Whew!  Been a long time.  Here’s an excerpt from the novel…

Something heavy and muscular slammed against the gate.  The hinges groaned.  Charles looked into the courtyard, saw the revelers staring at the black iron doors.  Dance now! he wanted to cry at them.  Fling your bodies in useless rhythms to try and stop the Dragon of Creely!  Stomp feet, clap hands!  See if all your magic will save you from Elizabeth’s teeth.

She screamed, her orphans screamed, the gate groaned and cracked.  Out at sea, the tower bellowed in protest.  Too late, too slow!  Charles’ breath heaved in his chest; the hair on his neck and arms stood straight in anticipation.  The revelers in the courtyard began turning, spinning, slapping their thighs and their bare torsos.

The gate broke in pieces, and Elizabeth Whistle surged through it.  Her head snapped forward, and her teeth closed around the leg of one of the revelers; she tossed him against the wall of the fort with a shake, and he lay still.  Her orphans swarmed around her, deformed children, men and women with mangled, aberrant bodies.  They carried knives.

“Traitors!” Elizabeth Whistle shrieked.  “Traitors!”

Lord Dibney Affray turned to Charles.  “Stop her.” His voice was soft.

Charles watched Elizabeth feint and strike at the two remaining revelers in the courtyard.  They were old, frail, but their steps were sure.  “No, Lord Affray,” Charles said.

“She will kill us, Lord Ograhim.”

“She will kill you.”