sorry!

Sorry that I haven't posted in a while, things have been hectic! This post is to tell you that I'm still here, still alive and kicking, and I promise I will post something decent in the next week or so!

Here is chapter 5 of my dragon story!:

I sat and stared, mouth agape, as a massive bank of cloud loomed up above us. We flew straight into it and I screamed as I got plunged into cold, wet cloud. We emerged out the other side dripping wet and shivering. Thracnaw shook like a dog and I slipped off his back! I screamed louder than before as I plunged the short distance to the carpet of clouds below. I would punch right through the cloud and the fall to the earth below! Why had I done this, I would die! I should have taken the detention at school! And then I hit the soft, cushiony cloud, which bounced me back up like a trampoline. I landed back on Thracnaw’s back.

“Impossible,” I shrieked in my mind, still a bit shocked from thinking that I was going to die.

“We are in the City Of The Grades. Anything is possible. This entire cloud system, apart from the entrance cloud, is fortified by the Grade Queen Pair- our dragon and human queen. They rule as one. The human manages the humans, the dragon, the dragons. Their magic makes the entire city spongy and bouncy. There are many accidents with people falling off their dragon, you see.”

“Right…”

My mind struggled to process all this information. But then I looked up, and all coherent thought was driven from my mind. We were flying into a metropolis built on two levels. On the bottom level was normal sized houses, shops and streets, all built on the bouncy cloud. On the top level, seemingly floating in mid-air, was a second complex. I realized that it was the exact same layout as the normal one, just scaled up over 10 times. The bigger one must be for the dragons, and the smaller one for the humans! About half way through the city, the layout seemed to change. It was all on one level, but still massive. That must be where the Grades live once they had been paired! At the very end of the city, the backs of which disappeared into the clouds, were 3, massive buildings. Thracnaw read my mind (literally), and mind-spoke again.

“The white building on the left hand side is the hospital. The gray one on the right is the armory and equipment center. The massive building in the middle with all the gold and jewels round it is the palace for our Grade Queen Pair. Our Grade Queen Pair are very special. They have the highest privileges and they work very hard for them. Their magic is the greatest in the land. They are revered by everyone, and greatly feared by all enemies to dragons and Gradians. They are elected once one dies. Dragons and their spires have an long life span, so the Grade Queen Pair is usually up for election every 450 years, which will be in about 132 years’ time. Or if they die in battle, but that is unusual now that we are supposedly in peace time.”
I sensed a bitter note creeping into his thoughts here. I knew he wasn’t happy that we weren’t fighting Decaleloss, but surely being at peace is better than fighting and dying? But then, Decaleloss had taken many of his family’s lives, so it was understandable.

right, this post is in caps because it NEEDS SHOUTING ABOUT:
THE NEW, NEXT AND (UNFORTUNATELY) LAST ARTEMIS FOWL IS COMING OUT IN EXACTLY A MONTH TODAY!!!!!!!!!! ONLY 30 DAYS!!!!!!  ACTUALLY 29 DAYS, 12 HOURS, 34 MINUTES AND 36...35...34...33... SECONDS!!!!! =-) IT IS BY EOIN COLFER, THE JOINT BEST AUTHOR IN THE WORLD (joint with Derek Landy) AS YOU CAN PROBABLY GUESS, I'M SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =-)
Here's the link to pre-order the book:  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Artemis-Fowl-Last-Guardian-Colfer/dp/0141340819/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339327814&sr=8-1
Here's a picture of the cover, though I will be getting it on kindle, so I won't have the cover.

EEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =-)))))))))))))))))

Some more dragon story for you- Chapter 4! =-) Sorry about any confusion: Landa is male, I did a typo once that made me say 'her' instead of 'him'. That is now changed. Sorry!

I opened my thoughts to Thracnaw again, but the elation from flying had worn off and he sensed the worry in my thoughts.

“I have to go back. My parents-“

“Don’t worry. They think you are at school now. Dragons have special magic we can use. Each dragon’s magic is tailored to them. My magic is based around getting normal humans to ignore things. Of course, it doesn’t work on Gradians, but then, they are born to work with dragons. My daughter’s magic is tailored to combat, not my personal choice, but with her mother, that’s hardly surprising.” Here the dragon’s thoughts became sad. “She was headstrong, beautiful, brave. She died in combat with Decaleloss, something no other dragon would dare to attempt. I CAN NOT let my daughter go the same way.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“I don’t need sympathy” Thracnaw snapped

“Ok. I understand.”

We were silent for a bit, then I piped up; “What are Gradians?”

“Human people who are born in the Cantanu cloud system. They either find a dragon to be their Spire or work equipping, healing or training dragons to fight should the need arise. It is very rare for an outsider to be a Spire. An outsider is a non-gradian, a normal human. An outsider can become a Gradian when she or he is graded with a dragon, but, like I said, that is rare. When a Gradian finds his or her spire, it doesn’t stop them from having a normal life; going to school, getting a job, falling in love, getting married, having kids. The only difference is that when the Gradian falls in love, the Gradian’s dragon will too, with the other Gradian’s dragon. If the other Gradian doesn’t have a dragon, then the dragon is doomed to a life without love. No spire wants that for his or her dragon, so many people in that situation choose to move on so their dragon can find love. It’s so sad when that happens, but I guess that’s the price to pay for being a spire.”

I thought about that for a while, but I was careful to keep a mental barrier over my thoughts. After a while, Thracnaw nudged me with his head. I opened my thoughts again.

“I’ve been trying to get through to you for ages,” he thought in an annoyed tone. “We’re nearly there.”

I have now done the background for my picture of Valkyrie! Here's the picture (I actually think it's better without the background. Which one do you prefer?):