Legend of the Dragon

Legend of the Dragon

One Girl's Odyssey into a Fantastical World

In a world of magic, evil prowls...

Years ago, orphan Dawn Excalibur was adopted by a cruel family. Now that she is older, they force her to complete all the chores of the household. Laboring under the family's command, Dawn is little better than a servant to them. Incapable of changing her situation, Dawn can only try to make the best out of her circumstances. Still, with little to look forward to in life, time passes in a monotonous blur. Dawn wishes for some form of escape from her dull days, but she never expected escape to come in the form of a magician.

Soon, Dawn is whisked away into the mysterious world of Sapphire, where she finds friends, miraculous creatures, powerful sorcery... and true danger. Evil lurks in the wondrous land, and the feared Army of Darkness is rising, growing in power with a new, sinister commander at its head. From the moment Dawn leaves her mundane, relatively safe existence on Earth, she is plunged into the perilous existence of a magician. When Dawn learns that she is prophesied to save Sapphire, she is hurled even deeper into the planet's dangers. All too soon, she finds herself making hard decisions and fighting for her life. It soon becomes apparent that Dawn is something of a magical prodigy, and her teachers begin to push her harder, increasing the intensity of her education. Yet even her fast-paced training cannot compare to what is to come, for she is destined to accept a foretold quest with a quickly approaching timeline. When she embarks on this difficult quest, she heads from one end of Sapphire to the other, racing the ticking clock as it moves towards Sapphire's doom. Along with a few friends, she unknowingly heads towards even more hazards and a few painful sacrifices. Doubt, uncertainty, and even regret shadow the travelers like vultures over carrion, and the stakes grow higher and higher as time begins to run out. Even more agonizing for Dawn, however, is an untold secret that might just break her heart, accompanied by a deadly act of betrayal. Can Dawn overcome these nearly insurmountable obstacles to save her new home, or will Sapphire be lost forever?

Heidi Dong is thirteen and an eighth grade student. She has loved to write for as long as she can remember, having written everything from short stories to novels. Legend of the Dragon was finished when she was just ten and is one of her four completed full-length novels. She continues to write, working on a fifth book, even as she seeks to publish one of her books for the first time. On top of school and writing, Heidi finds time to be involved in competitive skating and swimming, along with Tae Kwon Do, violin, and piano. In addition to English, she is learning Chinese, and she learned six years worth of Spanish in elementary school, though she now takes French. Further adding to her history of multicultural experiences, she has traveled to China, Canada, Japan, France, England, and Australia. Currently a student at Peoria Academy, she lives in Dunlap, Illinois, with her brother and parents.