Fantasy

She Brought a Dagger to a God Fight…

Hey,

This is Ran, Sarn’s son from the Curse Breaker Series back with book news and updates!

First the updates. Melinda will be at The Ripped Bodice in Brooklyn, NY this friday from around 7 pm to 9 pm. There will be a book signing during the last 15 minutes of the event.

If you’re planning to come and there’s a specific book you’d like to but a copy of and get signed at the event, please hit reply and let us know. The Ripped Bodice was only able to get 5 copies of Curse Breaker Enchanted. But they gave us permission to bring and sell other books.

So if you wanted to get a different book, please hit reply and tell us which book you wanted so I can pack it in the Scribe’s backpack and send her off to her first book signing with it. This is so exciting!

Melinda will have the first two books of the Rogue Gods Trilogy as well, so you can see the shiny gold foiling on the cover. She won’t have book 3 since it’s not yet done. The book is now 52 chapters long, and we’re at the final battle.

But I can’t talk about that now because it’s my great honor to introduce you to Rosalie. Who is Rosalie?

Rosalie is the daughter of Robin of Larkspur and the person most likely to run toward danger. In the Robin of Larkspur prequel series, you met her as a baby. Now, meet her when she’s all grown up.

Is she like her mother? Do they get along well? You’re about to find out.

And bonus! You meet me as an adult because I’m about six months older than Rosalie, and I have to appear in every book Melinda writes. It’s an unwritten rule. 😉

Here’s a picture of Rosalie from book 2 of the Rogue Gods Trilogy, Summon the Gods. Don’t worry. She’s here to save us all!

Rogue Gods #1: Gateway To Hell

Many Meetings (Chapter 10, scene 1)

Rosalie adjusted her rucksack as she hiked through the enchanted forest. Sunlight dappled the leaf mold and gilded the giant trees she passed. Somewhere ahead, Mount Eredren stood, and that was her goal. I’ll show them all what a determined woman can do. Rosalie held her head high as she trod on through the golden afternoon.

The sunlight flickered, and the enchanted trees around her bent as if struck by an invisible force. The sky darkened as clouds covered it. All around her, short black and gray threads fell like rain, but this wasn’t a natural weather phenomenon. As the threads covered the ground, it turned gray, and the grass and other plants withered away.

What’s happening? Rosalie pulled her hood up to shield her head, and she pulled her hands into her sleeves. Now all her bare skin was covered. She could run, but where should she run to?

Mount Eredren was still at least three miles away, maybe more if her calculations were correct. A shadow passed her, and she felt cold all over, but that didn’t make sense because it was summer now and quite warm before thick clouds rolled in.

“I just wanted to be beautiful,” someone with a raspy voice said.

But when she turned to glance behind her, no one was there. Am I losing my mind? Rosalie didn’t think so, but how would she know?

A giant stone statue of a man appeared in front of her. Where did this come from? The statue towered over her, and its glowing green eyes seemed to look right through her. What the Hell is going on?

Images flashed through her mind of humanoid creatures crashing through the forest. Horns protruded from their heads, and they towered over her too.

Their eyes glowed with an otherworldly fire as they charged toward her, holding wickedly sharp axes in their clawed hands. Their footsteps were a thunderous din that shook the ground as she ran.

The forest will save me. She repeated their three rules like a mantra against the fear constricting her chest. “Start no fires. Carry no weapons. Do no harm. Follow the rules and live.” And she was following them. The trees would save her. She just needed to give them time to wake up and defend her.

“Rosalie, where are you?” Her mother yelled from somewhere nearby.

“Mom, I’m over here!” Relief swept through her. Mom was a warrior and often away doing warrior things. But mom was back now right when she needed her. “Mom?”

“I’m coming.”

The earth trembled as the trees uprooted themselves and stabbed at the creatures behind her. The blue and gray horned creatures roared as the trees lashed out with their branches and raised their roots to trip them.

The forest filled with the thud of axes striking wood, but that just made the trees angrier.

“What are you doing out here? You know you’re not supposed to go into the forest alone.” Mom ran up to her, holding a crossbow in one hand. She extended her other hand to catch her arm. Even she towered over Rosalie until she fell with an ax buried in her back.

“No! Mom!” Rosalie screamed as the world turned black.

***

“Are you all right?” A man asked as he shook her shoulder gently.

Rosalie opened her eyes and stared into the green eyes of a handsome stranger. A statue stood behind him. The images of her mother lying dead at her feet momentarily overtook her sight, but she shook them away. That wasn’t real. Mom’s just fine. I argued with her three days ago. She’s fine.

But the image felt like a memory. But it wasn’t a memory because Mom always wore that red brigandine everywhere. She never took it off. But she wasn’t wearing it in that image. It wasn’t real. Mom is fine and mad at me as usual.

“Are you okay? You’re just staring at me. I’m a good-looking guy, but it’s rude to stare.” He preened a little at the attention, and maybe it was the angle or the lighting since the sun returned during her blackout, but he looked exactly like the statue.

“You look like the statue behind you. Was he a relative?” Rosalie sat up. The threads were gone too, like they never covered everything. What happened? Did I hallucinate everything? She felt weird but not enough to account for it.

His smile fell and his gaze too. “He was my father, but he died sixteen years ago when I was just a kid who thought adults were weird.”

“I’m sorry for your loss. And I’m still being rude. I’m Rosalie. What’s your name?”

“I’m just called Ran.” He rose, and he was quite tall, probably taller than her by a lot. “Do you need a hand up?”

“Thanks.” She accepted his hand, and he pulled her to her feet. Just as she suspected, he was a lot taller than her. The top of her head was level with his shoulder. Oh well. She was never the tallest woman in the room. “What are you doing out here?”

***

Find out next week. Don’t forget to follow the Kickstarter, so you know when it launches. Guerren is on the right. Rosalie is in the middle, and Evarian is on the left.

This chaotic trio will either save the timeline and the world or destroy both. Only one of them will have fun doing it. You can guess which one.

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