Category Archives: Excerpt

Oaths & Vengeance chapters 1-2 and character art

I’m excited to share the first two chapters of Oaths & Vengeance with you all. My beta readers have been enthusiastic about the novel and have given great feedback. It’s headed to my editor this weekend after I finish some final revisions. In the meantime, I’ve got a sneak peek of the intro chapters for you. You’ll also find character art and an official world map for this series at the end. Hope you enjoy!


Chapter 1

Aella

Tending my garden took a lot of time and patience, considering half my plants were sentient and temperamental.  They couldn’t speak, but they expressed their feelings in other ways.  The spittlestalk I focused on now was thankfully in a good mood.  It rubbed its soft pink petals against my cheeks as I pulled weeds around it.  A full flower was larger than a person’s head and contained toxic elements inside, so it was a little intimidating when it became affectionate—like being kissed by a venomous snake.

This particular species sprouted a few weeks ago at the start of spring and had grown to two feet tall already. While they usually died at the approach of summer, I could make the blooms last through early fall by strategically placing them in the shadier areas of the garden and keeping the soil moist.  Also, they didn’t like competition with each other.  I had to space each plant about ten feet apart to ensure they didn’t vie for the specific nutrients they required from the soil.  They could get quite temperamental otherwise and cause trouble in the garden.

If anyone they didn’t know or like came close to the spittlestalks, they would spray a thick cloud of poisonous yellow pollen.  For elves, they ended up with extreme stomach cramps and severe migraines for several days.  A large dose could even kill them.  For druids, they would suffer from blurred vision and vertigo.  I had no idea why each race reacted differently, but since I was half of both, I got a milder form of all the side effects at once.

It only took an incident when I was seventeen—fifteen years ago—to learn my lesson.  Over time, I’d become more adept at tending beautiful yet dangerous plants.  There were many safer species that other fae preferred to cultivate, but I liked the challenge, and the garden was my sanctuary. 

Creating an inhospitable environment kept visitors from entering my space uninvited. The twelve-foot-high ivory-colored stone walls surrounding it also helped. It was mostly peaceful at the rear end of the castle, aside from occasionally overhearing the kitchen servants on the north side if they were handling outdoor food preparation or grilling.

“Ow!” a male voice said.

I jerked my gaze toward the garden entryway with its high arch and fought a grin. My cousin, Tadeus, had only made it one step inside before two of my crunchertraps—one on each side of the stone path—began snapping at him.  One had left a small cut on his hand from him not retreating quickly.  They could extend their stalks just enough to reach the entrance and frighten people away.

Under normal conditions, they only bloomed in the fall.  Since it was mid-spring, they shouldn’t have been growing at all, but I’d worked out a regimen for the carnivorous plants to keep them thriving year-round.  They were among the smartest species in all of Paxia, our planet, and made excellent guards.  If one earned their loyalty, they wouldn’t hesitate to defend them.  I tended mine like they were my children.

Tadeus looked nervously at my sentries.  He knew better than to come into the garden, but he must have had something important on his mind to make him forget.  I noted his coppery-red hair, which he always kept a few inches long, wasn’t perfectly groomed like usual and appeared as if he’d raked his fingers through it many times.  His ivory skin was flushed with a light sheen of sweat, and his pointed ears were tinged red.  He was upset or nervous since either of those emotions would affect him that way. 

I noticed Tadeus wore his forest-green and brown battle garb, a black armor chest plate with a yellow hippogriff emblazoned on its surface, and a full complement of weapons strapped on him.  He was a tall, fit man who appeared even larger now.  There was only one reason he’d have dressed that way and rushed to see me.

I rose stiffly to face him.  “Is there an attack?”

“Yes.” He lifted his ocean blue eyes to mine, gaze softening.  “Father demanded that I bring you immediately.  We have little time to intercept if we hope to save Palbour.”

I exhaled a breath.  For the last six months, peace had reigned.  Not because the leaders worked out a treaty or because the king intervened.  The conflict between Therress and Veronna—rival lands within our kingdom—had been ongoing for nearly five centuries since Therress rebelled and claimed independence from Veronna.  We’d grown tired of either paying higher taxes or sending our soldiers to die in a war with the dark elves that didn’t affect us.

We had breaks now and then, such as recently, to recover and rebuild from losses, but this one hadn’t lasted as long as I’d hoped.  The previous truce endured for almost two years.  I should have known we wouldn’t make it that long again before the greedy Veronnians came after us again.  Why couldn’t they understand we wanted to be left alone?

“Okay, I’ll hurry and change.”

He shook his head.  “No time.  I’ve already ordered your mount readied, and I know you can protect yourself with your magic.  That will be enough since Father always keeps you guarded and away from the fighting anyway.”

I supposed it didn’t matter if I showed up for a battle with dirt-encrusted fingernails and a loose brown tunic and pants—my standard gardening attire.  Everyone else would be filthy soon enough.  I only wished I could have had time to change into something with a bit more protection.  The clashes had only reached me a couple of times over the years, but I’d thankfully worn the right wardrobe in those instances, or else I would have been severely injured.

Giving the spittlestalk’s pink petals a last caress, I rushed from the garden.  We moved away from Ivory Castle toward the portal ring near the western wall.  The castle received its name more than a thousand years ago when my ancestors built it, along with the rest of the keep, using stones of that light, creamy color from a nearby quarry. Tadeus led me past the training area and barracks at a near run.  He was the only male cousin I liked, and he was always kind to me.  His older brother was vicious, much like his father, and he enjoyed finding ways to demean me.

Finally, we arrived at a large, open field used for public events and mustering troops.  Armed fae and their war horses filled most of the trampled space where grass didn’t stand a chance to grow.  Shock filled me since we only had two hundred stationed here full-time, which meant my uncle must have requisitioned more from Tradain, where we housed the main army.

Tadeus and I worked our way over to the portal gate—also known as a faery ring by outsiders—past rows and rows of elves on their mounts, along with fae of various races on foot.  They all wore matching green and black uniforms, dark plate armor with the hippogriff crest, and a complement of weapons and shields strapped to their bodies.  It seemed they’d waited until the last moment to call for me, and now I had no time to prepare.

Why was I not surprised?  I was always an afterthought until it was time to leave, and no one else in the keep could channel a portal to a border village and maintain it long enough for several hundred troops to pass.

Tadeus led me to the side of the gate where my bay mare, Astra, waited.  He handed me a small pouch of the holmium I needed to work my magic, and I clutched the precious mineral tightly.  Through the thin, black cloth, I could feel its hum of energy.  Few fae could use the finely ground ore for their magic, but it was a necessity for opening portals.

I mounted my horse, wanting to be ready to leave directly after the regiment.  Carefully, I poured a third of the powder onto my palm before pocketing the bag.  Drawing a deep breath, I began chanting and extended my hand toward the dark silver ring that stood twice as high as me on my mare.  Ivory-colored support stones held it upright.  Seventeen dark gray algodonite stones about the size of my palm were evenly spaced around the circle, each displaying a different symbol carved into their flattened surface.

Directing my magic with a stream of golden light, the soft beam touched the five relevant ones in a sequence that would initiate a link to Palbour.  Within my palm, the powder dissolved as I began to channel and form a connection. If I measured it right, only a few grains would remain to brush away once I formed the connection. 

When I started using my gift as an adolescent, it took me several minutes to open a portal to border villages two hundred or more miles away.  Now, it only took me ten seconds.  My power had grown considerably since it first developed nearly twenty years ago.  It also helped that I had a lot of practice and had become the best in the realm at doing it.  Only a few people I trusted knew exactly how good I’d become.  I kept that a secret, or else my family would use me in ways that would stain my soul.

The air popped as the massive ring filled with a shimmering blue light.  The width was twenty feet at the center, allowing four to five mounted soldiers to pass through at a time.  My uncle Morgunn, the Lord of Therress, sat atop his smoky black stallion and began shouting orders for the lead troops to depart.  His eldest son, Ulmar, sat mounted next to him with a calculating look on his face.  That was his most common expression and didn’t necessarily mean anything.

As soon as the first riders—all elves—entered the ring, they disappeared.  The next group went through a few seconds later.  Everyone else followed, departing in a steady progression with satyrs and then foot soldiers at the end.  The last section consisted of multiple races, so there were quite a few height variances and different musculatures among them.  The shortest ones—dwarves—formed the rear line, primarily used for defense and evacuating the wounded.

The spell drained me but at a slow trickle.  For this one, at the distance I bridged, I could keep it open far longer than it would take for three hundred and twenty soldiers and horses to pass.

As the line of fae troops came near the end, Lord Therress gave me a brief scowl.  What had I done to annoy him this time?  Ulmar had a pleased glint in his eyes that said he knew and couldn’t wait for me to find out.  That didn’t bode well.

“Why are they looking at me like that?” I asked Tadeus in a whisper, no longer needing to chant now that my magic held steady.

He looked at me apologetically. “From what I heard this morning, Father is arranging a betrothal for you. I don’t know who he’s chosen, but my brother bragged that you’ll hate him and likely protest.”

Several available men were within my uncle’s close circle of allies and friends, but none were remotely appealing.  He tended to affiliate with cruel, greedy types who enjoyed inflicting pain on others.  A shudder ran through me.  “I’ll find a way out of it.”

“You know he won’t give you a choice.”  Tadeus gripped his reins tightly.  “If I knew how to help, I would, but he never listens to me.”

True, since he barely tolerated his youngest son.  “It’s okay.  Thanks for the thought.”

“Of course.”

My younger cousin and I were the last to go behind my uncle and Ulmar, so the portal closed behind us.  Transport wasn’t quite instant, but since the distance wasn’t too far, it only took a few seconds to appear on the other side.  Despite the dizzying colors as we moved lightning fast, it didn’t affect us or our mounts.  It was only on the first few occasions that people and animals experienced a bit of vertigo, but the transition was so smooth that everyone quickly grew accustomed to it.

Tadeus and I guided our mounts from the ring.  My uncle, his eldest son, and his three captains shouted orders at the troops ahead of us.  They’d moved out of the way of the ring to allow us room.  We were at the top of a hill covered in trampled blue-green grass, and below in the valley, less than a mile away, lay the village of Palbour. 

It wasn’t large and only had five hundred residents, but we had to protect those people.  Just because I didn’t have any love for my uncle didn’t mean I wouldn’t do anything for our people, which he knew very well.

Veronna’s army wouldn’t hesitate to burn everything to the ground.  They had done it in the past when our Therressian troops didn’t intercept them in time, but that problem had stopped since my uncle began using me to move his soldiers quickly.  Our other four portal channelers could only funnel their magic for five to fifteen minutes to reach this distance, depending on their power level, which didn’t allow as many soldiers to get through.  I couldn’t remember the last time I’d hit my limit, but it had been a few years.

I became a valuable asset when I developed my abilities and proved stronger than average. Lord Morgunn had pushed me hard to develop my talent even before I lost my father and subsequently moved into Ivory Castle with his family.

Tadeus gave me a nod.  “See you when this is over.”

“Take care,” I said, forcing myself to give him an encouraging smile.  He was an excellent fighter, no matter what his father said.  The real trouble was that he killed cleanly and not cruelly like his older brother.  I couldn’t figure out how they came from the same parents.

He nudged his horse into a gallop and joined the rest of the forces ahead.

In the distance, I scanned the Sobaryan Mountain range that cut directly through most of the Realm of Zadrya, our kingdom, and defined some of the land borders.  The violet peaks were so high that hazy clouds obscured them.  Veronna lay on the other side, but they didn’t have a strong portal opener like me.  Whenever they wanted to attack us, they had to use one of three passes between us and make it past the border sentries that we kept stationed in camps up top.

Our people could see them long before they reached the top of the trails, and they usually sent a warning to us through sebeskas—birds that had cerulean feathers tipped in black with white underbellies.  Then, we could deploy forces quickly to intercept them before they reached the base of the mountains.  Something stopped those sentries this time.  Veronnian forces must have used a new magic spell on them, and we didn’t have a counter for it yet since I couldn’t think of any other reason for the lack of early warning.

Each border town close to a pass also maintained an observation point near the foot of the mountains to watch for adversary troop movement and receive alerts from those above.  I assumed the ground tower was the one to contact my uncle’s top military commander.  Their later warning meant we couldn’t intercept in time, and they’d already begun attacking the village when we arrived.  Smoke rose from where several buildings burned, and faint screams reached our distant position, filling me with dread.

My vision was good, but I had to squint to catch sight of the Veronnian forces.  They were almost as numerous as ours.  Therressian captains led their soldiers, racing to meet the enemy on the outskirts of town.  They needed to move quickly if they hoped to keep the battle from going deeper into the village and burning more homes.  I could no longer make out my uncle in the throng, but I spotted each of my cousins on opposite flanks.

One soldier stayed behind with me.  While I had some training, I was too valuable to risk sending into the fight.  Still, I nudged Astra toward a closer hill rise for a better look.  It was too difficult to observe much near the portal ring.

Off to the north, I noted a sizeable section of dry, withered land that stood out from the surrounding blue-green grass.  I hadn’t visited Palbour in nearly five years, but there had been flourishing crops in that area before.  It appeared the ever-spreading blight had also made its way to this part of Therress.  The farms to the south of the village continued to thrive, but for how long?  The amount of food we produced declined with each passing year, which worried me deeply.  We had no way to stop it.

I forced my attention back to the immediate threat.  My guard and I had reached the most ideal point to observe the battle, and my uncle’s forces had just clashed with our enemy.  Swords rang as soldiers attacked each other, and flashes of magic in various forms and colors flew across the ranks.  Some would blind opponents, others would cause pain, and still more would cause various injuries or afflictions.  Fae battles were merciless and gruesome.  We were on higher ground, which gave us a clear view of the terrible things they did to each other.

Normally, our army would have used offensive range magic first, but there was no time to prepare.  Instead, it came down to a close-quarter battle in which our enemy excelled. 

One man stood out on a large dapple-gray mount.  His hair was a brindled mixture of brown and onyx black, sunlight glinting from the strands hanging over the sides of his face.  His shoulders were broad.  I knew that for certain because, unlike everyone else on the battlefield, he only wore light armor without the heavy metal plates most preferred for protection.  His olive and black Veronnian army uniform was snug, molding around his muscular build.  I wished I could see the details of his face, but the distance was too great for that.

He raised his arms toward the Therressian frontline, fingers outstretched.  I watched in horror as six of our foot soldiers lifted into the air, kicking their feet but finding no purchase.  With a twist of his hands, their heads spun clockwise until their necks cracked.  They fell to the ground in a heap, dead before impact.

I gasped, realizing who he must be.  “Is that Lord Gannon’s second son, Darrow?”

“It is.” My guard’s lips thinned.  “It’s been years since we last faced him, and it’s bad news for us that he’s here today.”

“He’ll decimate us at the rate he can kill,” I whispered, a chill running down my spine.

The soldier’s eyes reflected the same anxiety I felt.  “It appears that way.”

Darrow was his father’s second son from a subsequent marriage after his first wife died in childbirth.  He was known to be powerful and ruthless on the battlefield.  The fact that he was half dark elf made him especially dangerous because they weren’t known for compassion or mercy.  He and his twin sister had been the products of a failed peace treaty agreement between our realm, Zadrya, and Karganoth—the realm of the dark elves that lay across the sea to the west.

I recalled that he had fought in battles against us during the first few years I’d begun opening portals.  The last time I could remember seeing him was over a decade ago, when I was in my early twenties.  He’d been a ruthless killer even back then but couldn’t break that many men simultaneously before.  Like most fae, he would continue growing stronger for a few more years until he reached fifty and peaked.

I had family and friends out there who would die if this elf targeted them.  No one on our side had magic that could counteract Darrow’s without getting too close, but of course, he was surrounded by elite soldiers so that he could do his dirty work without interference.

A risky idea occurred to me.  There was something I could do if I were brave enough, and right now, I needed to push past my usually passive role.  Too many people would die if I didn’t. 

When a high fae’s magic first appeared as an adolescent, they could only perform lesser spells that were a prelude to something bigger that would develop over the coming year.  I started with wind and light power, which later combined to form portal channeling.  Although I rarely had cause to use those, I did practice them since they worked well as a defense when I needed it, especially wind.

Darrow was lifting another handful of our soldiers into the air.  If I didn’t hit him immediately, they’d die in the next few moments.  I let go of Astra’s reins and raised my hands, focusing on the half-light/half-dark elf, and pulled the air around me.  In a streamlined burst, I sent it straight at him.

Just as he began to twist his hands to kill the soldiers, it struck him full in the chest.  He went flying backward off his horse.  The Therressian soldiers he’d targeted next dropped to the ground at the same time—shaken but alive.  Darrow landed on his butt ten feet behind his mount and skidded to a stop in a plume of dust.

I grinned, pleased that years of weekly practice with my wind power had finally paid off.  That was far more satisfying than directing it at leaves and other inanimate objects.  I had used it in self-defense a time or two, but never at such a distance.

“Well done, my lady,” my guard said, giving me a respectful nod.  “That certainly distracted him and gave our people a chance.”

“Thank you.”

We watched with rapt attention as Darrow slowly rose to his feet and dusted off his uniform.  I still couldn’t make out his features, but his rigid body language told me he was not pleased with what I’d done.  He ran his gaze around his surroundings until it eventually fell on me.  I waved and blew him a kiss.

Darrow lifted one arm toward me, and a moment later, I rose off my horse to hover a few feet above my mount.  Shock filled me.  I’d never dreamed he could extend his magic so far, but I couldn’t do anything to stop him.  My heart raced as he slowly brought me forward like he had strings pulling me.

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Galadon- Chapter 1

For those of you who have finished Cast by Flames and you’re ready for Galadon, I’m posting the first chapter for you. The draft for this novel is finished, and I’m working my way through revisions now. I did have beta readers go over this chapter already, so only my editor hasn’t seen it yet. The estimated release date is April 24th. Sometime soon, I’ll post the cover and summary, along with pre-order links. Hope you enjoy this peek at the book!


Chapter 1

Galadon

For the first time in months, my mood wasn’t foul and agitated.  I flew over southwest Oklahoma, enjoying the warm weather and sun on my burnt-orange scales.  The fields below were a vibrant green, and flowers bloomed everywhere.  Most of the winter had been irritatingly harsh and cold.  Dragons such as I spent much of the frigid season nesting within our dens in a haze of grogginess and hunger, only waking when the temperature rose enough for us to hunt and eat.

That didn’t happen for some time once the heavy snow in January began falling upon us.  It blanketed the region and failed to melt for six weeks, only becoming deeper with successive blizzards.  Though I had some control over storms, those had been too strong to mitigate.

I’d heard the land here hadn’t always received so much snow and ice, but many things changed since my kind’s former dimension, Kederrawien, melded with this one.  Weather patterns had altered.  It was only at the start of April, a week ago, that it had warmed enough during the day for me to venture far beyond my small territory in southeast Texas.  I had left home to resume my hunt for stray Kandoran enemies who weren’t vanquished during our big war with them last fall.  Some estimated thousands remained scattered throughout the land west of us.

A rift in the ground appeared ahead—a wide gaping maw that ripped the earth apart for hundreds of miles when the dimensions collided nearly seven years ago. It spanned from the Texas panhandle across southern Oklahoma and partway into Arkansas north of the Red River.  Though state titles meant little anymore after dragons arrived, the humans insisted on continuing to use them, so I’d learned the names to avoid confusion during the rare times I had to endure their company.  The words had been annoyingly challenging to pronounce at first, but I’d always been a quick learner.

The bottom of the chasm was nearly a thousand feet deep in most places, and it was a couple of hundred feet at its narrowest to fly past.  They’d finally built a bridge last year, reconnecting Interstate 35 so that the human populations to the north and south would no longer be cut off from each other.  Dragons had assisted them since that helped facilitate trade and reduced the risk of people plummeting to their deaths during construction, which I supposed was a bad thing.

I continued my flight over rolling green terrain broken occasionally by brush and copses of trees.  After a while, I spotted a gruesome scene of three large green dragon carcasses in the distance, surrounded by scorch marks and disturbed earth in what must have been an intense battle.  I landed and moved to sniff at them, taking in the putrid scent of evil and decay from their unmoving bodies.  A sneeze escaped me as the smell filled my nostrils.  The only time I had ever gotten used to that horrific odor was during the war.

The bodies were dead Kandoran.

Since they hadn’t turned to dust, they must have died within the last day.  Their clean and precise wounds told me they’d been killed by someone in human form who was quite skilled with a blade.  Upon further examination, I decided they must have been slaughtered within the last hour.  The blood-soaked earth was too fresh.

I moved away from them to clear my nose and began searching for the assailant.  After a few minutes of circling the area, I picked up a familiar female’s fresh and alluring scent.  It had been nearly five months since I’d last seen her.  My sensible side urged me to fly away and avoid her at all costs.  The other, controlled by the beast within me, desperately wanted to check on the woman and ensure she hadn’t been injured during the battle.  It was no easy thing taking down three Kandoran dragons at once, and she was known to be quite reckless.  I’d also be lying if I said I hadn’t flown this far north just for a glimpse of her because, deep down, it was true.

A few spots of her blood on the trail made the decision for me.  No matter how much I tried to harden myself against her allure, I couldn’t stand the idea of her being injured.  I followed the path she’d taken for more than a mile, studying her tracks.  Due to recent rain, it wasn’t difficult.  Her steps had been steady, indicating she didn’t have significant injuries, and certainly not on her feet or legs.

Despite that, I couldn’t stop myself from continuing my hunt.

I spotted a strange tower ahead at the top of a hill.  It was constructed of large brownish-red stones with a railed lookout at the top.  A couple of hundred feet away, I spied a small body of water.  I circled it until I came to a low-lying area with a cluster of trees and brush for cover.  While I blended well enough with the reddish-tinted dirt in this area, I doubted the lush green vegetation fully hid my large dragon form from view, but it would have to do.

The sounds of splashing drew my attention.  I crouched low, spotting a nude female figure in the lake.  In that moment, she appeared more like a siren calling to me than a ruthless slayer.  She was entrancing.

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Cast by Flames sneak peek and pre-order

I have good news that Cast by Flames (ebook version) is now available for pre-order on all major retailers. Links are below.

For those who’d like to get a peek at the novel, I’m posting the first chapter as well. Keep in mind that it’s with the editor, so some minor changes may be made to the final version. I hope everyone’s week is going great!

B&N/NOOK KOBO

GOOGLE PLAY ITUNES


Chapter 1

Bailey

The massive green dragon lay on its side with its tongue lolling from its mouth, having expelled its final breath moments before. A puddle of blood pooled under its chest. I’d hardly had to try when I killed it despite the fact it likely weighed twenty times as much as me.

The beast and two of its buddies had been chasing down a group of kids, hoping to snack on them. Their prey looked like preteen orphans who’d formed a gang—not all that uncommon after more than six years of living with dragons in our world.

So many people had died in that time.

According to very rough estimates, the Earth had lost at least half its population. Of course, an official census was impossible, but many of us suspected the percentage was far greater than that. Lack of modern medicine, clean water, law and order, changed landscapes, and numerous other factors steadily eroded mankind.

My friends and I had intervened in this latest attack, using magically enhanced bullets and arrows we’d acquired from sorcerers to shoot at our targets and bring them to the ground, but my part in the fight had ended too soon for my liking. The dragon I’d attacked hadn’t even recovered from its fall before I stuck a sword in its heart. Any true slayer wanted a bit of a challenge before the battle ended.

At least the kids we’d saved had the sense to run away the moment we intervened.

I glanced over at one of my hunting partners, Rayna. “Any trouble with yours?”

“Nope.” She blew a lock of her long, coppery brown hair from her face. She’d put it in a tight braid, but her wavy strands often came loose while fighting. “It’s annoyingly disappointing.”

“It seems like only the weakest and dumbest members of the Shadowan hang around here anymore.”

She nodded with resignation in her hazel eyes.

We were currently on a hunt in south Oklahoma City. As slayers, Rayna and I had to fight at least once a week to quell our dragon-killing urges, but even that pushed our limits if we spent a lot of time around our innate enemies. Considering I was mated to the pendragon of the Taugud—a shifter clan—and lived in his castle with him and our son, I tried not to wait that long.

Rayna lived away from the fortress but still ran into enough dragon shifters while residing in their territory that she needed to play it safe, too. No matter how hard we fought it, our hard-wired instincts would win if we weren’t careful despite the fact the Taugud could take on human form. We had to stay on our allies’ good side with a much larger war looming against a powerful force to the West.

She wiped her sword clean and slid it into the scabbard strapped to her belt. “It is getting annoying. We haven’t had a decent fight in over a month, and our prey used to be tougher when we first started hunting here. These days, they don’t even hurt me before I finish them.”

“Yeah,” I said, humor and sarcasm lacing my voice. “It’s terribly frustrating when you walk away from a battle without a scratch.”

She grinned. “Right?”

Grunting and cursing came from about a hundred feet away, where Conrad still fought to finish his dragon. He wanted to be a slayer like me and Rayna. He’d been gifted with immunity to flames almost six years ago and used that advantage to fight our fiery-mouthed foes. I suspected he’d eaten a couple of hundred dragon hearts over that period, hoping to make the transition as we did. It was part of the initiation process for those of us born with the gene who accepted our duty. Conrad’s distasteful diet had made him stronger and faster, so I supposed he was on to something, but I was glad I only had to eat the heart once to become a full slayer. He was attempting it the hard way as a regular human.

Also, unlike us, he took his time with his prey and killed them slowly with sword strikes and verbal mockery. I’d begun to feel sorry for whichever dragon he targeted since it would die a slow and ignoble death. Conrad really enjoyed the job for someone not born into it.

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Note on the Dragon’s Breath Series and an excerpt

As some of you know, I’m in the midst of writing Cast by Flames, the final book in the series with Bailey and Aidan (not including the spinoff). There is a lot to cover in this novel, but it’s coming along well so far, and I’m finding it easy to write. Well, except for one little twist.

Long ago when I released the first book, I let readers know this one would not contain spicy elements. Some may recall this, some may not, and people who started it later probably never knew about that promise. I wanted readers who prefer not to have naughty parts in stories be able to enjoy the series. Also, I’d rather that when my boys get older they can pick these books up and it not be awkward. I’ll just have to steer them clear of the others.

Having said that, it was tough to stay within my promise while writing Torn in Flames because obviously Bailey and Aidan had a lot of pent up passion when they reunited after five years. I had to walk a fine line to show that without it going too far. It wasn’t easy! Since beginning Cast by Flames, it has gotten even more difficult. As I was writing the final part of chapter five, I deviated into “forbidden” territory because I just had to get it out of my system.

Later, I mentioned it to the readers in my Facebook Fan Group and how I’d have to heavily edit the scene later. There was a large response of people who thought I should still share it somehow (ideas varied on this). I ended up revising the scene with a lot more of what I wished I could have written had I not been holding back (even with crossing the line a bit). Then I posted the 1700 word scene in the group. They loved it.

I know I have a lot of readers who are not in that group who may wish to see it as well. As a result, I’m posting it below. Keep in mind that this scene takes place in the midst of the next book, so there are some brief mentions of things going on in the story, but they are vague without context and shouldn’t feel like actual spoilers. No one who has read it so far has had an issue.

If you’re still with me and want to read it, continue below. Please do keep in mind this is just a draft and has not been edited except me running through a few passes to try catching any typos/issues. Hope you enjoy!

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First two chapters of Captured in Flames

Thanks to everyone for your patience and understanding as I’ve worked a very long time to get this novel ready. As promised, I’m posting the first two chapters of Captured in Flames so you can get a taste of what’s to come. Expect a pre-order link in the next few days with the novel set to release on August 18th!

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Chapter 1

Bailey

People thought slaying dragons was a glamorous job full of danger and excitement. Sure, I could take a beating far better than the average person, fire couldn’t burn me, and I had super strength, but all that good stuff came with some significant downsides. Today was a prime example of the horrors I faced in my line of work.

Snot covered me—icky, gooey snot—and lots of it.

The green dragon in front of me huffed, puffed, and blew out a monstrous sneeze that had to have stirred a hurricane down in the gulf, never mind that we were in Oklahoma. The shock wave ran over me, stumbling me back and leaving my hair and clothes dripping in green goo. My stomach twisted, bile rising into my throat. I fought it down and blinked a few times to clear my vision. The first time that happened, I nearly died. I’d been inside a building when a dragon released a torrent of snot, soaking everything in sight from the ceiling to the floor. The beast recovered faster than me. I kept losing my balance on the wet floor and hurling every time my face planted in the goo. At least today, I stood in the middle of a large parking lot with open air so I could maneuver out of the mess.

The past week had been more than a little rough. A nasty cold had spread through the dragon community, making my job more difficult than usual. It was supposed to be rare for the beasts to get sick, but I’d since learned that they were more vulnerable to illness during late winter and early spring.

They were still adjusting to their return to Earth almost a year ago and were more susceptible to changes in their environment. Our planet was far different from Kederrawien—a barren landscape with little vegetation where all dragons had lived for a thousand years after a group of sorcerers banished them from our dimension. To make matters worse, the spring weather in Oklahoma couldn’t decide if it wanted to be chilly or warm. The dragons would venture out on a nice day only to get smacked by a cold front later that evening. Their bodies couldn’t handle anything close to freezing temperatures, and we had a much higher pollen count than they’d encountered before. Seeing them suffer would have been funny if it didn’t have such hazardous consequences for me.

I took a washcloth from the pouch on my leg harness—the third I’d used that day—and wiped the worst of the snot off my face. It was in my hair as well, but I’d found keeping it in a French braid helped minimize the amount that stuck. The greenish goo smelled sort of like Play-Doh, though the consistency was much stickier. I grew up on a ranch as the only girl with three brothers and didn’t shy away from yucky stuff, but I didn’t think anything could have prepared me for dragon snot. It took gross to a whole new level.

The beast before me snorted and a small flame puffed from its nose. One advantage to my prey being ill was that it severely stunted its fire-breathing capabilities. Sick dragons couldn’t roar out flames the way they usually did, which made things easier for me. I might not burn, but a wall of fire could blind me so I wouldn’t see an attack coming. My current adversary had an annoyed look in its red eyes when it failed to produce a decent flame.

“Performance problems?” I asked, not knowing if it understood me. Some of them had picked up English, but not many.

I gripped my sword, prepared for what would come next, and didn’t move when the dragon leaped forward, claws outstretched. Waiting until the last moment, I ducked and then rammed the tip of my blade straight under its chin to the roof of its mouth. I didn’t have the strength to get any farther—dragon bone was rock-hard—but I had another weapon. While my enemy swiped and clawed at its neck, trying to get free, I rolled underneath its body and stabbed a shorter blade between its ribs and into its heart. The beast groaned and shuddered.

That was my cue to scramble away as fast as I could.

As I rose to a crouch several feet away, it let out one last huff and slumped to the ground, wings unfurling almost to my feet. If I’d been underneath the body, it would have crushed me. This particular green dragon was about the size of a small elephant and weighed at least as much. The neck was several feet long, and the tail was the length of a truck. All in all, it must have been at least ten times my size. Since completing the slayer rite of passage last year, I’d evolved physically into something much stronger and more durable than the average human, but I still had vulnerabilities. My bones could still break with enough pressure, and I needed to breathe like everyone else.

Loud clapping sounded behind me. I turned and found Conrad standing about a hundred feet away near a large store front with blown-out windows. My friend and sidekick wore a big grin as he walked toward me, boots crunching on broken glass.

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