Augustina isn’t done with Corabelle yet—but she endures her own journey by pursuing dangerous magic. Grab your copy of the next book of this anthology, Wayward Magic, to see what happens!
About the Author
Alesha Escobar writes fantasy to support her chocolate habit. She enjoys reading everything from Tolkien and the Dresden Files, to the Hellblazer comics and classic literature. She’s the author of the bestselling Gray Tower Trilogy, an action-packed supernatural thriller set in an alternate World War II. The trilogy hit the bestsellers lists at Amazon (Top 60 in the entire Kindle store), as well as iBooks, Kobo, Barnes & Noble online, and Amazon UK. Alesha is also the co-author of the bestselling Aria Knight Chronicles and the Immortal Brotherhood series.
Besides being a loving warrior mom to her six children, she enjoys crafts, consuming more coffee than is necessary, and spending time with her husband, Luis, a 20-year art veteran for The Simpsons™ television show.
For more information about the author, please visit: https://www.aleshaescobar.com
Don't forget to grab your copy of next anthology, Wayward Magic, at https://magicalmayhempress.com
Wayward Magic
Introduction for Book II
Magic.
You could ask a hundred people, “What is magic?” and you will get a hundred different definitions as we have all experienced various forms of it in our lives.
Maybe it was the time that massive SUV should have crushed your tiny hatchback until nothing remained; yet after the noise and smoke cleared, you walked away with nothing more than a few scratches. Or maybe it was when every light turned green when you needed it most as you raced towards the hospital to say goodbye to your mother. Or perhaps it was something that went unnoticed—the moment when your cat nudged you in your sleep, and your breathing resumed, or the time your dog barking woke you before the fire reached your room.
Time roll by us in an eye-blink, sprinkling us in flashes we can’t explain. What happened, why did it happen, and more importantly, why did it happen to me? Some people call them miracles, while others, magic.
While these tales take place in a variety of worlds and places, some of them unreachable to Earthlings such as we, their magic wraps around like a silent whisper. Sometimes they comfort, while other times, they remind us of our mortality. They remind us what we have, and what we should hold on to dearly, because magic is just that—magic. It’s unpredictable and non-discerning.
The authors of these stories hope you find your own small piece of magic between the pages of this book.
Let it be a hug from us to you.
A magical one.
No Sanctuary
Tiffany Shand
No Sanctuary is the second short prequel to my Rogues of Magic series. After losing her throne, Ann and Ed are on the run from Orla, who helped to kill Ann’s father and take his realm from her. Now the archdruid herself must find safety in a realm full of enemies and keep her wayward magic under control. If she can’t, she and Ed will lose more than just their lives.
Tiffany Shand
Nowhere is safe when you're on the run.
After losing her parents and her throne, Ann Valeran is now rogue and on the run from the very people who destroyed her family.
With only the help of her best friend and former bodyguard, Edward Rohn, by her side, Ann must navigate her way through the five lands to find safety. The only people to offer her refuge are the elusive resistance, who once opposed her family and everything her father’s rule stood for.
But with assassins after her every turn and having to hide her uncontrollable magic and true identity, Ann must find a way to work with the resistance or risks falling into the hands of her greatest enemy.
Chapter One
Ann Valeran ducked as an axe flew at her head. This wasn’t part of the plan for today. Where did they even come from? How did they find us? The close confines of the cave didn’t make it easy for her to dodge the blow as the axe hissed through the air above her. Why did I let Ed talk me into coming here?
A man lunged for her and swung his club toward her. She dodged the blow, raised her hand and sent him flying. Beside her, Edward Rohn, her best friend and former bodyguard, thrust his sword through one of the Fomorian demons. One after another, hulking demons with glowing eyes surged into the cave.
Another demon came at her with a battle-axe.
This was supposed to have been a safe place for them to shelter for a while, yet Orla’s demons found them once more. Heat flared between her fingers as anger heated her blood. She threw a fireball straight at her oncoming attacker.
The demon screamed as the flames engulfed his body and turned him to ash.
She hurled another fireball at the second Fomorian.
Ed sliced off the head of the first demon. His short golden-brown hair looked slick with sweat. His golden-brown eyes sought her out. “You alright?” he asked.
Ann pushed her long blond hair off her face and rubbed her hands on her long black cloak. “No, I am so sick of this,” she growled. “We’re glamoured. How do these demons keep finding us?”
“Your grandmother said we would have to keep moving and be careful.” Ed kept a grip on his sword. “And you need to limit your use of power.”
Her blue eyes flashed at that. She’d been using magic all her life. How could she stop using it? Her life had changed so much in the last month. A few weeks ago, she’d been living in a palace as heir to the archdruid—her father. Now she was on the run and accused of killing both her parents. In a single night, her life had been turned upside down and she still didn’t know who or what she was supposed to be now. The only good part about losing everything was dead, her best friend and former bodyguard had stuck by her through everything. She wouldn’t have blamed him for leaving her. Everyone else had.
“I’m trying, Ed.” She sighed. “I’ve kept my magic usage to a minimum. How do they keep finding us?”
Ed shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Ann grabbed one of her fallen knives off the ground. She’d always carried knives with her in her previous life. But she never had to use them as often as she did now. Life as a rogue meant being constantly under attack by the forces that now hunted her.
“Orla must be tracking us somehow.” She gritted her teeth at the mention of Orla, the demon who’d helped her half-brother, Urien, to murder her parents.
“Who is it we’re supposed to be meeting?” Ann wasn’t happy when Ed refused to tell her who they were meant to meet here.
“I told you, someone who might be able to help us.”
“Help us how?” Ann sheathed her knives at her back and brushed ash of her long black cloak. It reminded her so much of the cloaks worn by her father’s Black Guard underneath their armour. Ed gave her the cloak as a gift. It’d been spelled to shield her from attack, and so far, it had helped. “Can this person stop Orla? Remove the price on our heads?”
Ed shook his head. “No, but they might be able to help us go somewhere safe.”
Ann gave a harsh laugh. “I doubt such a place on Erthea exists anymore.”
She thought her grandmother, Mercury Valeran, would have helped them to find refuge. Her father, Darius, seemed to have had an escape route already planned from what Ed told her. Her gran swore the glamours were enough to shield them and insisted they couldn’t stay with her since nowhere would be safe for them. So far nothing seemed to work. Ann had been disappointed at not being able to stay with Mercury. At least she would have been with one of her few surviving family members. If they weren’t safe with her, where could they be safe? Going to stay with the druids at Trewa hadn’t been an option either.
Another demon bellowed as he dove into the cave and charged them.
Ann pulled out her knife and threw it at him. The blade embedded itself in his shoulder, making him stumble. “Reoth,” Ann said. Light flashed around the demon and he froze in place, paralysed by her magic.
“How did you track us h
ere?” Ann hurled her other knife to his abdomen. Blood seeped down the front of his tunic and he winced in pain.
The demon’s dark eyes flashed. “I’ll kill you for this, witch.”
“I’m a druid, not a witch. There’s a big difference. Now answer the question.” She pressed the knife so close to his throat it drew blood. “How does Orla keep tracking us?” One way or another she would get answers. Orla had to be tracking them somehow and this might be their only chance of finding out how. No matter what magic they used or what technique they did, Orla still found them. That should have been impossible. Ann might be a rogue now, but she still had the power of the archdruid, and that might as well be good for something. The archdruid was supposed to be one of the most powerful beings on Erthea, so how did Orla somehow track her magic?
He won’t talk, Ed told her in thought so the demon would not hear them.
Worth a try, isn’t it? Ann replied. My gran said the glamours would shield us—I don’t doubt her magic. Mercury was a gifted sorceress and her magic rarely ever failed.
Ann scanned the demon with her mind. One of her gifts was being able to hear people’s surface thoughts. Maybe she could scan his and find out what she wanted to know. Although Fomorians had been around for decades she’d never fought or used her powers on them much until she had been forced to become a rogue. She never had much experience with Orla either.
Must get out of here, the demon thought. Orla will kill me if I…
“I’d be more concerned about us killing you,” Ann remarked and held one of her knives to his throat.
“I-I don’t—” the demon’s face scrunched up as he fought to break through her magic. “I swear I don’t know. Orla sent me to track you.”
Ann glanced at Ed who shook his head. “Just kill him. He won’t give us any answers,” Ed said. “He is little more than a minion.”
Ann hit the demon with another fireball, and it exploded in a burst of flame. The demon screamed then dispersed into a pile of ash. “I want answers.”
Ed raised an eyebrow. “Do you really think Orla will share that kind of information with her followers?”
“She must have allies, people she shares things with. Even my father had allies.” Ann’s heart twisted and tears sprang to her eyes. “No one can run an entire realm by themselves.” She pushed all thoughts of her dead parents away. She wouldn’t cry again. She’d done enough of that. Now only vengeance mattered.
Ed put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m here if you want to talk.”
She brushed his hand away. “Talk won’t change anything.” The pain of losing her parents still felt raw. She’d cried enough and the time for that was over. Now she needed to stay alive. Her parents and her brother were gone. Even her younger brother, Xander, had left too.
Ann had no idea who or what she was supposed to be now. A rogue, a fugitive, accused of a crime she never committed. “There’s no one here,” Ann said. “This was a trap all along and we—”
Another figure, much shorter than the demons, hurried into the cave. The newcomer’s entire body was draped by a heavy cloak.
Heat flared between Ann’s fingers again.
Ed grabbed her wrist. “No, don’t.”
The figure drew back, her hood revealing the weathered face of a woman with pale skin, dark green eyes, black, greying hair, and stubby horns. The stubs peeked out through her hairline and had been sawed off. Before that, her horns had curved around her entire head as all Ursaie did.
Ann gasped and covered her mouth, stunned. “Nadia.”
The old woman’s lip curved into a smile. “Rhiannon?” Her thick accent sounded as Ann remembered. “Is that you?”
Ann flinched. “I’m not Rhiannon anymore. I’m…” She trailed off, unsure of what to say. Better not to say anything. She despised being called Rhiannon, it reminded her too much of the person she had been before. She never liked the name much anyway.
“Thanks for meeting us, Nadia,” Ed said. “But I think we should get out of here. More demons might follow us.”
Ann wrapped her arms around the woman. Nadia had once worked at the palace in Larenth as a freed slave. She’d helped to raise Ann and her younger brother, Xander. It felt so good to see someone familiar again. As much as she loved Ed, she hadn’t seen a friendly face since leaving Fairhaven. They never got to stay anywhere long enough to make new friends nor could they risk it for fear someone might be a spy sent by Orla.
Nadia returned her embrace. Ann clung to her. Along with her parents, most of the people at the palace had probably been slaughtered.
“Ann, we have to go,” Ed hissed.
Nadia pulled away and there was understanding in her eyes. She squeezed Ann’s hand. “Come, I know somewhere we can talk, and you two can get some rest.” Nadia traced sigils in the air that flared with green light. Nadia took hold of Ed and Ann’s arms as the light enveloped them.
Ann closed her eyes against the glare of the green energy. The dampness of the cave faded as they reappeared standing in a small room with wooden walls. She shivered as warmth from the fire washed over her.
“Where are we?” Ann asked. She hadn’t set foot in a place that wasn’t abandoned in over a month. Her heart pounded as the urge to run gnawed at her.
“This is a safe haven,” Nadia replied. “Sit. You both look weary.”
Ann shook her head. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”
Ed glanced around, uneasy. One hand went to his sword. “This place is heavily warded.” He ran his finger over one of the walls. Shimmering green runes and sigils appeared.
Ann bit her lip and refrained from scanning the dwelling with her mind. Her magic ached to get out, but she feared it was right. If Orla tracked them every time she used her powers she didn’t want to use them. That couldn’t last forever. Not given how often they got attacked on a daily basis now. Weapons only did so much good against demons.
“Sit. Rest.” Nadia motioned to the fire. “You’ll be safe here.”
“It’s safer if we don’t,” Ann replied. “Although I’m happy to see you.”
“I’ll check outside. Have some food. There is a stew brewing,” Nadia said. “Then we can talk about you to staying with the resistance.”
Chapter Two
Ed braced himself as Nadia went outside. He doubted this would go over well with Ann which was why he hadn’t mentioned it to her before now. She’d have refused to meet with Nadia if he had. Joining the resistance was one of the only options they had left available to them. It might offer them some safety or at least a refuge for a short time from Orla’s forces.
Ann’s mouth fell open the moment Nadia mentioned the resistance. “The resistance?” She crossed her arms. “Are you saying they’re real?”
Ed nodded. “Yes, they’re real. I thought we could hide among them for a while at least.”
“How can she think they’ll ever accept us? I’m the archdruid’s daughter—they despise my father and everything he stood for.”
“You are the archdruid now.” Ed knew she hated being called that, hated it even when he suggested it. He avoided bringing it up before, now that her being the archdruid might be one of the few things that kept them alive.
Ann flinched and looked away. “I told you not to call me that.” She gritted her teeth. “And that’s why we can’t stay.”
Ed sheathed his sword and put his hands on her shoulders. “I know you’ve been feeling lost after everything you’ve been through. Maybe it’s a chance to start a new life.”
She gave a harsh laugh. “How are we ever supposed to do that when we’re hunted everywhere we go?”
“If we figure out how Orla is tracking, us perhaps we won’t be.”
Ann sighed. “I’m going to wash this demon blood off me.” She retreated to the next room and shut the door behind her.
Ed had hoped joining the resistance might give Ann something better to focus on. He knew she struggled with her own identity now. Rhiannon Valeran had
become a fugitive overnight, accused of killing the former archdruid and her mother too. Now a demon sat upon the archdruid’s throne in Caselhelm, and the house of Valeran was no more.
Ed’s life had changed too. He’d gone from serving in the Black Guard, being a warrior to being fugitive. Anyone who hadn’t joined Orla became an enemy. Last he’d heard, Orla tried to force the other Black to join her and all of them refused. His foster sister, Ceara, had chosen Urien and betrayed them. Ed still hadn’t found out what happened to Jax, his foster brother. Losing his siblings had hurt more than anything. They might not have been blood-related, but they’d been his siblings in every way that mattered. He ached to see Jax again or to at least know what happened to him.
Nadia came back and Ed scooped some of the stew into bowls for himself and Ann. “Thanks for answering my call,” Ed remarked. “Do you have any news from Caselhelm?” He hoped she might have heard something about his brother or perhaps the rest of the Black. He and Ann rarely got to stay anywhere long enough to hear much news.
Since the revolution in Caselhelm, Ed didn’t know who to trust anymore. People he’d thought of as allies either refused to help them or had sided with Orla. He supposed he couldn’t blame some of them for turning. They didn’t have much choice. Either they joined Orla or they died. He would have chosen death himself. Better to die than to betray everything you believed in.
“Of course. I’m glad you called me.” Nadia closed the door behind her. “And no, I haven’t heard any news from Caselhelm other than about the revolution. Everything is in chaos there from what I have heard. I’m surprised you haven’t gone to Trin or the druids at Trewa.”
Magic Underground: The Complete Collection (Magic Underground Anthologies Book 4) Page 78
