Deborah Cooke: Author

Haylo was asking me questions about the mortality and life span of the Pyr over at ShapeShifter Romance last week, and that made me realize that there might be a smidgen of confusion out there in the big wide world about my dragon dudes and when they die.

It’s really obvious to me what’s going on (!) but I have to remember that
a/ I’m two books ahead of you readers
and
b/ I’ve written and chucked a lot of stuff that has never made it into the books.

So, let’s talk about when the Pyr die.

First of all, the Pyr are not immortal. They age very very slowly – like lots of other reptiles – and can live a very long time. Magnus, for example, was born in ancient Rome. They don’t live forever, but it probably feels like it sometimes.

It probably feels that way to Rafferty, who is still waiting on his firestorm.

The firestorm, the mark of having found one’s destined mate, is both blessing and curse to the Pyr. It means that they can conceive a son, which is a good thing. It means that they have a chance at a partnership with a human woman, and a good shot at a love match. It also means, however, that their aging process begins to speed up. The Pyr characteristically get their first grey hair after satisfying the firestorm. (Remember, that Erik has grey hair at his temples when we first meet him – that’s from his firestorm.) This would be the Great Wyvern’s way of saying that they’ve done the important business of living at least in biological terms – they’ve bred a replacement.

How long do the Pyr live after that? Well, it depends. I think it would be weird if Pyr and their mates were destined to live exactly the same amount of time, even if it sounds romantic. Erik talks about this in his book, KISS OF FATE – and I don’t think this is a spoiler as there have been allusions to this in earlier books. Erik specifically recalls Thierry (Quinn’s father and Erik’s mentor) and his conviction that the Pyr who truly loved their mates choose to die when their mates die, because life has no purpose anymore.

This reminds me of human couples who have been together for decades and then pass away within weeks of each other. In a way, they can’t imagine being without their partner and so they don’t.

I’ll let Erik explain to you why he’s still alive several hundred years after having his firestorm – that would be a spoiler!

So, that’s the Pyr who love their mates. Theoretically, they might live longer than their human mates, but most of the time, they don’t.

The Pyr who don’t love, who breed and move on like Keir, are still biologically affected by the fact that they have had a firestorm. Their aging speeds up – it is said that they can “taste their mortality”. This sense of doom may make them more desperate or more villainous – leading ultimately to a violent death – or it might just make them cranky, so they die feeble, forgotten and alone.

I’ll admit that I have a tendency to have Pyr who don’t love their mates die nasty violent deaths – just because – but a weakened, old, surly one would be fun, too.

This issue will come into sharper focus in the second trilogy, when the mortality of the Pyr – artificially prolonged and/or natural – takes center stage. No spoilers, so I’ll tell you more about that after you read KISS OF FATE.