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All of his life, Dominic had felt alone.
Some of the time, it had only been a feeling, that sense of being out-of-place, or perhaps misplaced was an apter term. It was as though he had simply been dropped somewhere he oughtn’t have been, lost by whoever was supposed to be minding the fact of his existence. Other times, the aloneness had been his actual experience: isolated, left out, driven away. Sometimes by others. More and more as he grew older, by himself.
Then in a single moment, his entire world shifted, and he found himself looking into amber eyes with the shock of recognition, seeing himself reflected there. A single thought had cut its way through his pain, his desire, his fear, a lightning bolt across a jet-black sky: I’m not the only one. I thought it was just me, but I’m not the only one.
And he knew in that moment, without words, without the need for words, that she truly was his, she was meant to be his. Not just her body, but what lay within. He had thought it impossible, an idea he would not even permit himself to entertain even in the lull of sleep or drink. He had always felt alone.
But there was no other explanation, and for the first time in his life, as uncomfortable as the idea was, he was willing to consider the idea that there was a human being inside of him, somewhere, whatever he had done before. And he knew, too, exactly what she needed to accept him as her mate without being forced or compelled by circumstance or need, because it was what he had needed to accept that she was meant for more than the needs of his flesh: she needed to recognize herself in him, too.
She’ll accept me when she accepts we’re the same. When she can see herself as something other than a monster, just as she sees me. If I can’t convince her, then I am no worse off than I was before. If I can...
He would not allow the thought to go further. He couldn’t. Even now, they were steadily moving toward what might very well be both their deaths. I might not have much time with her. I don’t want her to die feeling like the way I did...before.
Though he was not yet sure how he intended to go about this new mission, he felt a sense of calm descend over him now that he knew what to do, a clarity like the one he’d felt when at the “lorekeeper’s” cottage, clearing the fog in his mind. His life had been chaos since he’d crossed the border into Lyntara, and for the first time, the path before him was completely clear. He knew what he had to do, even if he wasn’t sure how to go about doing it.
One thing was for certain, he had no intention of letting anything happen to her at the elf’s hands. The memory of the elf’s body over hers was enough to make his shoulders hunch with the need to spring. He walked between Gwyn and their guide for as long as he could before darkness fell again. They ate as they walked, stripping berries from the bushes they passed as the food supply in the haversack dwindled. He was grateful that many of the same sorts of plants grew in Lyntara that also grew in Kelemir, though Gwyn’s expertise would have supplied for any deficit.
He glanced at her, his chest warming in a strange way at how natural she looked among the trees. She looked like she belonged there, especially in that green dress. It was ripped at the bodice now, the only detail that spoiled the image—it reminded him unhappily both of the elf and the Raider camp.
He knew she healed quickly, but he still found himself fretting over that rip, and all the others. The elf’s nails, or claws, or whatever they were looked sharp.
“You’re not hurt? ” he finally asked, casting a meaningful glance at the offending tear.
Gwyn looked up at him quickly, as though she’d been deep in thought. “I’m sorry? ”
He repeated the glance, her eyes following his, and she flushed. “Oh. Uh, no. I’m fine. ” She tugged a little at the rip in vain, as if hoping to close it.
“She’ll be hurt far worse soon enough,” the elf declared, casting a dark look over his shoulder at them. “We could take a short break and this would all be behind us. ” He made a snorting sound. “Avery short break, we suspect. ”
Dominic felt a growl vibrating in the back of his throat and swallowed it down, willing his hands to unclench.
“Why do you keep saying we and us all the time? ” Gwyn asked, frowning. “It’s very odd. You speak so correctly otherwise. ”
“We speak correctly now. ” The elf sounded affronted. “We are many, not one like you beasts. ”
“O-kay,” Gwyn muttered.
“They’re all connected to each other somehow,” Dominic volunteered. “Just as they’re connected to their own forests. I’ve had to fight them before. It’s interesting. ”
“Connected, eh? ” Gwyn tapped her chin thoughtfully. “I don’t sense a lot of magic coming off of him. ”
“You said yourself before that there are different kinds of magic. Perhaps this is a type unique to their kind. ”
Dominic took a perverse delight in the way the elf’s shoulders had stiffened. He must not like being talked about like this, yet he doesn’t want to lower himself to explaining his ways to us. Our ignorance is probably gnawing away at him. What a shame.
He caught Gwyn’s eye and saw an amusement glinting there that was a twin to his own. The pang of recognition, though quickly becoming familiar, made his pulse quicken, and he looked away hastily.
But as they continued on, the pain began to worsen so rapidly that by the following day, he was having trouble hiding it from Gwyn and the elf, his movements uncharacteristically sluggish and increasing in clumsiness by the hour. It was hard just to walk, and he avoided talking as much as possible, lest it betray how much concentration it took for him to keep going forward.
By the day after, he had no choice but to walk behind Gwyn, as he couldn’t maintain even her pace. Another day, and talking while also moving was impossible. It was hard even to breathe, so hard to stay upright that his shoulders hunched and wouldn’t straighten. He felt much the way he had when he’d first awakened after being beaten by the “Raiders” from the settlement.
He realized all too late as he struggled along that his interior acceptance of Gwyn as his mate had somehow hastened his deterioration; his resistance must have been holding it somewhat at bay. Now that he wanted more than her body, the ache growing inside him was unbearable. It was not difficult to stop himself from touching her now; even his skin hurt. He was no longer certain he was physically able to consummate the bond between them even if he changed his mind about it. He had to force himself to eat, to drink, to put on some semblance of normalcy, not only to avoid worrying Gwyn, but because he feared showing weakness before the elf.
Dominic’s newfound clarity was a double-edged blade: he could very clearly see that he was no match for the elf now. He felt sick, knowing that the elf must know, might be planning to do something to Gwyn at any moment to prevent Dominic’s collapse. I can’t protect her like this. I can’t keep her safe. Not from him...not from me.
But while the elf refused to slow his pace, he also said nothing.
Dominic caught Gwyn looking at him more and more, and her eyes were worried.
“Let’s stop again, I’m tired,” she said to the elf one night. In an effort to avoid walking during the worst of the heat, they were still traveling mostly after dark.
The elf only snorted, not even pausing as he strode through the trees. “We stopped not long ago. No more stopping until dawn. You are not the one who is tired, but there’s a cure for that. He will either do what needs doing or he will collapse, and you can take matters out of his hands for him then. ”
Dominic stiffened, a wave of nausea passing over him, fragments of memory battering at him that he fought back with gritted teeth. He didn’t realize he’d stopped in his tracks until he felt Gwyn’s hands on his arms, gentle and cool. He blinked rapidly and saw her instead of the past, and she looked like she was on the verge of tears.
“I would never do that to you,” she whispered. “You know that, right? ”
He gave a single nod. He did know it. The knowledge just wasn’t enough to drown out his knee-jerk reaction to the idea, and he didn’t know how to explain that. Not while it was all he could do not to dry-heave.
“Dominic, you should sit down a moment. You’re not well. ” She was still whispering, but it was a wasted effort. He was sure the elf could hear her, and indeed, he was already returning to them, a scowl on his face.
“Absolutely not. It’s not much farther. Another sunrise, maybe two if you two keep being so slow. ”
Gwyn turned to the elf, her eyebrows knitted together. “That’s impossible. Lyntara is huge. There’s no way we could have walked that far in what? Four days? ”
“You are in our forest,” the elf said, lifting his chin. “Time passes differently for the many. And a good thing it is, as lazy as the pair of you are! The whole country would be destroyed by the time you passed over the border if left to get there on your own. ” His smooth chest actually seemed to puff up a little at the words, his eyes shining for once with something other than resentment.
“Is that why he’s getting worse so quickly? ”
The elf scrunched up his face. “Do you find yourself feeling hungry many times a day? No. Your perception of time does not match what is taking place, you dumb animal. His body does not know the difference, either. His body thinks it’s been four days, just like yours does. Stupid question. Now keep moving! ”
He turned his back to them again and glided off, still grumbling under his breath.
Gwyn looked back at Dominic, and again she touched his arm, even though he hadn’t stopped watching her. “I don’t know what to do. Do you think you can hold on another day? ”
“I have to,” he answered, more curtly than he meant to.
“Dominic...even if we make it there, even if we get to the High Lord...and those are some awfully big assumptions...how can you speak to the High Lord like this? I don’t want to upset you, but...I can tell it’s really bad. ”
“If I can’t speak to him, you still can, Gwyn. ” He put his hand over hers, even though it felt like trying to put out a fire with his palm. “I don’t expect you to do anything for Kelemir. I understand your loyalty doesn’t lie there. But you can at least ask what is going on with this woman and her claims of being bound to Lyntara. Then you can decide what to do with that information, if anything. Assuming, as you say, that it even becomes an issue, that he’ll even speak to either of us. ”
“You want me to talk to him even if you...” Her voice trailed off, and she closed her eyes, shaking her head. “I...I can’t. Please just let me-”
“No. Look at me,” he demanded, his fingers squeezing hers until her eyes opened again. “I...I know this must seem irrational to you. That I would choose to die rather than do something so simple. But for me, it’s nothing simple. I swore to myself that nothing like that would ever happen again. I can’t go through it, I can’t put you through it, and this is...this is too much like it. Cornered with no way out. ”
He wasn’t sure if he was making any sense. He felt more and more like the fog was returning. Gods, this hurts.
“Believe it or not, I do understand that,” Gwyn said in a low voice. “I’m scared, Dominic. I’m scared that it’s too late, even if I could convince you. ”
“I told you that I’m not the one who needs convincing,” he murmured.
“If you mean I do, I don’t see how that can ever happen with the way things are going. ” Gwyn’s eyes welled up, and the sight wrenched at him.
Then to his surprise, she pulled her hand away and threw her arms around him. “I don’t want anything to happen to you. Please, Dominic...”
“You care about me, don’t you,” he said against her hair. As bad as the pain was, her embrace wasn’t the comfort it might have been four days prior, but it also wasn’t the torment that he would have expected.
Still, his arms went around her. He wanted to hold her no matter how much it hurt, wanted to breathe in her scent even though it wasn’t helping anymore.
Those things, at least, were now his choices instead of his compulsions.
“O-of course I do,” she stammered, but she sounded confused.
I would be too, if you said the same thing to me, Dominic thought bitterly. Why couldn’t I have understood you before Mariph?
Dominic patted her back, then pulled away. “We need to keep going. He hasn’t come back this time, but he’s probably waiting for us up ahead. He needs us, after all. ”
He started to walk, expecting that she would follow and overtake him in a moment at his current ambling pace. But when he realized she was still standing where he’d left her, he turned back to her and she met his eyes. He saw her cheeks were wet, but her expression was like steel.
“I won’t speak to the High Lord, Dominic,” she said, crossing her arms. “If you want anyone to ask him something, you’re going to have to make it there yourself. I won’t do a damn thing. I’ll let Lyntara burn because that’s just how I am. Heartless. Maybe I won’t even go to his...castle or palace or whatever it is. Maybe I’ll just whore myself out in a tavern somewhere. Or worse, an alley. ”
Against his will, his mouth quirked. “Well, we can’t have that. I guess I have to make it there. ”
Something in her face relaxed, and the ghost of a smile passed over her lips. “Yes, you do. ”
She went up to him and they continued after the elf, who was, as predicted, waiting some way up ahead, his face thunderous.
The moment he saw them, he resumed, by all appearances seething the entire way. But when dawn broke, he refused again to stop. “We’re very close now. We should push through. ”
“There will be no going anywhere if we collapse from exhaustion,” Gwyn snapped. “How is it you don’t sleep? ”
“How do you know we don’t? Both of you pass out for hours! ” the elf countered.
But Dominic sank to the ground where he was standing. At some point in the last hour, he’d started to shake.
He held up a hand at Gwyn’s approach. “I just need to rest a little while,” he said. The words came out in pants, and he saw her actually wringing her hands from the corner of his eye.
“A short while,” the elf said grudgingly.
And he was true to his word. Immediately Dominic fell asleep where he lay, unable to even muster the strength to make sure Gwyn was settled safely behind him first, but the sun had not moved much before he felt a sharp jab in his side that was evidently the elf’s foot.
The creature glared down at him. “Up you go, foolish monster. The High Lord awaits. ”
Dominic blinked blearily against a too-bright sky and hauled himself painfully to his feet. His shaking had ceased for the moment, but he didn’t feel like he’d even slept.
Gwyn was already standing, sliding the haversack’s strap over her arm. She shook her head mutely when he reached out a hand for it, and he didn’t argue.
Just have to make it to the High Lord, then maybe...
The thought did not get much further. Few thoughts did now.
Onward they walked. It was just short of dusk when Dominic finally managed to break out of his own mental fog long enough to realize that the trees around them had changed, and that while the heat was still significant, it was no longer the oppressive weight it had been even a few hours before, if indeed there were actually “hours” at all, given what the elf had said.
“The air feels better here,” he murmured to Gwyn. “Cooler, I mean. ”
She cast him a half-smile, but her eyes were still troubled. “Yes, it’s been cooling down all day. ”
Dominic tried to think of something to say to ease her concern, but he couldn’t honestly claim to be doing any better. He felt terrible.
All he could think of was the obvious. “The trees have changed, too, did you notice? ”
“They’re bigger,” Gwyn agreed. “Thicker around, different leaves. ” She glanced around at them, appearing to hunt for something to say herself. “You know, I’ve been wondering. About them, and the forest. ” She tilted her head toward their guide. “If they’re connected to their forests, then why does it go so quiet around them? Shouldn’t life carry on as though they aren’t even there if they’re part of the place? ”
Dominic raised an eyebrow, impressed in spite of himself. “You noticed that? ” People in general were normally so loud and so often had trouble hearing him when he didn’t work to be heard that he tended to assume they were all at least partially deaf, or in the very least, extremely unobservant when it came to noise.
“Of course. I haven’t heard a single chirp or buzz since this fellow joined us. ” She nodded at the elf’s back. “It’s most peculiar. ”
The elf made a slight, strangled noise that Dominic wasn’t sure Gwyn could hear at the word fellow. He wondered where the insult was but immediately decided he didn’t care.
He paused a moment, catching his breath so he could speak. “If they’re anything like the trees, they’re either afraid of him or respect him. I can’t really tell which. ”
“Oh, are they...talking again? ” Gwyn suddenly looked around as though she expected one to say something to her.
“Very little, but that’s the point,” he told her. “Please don’t kick anything at them. ”
He was absurdly pleased at the redness that swept over her face, so much so that he almost didn’t notice the elf had stopped in his tracks, turning back to them.
“You can hear them, monster? ” the creature asked slowly. His face was a blank, but his entire body had gone very still in a way Dominic only just realized he hadn’t seen before. The air was suddenly thick with tension, like the moment before a summer storm erupted.
It sent an ominous shiver down his spine.
“Does that surprise you? ” Dominic asked in return. “Can’t you hear them? ” He moved himself a little more in front of Gwyn, never taking his eyes off of the elf.
“Animals can’t hear the trees. No monster we have ever heard of has been able to hear them, either. Only those with spirits can hear them. ” The elf’s voice had dropped low, a rumble like distant thunder. “But we the many are not the only ones that have spirits. ”
Dominic’s mind started to race. It was all he could do not to draw his knife, though he knew he’d never be able to get it in his hand in time, but his fingers twitched with the need all the same. Spirits? What would they think has a spirit, other than them?
As if hearing his thoughts, the elf spat out, “There are those who steal the spirits of the lovelies. ” His lips curled back from sharp teeth.
“The lovelies? You keep mentioning them,” Gwyn said quickly. Dominic was alarmed to see she had moved around him to his side. “We don’t even know what they are. Dominic certainly couldn’t have stolen anything from one. ”
“He said he’s fought the many before. Now why would he do that, we wonder? How else could he have a spirit to hear the elders speak? He is a monster. He is not one of us. ”
And that’s when Dominic saw it.
The trees were moving.
––––––––
All around them, the trees were shifting, and Gwyn could have sworn she heard them groaning, too. The earth beneath her feet rocked suddenly and thick, gnarled roots were suddenly bursting through the grass, knocking her off her feet.
By some miracle, Dominic was still standing, his knife now in his hand, staring down the elf who still stood before him. But Gwyn knew better than to find the sight reassuring.
Dominic was suffering terribly, it was impossible not to see. His face was ashen, and he no longer blended with the surrounding trees the way he had before Mariph. He was like a pale ghost of himself, one that now moved at almost human speed. His dark eyes had a glassy quality to them now that never went away even with rest. Even at that moment, they didn’t look quite focused as he watched the elf.
There could be no denying it...he’d grown worse, a lot worse, and very quickly. She knew there was no way he was going to be able to use that knife on the elf, and she couldn’t imagine it doing any good against trees. They were pressing in around them, and she realized that she’d been knocked to the ground on purpose; this simple act had separated her enough from Dominic for one of the trees to move between them. They did not move very quickly—not even as quickly as a human could move—but the tremors in the ground prevented her from gaining her feet and fleeing. Every time she tried to stand back up, either the shaking earth beneath her feet or a tree root would send her sprawling again.
Her eyes went wide with understanding as she took in the way they were shifting, the circle they were starting to form around her.
They were trying to cage her in.
“You need us! ” she cried to the elf. “You need Dominic. What are you doing? ”
“We need you alive. But this one is a monster and now, we see, a murderer. We will gain your cooperation sooner or later, there is no other way. If we have you, we can make do without him,” the elf snarled. “We will not allow a thief of our lovelies to walk this realm! ”
He blurred with speed as he lunged for Dominic. There was no time to think. Gwyn threw down her anima shield and sent a surge of her magic at him simultaneously as he pinned Dominic to the ground beneath him.
What she had done was madness, and she knew it the moment the magic left her. She’d had no clear intention for it, always a dangerous and foolhardy thing to attempt, but Dominic’s pain had been foremost in her mind, and it appeared that pain was the form the magic adopted as an unearthly scream rose up from all around them. It was the sound of many voices screaming in perfect unison, even though the elf with Dominic was the only one she could see. The sound chilled her to the bone, her heart hammering in her chest as she looked around for its source. The trees suddenly lurched to a halt, the elf clutching his head and tumbling down on top of Dominic.
Dominic said they’re all connected. What I did to him must have affected all of them.
She had no time to consider the implications any further. She scrambled to her feet, the ground reassuringly motionless once more, and squeezed her way out of a gap between the trees. She ran directly to Dominic, who had only just managed to shove the elf off of himself.
She reached down and helped him get to his feet. He was panting and pale, bruises already darkening his throat, blood trickling down from the places where the elf’s sharp, tapered nails had dug into him.
Her eyes met his, and fear turned her blood to ice. He barely looked conscious, as though even standing, he was somehow half-asleep. Orwyn, if you ever will help me, help me now, she prayed, and grasping his hand tightly, she took off running in the same direction they had been heading in all along.
They had not gone far before she heard the elf howl something unintelligible. The trees once more started to shift, but this time, Gwyn was ready. She did the same thing she had done before, only this time, she did it to one of the moving trees.
Another scream rent the air, sounding exactly the same as the first, and Gwyn nearly sighed in her relief that it had worked. He must be connected to the trees the same way he is to the other elves while he’s controlling them.
Again they took off running. With her shield down and Dominic in such close proximity, she realized she should be feeling something from him. Hunger, desire, something. But there was nothing, or at least nothing she could distinguish over the roar of her own pulse and the fear twisting her insides as again the trees moved to block their passage.
And that frightened her all the more. Oh gods, Dominic, we’re not going to make it, are we? She thought desperately, sending another burst of anima at one of the trees in their path.
This time, the tree—or the elf controlling it—seemed to expect it. Rather than halting, it froze only a moment then continued, the earth rocking beneath their feet. She lost her balance and started to fall, but Dominic made a quick grab for her, his arms going around her waist, only barely keeping her upright.
She could feel him shaking as he pulled her all the way back to her feet, just before they were both knocked to the ground by something that cannoned into Dominic’s back.
Gwyn momentarily saw spots as her head smacked the ground, her body trapped between a moving tree root and Dominic’s legs. When her vision cleared, she saw that it was the elf who had rammed into them, and he was already sinking bared teeth into Dominic, his liquid eyes wild.
The ice in her veins turned to fire in a moment, the anima bursting from her, and the elf was falling back, blood bubbling out of his mouth, both his own and what he’d taken from Dominic. The elf’s anima as the life left him felt strange to Gwyn, different in some way she couldn’t identify, and she found herself hesitating to grasp it, uncertain of what effect it might have on her.
But her eyes fell on Dominic, who was lying still on the ground with his legs flung over her, blood leaking from his neck, and that was all it took to decide her. She pulled it into herself in the space of a heartbeat, the trees and ground immediately falling still. Then she grabbed one of Dominic’s legs and let the anima flow from her into him.
It was difficult, almost painfully so, to change so abruptly between taking life and giving it. She shuddered with the effort, every last jot of her growling in hunger for more anima even while she allowed the magic she’d just taken to leave her instead. She focused as hard as she could on the wounds in Dominic’s neck, her heart pounding and sweat pouring down her back, desperately struggling to maintain some kind of control. Healing him this way so soon after draining someone else of their anima felt like swimming against a current. Every moment, every heartbeat, she could feel herself starting to slip back, and she pushed with all her will to keep it flowing the right way.
This struggle was something her parents and her sister had never been able to understand. They’d never experienced it, and when she’d spoken of it to them, they had seemed disbelieving that it even existed. For them, healing even such deep punctures as Dominic had suffered would have been the work of minutes, and their own magic never would have leaned so strongly in the opposite direction, trying to pull them into taking what they were trying to restore. His anima never would have appealed so strongly to some dark appetite in themselves; they simply didn’t have it.
But she did, and she hated it, tears of frustration stinging her eyes as she grappled with her anima. Finally, she had no choice but to withdraw her magic, no longer able to keep the grasp on it that she needed and fearing what might happen if she kept pushing it.
She impatiently wiped tears from her eyes as she gently turned his face with trembling hands towards her, studying his wounds. They were mostly healed and the bleeding had stopped, but his eyes were still closed, his breathing shallow. He gave no reaction at all to her touch.
“Dominic, can you hear me? You need to wake up,” she urged. “We need to get out of here. There will be more. I heard them before, surely you did, too. ”
She knew better than to assume that killing one of the elves had killed all of them. She was sure if that was the way their “connection” worked, Dominic would have said something to that effect since he’d fought them before. It seemed very likely that they would have been more careful about receiving whatever was happening to their counterpart once she’d caused him pain the way she had, but regardless of how it worked or what they did...the forest was still ominously quiet all around them.
She could almost imagine the eyes on them.
She shook him gently and repeated his name, trying to tamp down her panic. If the elves attack us now...there’s no way I could use my magic against them this soon. Especially not right after giving Dominic all I took. It was all she could do just to get her shield back up.
Dominic groaned faintly, his eyelids twitching but not quite fully opening. In desperation, she looped an arm around his waist and tried to pull him to his feet, only to fall back down to her knees, his body a dead weight against her.
“Dominic, please,” she whispered, shaking him by the shoulder. “I need you to wake up. I need you. Please, Dominic. ”
That’s when she felt the sharp point of a blade jab her between her shoulders.
“Allow us to assist, madame,” an accented voice drawled.
Gwyn looked up and saw half-a-dozen pairs of identical brown eyes staring back at her.
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All the books by A. F. Dery
Broken Mirrors - In the kingdom of Eladria, all magic is taboo. When Thane, Eladria's Dread Lord, catches Kesara, one of his keep workers, in the very act, it quickly turns into the greatest battle of their lives as a traitor watching from the shadows seizes the opportunity of a lifetime.
Broken Lords - With alliances crumbling, old friends suspect, and treachery greeting them at every turn, Thane and Kesara must answer the summons of the High Lord. . . but at what cost?
Wedding the Dread Lord - Thane promised Kesara a simple exchange of vows, but when has anything in their lives ever been that easy? A short and sweet novella- length Postquel to Broken Lords.
Breath of Life - Silas practices a forbidden form of dangerous magic, and he's determined to make Valentine his apprentice for reasons of his own. Life and death hinge on her choice, but one thing is for certain: he's not going to take “no” for an answer.
Winter’s Fallen - Grace finds herself stranded during a winter storm in the tower of Hadrian, a mysterious recluse. But they soon learn they are not alone, and nothing is at it seems. . .
Cast in Stone - The only thing Celia wants in life is to bring the brutal warlord who murdered her parents to justice. With the appointment of her reluctant Guardian, Rupert, it finally looks like she will have her chance. . . until they are betrayed by those she trusted most. Will justice ultimately triumph. . . or vengeance?
Lord of War - When Sebastien, a dangerous warlord, finally captures Carys, the elusive captain of the Raiders who have been bleeding his Province dry, he finds himself locked in a battle with her to gain the upper hand. With everything he fought so hard for in jeopardy, he must conquer her or become the conquered.
Bound in Blood - Sent by his lord on a journey to find the answers his country needs, half-elven Dominic finds not only his life but his entire mission in jeopardy when he unexpectedly finds himself at the mercy of Gwyn, a reclusive necromancer with secrets of her own. Bound together against their wills, the only option is to find a way to work together and survive the bond. . . or watch as the world around them burns.
Forged in Spirit - The High Lord of the Union is to be executed for treason in three days, and his appointed stand-in—Thane, Dread Lord of Eladria—is relieved to finally see the end of the matter. . . until Dominic and Gwyn end up in his custody and turn everything upside-down. Suddenly dark secrets are coming to light, old loyalties are called into question, and new duties demand more of both Thane and his Mirror than either of them ever expected.
The Beast of Lyntara - In the work of a necromancer, there are no second chances, and the Merrick Gwyn brought back from death isn't the same Merrick who died. Now the only hope of saving the world from the effects of his dark magic rests with a mysterious prisoner. . . if Gwyn and Dominic can keep Merrick alive long enough to find her. Meanwhile, Thane and Kesara face life-changing news as they try to untangle the web of deceit the former High Lord left behind.
Fellowship of the Box Bearer - Elyssa is the Perfect Heroine: beautiful and generous, diligently trained by ninjas and entrusted with a mighty and mysterious object of untold power. Unfortunately for her, Rothgar, an evil warlord, has decided to burn down her village for nefarious purposes that even he doesn't understand. What's a poor overpowered heroine to do? Why, embark on an Epic Novelette-Length Quest for Justice with a ragtag group of total strangers, of course! FotBB is a humorous take on the fantasy genre, bad fan-fiction, role playing games, and the tropes we all enjoy and take for granted.
A. F. Dery writing as Amanda Dery - for mature readers
Dreams Awake by Amanda Dery - Kieran and Anya's marriage is one of convenience, but it proves to be anything but as their nightmares begin to come to life. Will their growing passion vanquish the terrors of the night. . . or will their demons tear them apart? For mature readers.
Dreams Asleep by Amanda Dery - With Anya's life in peril, Kieran's desperation drives him to do the last thing he ever wanted: call on his three estranged brothers for help. But they are pale shadows of how he remembers them, and decades-old secrets soon start coming to light. One thing, however, remains clear: Anya's nightmare will do anything to keep her. . . and Kieran's brothers will do anything to keep him.
Non-Fiction Books from Ring Drop Press
Wicca: From the Ground Up by J. M. Dery - An insider's look at the differences between Faith, Culture and Magic in Wicca. Wicca: From the Ground Up discusses and illuminates the differences between solitary and group practice as well as the differences between the culture of Pagan Religious groups, the exploration of Magic, and the details of Wiccan Faith.
About the Author
A. F. Dery writes fantasy and other speculative fiction in between herding her five kids, reheating the coffee that went cold while she was herding her five kids, and trying to convince the cat that he's not just a really hairy sixth kid. (He's not buying it.) Find out more about her books at http://ringdroppress. com.
Copyright © 2015 by A. F. Dery. All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
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