The Dragon Rock

Orin ar den Raamternan is a prince obsessed with desire to gain absolute power, intending to use it to bring peace to the world.

A mysterious visitor entices him to search for the Ring of the Kings, an artefact made in the dawn of time, which loans the ultimate power to its owner. However, to find the Ring, the prince first has to find a mountain called the Dragon Rock.

He embarks on the quest in the company of his guards, but, as they reach the slopes of the Blue Mountains, an enormous mountain range which blocks the way to the Dragon Rock, the wolves slaughter the whole guard and the prince himself barely survives.

These are the circumstances in which Arios the Black, a reclusive goat-herd from the Blue Mountains, finds the prince. Haunted by the sight of the enormous Dragon Rock on the horizon, Arios is an ex-sorcerer who, because of the disaster he unwillingly caused, utterly abandoned the sorcery and isolated himself from the world.

Driven by the desire to find a way of breaking the pattern of his lonely life, Arios joins Orin in the quest for the Dragon Rock. In the chain of events that follows that decision, Arios and Orin cross the Blue Mountains, travel through war-stricken lands, survive many perilous confrontations with strange enemies and allies even stranger, and finally confront the army of the evil Lord of Doom, coming to an unexpected end of their quest.

"The Dragon Rock" is a fantasy novel written by Croatian author Aleksandar Budjanovac (1963 - 2009), Ph.D., professor of psychology, writer, martial art master and guitar player. In this novel, he explores the nature of power, wisdom, and reckless and curious human spirit, as well as the nature of good and evil. Although the novel is relatively short, it is action-packed, sprinkled with pearls of wisdom, and full of unexpected twists and turns. Told in smooth narrative, this is a novel which will enchant the reader from the first to the last page.
The novel is now published by Aleksandar's brother, Nebojša, also a Croatian writer.