James A. Owen - The Dragons Apprentice (Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica)

For Jimmy

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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people,
or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are
products of the authors imagination, and any resemblance to actual events
or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright 2010 by James A. Owen

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Book design by Tom Daly and James A. Owen
The text for this book is set in Adobe Jensen Pro.
Manufactured in the United States of America
2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Owen, James A.

The dragons apprentice / written and illustrated by James A. Owen. 1st ed.
p. cm. (The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica; [5])
Summary: Seven years after facing the Dragon Shadows, John, Jack, and Charles
return to the Archipelago of Dreams but their reunion with old friends is spoiled by the threat of primordial Shadow Echthroi and the apparent splintering of Time itself, and they set
out on a new quest in which success and failure each carry a high cost.
ISBN 978-1-4169-5897-0 (hardcover)

[1. Time travelFiction. 2. Characters in literatureFiction. 3. Fantasy.] I. Title.

PZ7.O97124Dr 2010
[Fic]dc22
2009038674
ISBN 978-1-4424-0964-4 (eBook)

In many ways, The Dragons Apprentice was the most difficult book to write so far, for a lot of reasons. Complexities abound, as the story progressed and evolved, and it would have been impossible to finish sequestered in my garret, in solitude.

David Gale was, and continues to be, the first champion of these books. From the very beginning, he had a natural grasp of the kind of story I wanted to tell, and has allowed me to keep the accelerator floored ever since. Under another editor, I truly believe these would have been lesser books. And Navah Wolfe, whom I knew casually as an online friend before her employ at Simon & Schuster, is without a doubt my most exacting reader. The questions she poses, whether regarding subtle nuances of character, or overarching plot threads, are the ones that shape and reshape my stories into their final form. That she is so caring about the work, while at the same time looks after the well-being of her author is a combination for which I am most grateful. Jenica Nasworthy and Valerie Shea are my seasoned coveterans of the editorial battle, who pull everything together into a cohesive whole, invented words and all. Without these people this series would not work.

My stellar attorney Craig Emanuel, and especially my management team at The Gotham Groupincluding Julie, Ellen, and Lindsayhave done wonderful work with the contracts, and handling my business relationship with my publisher. And Gothams Julie Nelson has made other weights Ive had to shoulder far, far easier to bear this year, and deserves much gratitude.

The rest of the team at Simon & Schuster has been equally supportive, from my publisher, Justin Chanda, to our Executive Vice President Jon Anderson, and the most attentive CEO Ive ever known, Carolyn Reidy. They make it clear that we are partners in this endeavor, and my work is easier because of their trust and support.

My art director, Laurent Linn, continues to do extraordinary work. My publicists, Paul Crichton and Andrea Kempfer, have taken excellent care of me during my signing tours, and have always encouraged me through a very demanding process. And I want to also thank the other staff at Simon & Schuster for doing so much good work to package, promote, and sell these books. It is genuinely a team effort.

Without my team at Coppervale Studio, Jeremy Owen and Mary McCray, I would not have time to write or draw, and the whole process would be much, much more difficult. And my new partners in Hollywood crime, Rick Porras and Travis Wright, have helped restore my faith in both creative collaboration and the magic of Tinseltown. Im still not moving there, though.

My friends are my rock, without whom I would have floundered long before: Daanon DeCock, who not only handles my websites, but also looks after my general well-being; the collective Book Babes, especially Faith, who have been so wonderful to know; Bill and Peggy Wu, for reminding me that magic is real; Brett and Shawn, who have believed in me from the beginning; and Shannon, who has helped me remember that I became just who I wanted to be.

And most of all, I want to thank my family: Cindy, Sophie, and Nathaniel, for being the reasons that I do what I do, better than I would have done it without them. You all have my profound thanks.

Until it has been mapped, no thing truly exists. Not even time. To create maps is to be a Namer, and Naming makes things that are real more themselves, and things that are imaginary, real.

But even as there are Namers, there are also Un-Namers in the world. And these seek to undo all that the Namers have mapped, in both time and space.

Safeguard the maps within this atlas from such Shadows. Give to it your Names. And believe.

This simple inscription, written on the first page of the Imaginarium Geographica, bore no signature. It was possibly written by its maker, the Cartographer of Lost Places, but no Caretaker had ever asked, nor was the information ever volunteered. But someone had written it, and someday, someone would ask, and perhaps be answered.

From the foredeck of the White Dragon, the Far Traveler watched as the three new young Caretakers of the Geographica disappeared down the cobblestone streets to resume their lives. Not all that long before on that very spot, they had boarded another ship, the Indigo Dragon, as they fled from a terrible horde of creatures and their dark master, the Winter King. The days that passed between that moment and this, a scant few weeks, had changed the fates of two worlds and irrevocably altered their lives. He wondered if they knew how much. No matterthey would learn soon enough.