Excerpt: The Bones of Crystal Sand
For those who are (im)patiently waiting for the sequel of The Curse of Broken Shadows to be written and released (I swear I’m working on it when I can, new baby takes priority though!), I might have a little something to tide you over.
I’ve been working on the prequel to TCOBS as well. It’s available on Amazon for just $0.99!
The prequel is a collection of stories from Brela’s past, following some of her time in Valisea and her adventures as an assassin. We’ll see some of our favorite characters, too! Learn how Brela met Farrah and Elias, and perhaps the most anticipated story… how she met Oni and the drama that happened in the Crystal Desert!!
So… why not tease you with an excerpt from that story? Sixteen-year-old Brela is asked to go to the Crystal Desert to see if she can learn something more about her magic. The first encounter with the sand sprites does not go how they planned.
She focused back on the conversation, or rather Emril’s monopolizing of the air with his voice. His earth-blessed strength was the only reason he had come on this job, not Ovir and his lack of magic. The sand sprites were known for their keen sense of smell, and with Brela’s lack of smell and the weak scent of a non-gods-blessed individual, they would have searched the desert for weeks and never seen the sand sprites. But a magic scent as strong as Emril’s—well, the strongest magic wielder Dernian had under his control—would surely get the attention of the sand sprites.
Hells, his talking would get their attention.
But, to her misfortune, it wasn’t Emril who had attracted the swirling sands. He still hadn’t noticed the wind and sand picking up around her, lost in some story she didn’t bother listening to.
Brela stilled her breath, focusing on the grains as they grazed her skin. Alive, the sand was alive. That was the best she could describe the feeling settling around her, like the individual grains were trying to study her.
She very quickly realized how wrong they had been about which scent they’d pick up. She knew what came next.
Her dagger was drawn a second later, slicing not through air, but through the sharp, diamond-shaped crystal that had suspiciously been aimed directly at her collarbone. She spun around to scan the desert, and Emril was at her side a second later, two daggers drawn.
“I thought they knew we were coming,” he grumbled under his breath.
“I never said anything of the sort.”
She risked kneeling to pick up the crystal, running her thumb over the pattern. Each sand sprite had a unique signature to the weapons they created, and this one… four hells, it was unlike anything she’d ever felt before. Not that she had much experience with sand sprite crystal, but she knew a gorgeous dagger when she saw one.
Brela shoved the crystal in her pocket just as another tried to embed itself into Emril’s abdomen. He deflected it easily, and then a barrage of them followed. Perhaps a challenge for anyone except for trained assassins. They dodged, kicked, and worked together to protect from every side. Crystal clinked against steel, flying in every direction but never landing a hit.
Even as the wind and sand picked up and pressed closer—distracting them from the near invisible paths of crystal points flying at them—a pattern revealed itself to Brela. She grinned, planted her feet, and launched into the whirlwind.
She could have sworn the desert sucked in a breath as she hit something solid.
Brela tumbled with the suddenly formed glass body, fighting the long fingers that tried to dig into her skin and disarm her. The sprite was strong, and better prepared for the sand underneath them, but she’d clearly taken it by surprise. With a few moves, she dug her knee into a chest and arm, the point of her dagger at the glass throat.
Black, swirling eyes full of sand widened, but something about the gesture didn’t quite look like fear.
“Axaczi, ov raokir,” the sprite said, his voice running like sandpaper over her ears. He tried and failed to kick her off of him.
“Stop squirming. I’m not here to hurt you,” Brela snapped.
His eyes darted to the dagger at his throat. “Pointy objects under my chin suggest otherwise.”
“You started it.”
A wide grin spread over the glass features of the sand sprite, revealing fangs that she could have sworn elongated as he snapped his teeth at her.
What do you think? Gotta love a little action mixed in with that humor… and Brela is still just as sassy as she is in TCOBS. I definitely have a few favorite side characters, and Oni is easily the top of that list.
