by S. M. Boyce
Glow was both exhilarating and challenging to write. The biggest challenge for me with this story was easing my way into Fairhaven—after all, there’s so much to tell you, but I didn’t want to dump my purse in your lap on the first date.
Fairhaven is rich and vibrant, tense and deadly, beautiful and intricate. To me, the city embodies everything that represents magic in its truest form. It’s an unraveling mystery that never seems to finish, waiting until you think you know everything about it before it sheds another layer of intrigue and leaves you wanting more.
I love to write tense stories that have your heart pumping at every scene, but taking moments to pause from the main quest and breathe a bit gave me a chance to explore more of the city’s quirks. Take Berserk, for instance! That almost didn’t make it into book one. However, I couldn’t pass up the chance to let Victoria and Audrey discover the crazy-fun culture in Fairhaven.
I also loved Berserk because it played on the girls’ strengths. Here were massive ogres and muscled elves ramming into each other until they broke bones and drew blood, and yet the humans excelled because of their smaller sizes and speed. Their presence on the field made the Plits an undefeatable team and wowed even the most badass of ogres. (You just wait—you’ll learn more about Bertha’s brother in upcoming novels.)
Also, GO PLITS!
And that’s what the Fairhaven Chronicles is all about: playing to your strengths, celebrating what you bring to the world, and becoming the best version of yourself you can be. It’s about doing what’s right regardless of the cost. It’s about honor, truth, and justice.
At its heart, Victoria’s tale is a superhero story.
The people of Fairhaven come to love Victoria despite the dark magic in her blood and body. She protects them, keeps their best interests at heart, and sacrifices herself to keep them safe.
I think deep down, you and I both want to do that for people. We want to do what’s right, have honor, and protect what we love.
Thankfully, that theme will be continuing throughout Victoria’s saga. The next novel is called Shimmer, and we’re going to dive into a place I’ve always wanted to explore…
WE’RE GOIN’ TO ATLANTIS, Y’ALL!
After all, there’s something up with Audrey… and I think it’s time we learn the truth about who (and what) she is.
See you soon, and I cannot wait to explore Fairhaven with you again in the near future.
Much love,
Boyce
AUTHOR NOTES – MARTHA CARR
Written October 5, 2017
S. M. Boyce was the first author that Michael Anderle and I invited to join us on this big idea of an urban fantasy universe. Almost immediately, I was struck by how much Boyce (the other Sarah who I have come to know and love as Boyce) reminds me of a younger me. Full of energy, ideas, enthusiasm and laser focus. Best cheer her on and get out of the way because she’s going places!
Since then, Michael and I have come to rely on Boyce for so much more and her role has expanded beyond author in Oriceran. She has helped to create the new website and built out a lot of the behind-the-scenes infrastructure that no one ever sees but are vital to a smooth-running operation. Best part is, she did more than I expected and it is all actually beautiful and wonderfully interactive.
Now, on top of that Boyce took a series idea for urban fantasy with two worlds and cleverly came up with a third kind of ‘world’ that fits perfectly. Her series, The Fairhaven Chronicles is fun, sharp and moves along at a fast clip with a lot of inventive magic that these days is not an easy trick to pull off. Imagine coming up with unique ways to perform magic in a unique setting!
I expect that more great and wildly creative things are coming from Boyce that we’ll all get to enjoy as the whirlwind goes right by us. Really glad we were smart enough to invite her along for our ride…
PUBLISHER NOTES – MICHAEL ANDERLE
Written October 5, 2017
First, THANK YOU for not only reading the story, but also reading all the way here to the back to my Publisher Notes.
Sarah (S.M.) Boyce is a FIRE starter. I believe you will enjoy not only her stories but all of the extra little things she will be doing over the next few months as she creates an amazingly full world-within-a-world that expands the Oriceran Universe in creative and wonderful ways.
Now, the ‘downside’ of working with a fire starter is they push you to do things earlier than you might typically do them.
Case in point: I am writing these Publisher notes DAYS in advance of when the book comes out. Normally, I’m writing these notes the night before the books comes out. Occasionally, that bites me in the backside.
I’ve come to enjoy working these notes at the last minute. I get a chance to almost create a diary of what is going on in my life each time.
For example. I’m at the NINC conference right now meeting other authors that I’ve never met in person, but have ‘met’ online (or their products, or read their books.) For example, Amanda M. Lee, Linsey Hall, DK Holmberg, Jay Allan (one of my fanboy moments), Jay Falconer, Domino Finn and those I’ve met before including Boyd Craven, TS Paul, Augusta Blythe, Gary Jonas, Kevin J. Tumlinson, Dan Woods and many others I’m forgetting to add here.
Now, for the positive side of working with a fire starter is I’m in Florida, and rumor around here is we have a hurricane (again) heading in this direction. So, now I will have these notes all tied up when she needs them even if I’m hunkered down or trying to fly away to get out. I certainly hope it isn’t an issue, and (as I look around) no one seems to be worried.
I should be good.
Now, back to these damned Publisher notes which are due ‘now’ because … fire starter.
I am very pleased that Sarah has chosen to join us on this crazy-assed ride. She is a successful author who listened patiently while we expressed all of the ‘this is what we are thinking’ for a new universe. Which didn’t have book ONE written and released yet.
Somehow, someway, she believed enough in our energy to be willing to join us with a promise that we were going to try to provide stories fans enjoyed and build a universe of readers that enjoy what we like to write and came along for the ride.
The first one who joined, and now the newest author to release her series into the Oriceran Universe. As a publisher, and a friend, I’m so happy to be able to introduce her series to you.
Ad Aeternitatem,
Michael Anderle
SHIMMER
Book Two in the Fairhaven Chronicles
a Novel by S. M. Boyce & Martha Carr
A part of the Revelations of Oriceran Universe
Written and Created
by Michael Anderle & Martha Carr
COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL
SHIMMER (this book) is a work of fiction.
All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Sometimes both.
This book Copyright © 2017 S. M. Boyce, LLC and Martha Carr
Cover copyright © LMBPN Publishing
LMBPN Publishing supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.
The distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
LMBPN Publishing
PMB 196, 2540 South Maryland Pkwy
Las Vegas, NV 89109
First US edition, November 2017
The Oriceran (and what happens within / characters / situations / worlds) are Copyright (c) 2017 by Martha Carr and LMPBN Publishing.
www.Oriceran.com
www.smboyce.com
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From S. M. Boyce
This series is for those who love to use magic to escape the mundane.
From Martha
To everyone who still believes in magic and all the possibilities that holds. To all the readers who make this ride so much fun. And to all the readers just like me who create wonder, big and small, every day.
JIT Readers
Alex Wilson
Kelly ODonnell
Jed Moulton
Micky Cocker
AbH Belxjander Draconis Serechai
Larry Omans
Kimberly Boyer
Paul Westman
Joshua Ahles
Editor
Lynne Stiegler
CHAPTER 1
Deep within the tunnels beneath the magical city of Fairhaven, Victoria dodged a brilliant blast of green light as it ricocheted off the glowing crystals embedded in the walls. The blast had nearly hit her square in the face. Smoke sizzled from a burn mark on the rock inches from her face, evidence of what would have happened to her if she had been even a little bit slower.
Time to get to cover.
Half her little training cavern was filled with shimmering purple grass, and not far away a waterfall crashed into a small lake. The grass stung anything it touched, but it was the better option. She ducked another blast of light and rolled into the grass with seconds to spare. The soft tips of the grass stung her like hundreds of bees, but she gritted her teeth and kept low. Her skin itched, and she could already feel the welts swelling on her arms and face.
I can’t worry about the pain. Her primary focus was to stay out of sight, especially since a green blast would hurt a hell of a lot more than some stinging grass. Besides, the black magic in her blood would heal her welts as soon as she wasn’t under fire anymore.
“You found cover! Good thinking, Victoria!” Fyrn shouted across the cavern.
Man, sometimes I hate training. She always walked away with bruises, but it would all be worth it in the end.
Every day she got better, and every day her wizard mentor’s attacks got stronger. He was trying to make her a better fighter, trying to give her everything she needed to succeed and stay alive in a city that didn't quite trust her.
Fyrn won’t throw anything at me I can’t handle, but damn! Sometimes I wish he didn't trust me so much.
Another blast hummed through the air, singeing a few loose locks of her hair as it passed. The energy fizzled against the cave wall, leaving another black mark in its wake.
In today’s training exercise Victoria had only one mission. Don't get caught. She could be seen, she could banter, but she couldn’t get hit. This lesson was about speed and agility, not to mention how to escape a bad situation if she couldn't win a fight. Not that it would ever happen, of course. She gained more control over the magical artifact in her arm with every day that passed.
Fyrn tried to hide his reactions, but she saw his impressed grins. He had to be pleased with how quickly she was picking up and mastering her new gifts.
“Let’s up the stakes!” Fyrn shouted.
She groaned. Pain almost always followed that sentence.
A sequence of attacks sailed toward her, one after the other, each aimed for a different part of her body. She called these ‘combos,’ and she fucking hated them. One of them hit her every single time.
Every. Single. Time.
She dodged the first two, twisting out of the way with only a second to spare as they hit the wall and fizzled. The third came dangerously close to her head, and she could feel the heat from the fourth as it sailed past her nose.
The fifth, of course, hit her square in the chest.
Struck by the full force of a wizard’s power beam, Victoria flew backward and hit the wall hard. Pain splintered up her back and something in her shoulders cracked. She whimpered, sliding to the ground as her world went fuzzy. She tried to stand, but ended up on her hands and knees when her feet gave out underneath her.
The cold tip of a crystal pressed into her forehead, indenting her skin as Fyrn claimed victory. When her vision cleared, Victoria saw nothing but the wizard’s long staff and the glimmering crystal at its tip. If he were a real adversary, he could have blown her head off and ended the fight.
“Yeah, yeah, you win. Big—" She stopped as his face came into focus. Brows furrowed, eyes narrowed in hatred, pupils dilated—he looked ready to kill.
And the full weight of his glare was focused squarely on her.
“Fyrn?” she said warily, trying to snap him out of it.
Blinking rapidly, the old wizard lowered his staff and stepped away. His shoulders drooped, and he stared at her for a few moments. Victoria cautiously stood, confused and a little worried that her mentor could look at her with such hatred.
“I got caught up in the moment.” He turned his back on her, leaning on the staff as he walked toward the waterfall. The meadow of purple grass between them made him seem small, but Victoria knew better. This wizard was easily the most powerful in Fairhaven. His knowledge, experience, and abilities dwarfed any of the other wizards who lived in Fairhaven.
Truth be told, Fyrn could kill her. She would put up one hell of a fight and maybe take him with her, but it was unlikely she would win in a fight against her mentor. And until now, she hadn't thought she would ever need to worry about that.
But the look in his eyes had been deadly. Even if he had merely been caught up in the moment, he had looked ready to kill.
And to many people in the magical world, Victoria was someone worth killing.
Victoria studied the magical steampunk-style dagger that had fused with her right forearm the day Luak had murdered her parents. This was dark magic, and Fyrn had confessed that these artifacts often corrupted the people who bonded with them. Hopefully that wouldn't happen to her.
Hopefully, Fyrn would never need to kill her.
On a little boulder by the exit, Styx clapped and cheered in the gibberish language of the pixies. Wings flapping, he soared into the air and flitted around her head, chittering the whole way. She chuckled at the little creature’s antics. “No more coffee for you, kiddo. Jesus.”
Fyrn tapped his staff against the mossy ground in his version of applause. “Take the rest of the day off. Rest. Recharge. You did well today, Victoria.”
“I should keep training.” She looked forward to the day when she didn’t need to train constantly, but she knew it wouldn’t come for a while. Come hell or high water, she would have revenge on Luak for murdering her parents. He wouldn't rest, and neither should she.
Fyrn shook his head, his long white beard trailing a bit behind with every motion. “Every good warrior must know when to rest as well as when to fight. Exhausting yourself isn’t going to make you better than Luak, so go home.”
“I need to get stronger, Fyrn.”
“Exactly, and exhausting yourself isn't going to do that. Do you even listen when I speak? Good lord, child. You need to get physically stronger, to the point where you can hold both the sword and shield at the same time. Right now you can barely hold one.”
“So make me do pushups! Make me lift weights, or run laps. Going home and resting isn’t going to make me stronger.”
“No, but it will let me look for a spell or something. Physically, you simply aren't strong enough. You will never be strong enough for that artifact, Victoria. No human could be. There are limitations to the human body that you can’t overcome, regardless of how hard you train. I saw your father go through these struggles, and watching you go through the same ordeal is only driving home the point.”
“Lame.”
“Quite.”
“Well, what options do we have? Only spells? Hey, is there another Rhazdon Artifact that can make me stronger?” She chuckled, but her smile quickly faded. If she were being honest with herself, it wasn’t a joke at all. Another artifact would certainly speed up her training.
“Absolutely not!” Fyrn’s voice echoed in th
e cave like thunder over a desert, hard and loud. Panicked, Styx dove into Victoria’s hair, his tiny body trembling as he clung to her.
“Fyrn, I was kidding. I don’t want—”
“Dark magic is not something to joke about, Victoria. It kills. It corrupts. You may not lose control of yourself like some Rhazdon hosts do, but every host I’ve ever seen loses themselves to bloodlust and a thirst for power. Look at Luak! How many people do you think he’s killed?”
She balled her hands in anger, but she didn’t know what to say.
Fyrn continued, scowling. “If you don't take dark magic seriously, it will destroy you from within. I don't know if anyone has ever had more than one Rhazdon Artifact except for Rhazdon himself, and he started a war that killed thousands! I won’t let you become him!”
