This novella tells the story of how Kunlin Yeva becomes the masked Guildknight of Mithrandon, a dragon slayer of incredible power and great renown, and of he assignment in a kingdom that worships dragons instead of slaying them.
As a teenager, Yeva stops a young wyrm from killing her and her sister, and in the process shows that she has a magical predisposition for dragon slaying. Her father sends her to the capital to join the guildknights. She is trained and becomes the most lethal of dragon hunters in the Empire’s employ.
Fast forward a dozen years and the Emperor is looking for reasons to invade the tiny, dragon-worshiping nation to the south. Yeva’s guild master (and cousin) is loathe to support this wanton expansion and instead of sending a battalion of guildknights, he sends only Yeva. She blunders her way through quite a few critical interactions, but is able to work her way back into the various good graces that she initial insults. She eventually makes her way into the confidences of the girl-king Lady Sookhee as she tries to uncover the nation’s relationship to dragons and if there are any actual dragons that are present or a threat. As she feels more at home in Quanbao, she is torn between feeling belonging and doing her duty.
The writing was quite beautiful and lyrical, but I think it would have benefitted from being developed into a longer novel. The story was painted in broad strokes, and it would have been interesting to dive deeper into character interactions and plot development instead of speeding through at a high level.
CBR Bingo: Left – Yeva first left home when she was 13, then she left the capitol on the assignment that this story tells of, then she <spoilers> leaves the Guildknights of Mithrandon </spoilers>.
