Secrets of Dragonia: Dawn of Monochrome

Secrets of Dragonia: Dawn of Monochrome is the first novel in the Secrets of Dragonia series written by Daye Dolina Allan. The book was first published on the 21st of June 2018 by For The Right Reasons Printing and Publishing in Inverness.

## Dedication

To the Hunters of my world

Thank you for loving, protecting, and inspiring me.

## Book Description

"As future Queen of Dragonia, the world expects everything from Clare Silverhart. Instead, the wild-hearted Princess is out searching for a chance to change her fate. So when Clare awakens on her fifteenth birthday to find her kingdom being attacked and parents captured by enemy realm, Shaidania, her bravery is put to the test. With the help of Kilah, her white tiger, she embarks on a quest through the realms of her world to find her parents. Suddenly, she is whisked from a perfect agenda of manners, fashion and lineage, to a world of legends, combat, and Hunters -- a group of elite warriors who protect the realms with their lives. Along the way, Clare is forced to team up with mysterious and inseparable Shaidanian soldiers Arwin and Tajo who she must decide if she can trust. As the four travel through forests, seas and skies, they slowly learn more about each other and themselves, leaving Clare with the ultimate question of can a friendship be formed between destined enemies? And what price will they pay for freedom?"

## History and Previous Drafts

### Quest: For the Jewels of Tamabaku

This draft of the book was illustrated using a half-and-half format, with a coloured pencil illustration occupying the upper half of the page, with the lower half containing hand-written text. This was the author's favoured format for writing books before converting to a Word Processor. At the author's young age, they assumed the book had to be written in their best handwriting, assuming it would be published in this handwritten form. The book's title was taken from the fictional world of Tammabuku from the video game, "Combat of Giants: Dragons." The book's cover contained a large yin-yang symbol surrounded by seven emerald-cut gemstones of various colours, inspired by the Sol Emeralds from the Sonic the Hedgehog Franchise. The title was written in gold lettering

Set in real-world Japan, the book contained a single-page prologue chronicling a lantern festival celebrating Princess Clare's birth. As Clare was described as having "long blonde hair and green eyes" this was assumed by early readers to have been inspired by Disney's 2011 film, "Tangled," however this page had been written at least a year before the film's release. King Ari had a Japanese name in this early draft. In Chapter One: A Cub to a Friend, Clare and her parents are walking down the street when Clare spots a white tiger cub. She quickly convinces her parents to keep the cub, which she names Nala, which the author took from the character from Disney's "The Lion King." In Chapter Two: A timeskip has occured and Clare is now fourteen, and has just come home from her Kung Fu lesson. Clare and Nala spend the afternoon outside training and playing with a red frisbee. She hears her mother scream and rushes to the living room, horrified to find the glass casing containing the family's jewels to be smashed, and the gems absent. Clare wore a skin-tight ninja outfit, and wielded a katana.

Concepts for this storyline continued to develop although nothing more was written. These included Nala sacrificing herself to save Clare's life while they were crossing a bridge which would break. Nala would use the last of her strength to push Clare to safety, while the tiger fell to her death. Clare would subsequently climb down to find her body and mourn. Nala would later return to save Clare.

### Secrets of Dragonia: Undiscovered Force (Hand-drawn Draft)

Now set in the fictional world of Dragonia, this draft began with the same Prologue seen as its predecessor. Chapter One followed Clare, King Ari and Queen Jane once again walking down the street, when Clare rescues a white tiger cub from some bullies, sticking her tongue out at them and running off. She

In this draft, Clare had jade eyes and blonde shoulder-length hair with a side fringe, wearing a lilac crop top with long kimono sleeves, as well as jade flared pants. She wielded a katana as well as a bow and arrow.

Early concept art for Arwin depicted him with large sideburns and shaggy chestnut hair over one eye. His brown eyes were circular. He wore copper full-body armour with spiked shoulderpads, as well as spiked cleats and a black cloth hood. He wielded an emerald Dao sword with a serrated edge and a red dragon on the blade, as well as a crossbow which would parallel Clare's bow and arrow. Concept art depicted Tajo's tiger form with a more angular face. Arwin and Tajo were originally planned to ambush Clare and Kilah from within jungle in Earthania, where they would join her journey after some convincing.

Concept art for Kilah's early theoretical human form depicted her with hip-length middle-parted white curly hair with black streaks. She wore a strapless white tigerskin dress with a metal belt featuring a gemstone pawprint. She wore simple white pumps, a forehead diamanté, and what appears to be a transparent sleeve on her right arm. She was set to transform into a human in the book's final chapter wherein Clare was to be coronated in the water realm, as Clare would have been revealed to be the daughter of the Water Queen. In another hypothetical ending wherein Kilah and Tajo were tigers and not animorphuses, they would have been seen with their three new-born cubs at Clare's coronation.

More polished concept art for the animorphuses human forms were created during this time, which convinced the author to go ahead with the animorphus storyline. Kilah's human form concept art depicted her very similarly to her modern design, aside from her fringe covering her right eye, similarly to Arwin. Her jewellery seems to be made from some kind of white metal as opposed to silver. Tajo's human form has remained much the same aside from black bowl-cut hair with small orange stripes.

### Secrets of Dragonia: Undiscovered Force (Word Processed Draft)

Clare visited the local blacksmiths and picked up smoke and stun bombs, as well as some daggers and other equipment. This blacksmith scene remained in the book until a very late redraft. Clare met a character named Ivy Thorne who acted as her guide through Earthania, as well as an older-sister figure for Clare. Seventeen-year-old Ivy was tall and muscular, with short spiky brown hair, tanned skin and green eyes. She wore a combat top, combat shorts, and combat boots, and fought with a Bo staff. She had a rowdy yet caring personality and spoke with a heavy Australian accent. She would later be split into two characters, Wu Xing and Nadia, and elements of Ivy's character and design can now be seen in them, even sharing a last name with Wu Xing, suggesting relation. Clare would go to Ivy's house which was situated in a tree. While Ivy and Kilah climbed this tree with ease, Clare had to use her daggers to climb up. Ivy and Clare shared coffee at the treehouse while Clare explained her situation. This would later become the Chapter 4 scene in Kade Cafe.