The cover art is done! It's our first hint of the world outside the Hearthwood! It's the full size cover with both a front and a back, that way it's ready for that paperback copy I'm going to get around to making and formatting... someday.
I'm done with the book at this point. I'd hoped to have it live right now, but I've run into a few minor formatting issues. Amazon changed the recommended file upload types and my scene separators aren't playing nice with the new format. They look fine as they are, they just don't look quite the same as they did for previous books. It's not a huge deal and I bet most people wouldn't notice it, but I'd like every book in the series to be consistent.
So I'm going to spend the next few hours sorting that out. Afterwards, I'll hit that upload button and we'll wait for Amazon to approve it. That takes up to 72 hours but it's usually live well before then.
So to tide you over until it goes live, I've included the first chapter here on my blog.
Chapter 1
I was spending some quality time with my kids by helping them loot the corpses piled on my lawn. Massive broken trees were tossed everywhere like toothpicks the size of skyscrapers. This morning’s fight had cut the tops off mountains and carved craters the size of buildings. The massive holes were filled with as much blood and broken bones as they were with mud and water, though the necromancers had already made off with all the intact corpses. That was the only positive note I had for our little ferry ride through the newly formed lake we were sailing across in my daughters’ makeshift boat.
“Would it kill you to be a little more squeamish?” I asked my daughter. “Mind your clothes. Mac’s going to be furious if we track blood into The Wanderer.”
Sora, my second daughter by Sava, gave me a small chuckle as she reached into the brackish water and plucked out a fleshless unicorn leg bone, which she used like an oar to paddle us across the small sea. “For the prizes we’ve been gathering all morning, we can buy entire wardrobes.” She glanced back at me and gave me a cheeky grin. “Besides, I’m sure Malla would be more than happy to measure you for a new set of clothes.”
I held up a hand. “Easy there, Sora. I’ve got my hands full with your mother and the rest of the Hearthwood Clan’s matriarchs. I certainly don’t need my own daughter setting me up for yet another woman.”
Sora laughed again and winked away. “I’m sure I can trust mom and the other matriarchs to put you to work expanding our clan. I just want you to know I’m looking forward to a few younger siblings.”
“Aren’t you worried about wearing your parents out? There are thirteen of you now, including Segolas.” I complained.
Sora’s face turned downcast at the mention of her brother. Word of his crippled condition and the news that he wouldn’t be getting better any time soon had gotten around.
“I don’t think we’ve been much trouble to you and mother.” Sora said. “And we’re established enough in the clan that we can stand on our own. I, for one, would like to start building my own faction beyond my mother’s, and having a few little sisters to boss around would really help with that.”
“Ha.” I grinned. “You’re right, you girls have done a lot for this clan, despite only being a few days old. But if you want little sisters, you’re going to have to talk to your mother. She decides how many eggs she lays, not me.”
The fact that elves laid eggs still confused me, and Sava and the rest of the matriarchs continued to joke about human childbirth amongst themselves. The thought of miniature people popping out from between a woman’s legs sounded as whimsical to them as elves laying eggs that hatched wisps which then manifested fully grown adult elves sounded to me.
“Darn.” Sora said. “It looks like my sisters had the same idea as me.” The green-haired little elf started rowing her bone faster, driving our raft towards a small island in the middle of the water where a true mage from the Cult of the Unblinking Eye had died under a swarm of Undead Abominations. The bodies of the abominations themselves were what formed the island, though the elf’s corpse had long since disappeared into motes of light. For my kids’ sake, I was glad that death for elves was blessedly clean.
“You’re too slow, sister!” Aminal said as she waved to the two of us on the raft. She, along with Laminel turning over a pile of bones nearby, were daughters of Illiel and me. “Laminel’s already harvested what few spellhearts Sielus and Myrus left behind.” She jerked her thumb backwards at two tall blue-haired elves. Like their mother Assyrus, my daughters of the Waterbeetle bloodline were as strapping as elves could be with their naturally willowy forms. The two Waterbeetle sisters had no trouble turning over dead monsters ten times their weight to reach for their real prize: spellhearts.
And spellhearts were a prize, especially for a clan as full to bursting with skilled alchemists as ours was. My daughters were all heartwielders, still at the first realm of cultivation. But there wasn’t a girl among them who didn’t have designs on reaching mage acolyte. These spellhearts were valuable as reagents for a wide variety of potions, pills, and other cultivation-enhancing substances. If the spellheart was of the right aspect, a heartwielder could even use them to enhance the zeal of their own bonded spellhearts directly. So naturally, my kids were grabbing everything they could get their hands on.
“We aren’t grabbing everything.” Sielus protested. “The necromancer and her undead collected all the good stuff already. And even she only got what Princess Tivana didn’t think was worth the space it would take up in her bag of holding.”
“There’s no shame in cleaning up the scraps.” I said as I worked a little earth magic to speed our raft to the small island. There was enough gravel and mud mixed with the blood and bones that I could carry us with magic faster than Sora could paddle. “And if our new allies will let us enrich ourselves off a battle fought mostly by them, I’m certainly not going to protest.”
“Father’s right.” Sora agreed. “What’s trash to sorcerers and wizards is still invaluable to us.”
Sielus snorted. “You don’t need to tell me that. I’ve gotten more spellhearts today than I did during my entire career as a dungeon diver.” She bent over and grabbed the skeletal remains of a Stone Hoof Unicorn. “So for the good of the clan, help me pull this thing out of the way. I think the true mage died somewhere under here.”
My girls were all supernaturally strong when they wanted to be. All they had to do was tap their spellhearts and they could lift boulders, sprint for hours, and tear doors off their hinges with a sudden burst of energy. However, they were only heartwielders.
So when the Stone Hoof Unicorn skeleton turned out to be bound up in a dense network of connected bones that made up a deceased Undead Abomination’s torso, they started struggling. Had this monster been covered in flesh, it likely would have weighed as much as a building. As it was, the cracked and brittle bones linked by desiccated ligaments still weighed as much as a truck.
The girls made a good plan to slowly chop the mass of bones down into a dozen different fragments and pull them out one at a time. That would have worked eventually, but I figured I could lend them a hand.
So I grabbed the Stonehoof Unicorn leg Sielus was holding and jerked it upwards. Those dried and dusty ligaments proved quite strong as I hauled on the piece of bone and pulled the entire mass out of the hole. With a rough shove, I rolled the gigantic torso over and pushed it to the edge of the island.
“Thank’s Dad.” Sora said.
Sielus whistled. “What do I have to do to get that strong?”
“Become a mage acolyte.” I replied. “And you might also have to pick up the Blackgorge Fiendbody while you're at it.”
Sielus grimaced. “I think that would slow down my cultivation. I’ll stick to my spellheart until I get stuck. Then I’ll think about integrating orc techniques.”
I chuckled. “Don’t worry. I still plan to be here for you girls whenever you need something heavy moved.”
“Everyone, look!” Aminel shouted as she jumped up and down, clutching a bronze mirror. “I think I found something the true mage left behind!”
I jumped off the pile of bones that made up the Undead Abomination I’d just rolled over and slid to Aminel’s side. She held a sheet of polished copper that should have reflected her features. The mirror was empty though and showed only the stars overhead. I studied the mirror and through it saw the pile of bones at our feet, but no matter which way I turned my head I couldn’t see myself or any of the elves around me.
“How strange.” Sora said. “But it does look magical. Do you recognize it, father?”
“I’m afraid I’m as clueless as you girls. I recognize that script running up the side as some sort of enchantment though.”
[Which qualifies it as a genuine magic treasure.] Mac provided, speaking directly into my mind.
“Mac says it’s a real treasure.” I repeated for the sake of the surrounding elves. Mac had speakers he could talk from aboard The Wanderer but when we were out and about like this only I could hear him. It earned me some strange looks occasionally, but all my children had interacted with Mac enough to know he was real, and not just a voice in my head.
“Does he know how to activate it?” Sora asked hopefully. "Or what it is?"
Spell Mirror
Status: Damaged
Item properties unknown.
[That's the best I can do for now. Figuring out more would take some experimentation. I have a few ideas though, and if you hand the treasure off to Argona, I could have her run through a few simple experiments.]
I handed the mirror back to Aminel. “Let’s go find your sister, Argona. She and Mac can figure out how to get it working. I assume she’s in the Drafter’s Study?”
[Any other day you would be correct with that assumption. But today Argona has left her room and gone outside! It’s extremely strange and unusual behavior from her.]
It took me only a moment to guess what Argona was after. During the battle that made all the chaos and turned earth around us, Tim used five enchanted discs of incredible power. Each of those disks made or summoned a massive golem at the sorcerer ranks, a stage higher than even wizards and far beyond the golems I’d been crafting.
Of all my children, Argona inherited the most of my inquisitive nature and I was beginning to worry that her thirst for knowledge surpassed even my own. I would have already grabbed the broken remains of those golem summoning disks for myself if I didn’t already know Princess Tivana had claimed them for herself. I could only hope Argona didn’t know who had the disks yet and was off digging in the dirt in hopes of finding them.
I had yet to take Princess Tivana’s measure, but cultivators as powerful as she was were often strange and eccentric, with unknowable and mysterious plans. With lifespans stretching over a thousand years, they rarely bonded with or cared about lesser cultivators, who were as numerous as the grass below their feet and whose lives passed as quickly as the wilting of a summer flower in comparison their own.
I had to abandon my girls to break out my flying sword and try to get a better view. Down below, I could see Yorik and her forces were looming over a group of bedraggled elves. These were the survivors from the defeated army who weren’t important enough to own a treasure like mine to let them get away.
All the enemies at true mage or higher had long since taken off, but the heartwielders and mage acolytes weren’t fast enough to escape my people. This forest was our home, and the invaders stood no chance at escaping pursuit through it.
I landed my flying sword by Yorik’s side. A few dozen elves turned and saluted me, but most stayed focused on the prisoners. Many had quickly surrendered and bore no more than a pair of ropes around their wrists to show for their part in the invasion of the Hearthwood. Others had fought before being subdued, and we’d collected quite a few new wisps.
“How are things going over here?” I asked Yorik.
The strong, green-skinned orc woman stood out among the sea of elves. Originally, her species had earned her a great deal of distrust amongst the elves, but over time she’d gained both my trust and theirs. Now, she was unquestionably the commander of the Hearthwood Clan’s fighting force.
“Slow.” Yorik replied. “Didn’t drill them for clean up.”
“Our troops seem to be taking to it well enough.” I said as I surveyed the orderly lines and keen eyes on the Hearthwood soldiers. “Besides, I prefer cleaning up after our allies over fighting that battle on our own. We can handle heartwielders and mage acolytes all day, but true mages and wizards aren’t something we can contend against in number. As for sorcerers?” I whistled. “Apparently, it takes more than a mountain or two to hide from one of them.” New hills piled high around us, one of them the entire upper half of the dungeon my people had been hiding in until Tim and his wizards yanked the entire network of tunnels out of the ground.
“Theo!” An elf with dirty blonde hair pushed up her glasses and tucked her clipboard under her arm. Then she glanced around at the elves around us and corrected herself. “Patriarch of the Hearthwood Clan!” She gave me a formal curtsy, though the fact that she wore armored leather pants instead of a skirt made the gesture look like a half-crouch.
I smiled and wrapped an arm around Illiel’s waist. “You don’t have to be so formal, Illiel. Everyone knows you’re a matriarch of the Hearthwood Clan, even before your position as the head of the clan’s administrative duties.”
Illiel glanced around at the Hearthwood warriors as she leaned against me. “Fine… though since when does matriarch refer to someone who shares your bed?”
“I’m the patriarch, aren’t I? It’s only fitting.” I said with a laugh. “In most clans the matriarchs are a circle of ancient old elves who rule over their clan of descendants with an iron fist. I like my definition better, and I’d like to shift the rest of the clan to seeing things my way.” I pulled Illiel closer to my side, and she wrapped an arm around me. “And to do that, the clan needs to see how close we are.”
“O-okay, Theo. I suppose I’ll have to keep that in mind.” Illiel replied as she nuzzled my arm.
Yorik snorted, and I realized she was within arms reach too. “You too, Yorik.” I said, pulling the orc in with my other arm. “Now how about the two of you fill me in on everything that’s happened since this morning. Also, I’d like to know if either of you has seen Argona or Princess Tivana.”
Illiel and Yorik explained that most of the prisoners were either Corpse Collectors or low-ranking members of the Sakaku Clan. Illiel was already busy sorting them by their skills and level of cooperativeness.
“We can use more unskilled laborers fixing up the town, seeing how there’s nothing left of it at this point.” Illiel explained. “And nobody is going to refuse talented craftsmen who want to settle. With the Sakaku Clan practically slaves to the Cult of the Unblinking Eye, we don’t need to bother with the thought of releasing the members of their clan that we’ve captured. Besides, with Kysalian, Sharian, and Shakaran all staying here this place has more of the true Sakaku Clan than anywhere else. The surviving Corpse Collectors aren’t much of a threat now either. We’ve captured all three of their leaders and the cult aggressively utilized mind magic to suppress anyone with ambitions of leadership. I recommend we take the good workers and cooperative laborers, then sell the rest for a few Queensmarks.”
I’d been nodding along and taking notes when Illiel said that last part. “Wait, sell the rest of them? As in, slavery?”
Illiel glanced up at me curiously. “We won’t profit as much as we have by looting weapons and treasures off the battlefield, but the elves themselves should bring in quite a bit of money. I know you like having your own currency, but if we want to trade with the rest of the Deanian Queendom, we’ll need Queensmarks.”
I shook my head. “I’m just surprised, is all.” I glanced at Yorik. “I thought the reason elves hated and feared orcs was because you robbed and enslaved them?”
“Hate it when we do it.” Yorik explained. “Fine when they do it to each other.”
I scraped my brain for a morally justifiable reason for selling these elves and came up blank. We’d be able to rebuild the settlement fine on our own, and the Hydroponic Farm room aboard The Wanderer would keep us all fed while we did so. We needed Queensmarks, but there was no reason we had to use elves when we had plenty of trade goods.
Slavery might be commonplace in this world, but I wasn’t from this world. If I sold these elves for a few coins, I didn’t even need, then I’d have gone past morally gray and into the black. What would Sam and Dean think?
“Yes to everything,” I began, “except for selling the elves. That’s not something we need to do.”
I expected pushback, but Illiel just shrugged and jotted a note down on her clipboard. “That’ll hurt our finances a bit, but we’ll manage.”
Neither of the girls knew where Argona was, but after asking a few of the Hearthwood soldiers I quickly found someone who had seen Princess Tivana flying north. After getting a few vague directions, I hopped back on my flying sword and left to track the down the princess, and hopefully my daughter too.
I came across Princess Tivana meditating in a clearing surrounded entirely by water. Cultivators of her level could spend months replenishing their zeal reserves after a battle like the one she just fought, and Tivana wasted no time in returning to her cultivation. So, there she sat on a massive, flattened stump, cross-legged with her hands in her lap. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was clear and steady. Her silvery hair flowed with the air like standing waves on a seashore. Anyone who saw her would instantly realize she was a powerful being immersed in deep meditation.
I had many questions I wanted to ask the princess, some of which she hadn’t yet answered, like the whereabouts of my friend Dean. She hadn’t given me an answer yet, but I was patient and could wait until she was ready to tell me. Cultivation was a delicate time for an elf and the slightest disturbance could yield disastrous consequences. On this world it was common courtesy to never disturb someone in the midst of cultivation and breaking that courtesy could have deadly consequences for the perpetrator if the elf you disturbed was more powerful than you and of poor temper. I made a point to not disturb the elves of the Hearthwood while they were cultivating, and I wouldn’t disturb Princess Tivana for something as simple as a few questions.
I couldn’t say the same for Argona. My daughter was standing on her tiptoes, quietly creeping towards the bag of holding at the princess’ waist. It seemed Argona was a notch too clever for her own good, and it was clear that she wanted to do far worse than ask the princess a few questions. She figured out who had the golem summoning disks and had even managed to track her down.
The fact that she could figure all that out but still decided to try to steal from a sorcerer made me realize there were some drawbacks to being born fully grown. With another few days of experience under her belt, I hoped Argona would realize how monumentally stupid an idea it was to try to steal from a sorcerer.
I circled above the two figures, gesturing wildly to Argona below. My daughter was focused on the Princess Tivana’s bag and didn’t notice me until I was practically in her face.
I waved my hands while silently mouthing the words get back at my daughter.
While she lacked wisdom, Argona was a loyal daughter and only spared the princess’ pouch a single glance before averting her eyes and stepping backwards as slowly and quietly as possible. I nodded and was about to breathe a sigh of relief when Argona stepped on a broken stick.
The quiet sound echoed through the clearing like it was thunder under a clear sky. A jolt of lightning ran up my back as both me and Argona froze in place.
We both held our breath for a long moment. Princess Tivana stayed completely still, breathing in rhythm with the wind and flowing leaves. Argona and I both let out a slow breath when the sorcerer continued meditating. Argona walked backwards slowly and quietly stepped up onto my flying sword.
Together we flew off back towards The Wanderer. I thought about how to be a good parent for a while before eventually I simply said, “That was a foolish idea, Argona.”
My daughter hung her head sadly. “I know. I just… really wanted to look at those golem summoning disks.”
“Me too.” I replied. “So how about you let me handle getting our hands on them? I plan on arranging a trade soon, and you’ll be the first person I share them with. But only if you promise not to do anything that dangerous again.”
“Really?” Argona’s eyes lit up. “Okay, father. Thanks for talking sense into me.”
Originally, I’d been planning on putting Argona on cleaning duty under Mac as punishment. Her innocent, smiling face shunted those thoughts aside and any remaining anger over the worry she’d just put me through turned fatherly pride. I ruffled her hair and laughed, “It’s good that you listen to your parents. Well, to me at any rate. Eltiana, your mother, just returned this morning and I don’t think you’ve been introduced yet.”
“I heard she was back.” Argona replied. “Truthfully, I’ve been a bit nervous to meet her. She’s the leader of a secretive tribe of poison cultivators who practice the assassin’s art.”
I chuckled. “She’s not that scary, I promise. Besides, you were someone who just faced down a meditating sorcerer. Don’t tell me you can do that, but you’re afraid of your own mother?” We both turned back, glancing at the clearing where Princess Tivana was meditating. “I kind of wonder if you would have actually pulled it off. Sorcerer’s have superhuman senses, but somehow you managed to get that close. I didn’t think that was possible.”
“It isn’t.” Answered a voice that was far too regal to be Argona’s.
I clutched my temple and answered without turning. “Princess Tivana. I see we disturbed your meditation after all. I apologize.” I said as I shifted Argona behind me.
Princess Tivana hovered in the air beside us, unsupported by any flying sword, carpet, or platform of any sort. Her own magic was enough to keep her aloft with no external aid. She glanced over my shoulder, eyes cold as ice in the dead of winter. “I was curious to see what your daughter was after. So it turned out to be one of these things.” The princess reached into her bag of holding and withdrew a small, broken copper disk. At first glance it looked rough and bumpy, but on closer glance I could see each line and ripple was meticulously ordered into readily discernible symbols and shapes.
Behind me, Argona’s eyes were wide as saucers as she tried to rapidly memorize every symbol on the disk’s surface. I had to stop myself from doing the same so I could meet the princess’ gaze.
Tivana glanced at Argona and the tiniest hint of a smile peeked out from the corner of her mouth before being quickly quenched as she returned to her usual icy and aloof demeanor.
“Your father was right, you know.” Princess Tivana said. “Disturbing any other sorcerer, or even just a cultivating wizard, would have spelled death for you without another thought. Especially when you were attempting something as bold as stealing from my bag of holding.”
Argona’s face went pale. Her gaze was still fixed on the disk, but now she was more afraid of meeting the princess’ eyes than anything else.
I wrapped a hand around my daughter’s shoulder and held on to her protectively. “I’m sure I can compensate you for your trouble. You were interested in my adamantium weapon from before? I can get you a bit of adamantium of your own.”
Tivana’s eyes flicked to mine. “Are you offering a gift?”
I ran a hand fondly over my daughter's hair before glancing meaningfully back at Princess Tivana.
The princess nodded, then with a flick of her wrist tossed the broken disk to Argona. My daughter fumbled to catch it and when she did, she glanced in shock between the object in her hands and the princess.
“I’ll be keeping the intact one, but those broken pieces are of little use to me. I’ve already taken images for the royal libraries and that artifact would likely just sit in a dusty drawer for the rest of its days. Consider that a gift for a gift.”
Argona’s mouth went wide, and she struggled to form words.
“My daughter thanks you for your generosity.” I said for her.
“H-humble gratitude, your royal highness.” Argona finally stuttered out.
Princess Tivana turned towards me. “As for your question about the whereabouts of my grandfather? It’s a long and complicated story. I’ll have Baroness Jynna fill you in, as it’s a tedious tale to tell.”
I nodded and turned my flying sword, but the princess spoke again.
“One more thing.” She began. “If I didn’t want to give your daughter the chance to see me in that clearing, she never would have found me.” Then she turned and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
