a warrior like mother
Just over ten years have passed since the Invasion of the Baalarian Empire and Draconica has returned to a natural state of peace – although the wounds left from it still linger with a few countries.
Benji Dragonkin aspires to be a hero, just like his mother – Queen Daniar Dragonkin. He wants to become a famous warrior so that he can save the day – and win the heart of his long time friend, Lydia Taurok. But with his mother being overly protective of him, and a dark side to his father that threatens to tear their family apart, Benji has a long way to go just yet.
Zarracka Dragonkin, still a prisoner of Daniar, plots her revenge against her sister – and Benji may just be the key to her victory.
And in the land of Drewghaven, the Kthonian Knights arise once more, determined to once again bring forth their revenge against the men of the world. Their leader, Jihadain, seeks to settle old scores with Daniar – and break her spirit in the process.
With villains gathering and allies faltering, Benji sees this as a chance to prove himself a true warrior. But even more harrowing is a warning that his mother receives, foreshadowing a greater evil:
"She is coming..."
Legacy of the Dragokin is the second book set in the world of Draconica and the sequel to Trapped on Draconica. The two of them will share a character sheet except for the ones introduced in this book.
Legacy of the Dragokin contains these tropes
- All Your Base Are Belong to Us: A city in Drewghaven becomes the heroes base of operations. During the climax, it's invaded and trashed.
- Bittersweet Ending: This ending is significantly less happy than the previous: while the villains are defeated, Zarracka is reformed, Kalak/Daniar reconcile, and Benji gains dragokin powers and a possible girlfriend in the future, there is a lot more death, a lot more destruction, the underlying problem (Drewghaven's bad economy) is entirely unresolved, and Man in Shadow got exactly what he needed from the mess and so is one step closer to completing his own Evil Plan.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- Rufus shows off a Mini-Mecha he plans to put to work in construction and he uses it to fight mooks in the climax.
- Lydia's stuffed teddy from childhood carries the heart of Kthonia.
- Covers Always Lie: The image in the cover is accurate but It won't happen until the final act of the climax. One can only assume the author was going for Rule of Cool.
- Deconstructed Trope: Benji is a ten year old boy who wants to be a warrior hero and this story shows precisely why such a person would be a Tagalong Kid. Without training, experience or, indeed, maturity, he's The Load at best and The Millstone at worst.
- Decon-Recon Switch: This boy, however, has dragon powers and genetic memory passed down from his mother.
- Disney Death:
- Rana is crucifed at one point but was Only Mostly Dead and so she survived with help.
- Kalak is yanked underwater by a squid monster and would have drowned if not for his deal with Mordak.
- One of the goblins is squashed by Ravage's corpse, stops breathing, but was only unconscious. He wakes up soon after.
- Enemy Civil War: There are many independent villain groups with alliances of convenience that break apart when the alliances are no longer convenient. Indeed, the villains are just as likely to off other villains as the heroes.
- Enemy Mine:
- The premise is Baalaria and Drewghaven teaming up to quell raiders produced by civil unrest.
- Zarracka and Mordak team up because they both hate Daniar.
- Everyone still alive joins forces against Kthonia.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: The Kthonian knights think of everyone else as worms to be squished but consider each other family. Their leader is Kthonia's daughter and her desire to free her is as much a daughter's love as it is a villain's Evil Plan.
- Evil Plan:
- The Kthonian knights seek to wake up Kthonia and wipe out men.
- Man in Shadow has a different agenda. All that is revealed in this book is that he's working for people with larger ambitions.
- Gendercide: This is the goal of the Kthonian Knights; exterminate men because they're all bastards. There is very little in the way of political messages as, in practice, they are indiscriminate in who they kill and who they turn into a monster with The Virus. Also when Daniar convinces Kthonia that women are just as morally flawed as men, the latter decides to kill them both.
- Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex: Daniar and Kalak re-consummate their marriage after defeating Kthonia.
- Grand Theft Me: Mordak makes his return about midway by taking over Kalak's body. This begins the the second phase of the plot; two enemy camps.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Kthonia is the most powerful villain in this story but she is neither involved, aware of, nor inclined to assist with Jihadain's Evil Plan. When Kalak kills Jihadain, however, she becomes the True Final Boss.
- Heel–Face Turn:
- Kthonia did this pre-series but seeing her daughter killed in front of her by a man leads to a Face–Heel Turn.
- Becoming Benji's auntie mellowed Zarracka out. Not only does she help in the fight against Kthonia without a devious agenda but she volunteers to go back to her cell when it's over.
- Heroic Rematch: Lydia does a lot better in her second fight against Abyss.
- Hope Spot: Jihadain finally succeeds in her long term plan and releases Kthonia....only to see that the fearsome warrior has mellowed out long ago and wants no part in her desire to kill all men. Unfortunately, this drives her into a rage and she attacks Daniar which gets her killed by Kalak which enrages Kthonia so much she decides that she will take part in her desire to kill all men.
- I Lied: Kthonia promises to cease her rampage and leave everyone alone in exchange for mercy. As soon as Benji's back is turned she steals her heart back and continues fighting.
- I'm Taking Him Home with Me!: Zarracka has a new goal; in addition to killing Daniar she's also going to replace her as Benji's mother. Because of this a number of plot events take a different turn then they would have last time.
- Jail Bait Wait: Lydia tells Benji to wait until he's eighteen to start a relationship with her because he's ten and she's fifteen. Sex is not mentioned or even alluded to, making this a G-rated Puppy Love example.
- Lamarck Was Right: Subverted. Benji says something along the lines of 'dragokin powers activate!' frequently because he believes he inherited them from his mother. Double subverted as they were latent and awakened in the climax. Not only does Benji inherit dragokin powers but the skill to use them.
- Loophole Abuse: One cannot kill something that's already dead so killing the undead, like Kthonia, technically does not violate Thou Shall Not Kill.
- Love Dodecahedron: A weird example in that it's not the focus of the plot and yet it is at the same time. What is definite is that it is NOT played for comedy.
- Daniar and Kalak are married but having problems so they both go to comfort from other people (Jago and Zarracka respectively) while Mordak has a Lady and Knight thing with Zarracka and a yandere thing for Kalak while both of them can't stand it/him and yet are dependent on Mordak, who, by the way, is weakened by love. Then add in the fact that Kalak is jealous of the attention his wife gives their son who is head-over-heels for his mother's protegee who is Married to the Job and it gets more complicated.
- Magitek: Final Shield is a technological device that runs on electricity but produces a magical effect.
- The Man Behind the Man: Man in Shadow claims that the Kthonian knights are mere pawns for a larger plan.
- Manipulative Bastard: All the drama in Drewghaven was a distraction planned by Man in Shadow to get Daniar out of her castle. He led the rioters to the Kthonian knights' can and sent the distress signal letter to Brittania castle so Daniar would rush to her sister's aid. Once she was gone he could dig up Erowin's corpse without interference or observation.
- Parents in Distress: Benji takes over the Kthonia fight just as she is about to kill Daniar.
- Primal Scene: Having rekindled the flame of their marriage, Daniar and Kalak express their love for each on the battle field and right in front of Benji.
- Psycho Prototype: Daniar and her siblings were not Dronor's first attempt at creating human/dragon hybrids. Those were the mara; a race of superhumans that lived only to torture men.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: What Kthonia decides to do after Kalak kills her daughter.
- Sealed Evil in a Can:
- the Kthonian knights were trapped by Daniar long ago.
- Their goddess (or rather her heart) was also trapped Inside Lydia's teddy bear.
- Showing Up Chauvinists: Averted: despite Lydia's status as the first female general in Baalaria's history, all her critics focus on her Improbable Age (15!) instead of her gender.
- Significant Name Shift: Taurok's full name is 'Finn Taurok' but he is always referred to by his last name in the first book. After he becomes a good guy, the narration switches to his first name. This means that he's on a First-Name Basis with the audience.
- Soul Jar: Kthonia's soul exists in a crystal and searching for it is the first step in her knights' Evil Plan.
- Strike Me Down with All of Your Hatred!: Jihadain does everything she can to provoke Daniar into breaking her rule against killing. The reason behind this is that only lethal rage from a pure soul can revive Kthonia.
- Took a Level in Badass:
- Lydia, the Token Mini-Moe from the last book, is now a Four-Star Badass.
- Mordak a formerly mindless weapon is not only sentient but has psychic powers.
- Benji awakens his powers and becomes a formidable warrior.
- Traumatic Superpower Awakening: This is how Benji activates his dragokin powers At the very end of the story when he leaps to his mom's defense.
- Was Once a Man: Jihadain can transform humans and other beings into monsters and one bite transforms their victim into the same kind of monster.
- We ARE Struggling Together:
- Baalaria is helping Garmany with civil unrest but the latter's people hates the former's military because of the invasion from the last book.
- Kalak has lethal hatred for Finn because of the same invasion it culminates in a fight where Kalak almost kills Finn.
- Benji's attempts to help only worsen his relationship with his Mom.
- Women Are Wiser: Averted. Daniar gives a speech about the flaws of men and then says that women have all the same flaws.
