James Mackland (Jim) was born in Aberdeen, Scotland. He is married to Angela, whom he met and fell in love with while at school. He has served and worked with several armies in the UK, Australia, the USA, and Canada, gaining the rank of lieutenant colonel before retiring. He now lives with his family in Far North Queensland, within the tail end of the oldest rainforest in the world. Jim holds master's degrees in management, from the University of Greenwich; in business, from the University of New South Wales; and in military and defence studies, from the Australian National University. He is a graduate of both the British and Australian Command and Staff College. His hobbies include renovating and keeping marine saltwater fish, corals, and seahorses. He loves his three dogs, Jess, Nutmeg and Freya. He also holds a CASA commercial drone pilots' licence. He is an active member of the Queensland Fire and Emergency Service, volunteering with both the Rural Fire Service and the State Emergency Service. The Jitz Saga This series of books will discover the lineage of Jitz and follow him through his ascension. It will expand on his relationships with his close friends, his parents and the monarchs, and, of course, the dragon riders. They will make war; both win and lose battles, gain and lose friends. They will visit new lands, see new dragons hatch, be bonded with their riders, and meet new foes. Jitz, an Unlikely Dwarven Warrior Jitz is apparently born on the roadside between the Kingdoms of Men and Dwarves, his mother dying in dwarfbirth and his father returning the youngling to Mount Thorus and within his clan before taking a walk across the mountain, never to be seen again. Jitz is bounced from family to family. He is a freak of a dwarf shunned by the clan and wider dwarven society. Jitz is sent above ground and joins the dwarven army. Throughout his career, he is never promoted and never makes close friends. He is still seen as a peanut-headed freak. His presence gets him noticed by King Olaff III, and he soon becomes his private messenger and occasional assassin. Living within the palace and not in the barracks, he becomes close friends with Lady Faros, and it is Faros who finds out about Jitz's true lineage. Jitz is sent north into the Icelands to conduct a covert reconnaissance forward of the dwarven strongpoints and farther than the elven scout fortifications to identify if the banished dark elves, the Nosphorom, are still in existence and, if so, if they harbour the intentions to attack the southern alliance. What ensues is a series of battles, skirmishes, and attacks upon the elven ranger bases and the massive dwarven forward fortifications that lead to the Nosphorom invasion and subsequent siege of Mount Thorus and then into the elven kingdom. From the Icelands, we see the appearance of the Dread Lord of Kadaverat, Lord Droston. The Edjilum-trained assassin elf who has become head of the Nosphorom Order spreads his rule and influence south with his mutated creatures. During Jitz's travels, he gains the closest friends, all who are now battle-hardened veterans and committed to the defence of the alliance: from the elves, Lord Benodween, the ranger commander and his cousin the Lady Endoween of the Elf Kings' Protection Team, Tlincia and elf scout, and Jaxen Storm, an elven ranger. From the Wildthing nation, the sisters Nomia and Heitl and from the dwarves, the mighty Dweorgscott. Together, they fight their way in and out of all sorts of dangers, bonding them closer and closer together. It is when they reach the Kingdom of Men that Jitz and his crew meet the prince and princess of Amethystine and the heads of the most secretive of the Order of Drakontos Kavalaris, the human dragon riders. The dragon riders play an epic part in the liberation of the invaded kingdoms, and the link between Jitz and the order becomes closer. The prince and princess slowly realise his hidden identity and what he becomes. But Jitz surprises them both. Lord Mammutt and Lady Titan are the patriarch and matriarch of the dragon herd, and they also know of Jitz. There is a set of eight very special eggs in the hatchery in Benachie, a long-dead and petrified clutch that heralds a new chapter of dragons that strengthens the alliance as never before. One dragon of immense powers, Lady Deaveloe, arises and leads a new era of dragons and their riders: the Drakontos Octarchy. Jitz and the Dark Alliance Jitz, the humanlike dwarven warrior, and his dragon, Lady Deaveloe, continue their advanced rider training within the Order of Drakontos Kavalaris, along with the most beautiful of elves, the Lady Endoween. The defeated dark elves, the Nosphorom, have failed in their attempt to seize the three kingdoms and have been pushed back into the eastern Icelands. The dragon herd have been warned by the great Lady Deaveloe of a threat coming for the alliance from over the Great Brine, a sinister foe that they do not know of. A dark alliance forms, and the Nosphorom once again show their presence, forcing the Kingdoms of Dwarves, Men, and Elves to fight alongside one another once more. The dragon riders of each race fly to defend the realms, and a traitorous dragon and her rider are revealed. A dragon and rider are directly involved in the worst crime against the herd: the stealing of a clutch of dragon eggs, a crime punishable by death. Jitz: The United Kingdoms and Faraway Lands The dragon riders and the Order of Drakontos Kavalaris suffer profound losses during the war with the dark alliance. Jitz and the legendary dwarf King Dweorgscott's dragons have named themselves as the new matriarch and patriarch of the herd, and two new clutches of eggs are ready to be presented to the newest batch of potentials. Jitz and the most beautiful of elves, Lady Endoween, seek Queen Siobhan's permission to make their love for each other known to all. The queen to keep Jitz's parentage a secret has told them, that there is too much turmoil within the realm... and that now is not the time. Jitz and Endoween are deployed on a mission across the Great Brine, where they will once again be attacked by the Nephratom, the tracker ghouls of the dark elves. This novel ends the trilogy, with Jitz being formally recognised and his relationship with his love Endoween being realised. In Arduis Fidelis Links. Jim Mackland (@jim.mackland) TikTok WWW.JimMackland.com YouTube: Jim MacklandTV Instagram: https://www.threads.net/@jim_?author_?ofthe_?jitz_?saga?xmt=AQGz RhviCKHBlpflprQovbxVb8zDgRvDpWz5EWIrskDyeo4 Facebook: Facebook
