Well now I know why I haven\'t seen you in ages Havena.
Yes I did read through them all and I did read them with an unbiased mind (sorry but just because I love ya doesn\'t mean I\'d tell you it was good if it sucked)
I did vote for your story because I honestly do feel that it was the one that gave me a visual impression the most and made it \"feel\" real.
Next time you write a Dragon into a story though - Please don\'t kill him off so quickly.  Perhaps it\'s just been so overdone but if you\'re gonna have a Dragon that inspires fear it seems such a waste to bump him off with such ease.

I posted the link to an IRC channel of draconic enthusiasts for a wider selection of internationally gathered people to read if they so chose.  They don\'t know you at all so they\'ll simply vote it as they see it.  Mind you, they may get a tad upset that you killed off the Dragon.

As for the LOTR type comparisons - Personally I just think it\'s the use of the Orcs which conjurs up that thought.  I don\'t see that as a bad thing at all.  When you wrote of the \"Dogs\" my first impression was the ugly looking savage dogs used in the film \"Willow\" and yet that\'s where it ended.  Your style of writing isn\'t comparitive to Tolkein much at all in fact.  Take that as a compliment - I loved the movies but reading the books isn\'t exactly an easy read.

Be Safe
Silence