being in front of him.
“You are an artist, then?”
Roland snapped his attention away from his vain thoughts. He nodded. “Yes, that is what the seer chose for me.”
“Your fates are chosen from birth.”
“Yes. The seer looks upon us and knows what we are destined to be.”
“Strange,” he said absently. Then, quietly, “Perhaps it is the seers I should have taken.”
Roland frowned. “Pardon?”
“Without your seers, the angels would not know what they are supposed to be or do. Better chaos. Faster capitulation.”
Roland clenched his fists, which had him crinkling the parchment in his hand. Asagoroth stared at him, head somewhat slanted, eyes gleaming with interest. Perhaps amusement. He was amused by Roland’s anger. Arrogant ass.
“Why are you doing this?” Roland asked, forcing himself to relax and keep his voice calm. “To rule all the realms? Then what? What will you do once you conquer everything?”
Asagoroth stared at him. Roland could read nothing in his gaze.
“Will owning everything make you happy?”
“Happy?” Asagoroth said, contemplating the word. “What is ‘happy’?”
Roland gaped. “You… you don’t know….” He took a deep breath. “It’s not easy to describe. Is this what you really want to do?”
“It is not about want,” he said softly.
Roland frowned and tilted his head, considering the great beast in front of him. For an intelligent being, he seemed confused by simple things. Or perhaps such concepts were more complex than Roland thought.
“Who are you?” Roland asked quietly.
Asagoroth focused on him again. “I am dragon.”
“That’s what you are. I asked who you are.”
He narrowed his eyes, but not in anger. “I don’t understand.”
Roland highly doubted he uttered such words regularly. “What you are is a dragon. What I am is an angel. But who is Asagoroth the dragon? I was born an artist, and that’s who I am to my people. Sometimes I wonder if I could be someone else, would I want to? Do you ever want to be someone or something else?”
Asagoroth huffed, and warm air fluttered over Roland. He staggered back a step at the force.
“I am dragon.”
“Humor me.”
Asagoroth stretched out his neck, and his snout almost touched Roland’s stomach. “Why are you asking these things?”
Roland swallowed hard. “I want to understand you. To be perfectly honest, I find you fascinating. And I have to wonder if there’s more to you than a conqueror, than a lord of demons.” Feeling abruptly vulnerable and unable to hold Asagoroth’s gaze any longer, he bowed his head. “I apologize if I have offended you.”
Asagoroth lifted his snout and, with astonishing gentleness, touched it to Roland’s chin, forcing him to raise his head. His eyes were burning with an even brighter light, which made Roland squint.
“I am not offended.” He stood, hunching to avoid the stalactites. “I enjoy your intelligence. And your voice.”
Realizing he was gaping again, Roland snapped his mouth shut, his blush heating his face. “I—thanks? I—I enjoy talking with you as well.”
Asagoroth bobbed his head before he tapped seven demons with the tip of his tail, waking them.
“Come.” Then he was gone, striding away, the demons close behind. Though, strangely, he didn’t head out of the cave but turned in the other direction, moving deeper underground.
**
I hope to eventually write two sequels after “On Wings of Thunder” to continue Asagoroth and Trystan’s story. Perhaps in a year or two.
Right now I am working on three series concurrently plus a fantasy trilogy I hope to submit next year. I have way too many stories buzzing around in my brain.
Thank you for joining me and I hope you’ll check out my story!
May dragons guard your dreams,
M.D. Grimm
BLURB:
Every story has a beginning….
Dragons. Angels fear them and demons follow them. Formidable beasts of incredible power, they fight each other to the death for dominance. But dwindling dragon numbers cause alarm among the angelic ranks. Surely when the dragons have finished killing each other, the victors will search elsewhere for conquest… maybe even the Upper Realm.
Roland, an angelic artist of significant talent, doesn’t know what to believe. Part of him longs to see a dragon in person, and his peaceful life of contentment is wearing thin. He wants passion, desire, adventure, and love. He gets more than he bargained for when he and his sister are ambushed and captured by demons, and they bring him to a creature who surpasses Roland’s wildest imaginings.
But the mighty dragon Asagoroth is not all that he seems. Something sparks between him and Roland. Something neither anticipated. Something that will shake the cosmos to its core.
AUTHOR BIO:
M.D. Grimm has wanted to write stories since second grade (kind of young to make life decisions, but whatever) and nothing has changed since then (well, plenty of things, actually, but not that!). Thankfully, she has indulgent parents who let her dream, but also made sure she understood she’d need a steady job to pay the bills (they never let her forget it!). After graduating from the University of Oregon and majoring in English (let’s be honest: useless degree what else was she going to do it with it?), she started on her writing career and couldn’t be happier. Working by day and writing by night (or any spare time she can carve out), she enjoys embarking on romantic quests and daring adventures (living vicariously, you could say) and creating characters that always triumph against the villain (or else what’s the point?), finding their soul mate in the process.
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