Highland Wings — Story 1: The Tithe of Smiles

In the highlands of Brackenmere, dreamer farmboy Finn Calder wants the sky — and Earl Aldric Voss wants every would-be dragon bond for himself. When the smiling tithe takes chalk-marked youth and burns too close to home, Finn and his mentor Magnus Thorn strike a small-town reckoning that frees the oppressed… while Voss rides away still smiling.

A sealed letter. A spiral token. A free rider who cannot land for the crossbows. A river-pass toward Rivermark.