Dragonsbane (Winterlands, #1)

It was said to be impossible to slay a dragon. But Lord John Aversin had earned himself the name of Dragonsbane once in his life and had become the subject of ballad and legend. Fired by the romance of his tale, young Gareth travelled far and wide across the Winterlands from the King’s court to persuade the hero to rid the Deep of Ylferdun of the great Black Dragon, Morkeleb. With them on their quest went Jenny Waynest, half-taught mage and mother of Aversin’s sons. Although the most fearsome dragon that Aversin had ever faced, Morkeleb was not the greatest danger awaiting him and his witch-woman. The once-ordered court had fallen into decadence and dissolution, and the beautiful sorceress Zyerne held the King in her sway. Just as Morkeleb posed the greatest challenge for Dragonsbane, so Jenny Waynest would find her powers pitted against an adversary as deadly as the Black Dragon – and infinitely more evil. “ Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly is the book that made me fall in love with reading and eventually led me to try writing my own books.” —Brandon Sanderson When the Black Dragon seized the Deep of Ylferdun, young Gareth braved the far Winterlands to find John Aversin, Dragonsbane -- the only living man ever to slay a dragon. In return for the promise of the King to send help to the Winterlands, Aversin agreed to attempt the nearly impossible feat again. With them, to guard them on the haunted trip south, went Jenny Waynest, a half-taught sorceress and mother of Aversin's sons. But at the decadent Court, nothing was as expected. Rebellion threatened the land. Zyerne, a sorceress of seemingly unlimited power, held the King under an evil spell, and he refused to see them. Meantime, the dragon fed well on the knights who had challenged him. In the end, Aversin, Jenny, and Gareth had to steal away at night to challenge Morkeleb, largest and wisest of dragons. But that was only the beginning of the perils they must face. When the Black Dragon seizes the Deep of Ylferdun, John Aversin, the only living man ever to slay a dragon agrees to challenge the dragon, accompanied by Jenny Waynest, a half-taught sorceress and the mother of his sons BANDITS OFTEN LAY in wait in the ruins of the old town at the fourways-Jenny Waynest thought there were three of them this morning.