"He watched the smoke arise and swirl about the ceiling, some of it escaping through the light well illuminating the chamber's center. It was then Jan realized that he had entered the room, skirting the sun curtain as if by instinct, staying in shadow. He stood now only a few paces away from the firebowl, and felt the last of whatever influence had brought him there dissolve. He was himself again, fully aware. And then a cold, sliding voice behind him said:
"When you have had done admiring my fire, little dark thing, turn around, that I may look you in the eye."
- Birth of the Firebringer, Chapter 15


Finally, I've come back to my Firebringer Illustration series. This one, I have to say, isn't really my best work, but I tried. I had a lot of new elements to deal with and not a lot of time to work with them.
This has been one of my favorite parts from the first book. Just the thought of seeing the Wyvern Queen kind of morphing out of the dark corner of the cavern sent chills down my spine when I read the above passage. So I decided to take the challenge and try to bring that scene to life.


Artwork by Nekkyo Usagi
Firebringer Trilogy (c) Meredith Ann Pierce