The Emberwilds

Before there was sky or stone, there was only the Long Quiet. Then came the First Fall: a star tore loose from the dark and struck the high peaks, and out of that fire came the dragons — born of flame, smoke, storm, and ice, children of the struck star. A thousand years later came the Second Fall: the star-fire had sunk deep into the world, the old stone woke, and out of it came the dinosaurs — born of earth, thunder, horn, and fang, children of the deep stone. Dragons rule the sky; dinosaurs rule the earth. They have argued about which fall came first for ten thousand years, and that is fine — it gives them something to talk about at the peace feasts.

Eight peoples share the Emberwilds, a hidden primeval world ringed by storm walls: four dragon peoples and four dinosaur peoples, bound by the Truce of Two Skies — the sky to the dragons, the ground to the dinosaurs, the Hatchling Paths shared, the Skyrunners flying for everyone. Standing here is measured by the Thunder Ranks: how far does your roar carry? Hatchlings are the young and the small-voiced, Wardens carry across a whole realm, Elders across two realms or more — and Primes, the four legendary voices, carry across the entire Emberwilds.

And Joe walks the Emberwilds too, curious as ever, listening at the Hatchling Paths for the heartbeat under the stone. He never sells anything. He only points — and wonders, with the rest of them, about the longest nights.