The darkness of dragons

The tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin is one of the most popular mythologemes in literature and art, that is, this plot is widely known and is constantly used in many later works.

It goes like this: in ancient times, the German city of Hamelin was overrun with rats, all means of fighting them had been exhausted, the townspeople were exhausted under the onslaught of countless hordes of vile rodents. And then one day an unknown man with a flute appeared here, he promised to rid the city of this terrible scourge for a rather high price. People were ready to give everything, if only the rats would disappear. The stranger played the flute and all the rats, as if hypnotized, moved towards the sounds of music. The musician played and played, leading them out of the city, until he led them into the lake, where the rats drowned. The promise was fulfilled, the hour of reckoning came, but then the residents changed their minds about settling accounts with the mysterious rat-catcher. The flutist left with nothing, but only to return to Hamelin a few days later and, to the sounds of the flute, lead every single child out of the city. The children followed him themselves, and the adults could do nothing about it. Neither the children nor the Pied Piper were ever seen again.

But this is just a fairy tale, and the fairy tale "The Darkness of Dragons" is still to come...

Now, I am sure, fans of children's fantasy will recognize here not only an ancient legend:)

So, there is a school that trains flutists. Flutists are not just musicians. Graduates of this school, building melodies on their flutes, are able not only to make legs dance, but also to immobilize a person, to charm the forces of nature, to disarm an enemy, to give courage to the people, to erect an invisible defense, to heal... That is, the flute is essentially a magic wand, and the flutist is a wizard who creates magic through music. Each flutist has his own special flute, it is made for himself, and in someone else's hands it will be useless.

And one such flutist, a thirteen-year-old boy, without finishing his studies, goes to look for adventures on his head, and of course, finds them in abundance. He is joined by a girl who once also found herself adventures, and now has a very unusual appearance. This couple is joined by a dragon griffin (dragon + griffin = love), he also has an interesting biography and an important mission in the course of the plot.

The action of the book takes place in the gloomy scenery of medieval Europe, the reader will find himself in a village with wild peasants, in stone casemates where a ray of sunlight never penetrates, will walk through rocky wastelands and dense forests, will catch his breath behind the reliable walls of a secluded monastery, and again into battle - a lair of robbers, a chase on a dragon griffin, a decisive battle, betrayal, escape.

Why is the book called "The Darkness of Dragons"? Hmm, there are flutists, rats, rat-catchers, a dragon-griff, witches and sorcerers, monks and jailers, but dragons... There are dragons here too, but in a tiny number, to be honest. Maybe they will appear in the next parts of this series, but for now, honestly, it is unclear what dragons have to do with it.

A promising new fantasy for children aged 8 and over and teenagers, "The Darkness of Dragons" (by an Irishman): here