Vera's Song (Creatures of the Lands Book 2)
Page 25
“Don’t be afraid,” she said. “My magic can repair the worst of ails, but they still leave markings behind. I was able to bring my husband back from the brink of death only days ago, though the scar still remains on his face.”
“Who are you?” Carmilla asked. Von turned on her to use the Strength, but she caught his eyes and laughed, shaking her head. “My dear, I am too strong of a witch to become a victim to your powers. Not even the Strength can stop me. My name is Nineva.”
“Nineva? My aunt?” Von asked in shock.
“You’re Aravon, alright,” Nineva confirmed, smiling. “And you must be Carmilla.”
“Yeah. How do you know who we are?” Carmilla asked.
“We’ve been looking for you, darling,” Nineva said softly. “To make you a deal.”
“A deal you can’t refuse.” A hand fell on Aravon’s shoulder. The Ortusan turned around to see a handsome, dark-haired man behind him, a long scar fresh on his face. “Though I can’t say we expected to find out you’re not a fairy. I’m Wyntier.” He looked at Carmilla. “What happened to him?”
“He pissed me off and I bit him.” Carmilla gestured to Von’s arm where a small scar in the shape of teeth stood out against the rest of his skin.
“How exactly did he piss you off?” Wyntier asked. “I’m curious.”
“He jabbed me with a stick repeatedly,” she snarled. “And unfortunately, I felt obligated to help him, as I had created him.”
Nineva and Wyntier began to laugh. “Being an Ortusan only makes you more powerful,” Wyntier said in approval.
“What do you want with us?” Carmilla asked, walking to Von’s side.
“For you to be on our side, my dear,” Wyntier smiled. “You two seem to be an excellent team, and I happen to be missing a son and a daughter who were supposed to be the heirs to my throne.”
“Throne?” Carmilla asked.
“We’re going to take over Nesting’s Haven and the Lands, and since our children have decided to join the very people who are against us, we’re looking for people who would like to take their place,” Nineva said.
“Why would we join you? How do you know that we can’t take over the world all by ourselves?” Von sneered.
Nineva brought her hand up, and before Von and Camilla knew what had happened she had sent a plume of black flame towards the staircase. The stone melted at an instant, creating a large gap between the first and second floors.
“So what do you say, you in?” Nineva asked, looking at their gaping faces. “We can make you an emperor.”
“Emperor Aravon,” he said to himself. “It does have a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?”
“More like emperor nut brain,” Carmilla hissed at him. “The only thing you’ll ever rule over is all the idiots of the world. Now I could be great.”
“I’ll be twice the ruler you’ll be,” Von retorted.
“Oh, yeah? Prove it,” Carmilla teased.
“Oh, I’ll prove it,” he snapped back. He turned toward Nineva. “I’m in.”
“Me too.” Carmilla smiled broadly.
“That’s wonderful.” Wyntier came over and shook both of their hands. “Together the four of us will overthrow The Great One and take her place.”
“You best be going now, Wyntier,” Nineva said. “The finding ceremony will begin shortly and we have to have the twins on our side as well.”
Wyntier nodded. He turned and walked out of the castle, into the darkness and out of sight. His two new followers watched him go and then looked to Nineva.
“Twin Changers?” Carmilla asked.
“It’s a rather long story, but it seems we have the time.” Nineva sat on a ruin, the pile of bodies around her making a gruesome scene. “Pay attention, because I’ll only tell you everything once.”
Lukas watched over the starting line in the form of a python, hidden behind the palm trees that bordered the city limits. The children slowly began to gather with their parents and anxiously waited for the finding ceremony to begin. In a hooded black cloak, Wyntier came up beside the mighty beast. “Are the twins out there?” he asked.
“ Of course they are, Wyntier, and the minute one of these brats comes out of that jungle with them I’ll take care of winning them over,” Lukas hissed.
Wyntier looked out over the growing crowd. Someone caught his eye. “Who is that little snot over there, with the pink hair?”
“Nicodemus’ daughter,” he answered. “I always hated her. The people she’s with are her godparents. Her mother died in child birth so when I killed Nicodemus, it left her alone.”
“How old is she and what’s her name?” Wyntier asked, watching the small child curiously.
“Her name is Cameliyon and she just turned six. This is her first ceremony.”
“She was named after a lizard?” Wyntier said, slowly turning to Lukas.
“Different spelling, but yes. The reason for her name is because for some unknown reason she has the ability to change her appearance. Things like hair and eye color, height, weight, and other physical features.”
“I see.”
“She won’t listen to anyone, though. Trust me when I say that she is the last one we want getting the twins. That girl has a mind of her own. It would be impossible to trick her and get her to join us.”
“So sad. She really is a pretty little thing,” Wyntier commented, watching the little girl greedily.
The command to start was given. Lukas and Wyntier watched as little Cameliyon ran away from her godparents and off into the jungle to find a Changer.
Cameliyon wondered through the forest aimlessly. After a while she began to grow scared. “Is there anyone out there?” she called nervously. “I want to go home now!”
When no one responded, she sat on the forest floor and began to cry. “I want my daddy back!”
“Why are you crying?” a soft female voice asked.
“Don’t cry, it’ll be okay,” a male voice added.
“Who said that? Where are you?” Cameliyon asked, and her hair color changed until it had blended into the scenery of the jungle.
Two small ferrets came out of the sanctuary of the palm trees to sit in front of her. The female was a beautiful orange color, while the male was a rich brown. “I’m Pumpkin and this is my brother, Martin,” the orange ferret said calmly. “We’re twins.”
“Twin Changers?” Cameliyon asked in awe. “I didn’t even know those existed!”
“You caught us,” Martin smiled. “What’s your name?”
“Cameliyon,” she answered. “Like the lizard, only spelled different.”
“Cameliyon.” The two Changers said the girl’s name in unison, permanently bonding the three of them together. The ferrets jumped joyfully into the young girl’s extended arms, snuggling her tightly. It was true love.
Wyntier and Lukas watched as child after child came out of the forest with a Changer. Both searched desperately for the twins they so badly needed. “Where are they?” Wyntier said, hoping they hadn’t lost them.
Then they saw her. Cameliyon came skipping out of the forest happily, two small ferrets balanced on her shoulders. The worst had happened.
“No, this cannot be! The twins chose the one person we cannot get to our side!” Wyntier hissed angrily.
“Calm down, Wyntier,” Lukas growled.“We will simply stop our enemies from winning them over as well. As long as the twins do not join the other side, we can still win. Let them grow and see how cruel life can be. We’ll convince them then.”
Wyntier smiled. “I suppose you’re right. If we have the twins, not even the prophetess Allakenzie and her powers will be able to stop us. We won’t need her. All we have to do now is wait.”
The Accompany and Changer left. They didn’t notice a young white griffin, identical to the one called Allie, stumble slowly out of the jungle without a match, her silver eyes flashing in despair at the thought of going home without an Accompany once more.
Somehow, the future
ahead turned dark.
Kia’s son Kennu embarks on his journey in Wyntier’s Rise, #3 in the Creatures of the Lands series.
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THE WITCH’S CURSE
"The scream of a dying girl was the singular sound that changed my life, forever."
When Briar enters the Eldermere Woods alone, she never could've imagined the danger that awaited her there. As a young witch, she's sought by hunters who desire her blood, a group of radicals who wish to eliminate all magical creatures. When Briar discovers a fellow witch slaughtered in the forest, her boring afternoon is changed into a fight for her life.
With the help of her dragon shifter love, Thomas, Briar must find a way to stop the witch hunters from destroying her town of Thorny Brook. But is her magic strong enough to defeat her most dangerous enemies? Full of danger, fantasy, and fun, THE WITCH'S CURSE is another thrilling installment by bestselling author Megan Linski.
Now FREE by signing up for Megan Linski’s VIP list!
Acknowledgments
To you, dear reader. I know I put you through quite a roller coaster ride this time. I appreciate that you stuck it out all the way to the Acknowledgements. You survived climbing up the Ice Borns, trekking through the desert of dragons, and the heat of Mt.Deathern (as well as keeping up with a barrage of new characters)! I hope you enjoyed the journey, and were able to relate to the antics and agony of Kia and her friends once again. I really hope it isn’t as hard for you to read this series as it is for me to continue writing them, otherwise, I’m doing a terrible job!
To Sam, who keeps me going through the madness of trying to edit all these novels, and Marisa, who made a Vera piñata...six years later, it’s still hanging above my bed.
To Thalia, who stuck with me through this crazy, unbearable draft. They’re not going to get any easier as they go on, so I hope you’ve got your red pen ready!
About the Author
Natalie Erin is the pen name for the writing team of Megan Linski and Krisen Lison (also known as Krystyl Lisoh). They completed the first draft of Kiatana's Journey in 2008 when they were freshmen in high school, and released the book online in their graduating year of 2011. After some revisions the girls decided that they would find representation for the novel, but this was disrupted by Miss Lison's untimely death in 2013. She was 20 years old.
One year after Lison's passing Linski created her own company, Gryfyn Publishing, and released the updated version of Kiatana's Journey as the company's breakout novel on November 1st, 2014. Miss Linski is currently working on publishing the rest of the Creatures of the Lands series in Lison's honor.
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