Burden of a Fire Dragon

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Captured as a baby dragon, Fia is forced to fight for her life in a coliseum. And she's not the only one. Thrown into a cell with an aggressive, juvenile dragon, Fia hopes to survive if she can appeal to the mysterious Umbra Caligo. However, Umbra seems as desperate to survive as her—and Fia has nothing to offer him. The older black dragon is far too young for the countless scars on his wings. Fia wonders if she must become more like him to not only survive, but also escape and make it home…. Book 1 and 2 are complete! ~Award Winner in the June 2022 Royal Road Community Magazine Contest!~ Burden of a Fire Dragon is set in the historic world ofFragment of a Dragon Soul! Release Schedule: Monday at 9 PM EST. We have aPatreon! And aDiscord! Cover Art by the author.

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2022
Author: mythdefiant

Reviews

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Community Reviews(10)

1Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I wasn't too sure if I would enjoy this story. After all, the basic premise is that the protagonist has very little character agency. However, I'm liking this charming story quite a bit. The main characters are dragons, and there are magical elements to the narrative, so it's pretty interesting in that regard. Character interactions are good, and I'm decently invested in the plot.
Edge ValmondRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Style:I do not grade style, but if I have to give something. It is in third person PoV, as well as easy to follow along. The way things are brings things along nicely.Grammar:Looks to be fine. This could just be me though, so I'll leave that to another.Story/Characters:Two dragons playing together were attacked by humans. Fia, one of them was captured and taken across sea. It is here cruel treatment was done, all towards a coliseum. Where they make them fight. Throughout the process though, Fia became an acquaintance of one, who aided her in surviving. The way things are brought along, and the finer points of it really. It immerses the experience, and you can feel it. Which is what I think is a high point of this story. I've honestly read a bit further than I intended for this review, so that says it all really.Overall:It is a solid story, and one I found myself getting deeper into its tale. I'd say give it a shot, you might find yourself pleasantly surprised with this one. Just give it a bit of time, I am certain it would deliver. This is definitely one I'm gonna be continuing myself. From one end to the next, it gives off quite feeling. How things were first simple, then escalating into a more dire situation, etc.
HIiAMLOGANRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
A really good story so far, the characters are realistic, i can even imagine them being real. The despair and hope can be felt. I feel like im watching the combat scenes in person. I have thouroughly enjoyed this thus far. I cant wait for more chapters to see where the story will go from here!
Rebecca LangRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Review of Chapters 1-22SummaryWhen seven-year old fire dragon Fia is seized by humans and thrown in a dungeon, she’s relieved find she’s not alone. At the age of twelve, Umbra is a seasoned veteran of the coliseum, where humans pit captive magic beasts against each other in a cruel blood sport. At first Umbra wants nothing to do with Fia, but Fia is determined to win him over. Working together, the two dragons might just have the chance to escape.StoryThe plot moves quickly, with Fia getting captured in the prologue and meeting Umbra in the first chapter. Part of me was worried that the whole story would be set in the colesium, that it would be one fight after another. But something happens in the 14thchapter that moves the dragons out of the arena. After that, the story drifts more into a standard fantasy plot, and I mean that in the best possible way. There is lots of action, lots of magic, seamless world-building, and the discovery of a threat bigger than Fia and Umbra. Initial chapters contain some darkness and cruelty, but ultimately, the story is filled with friendship and hope—one of the best parts of fantasy novels, in my opinion.CharactersI loved Fia right from the beginning and Umbra grew on me soon after. Fia is feisty, emotional, and optimistic. Umbra is realistic and aloof, but with a good heart. They form a classic genki girl, grumpy boy dynamic. Watching their friendship bloom was a treat. So many cute, sweet moments. If I had a criticism, it would be that the human characters are a bit under-developed, with most of them being pretty standard villain fare. But really, the story is centered on Fia and Umbra, and I love them both so much.StyleThe style of writing is smooth and clear and fast-paced. I found myself getting caught up in the action. There was enough description to see what was going on without getting bogged down in too many details. On the whole, I found it pretty easy to read.GrammarI didn’t notice any grammar issues. I was a little iffy
TaxosaurusRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is a story about dragons but not the impossible Godlike kind. These Dragons are strong, intelligent, magical and quite vulnerable.This isn't a power fantasy but a story about a young child coming face to face with a society that wants her death.The story so far was fast paced and while the world is of course still small (which isn't a bad thing) it already has depth. Especially the last couple of chapters have raised some interesting questions. Questions that make me believe that the author has made plans or at least has ideas on where the story will move next. There is a smaller and a bigger picture. It is overall well made.The characters are so far my favourite thing. Both main characters are distinct and young in a believable way. Both have a lot to learn but they also know things...diffrent things from each other. Which makes an interesting dinamic. Both are flawed yet likable. There is enough discription to make you believe that they are dragons and not just humans in disguise.A moment I want to mention as an example of good character writing:When Pink Dragon meets Black Dragon he attacks but then decides to spare her. This isn't explained. But then you're told that he doesn't get enough food and that he the survial first kinda guy. Now you can piece his intention together yourself (He thought about eating her). Him sparing her then betrays his kindness and that he isn't as cruel as he believes himself to be. I really appreciate this indirect style of character writing.Another thing I appreciate is that the evil humans still feel like humans and not like strawmen that exist for you to hate them. And they feel like a threat too, not some punching bag. I do hope that the Author will continue in making the threat feel real. I do like story with consequences.In total "Burden of a Fire Dragon" is a well realized story. So far I haven't felt bored once and I'm already well invensted into world and characters. I'm looking foreward for more.If Mythdifiant contin
CidolphusRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The story is pretty interesting in that it seems innocent at first glance until you start getting further into the story and realize that this definitely isn't your run of the mill dragon story. There's some heavy topics, gruesome deaths, and overall a lot of events that surprise you a lot when they come up.The style and story itself reads very smoothly like it's a professionally published book. I didn't find myself going back over sentences or slowing down at all so it's a pretty easy read, although the descriptions itself are a bit basic. The best way I can compare it is to a typical YA fantasy novel. It's good, but not really something you'll look back on as a literary juggernaut. It does it job and tells the story, and I don't really have any complaints there.The grammar is pretty spotless from what I've read so far. No mispellings, no tense inconsistencies, no weird commas...It's all pretty much perfect.Now, the story itself is kind of weird. It's more adult-like in its content and the situations that the mcs get themselves into, but reading it you get a more innocent-like tone which I think is because you're reading from the perspective of a younger and more naive dragon. I like it and I think it does pretty well when the author puts in their shock moments and creates this cool whiplash.The magic and combat itself is rather basic. You have the classic elements in which a dragon can only use one (for now maybe) such as fire or earth or shadow. It's emotion based (kind of? The later arc explores more about it) where elements are assigned to specific emotions if you want to draw them out like joy and happiness for fire (or rage, if you want to go to the darker side) and shadow you have to harness misery and despair (oof). Nothing too out there creativity wise but I don't think complicated powers would work in this kind of story so I'm not gonna rag on it that much.Basically, the premise is that we follow a 7 year old pink dragon called Fia who's been captured by
Chaos JesterRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
It is my personal belief that dragons and phoenixes are overdone, but I will give credit when it's due, and this is one of those cases. These dragons are cute and well thought out characters, while also being put into a story where they can shine more than being a 'oh, look. Dragon."The style itself, at least in the early chapter I read, is a bit choppy. The quick sentences read more like an outline of events, and they make the pacing awkward. They style does set the tone for the story well, but the choppy one to two sentence paragraphs makes everything seem so rushed that it kind of takes away from the importance of the events.The grammar, spelling, syntax, punctuation, etc is fine. I didn't see anything that took me out of the story in and of itself, and the author as suggested edits turned on in case someone else manages to catch it.The story itself is fairly typical for fantasy, but is precisely what people around these parts like to read, so I can't take away from that fact. The author manages to tell it in a way to keep it interesting and fresh, which is always appreciated.Fia works well as a character because she is a dragon. I'm sure the author would find ways to make her just as interesting if she were human, but her being a dragon is a wonderful way to explore her character as a whole.Overall, this is a decently told story, with a lot to offer. The author's passion shines through. It wouldn't hurt to adjust the paragraphing choices to have a better grasp of pacing, but things like that are easy behind the scene fixes. This fiction shines in the plot itself, and with that, it nails it.
TealiciousTeaRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Great!In the few chapters in that I am at the story is so far arena fights between dragons. It is fun and dramatic. In my heart of hearts I want the cutesy dragon stuff of the first chapter back but that is not meant to be. Humans are about and their savagery is bottomless. Well written with plenty of physical descriptions and interesting use of verbs. Overall, well worth a read.
DeathwingminionRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
It one of unique dragons story I've read so far on RR. Great worldbuliding, lovely and enjoyable characters. One thing I don't like is how you made the dragons so weak and put limit and restriction on them, and how humans can pull anything out of there ass without a limit or restriction, they both use magic so it wouldn't be this much trouble for the dragons. ANYWAY great story for anyone who likes dragons, but warning⚠️ it's very grim dark.
RandomVanGloboiiRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
I've looked for a while for a dragon story that could truly interest me here on RoyalRoad. This os the first one. With all due respect to the protagonist though, I think Umbra Caligo is even more interesting than her His anti-hero aura is attractive, and it's lovely to see the protagonist alowly managing to befriend him