Mother of Draglins by Charles Brass

She never paid much heed to the land’s gods—until one took notice of her.

When thirteen-year-old island girl Pae imagines a creature designed to defeat a plague of mice-like scavvers, her musings catch a passing god’s attention. It tricks her into a collaboration to bring her draglin into existence. If she fails, it will turn her into a draglin. To prove it means business, it transform one of her fingers into a draglin’s claw through fire and excruciating pain,

Suffering but determined, Pae has five chances to lay a clutch of eggs, hoping one will survive. But island superstitions run deep, friends fall to violence, and tragedies bring ruin at every turn. Even new allies from the Tower, where Sisters and Mothers dedicate themselves to the land’s gods, seem insufficient to help her overcome her tormentor’s intent to complete her terrifying, agonizing, and fatal transformation…

Category: Dark Fantasy