Rain & Fire by Chris D'Lacey Read Free Book Online

a thought projection of him toDavid in the Arctic at a crucial point in The Fire Eternal .
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    Gaia: The spirit of the Earth; Earth Mother. Appears in a variety of guises and semi-physical forms throughout the series. Helps Lucy, particularly in times of need. Also creates Ganzfeld, Liz’s listening dragon.
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    The Fain: A mysterious race of beings who first enter the saga in Fire Star when G’reth, the wishing dragon, makes contact with one of them. The Fain have no physical body and exist in another dimension on a plane of thought, manipulating the dark energy of the Universe to create a thought-world known as Ki:mera around them (though this is never seen). The Fain can “commingle” with any physical life-form, but regard dragons as the most perfect form there is. The Fain’s spiritual development depends upon them commingling with the “white fire” of a living dragon, a process called “illumination.” They frequently come to prominence as the story progresses, but their history with thehuman race is checkered, largely because humans and dragons have, in the past, struggled to live in harmony together on the Earth. On the alternative world of Co:pern:ica, the Fain collectively call themselves The Higher .
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    The Ix: In effect, the flipside of the Fain. They are in a continuous unseen war with the Fain, seeking to gain control of the dark energy of the Universe to manipulate it for their own evil ends. In the past, they have attempted to use the imaginative power of humans to their advantage, leaving shadows of darkness in the human psyche (gargoyles, bogeymen, fear of spiders, etc.). Dragons are the physical enemy of the Ix, but the Ix have countered them by producing a template for an antidragon, a creature they call a darkling. Darklings are terrifying monsters, but are no match for dragons, because so far the Fain have been able to prevent the Ix from creating “dark fire,” the most destructive force in the Universe, which the Ix would need if they were ever to “delumine” one of their darklings.

    When Chris is invited to speak in schools, one of the questions he is always asked is “Where do you get the characters’ names from?” He usually replies that they just pop up when they’re needed. Although this is accurate, it’s worth citing a few examples of how this happens.
    A good place to start would be with David Rain, since he’s the hero of the series. Chris was always fascinated by the stories he was taught in religion class. He particularly enjoyed those about David (later King David) and they stood out in his memory. Thus “David” comes from the Bible.
    â€œRain” is from a completely different source. Chris is a huge Beatles fan and many years ago they released a double-A-sided single with the songs “Paperback Writer” and “Rain.” Since Chris wanted to be the former, he thought his alter ego, David (who is based on Chris in his younger days), ought to be the latter. And while we’re still on the subject of the Beatles, you mightlike to know that David’s teddy bear is named after Chris’s all-time hero, and the person Chris would most like to have met, John Lennon. Winston was John’s middle name.
    The Pennykettle last name is based on a previous neighbor of Chris’s. As a boy he used to live next door to a family with the last name Kettle. Whether the lady of the house was called Penny or not, he can’t remember.
    Bonnington, the cat, comes from a road name close to our old house in Leicester, even though Lucy claims, in The Fire Within , that he is named after Chris Bonington, the climber (who incidentally spells his version with a single “n”).
    Mr. Bacon is a serious nod to Mr. Curry in the Paddington books, written by Michael Bond. Chris absolutely adores these. In fact, Paddington is hands down his favorite children’s book character.
    Zanna was