Dragon Cursed

The first installment of the Dragon Cursed Duology is set in Vanguard, the last known human city, walled off from dragons and the scourge, a blight that rots all living matter. The city draws power from the Font, an underground wellspring of Etherlight, a magical energy channeled through artificer sigils: precise designs etched onto surfaces. Governed by the Creed, a religious authority led by Vicar Darius, and defended by the Mercy Knights, Vanguard requires every citizen at 18 to undergo the Tribunal, a brutal three-week rite designed to expose anyone who is "dragon cursed," a condition believed to cause transformation into a dragon. Those found cursed are killed.

Isola Thaz, 18, was declared "Valor Reborn," the prophesied dragon slayer, after a dragon attack at 12 left both her eyes gold and a scar across her chest. On the Tribunal's eve, she sneaks through Vanguard with her best friend, Saipha Celest, collecting scourge dust for her mother, an expelled researcher who believes understanding the scourge is key to ending it. A dragon attack interrupts their outing. Isola's mother is arrested extracting parts from the dead dragon, then released by the vicar. Isola fears the Tribunal may kill her, making this a final goodbye. She confesses to her mother that she believes she is dragon cursed: Her skin crawls near Etherlight, and she depends on mysterious tinctures her mother brews. Her mother does not directly answer.

At the Convening, the public ceremony that opens the Tribunal, the vicar blesses Isola before the crowd. Approximately 30 supplicants enter the monastery adjacent to Mercy Spire, the Mercy Knights' headquarters. Keys to bedrooms are hidden as an immediate challenge. Saipha finds one, but Isola, paralyzed near dragon imagery, does not.

That night, Isola and Lucan, the vicar's adopted son assigned to monitor her, are attacked by dragon automatons concealed behind tapestries. Isola crawls inside one, copies a forbidden artificer sigil onto her hand, and channels Etherlight through it to deflect fire and force open a door. Lucan treats her wounds and reveals he is an orphan the vicar adopted as a tool. Inquisitors chain Isola to the rooftop overnight after she is identified as having handled fire without burning. She survives without transforming.

In the following days, Isola and Saipha discover a hidden basement where sigils cause hallucinations. Isola senses the sigils and disables the circuit. Through a passage, they overhear the prelate, the scarred woman leading the inquisitors, reveal that a sensor built by Isola's father detected at least one cursed supplicant among them. Lucan demonstrates he too can channel Etherlight without the gilding, a ritual that connects citizens to the Font. The three form an alliance.

The first major test sends paired supplicants to the sundering pits to dismantle dragon carcasses. When scourge floods Isola and Lucan's sealed room, Isola turns her body into a living sigil, drawing Etherlight from the Font to neutralize the blight at enormous physical cost. The blackened dragon skull contradicts Creed doctrine: The dragon decayed because it was a being of Etherlight, not its destructive counterpart, Ethershade. When Mercy Knights charge them as cursed, Isola channels Etherlight without a sigil for the first time, shooting fire from her palms. The vicar seizes her and tortures her to extract her power. Isola endures without breaking.

Three late additions join the Tribunal: Dazni and twins Myla and Ember. That night, Isola's mother sneaks into the monastery, warning the vicar plans to eliminate her. She reveals the tinctures regulate Etherlight within Isola's body, tells Isola she is "not cursed" but "special," and disappears into hiding.

Inquisitors gradually eliminate meals. Lucan confesses he was present during the dragon attack that changed Isola's life, that she unknowingly saved him, driving his devotion. Saipha's condition worsens. Lucan and Isola nearly kiss before he pulls away. Cindel, a rival supplicant, lures Isola onto a ledge and knocks her off; Lucan catches her and admits he pulled away from fear of hurting her. They share a first kiss. The prelate locks all three in basement cages, where they endure darkness, beatings, and green dragon vapor hallucinations. Saipha deteriorates, whispering that the sensor has narrowed the cursed supplicant to one of the three of them.

A dragon attack forces supplicants onto the rooftop, where a yellow dragon studies Isola with recognition before a cannon kills it. For the second major test, supplicants visit cleansing springs near the Font, but the vicar takes Isola alone to the Font itself, a vast lake of liquid Etherlight. She enters and is overwhelmed. The Font explodes around her; Lucan breaks in and pulls her out. Isola wakes with her father, Kassin Thaz, at her bedside. He reveals that he and her mother have worked together to protect Isola, one inside the Creed, one outside. The vicar believes he was destined to be Valor Reborn and plans to steal Isola's power. The scar on her chest is an unknown sigil burned into her at 12. Kassin instructs compliance to buy time.

The final test unfolds in an arena. Isola spots her father's funeral procession and forces an inquisitor to confirm Kassin is dead. Three stations yield tokens needed to exit. Isola excels but gives her tokens to Saipha, who struggles. As she urges Saipha toward the doors, she notices Saipha's eyes have changed from green to blue with slit pupils. Saipha transforms into a blue dragon before the crowd. Marius Celest, Saipha's father, fires a crossbow at his own daughter. The dragon hesitates. Isola approaches, drawing Etherlight, and for a moment Saipha's human eyes flash through. A rifle, Kassin's invention, fires a beam through Saipha's neck, killing her.

Isola is caged inside Mercy Spire. That night, Lucan, Myla, and Ember free her with help from the prelate. The prelate is Pia, Lucan's biological sister, who infiltrated Mercy years ago by assuming a dead knight's identity. They are all ashborn, people born beyond the wall, contradicting the Creed's teaching that no humans survive outside Vanguard. Isola's mother discovered Lucan's origins and worked with him for years. Hurt by the deception, Isola agrees to escape when told her mother waits beyond the wall.

The vicar intercepts them and forces the group to the Grand Chapel, where he reveals his endgame: Isola's power will transfer to him through Valor's sword—the legendary blade displayed in the chapel on a statue of the prophesied hero and said to be destined to slay the Elder Dragon—and a sigil built into Vanguard's foundations. He plunges the sword through her stomach. Etherlight erupts across the city, revealing all of Vanguard as one vast sigil. Citizens' gildings drain from their eyes as people collapse. Immersed in the surge, Isola sees visions: an ancient man built Vanguard as a colossal sigil, created the Font from human bones, and became the Elder Dragon. The Elder Dragon is Valor, the hero the city was built to honor.

Returning to consciousness, Isola pulls the sword free; the wound heals instantly. She drives the blade through the vicar's throat. Vanguard destabilizes. Lucan transforms into a copper dragon, the same one that attacked Isola six years ago, his hazel eyes remaining human. The scar on her chest is his mark, their Etherlight connection the bond between them. The group takes flight on his back, but cannon fire punctures his wing and everyone falls. Plummeting, Isola stops fighting the power within her. Crimson wings erupt from her back, emitting a haze identical to the scourge. She catches her companions and brings them safely to a cliff. She is a red dragon, a type that has never existed. As red ash falls like snow, she roars in terror and triumph, knowing the world has changed forever.