and "For the first time in over a thousand years, mankind darkened the threshold of a dragon's home. and "What boundaries does a mother's love hold?A small band of immigrants manage to win over the most feared and reviled dragon Queen in Arkalan. Respectful of the ways of the land, and the authority of the dragon's territories, they settle in the valley beneath her cave and quickly become her beloved pets.When the Queen lays her first and only clutch of eggs she goes on her last hunt. Returning, she finds her entire clutch destroyed and goes on a grief-filled rampage. Suspecting her humans as the culprits she bears down on their village with the intent of burning the settlement to the ground in retribution.She finds the village already in ashes, its occupants murdered. Scraping together the scattered corpses for a final pyre, she finds five babes hidden in the underground basement of one of the ruined homes. Weak and already starving the little humans have little hope of surviving.Her mother's heart already aching from the loss of her own children, the queen takes pity on the little orphans and adopts them as her own. And it changes everything. Forever...____Every creature in Arkalan knew its place within the great Pyramid of Souls. The stronger, bigger flesh eaters preyed upon the weaker, faster grass eaters. Each cycled through its life according to the requirements of the Pyramid, and none questioned its purpose or its destiny.Except man.