Hallalu!
This was a work of love, pain, and tenacity. Plus a few stupid human tricks along the way ;).
BUT it is live! Available on Amazon and it is in Kindle Unlimited as well.
By the way--Amazon now has all of these books in this TRILOGY listed as being part of a four book series. Even though they told me that wouldn't happen. SIGH.
THREE! There are THREE books!
Enjoy and thank you for reading!
Okay, still aiming to get this out this WEEK!
BUT, if you've read the other two Chaos books, (AKA Books of the Cuari) then scroll down and keep reading!
If not, run away!! NOW!
There be spoilers ahead!
SPACE......
Storm and Jenna are still apart. Jenna was Chapt one-- here's Storm! Yeah, sorry about the paragraph spacing.
Chapter Two
Storm
swore as their ship finally moved forward to dock. The town of Erlinda was
swarming with activity, but little of it pertained to getting ships into dock.
Mostly it was simply people panicking and running about.
News
of the death of Prince Resstlin, and of the fall of Lithunane, had spread
quickly. Erlinda was part of Traanafaeren at the extreme northern end. If an
attack came from outside, they would be one of the next to fall. And the
citizens of the town knew it.
Considering
what he and his companions had faced in Craelyn, he didn’t blame them.
Talia
yelled to the few dock hands still working and helped them secure the lines to
their ship. Her brother, Diath, watched with a grin. He was still injured,
there hadn’t been a way to heal him on the open sea. But he looked grateful to
be alive. And amused at his guard captain sister handling his ship.
Few
people faced a demonspawn and lived to talk about it. Let alone facing two. Diath
hadn’t said much about his fight and spent most of the week’s sea travel
resting.
Under
Talia’s orders.
The
trip from Craelyn to Erlinda normally took a few days. But they’d barely escaped
the town and hadn’t used regular sea channels to do so. Not to mention, not
knowing who or what might be after them meant going far from the coast and
taking a longer route down.
Keanin
tried to push them harder, using his own depleted magics to fill the sails when
he could. There was a ship with demonspawn ahead of them. Those on board
included odd creations that had tapped into Keanin’s genetic and magical self
and found a way to reproduce demonspawn hybrids. They needed to be destroyed
before they gave birth to the abominations they carried.
His
focus changed when they got the notification from Garlan that Lithunane had
fallen. Keanin was raised with the royal family, and while he wasn’t any fonder
of Resstlin than Storm was, his loss, and that of so many others in the palace,
hit him hard.
He
stopped pushing the sails after the second day unless asked.
He’d
mostly recovered from massively overusing his magic in Craelyn, but Storm was
concerned at the way Edgar, also a magic user, watched him carefully. Even now,
while they were all on deck and mundanely securing the ship.
Storm
shook his head. That was another item on a growing list of things that would
have to wait until they got to Irundail. He turned to Talia. “You all might
want to ride with us to Irundail. I don’t know how long it will take King
Philia of Khelaran to recover his strength, nor how many of his soldiers he
lost. He might not have much control over the traitors still in his midst. If
our enemies come down from there, this town will be a primary target.”
“I
need to stay and defend Erlinda.” Talia looked more like a city guard than a pirate
now—her more recent look. “But I think Diath, Hon, and Flini should go with
you. You need to get to the new capital.” She knew who Storm and his friends
really were.
“I’m
not leaving you. Or this town.” Diath shook his head and turned to Storm.
“Thank you for helping to rescue me, but I’ll defend this place.”
Talia
narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. “You’re injured.”
“Not
having this argument.” Diath walked down the plank empty-handed. Any of his
belongings were long gone.
Hon
and Flini shrugged.
“Sorry,
but we’re staying too. The guards can’t be the only ones defending this place.”
Hon tipped his head to Storm, Keanin, and Edgar, and followed his friends to
the dock.
“I
would stay to help you.” Keanin’s beautiful golden eyes appeared conflicted.
He’d fallen hard for Talia, but Storm was like a brother to him. Not to mention
the rest of the royal family.
The
tall blonde woman smiled and took his arms. “I believe you would. But while we
will have our own battles here, the larger ones will come to Irundail. It is a
powerful refuge, or so I’ve heard, but nothing is unbreakable. When it falls,
they’ll need you.” She looked up at Storm and Edgar. “All of you.”
Storm
lifted his pack as the rest of them left the ship. “I also wish we could stay.
But you’re right about the threat. Lithunane was never as secure as Irundail,
but it had impressive hidden defenses. That it fell so suddenly is terrifying.”
Edgar
watched the dock—and the ships leaving. “They don’t care where they’re going. I
thought the ships heading south could only leave at night.” Long-lost magic
users had changed the coast along Erlinda in the distant past. Getting in and
out was difficult except during specific times.
Judging
by the ships leaving, they were willing to take their chances as long as it got
them away from Erlinda.
“None
of them are going north. Why would they think Khelaran would be a threat?”
Keanin joined his friends watching the surrounding ships. “There wasn’t any
proof of who led the attack against Lithunane, was there? No one here would
know what happened in Craelyn, right?”
Keanin
and Edgar had cleared out a group of demonspawn poised to take over the
Khelaran capital. Or rather, exposed them for what they were, which made them
weaker and easier to kill.
Craelyn
had gone through hard times long ago—hence the controlled waterway access—and
also a nearly impassable land access along the coast. Had anyone come down from
Craelyn with news of an attack within the past week, they would have faced the
same issues Storm and his companions did.
“That’s
a good question.” Talia nodded to the two guards as they left the dock. “But
feelings about Khelaran have always been tense here. Many felt there should
have been a stronger presence from Lithunane here in the north. Irundail is
only a few days’ ride, but we never see people coming from there to check on
any of us along the northern coast.”
Storm
nodded. “I don’t disagree. And right now, I truly wish that there had been a royal
presence here. We’ll still need to travel incognito, thank you for keeping our
secrets. I’d like to get out of town before night falls. Edgar? Can you get us
horses? Cost is no limit. I’d hoped to be in Irundail days ago, but let’s get
there as quickly as possible.”
Edgar
nodded and shook hands with Talia, Diath, Hon, and Flini. Then he vanished into
the crowd.
“I’d
like to speak to Talia alone?” Keanin gave her a serious look.
“Come
this way. We can secure food for your travels. Even a few days of travel are
better with something in your stomach.” Talia led him down toward the food
vendors and the crowds swarming around them.
Storm
nodded to the remaining three. “Guard each other well, and if the chance
arises, come to Irundail. Mention my name and give the guards this coin.
They’ll escort you all to me.” He handed them what looked like a normal coin,
but it flashed even though there was no sun hitting it.
“I
finally meet royalty and it’s not a beautiful princess.” Diath laughed, took
the coin, and shook Storm’s hand. “But thank you for helping rescue me.”
“I’m
glad we got to you in time.” Storm put his eyepatch back on. Thanks to the type
of dye Edgar had used on his face, he still had the facial markings of a Crailian
sell-sword. Might as well take advantage of the disguise. It was more important
than before that no one knew Prince Corin was roaming the countryside.
“Just
remember, if things get bad, get your sister and your friends, and all of you
come to Irundail.” Storm shook his head. If he could, he’d bring this entire
town to Irundail. But they didn’t have time to convince them all to leave. Ships
were fleeing, but more came in with supplies. The ones staying were settling in
for a siege. “I’ll have Prince Res—Justlantin send over troops to help support
your efforts.” That slip hurt. Storm and his brother Resstlin, late heir to the
throne, had never been close. But it was still hard to think of him as gone.
Especially so soon after losing their father.
Diath
clasped Storm’s shoulder. “Thank you.” He nodded behind Storm, where Edgar came
up with six horses loaded with expensive looking full tack. “Your friend is
exceedingly quick.”
“There
looks to be only three of us.” Storm raised an eyebrow toward the extra horses.
Edgar
shrugged. “Aye, but the one selling these wanted to sell them all together. So,
I figured, since coin was no object, might as well.” His grin lit his dark
face. “Not to mention that we can rotate the horses as we ride. You’re not the
only one who wants to get to Irundail quickly.” His smile vanished.
Anyone
who’d lived in the palace in Lithunane had lost people in the slaughter. No one
knew how many friends they’d lost as communications, even with the taran wands,
were jumbled.
“I’m
an idiot.” Edgar shook his head and handed the cord with the line of horses to
Storm.
“It
wasn’t a bad idea.” Storm continued focusing on the surrounding crowds.
“No,
we need to find a place to reach out to our friends with the wands. Or at least
try. I don’t think all the communication disturbance we hit was just from the
ocean.”
Hon
and Flini said their goodbyes and vanished into the crowd.
Diath
watched Edgar, then nodded. “Your tricky stick thing. I can find an alley that
shouldn’t be occupied. And will allow for your herd.” He laughed as he walked
past Edgar’s horses.
Edgar
held the taran wand but kept it out of sight as he, Storm, and their horses
followed Diath.
Edgar
knew horses and he’d done well. All six were in excellent shape and followed
without question. Storm kept an eye out for Keanin as they walked.
He
knew his friend was having a seriously difficult time leaving Talia, but she
was a guardswoman and took her duty seriously. Keanin had duties as well, some
he didn’t even know about. The issue of him being a missing Khelaran royal was
something best dealt with when they were safe.
And
when they had a place to lock Keanin up if he tried to run when he was informed
of it. Keanin’s parents were killed in the Markare when he was a baby—they were
scientists investigating the area around the closed portal. Keanin was the only
survivor.
While
he’d been raised by the royal family of Traanafaeren, he might not be happy to
find out he had a connection to the Khelaran royals. And that his parents
hadn’t been who he’d been told they were.
The
alley was as Diath said, and he moved to the far end to give Edgar and Storm
privacy. Everyone on the ship knew of the taran wand, but as it didn’t work on the
water well, they hadn’t seen it work often.
“I
wish we’d been able to give one to my mother. Or someone else in Irundail,”
Storm said. “I don’t know that anyone from Lithunane has made it there yet.”
The ride between the two cities was normally a few weeks. A single rider with
spare horses could make it in a week, but they would be hard-pressed to do so.
Hopefully,
some of the far-speaking mages living in Lithunane survived the attack and got
the word to the Queen and the rest of the royals in Irundail.
“True
and true. Shall I try Ghortin first?” Edgar’s smile said he knew what Storm was
suppressing since they fled to the ocean.
The
woman he loved, Jenna, was somewhere outside of Strann. They’d found out that she
and the others survived, escaped, and had the third cuari book they’d needed,
but no further communication could be made.
“Yes.
Please.” He didn’t hold out his hand, but it was twitching.
Edgar
grinned and called Ghortin on the wand.
We're getting closer! The beast book, aka The Destruction of Chaos is in final edits! Finally!
See the pretty cover? Just a girl and her kraken out for a stroll!
Thank you all so much for your patience with this one--I really hope you love this final adventure! (For now, but the trilogy is done).
In honor of it getting closer to release, I'm doing two things--
1) Book one-- Essence of Chaos-- will be free in ebook format Feb 20-22! Sooooo, if you haven't started reading the trilogy-- you can dive in! (Or give as a gift to someone who you think will like it ;)).
2) I'm posting the first chapter here! There are spoilers so, if you haven't read the first two....look away!
Sadly, Amazon has dropped me from doing preorders for a year--sooooooooo follow me here, FB, my newsletter, or on Amazon or Book Bub to be told when it goes live!
As always all of my ebooks are in Kindle Unlimited, and THANK YOU so much for joining me on these adventures!
Space before chapter one
More space
Still moooooorrrreeee space--spacing is funky in the sample
Avoid spoilers-- look away NOW!
Chapter One
Jenna
swore as the carriage they’d bought—the third one since they left
Strann—shuddered as its left front wheel wobbled dramatically.
Their
prior carriage lost its right wheel after a few days. This one only lasted a
day.
“And
again, why is it that we need a carriage instead of riding our horses? They
were fine for the way in.” Jenna would be the first to admit the carriage was
less jarring than hours and days of being in the saddle, but this way was
slower. Even without constantly stopping for repairs or replacements.
She
knew that Storm, Keanin, and Edgar would probably make it to Irundail before
them, regardless. Unless there was more fighting in the north than they’d heard
or problems at sea. But she still wanted to rejoin them as soon as possible.
Lithunane
had fallen.
That
news was unbelievable and terrifying at the same time.
Someone
murdered Prince Resstlin before he was crowned as king. More of the royal
family weren’t killed in the attack because they weren’t present when Lithunane
fell. Most remained in Irundail in the north.
Last week, she’d been happy for stopping
Ravenhearst and slowing down Qhazborh’s followers, but that joy was short-lived
as they received news of Lithunane’s fall.
Information
on the fall had been sporadic since then. Even with taran wands, few details were
known. It could take weeks for those fleeing Lithunane to get to the safety of
Irundail to the far north of the country. As far as they knew, Rachael and Tor
Ranshal were traveling with Armsmaster Garlan and as many of the guards as they
could gather.
Most
of the guards and citizens were slaughtered before they knew the capital was
under attack.
Garlan
and Rachael each had a taran wand, but there was some magical interference
limiting their usage. A few days ago, Rachael said she thought it was getting
better the further they got from the remains of Lithunane, but they hadn’t been
able to reach her or Garlan since then.
Storm,
Keanin, Edgar, and their new traveling companions were at sea—something that
interfered with the taran wands as well. The last update they received was that
all of them were alive and on their way to Irundail but no one had heard from
them in a few days.
Jenna
was contemplating freeing her horse from the ones following the carriage and
racing directly for Irundail alone.
“Because
there could be people looking for us.” Ghortin had a hood pulled low over his
head as he drove and stayed hunched over like an old man. At over three
thousand years old, he was old—but it wasn’t noticeable normally. This was his
attempt at a disguise.
Carabella
snorted from her seat in the back. “We could outrun them. You and Jenna can
still use magic. Crell is extremely talented at firing arrows from horseback. This
thing is slowing us.” She flexed her long, delicate fingers toward her
son, Ghortin.
Carabella
was a full cuari, one of a mystical band of one hundred immortals charged with
protecting the other races.
At
the moment, she was the only one of the hundred still on this plane. The enemy
had captured the other ninety-nine to hinder the defenses of this world. They’d
been imprisoned while using magic, and so Carabella, one of the most magically
powerful beings in the world—couldn’t cast even the simplest of spells without the
risk that she would be taken as well.
Jenna
didn’t blame her for being annoyed. Not only was Jenna also concerned about
saving this new home world of hers, but she’d been told that failing to save this
world would doom others. Including good old Earth and her former home of Los
Angeles. Jenna was offered a chance to go back to L.A. but too much of her
heart was here now. For good or ill, this was now her home. But she didn’t want
Earth to be destroyed either.
The
carriage continued to wobble and then stopped and tilted to the side. The wheel
was broken.
“This
isn’t working,” Crell said. She was riding as guard alongside the carriage, but
stopped and glared at the broken wheel. Crell was a derawri. Like most of her people,
she was less than four feet high but fierce. She had long red hair and a sweet
face. Unless she was facing you with a weapon—then sweet was probably the last
word anyone would use. She’d been a family protector for the kelar royal family
of Traanafaeren for years as the children grew up. She had also most likely trained
many of the guards who were killed in Lithunane.
Jenna
was surprised Crell hadn’t raced off to Irundail already.
“I
think you’re outvoted. Let’s abandon this thing and continue on horseback. We
can keep the extra horse to carry our packs.” Carabella was already getting out
of the carriage when the first arrow struck the side of it.
“Stand
down, Strann scum! You’ll die here or go back to where you came from.”
Crell
spun and fired an arrow back. “We’re not from Strann and watch who you insult.”
Jenna
hadn’t heard a scream at Crell’s arrow. Most likely it, like the one that hit
the carriage, was a warning shot.
“Crell?”
A dark-clad kelar stepped out of the trees. His clothing was the mottled
combination of greens and browns that Crell’s rangers wore to stay hidden in
the woods.
“Filian!
Damn man, you are a sight for sore eyes.” Crell swung off her horse and clasped
the man’s arm. “How’d you get up here so fast? Who’s with you?”
Like
many full-blooded kelar, he was tall, slender, and had sharply pointed ears,
and wide-set tilted eyes. But that height difference didn’t interfere with Crell
at all.
Two
groups of fighters answered to Crell—her rangers were people she selected from all
three races. They traveled Traanafaeren protecting people in a less formal way
than the soldiers and guards. The second group was from her family ties in the
kingdom of Derawri. She held the status of Ki’, a powerful commander. She could
control a group of deathsworn; hardened derawri warriors who would fight until
death.
She
preferred her rangers. When she’d left Lithunane a few weeks ago to travel with
Jenna, Ghortin, and Carabella, she’d sent her deathsworn back to Derawri. The
rangers she’d asked to stay and protect Lithunane.
Ten
more brown and green-clad people—three kelar, five humans, and two derawri came
out of the trees. All looked to be in rough shape but were able to walk.
“We
were spelled here. Well, not here exactly, but a few days’ run south of here.”
Filian shook his head but noticeably didn’t put away his bow. “The palace mages
were trying to get as many people out of Lithunane as possible when the attack
came—whether or not we wanted it.” His scowl indicated they hadn’t chosen to be
magicked anywhere. “Somehow we got caught up in a spell and ended up here.”
Crell
sighed. “I note there aren’t any of our mages with you. Good intentions by
those magic users or not, it would have been better had you been able to escort
some of the refugees.” She nodded to the rest of the rangers. “But it is good
to see you. Why were you heading toward Strann?”
“That
was my idea, sorry, Crell.” A derawri woman stepped forward. Her dark hair was
cut short, and she had a long scar on the side of her face. Her smile
discounted her words. “I knew where you were heading and thought you might need
help. Since we were stuck up here, anyway.”
“You’re
a troublemaker, Sorcha.” Crell clasped the woman’s arm fondly. “Might have been
a good idea, but we’re on our way to Irundail. After we dump this carriage.”
She shot a glare toward Ghortin.
Jenna
glared also. Ghortin might have been considering abandoning his carriage and his
disguise that went with it before this, but anything new could change that.
But
he held up his hands in surrender. “We’ll dump it.” He nodded to the rangers.
“We might need some help to get it off the road. Make it look like an accident,
too.”
“Don’t
embellish. You always make lies too detailed.” Carabella climbed out of the
carriage and nodded to the rangers. “Nice of you to come to help us out. No
horses?”
Sorcha
shrugged. “We weren’t given the option to get them. But have no fear, we can
keep up. And it’s not as if we don’t know where you’re going.”
The
brawniest of the rangers moved the offending carriage into the woods, ignoring
Ghortin as he made it look like an accident.
Jenna
adjusted her pack on her horse as Ghortin continued fussing. “I seriously doubt
anyone is going to even see it, let alone figure out it was us, after two other
carriage changes.”
“A
job worth doing is worth doing right.” Ghortin dusted himself off, gathered his
things, and mounted his horse.
“It
wasn’t worth doing.” Carabella had Ghortin disguise her ears and eyes to look
more human and less cuari when they’d approached the human kingdom of Strann.
She tugged the fabric that covered the tips of her ears. “Do I look correct?
Are your spells still holding?”
Normal
cuari pupils were slitted, like a cat’s. Carabella’s dark green eyes currently
looked extremely human.
“You
look perfectly human,” Jenna responded when Ghortin didn’t.
Ghortin
shrugged.
“Thank
you, my dear.” Carabella gave a haughty sniff and continued down the trail.
Crell
quickly got on her horse to follow, with Jenna not far behind. They gave the
carriage horse to a ranger who’d twisted his ankle when they’d been magically flung
to the north.
He’d
fought against riding until Crell gave him a narrow-eyed glare.
Ghortin
motioned for the injured ranger and his horse to go before him. The rest of the
rangers jogged along the trail.
“Now,
isn’t this much better?” Carabella held up her hands to point out how lovely
things were. And that no horse would dare to need guidance from her.
Crell
spoke in low tones to Filian and Sorcha, frowning at the things they told her.
These were the first eyewitness accounts of what had happened in Lithunane.
Taran wand communication had become so sporadic that details were impossible to
get.
The
rest of the rangers jogged along the edges of the road, sending off single
runners from time to time to scout.
Jenna
opened her mouth to tell them that no one had approached them, or even been
seen on this road, for the entire week. Then shook her head and shut her mouth.
Crell wouldn’t have accepted that, and neither would her people. They needed
the searches for peace of mind if nothing else.
“Excuse
me for being so bold, but you’re Prince Corin’s fiancée, yes?” The older
derawri woman running nearest to her asked politely. In some strange way, she
reminded Jenna of Rachael. If Rachael hadn’t been a kelar.
“Not
really. Let me guess, you saw the farewell outside the palace?” She smiled in
case any of her lingering annoyance at the stunt Storm pulled hung to her
words.
When
Storm, Keanin, and Edgar left Lithunane over a month ago, he’d implied that
they were engaged. He didn’t want her out on the road in such troubling times
and rightly guessed that his brother Resstlin wouldn’t let a royal fiancée go
anywhere.
“I
did, actually we all did. They stationed our group right outside the palace.
How do you ‘not really’ become engaged?”
Jenna
briefly filled her in on the important parts. No reason for the entire story.
“That
sounds like him. Crell used to tell us stories of the wild prince when he was
growing up.”
“Crell
had her rangers that long?”
“I
was one of her deathsworn. The first ranger, so to speak. My name is Calle, by
the way.”
Jenna
nodded. “I’m Jenna, which I’m sure you already know.” She laughed. “It’s nice
to meet you.”
“It’s
nice to meet you as well.”
“Attack!”
The rangers who’d been scouting in the forest raced back as arrows flew around
them.
