Dragon Invasion Read online

  Dante kneeled to check on Jack, leaving Julia and Coraolis a moment of privacy.

  Funny, he thought he’d miss the all-powerful love that drove him on before, but he didn’t. It was a warm memory, yet it camouflaged the fact he was missing pieces. He hadn’t been whole until now, when he had all his weaknesses and flaws to balance out his strengths. There was more strength in his weakest links than he ever would have thought.

  He reached out to the dragon he’d fused with, and a sense of contentment rose from his center. The threat had been destroyed. They faced an unknown destiny, but they faced it as complete beings.

  Dante smiled. For the first time in a long time, he looked forward to the future.

  The End

  If you like this book, please leave a review. This is a new series, so the only way I can decide whether to commit more time to it is by getting feedback from you, the readers. Your opinion matters to me. Continue or not? I have only so much time to craft new stories. Help me invest that time wisely. Plus, reviews buoy my spirits and stoke the fires of creativity.

  Don’t stop now! Keep turning the pages as there’s a little more insight and such from the authors.

  This book is a work of fiction.

  All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Sometimes both.

  Mystically Engineered (and what happens within / characters / situations / worlds)

  are Copyright (c) 2019 by Craig Martelle & Valerie Emerson

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Craig Martelle

  Version 1.0

  Cover by Tom Edwards (tomedwardsdesign.com)

  Typography & Formatting by James Baldwin (jamesosiris.com)

  Editing by Joe Martin

  Author Notes – Valerie Emerson

  Written January 14, 2019

  Thank you for reading. If you’ve made it this far, I hope that means you enjoyed the story. There is plenty more to come.

  Just a few months ago I had no idea I had a science fantasy novel in me. I happened to see that Craig Martelle was looking for a co-author and threw my hat in the ring. I’d worked with him twice before, but I figured my chances were low. He’d only seen my short stories, and it’s a big leap from those small-scale stories to a full novel.

  He took a chance on me, and I’ll always be grateful for that.

  As soon as I read Craig’s short story, Mystically Engineered, I couldn’t wait to get started. I love the blend of magic and science, space exploration and dragons. Mystically Engineered had all of those things, and as soon as I read the short story I knew I wanted in on the novel.

  There is more to the dragons than first appears. While their intentions are good, the execution isn’t always beneficial to the Mystics, as Dante learned for himself. The Mystics’ bond with the dragons gives them the potential to do a lot of good, but as we’ll see in Book 2, it causes them trouble as well.

  I’ve been reading science fiction and fantasy for as long as I can remember. I grew up in a small town, and our library didn’t have a lot of SFF options, so I wound up reading the same books multiple times. The characters came to feel like old friends, and rereading the book felt like paying them a visit.

  I don’t recall when I first started writing, but I know it was early on. My sister has told me that she used to find and read the stories in my notebooks, and be sorry there wasn’t more to whatever I’d scribbled down. I didn’t master the art of finishing the stories until I was in college, and it remains a challenge to this day. I’ve been lucky in Mystically Engineered to have the benefit of Craig’s experience, and hope that it helps me with future endeavors.

  In the meantime, I’m getting back to Book 2 so that I can dive into Book 3. I’ve got a big finish in mind, and I hope you’ll be with us all the way to the end.

  Author Notes - Craig Martelle

  Written January 14, 2019

  You are still reading! Thank you so much. It doesn’t get any better than that.

  I wrote the short story, Mystically Engineered for a space fantasy anthology run by Chris Fox. The fan response was overwhelming. They wanted more in this universe, so I asked around and found a premier author who hadn’t done any full-length novels.

  I met Valerie Emerson through another anthology, the Metamorphosis Alpha anthologies that I did for my friend James M. Ward. She had a talent for character development and smooth story flow, so we talked, and then we collaborated. The final result is the Mystically Engineered trilogy.

  Kudos to Valerie for finding her groove in novel writing. That is a big step. Many people say they want to write a book, far fewer actually set out to write the book, and only a small fraction are able to finish a book. Valerie never missed a beat. She wrote a 71,000 word manuscript and followed it with another one and soon to be a third. Writing is something that allows us to escape. We get to live in the worlds we create, delivering a snapshot of the scenes, hopefully in a way that you join us, away from the trials and tribulations of reality. I think writing and reading are both ways to keep us living great lives.

  We can escape for a short time. When we have the daily grind, we can attack that fresh, with a restored mind looking at the challenges in new and different ways. What if Dante were here? How would he rise to this challenge?

  There is a great deal of peace in storytelling.

  This is Book 1, but Book 2 is almost ready and Book 3 isn’t far behind. I think you’ll like what you see. Whether you like space opera, military science fiction, or just dragons in space, this is a gripping series with a great set of main characters.

  When we first started working with the story line, the Earth Fleet seemed like a big baddie. The more you read, I think the more you’ll find out that they have the same goal as the Mystics, but have to suspend disbelief in what the Mystics do since they can’t see into the Astral Plane. They only get hints and whiffs of what is out there. And they do the best they can with what they have.

  That’s it for now. I’m off to keep writing and working with my co-authors to bring these incredible stories to you.

  Peace, fellow humans.

  ***

  Craig Martelle’s other books (listed by series)

  Terry Henry Walton Chronicles (co-written with Michael Anderle) – a post-apocalyptic paranormal adventure

  Gateway to the Universe (co-written with Justin Sloan & Michael Anderle) – this book transitions the characters from the Terry Henry Walton Chronicles to The Bad Company

  The Bad Company (co-written with Michael Anderle) – a military science fiction space opera

  End Times Alaska (also available in audio) – a Permuted Press publication – a post-apocalyptic survivalist adventure

  The Free Trader – a Young Adult Science Fiction Action Adventure

  Cygnus Space Opera – A Young Adult Space Opera (set in the Free Trader universe)

  Darklanding (co-written with Scott Moon) – a Space Western

  Judge, Jury, & Executioner – a space opera adventure legal thriller

  Rick Banik – Spy & Terrorism Action Adventure

  Become a Successful Indie Author – a non-fiction work

  Metamorphosis Alpha – stories from the world’s first science fiction RPG

  The Expanding Universe – science fiction anthologies

  Shadow Vanguard – a Tom Dublin series

  Enemy of my Enemy (co-written with Tim Marquitz) – A galactic alien military space opera

  Superdreadnought (co-written with Tim Marquitz) – an AI military space opera

  Metal Legion (co-written with Caleb Wachter) – a galactic military sci-fi with mechs

  End Days (co-written with E.E. Isherwood) – a post-apocalyptic adventure

  Mystically Engineered (co-written with Valeri
e Emerson) – dragons in space (coming Jan 2019)

  Monster Case Files (co-written with Kathryn Hearst) – a young-adult cozy mystery series (coming Mar 2019)

  If you liked the story, please write a short review for me on Amazon. I greatly appreciate any kind words, even one or two sentences go a long way. The number of reviews an ebook receives greatly improves how well an ebook does on Amazon.

  If you liked this story, you might like some of my other books. You can join my mailing list by dropping by my website www.craigmartelle.com where you’ll always be the first to hear when I put my books on sale. Or if you have any comments, shoot me a note at [email protected]. I am always happy to hear from people who’ve read my work. I try to answer every email I receive.

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  My web page – www.craigmartelle.com

  That’s it—break’s over, back to writing the next book.