This is beautiful fan art that I received for my on-going serialized fantasy novel, The Black Collar. It was commissioned for me as a secret gift by the wonderful Yogoloth ( https://yogoloth.sofurry.com ) and created by the amazingly talented Ijoe. ( https://ijoe.sofurry.com and https://www.weasyl.com/~ijoe )

The characters are Alvaranox and Kirra. Alvaranox is the injured dragon, and Kirra his human "Handler," the woman tasked with taking care of the dragon during his long and painful recovery. She's also becoming one of his only true and trusted friends. I love this image because it depicts the tenderness with which she treats the dragon, unlike so many others. And I also love Alvaranox's expression, as it retains some of that dragon smugness yet also seems to say..."Yes, we are friends now...but don't tell anyone."

The Black Collar is so-named because of the artifact bound around Alvaranox's neck. It's power is a blessing and a curse, as it forces the dragon to protect the town that collared him so many years ago. To the town, he's a guardian, and to the dragon, he's a slave.

If you enjoy novels and stories that feature dragons as flesh and blood creatures, and fully developed characters, well I hope you'll take a look at The Black Collar. The opening installment, that this scene is from, can be found right here: https://www.weasyl.com/submission/275527/the-black-collar

If you'd like to read more, the entire first 18 chapters can be found here: http://theblackcollar1.blogspot.com/

More to come soon!