Hi Readers!

We’re back and this week we’re taking a quick trip back our world, and we’re taking you with us for a very special mission. Isn’t that exciting?

So let’s get to it. Today, we’re hunting the hunters. Why? because they ran off with the plot, and it’s our job to stop them.

Who are the offenders?

The cast of this book:

Who stars in Relic Hunter?

That’s an excellent question. Let me, your host, Ran, Sarn’s only son, sidekick and his biographer, take you behind the scenes to find out. (Sarn is the main character of the Curse Breaker series and my personal hero in addition to being my dad.)

Hang on to your hat if you’re wearing one or your hood if, like me, you’re sporting a cloak. Watch your step as you depart the magical laptop. How did you get in there? Let me explain.

You see, every week, we send out another magical item, our weekly newsletter. When you open it, you’re instantly transported into our world. Pretty awesome right? I thought so.

Except sometimes, the magic doesn’t quite work right, and you end up inside the machine. When that happens, I blame our Newsletter-Dragon. (She does the actual delivery part and sometimes, she takes some pretty twisty paths through the interwebs, and they screw with the laptop’s magic.

That’s how you ended up inside a black box. It’s a waiting area while you do something called ‘buffering.’ I think. But the Newsletter-Dragon might have made that part up.

Anyhow, you’re here now and don’t mind the mess as you step down onto a ladder-back chair. Say hi to my scribe, Melinda. She’s curled up on the sofa and having a well-deserved snooze. Papa’s also taking a nap, but he’s lying on a really think throw rug. But his magic is always watching. It’s gathered around him in a green halo, and it knows I’m up to something. 🙂

Please don’t wake Papa. I’ll explain why after we pop through this here flaming-purple hoop, aka, the portal, and away we go!

Okay, you still with me? Great. Sometimes, things go through the portal and end up scattered all over the other side. I’m glad that didn’t happen this time. Now, if you’ll take a look around, you’ll notice a lot of very tall trees.

You guessed it. We’re somewhere in the enchanted forest. Just ignore that prickly feeling between your shoulders. The forest is just curious about you. As long as we don’t break any of its three rules, it should leave us alone. Notice I said ‘should.’ When dealing with the forest, it’s best not to make assumptions because you never know what it’s thinking.

Yes, it’s quasi-intelligent. No, no one sane has ever dared to determine the depth and breadth of that intelligence. Or if they did, they didn’t tell anyone about it.

What are the forest’s rules?

Start no fires. Carry no weapons. Do no harm.

Remember that? We dealt with those pesky rules in Curse Breaker: Enchanted and Curse Breaker: Falls.

I don’t know how to start a fire, so we don’t need to worry about that rule. As for weapons, I just have my trusty slingshot in my pocket. But it doesn’t count as a weapon at least not to the forest because it’s not made of metal.

If you’re carrying anything metallic other than jewelry, you might want to leave it here by the portal just in case. The enchanted forest is really touchy about metallic objects, especially axes.

Don’t worry. The forest won’t let anyone touch any of the items you leave behind. You can pick them up on our return trip through the portal.

I should pause here and tell you something that probably won’t surprise you. I don’t have permission to trek around the enchanted forest on my own. So, how about we keep this little outing between you and me, okay?  Papa doesn’t need to know about it. Neither does my scribe, Melinda.

Okay, now that we have that out of the way, let’s find out who’s holding up Relic Hunter.

Look over there. Do you see those a woman and a man? They’re knights, and they’re on a mission to find and contain magical relics from the ancient world. Apparently, these relics tend to fall into the hands of unscrupulous people who want to use them for their own ends.

That’s why these two knights have to search far and wide for them, and when they find these relics, they do everything in their power to take them back. Before we go over and meet them, I thought I saw someone run past.

He had a green cloak, and he looked suspiciously like a younger version of Papa. We’ll call him Young Papa for clarity’s sake. It seems this portal transported us back in time as well as to another world. It’s never done that before. I wonder why it chose to do that this time?

I cross through it pretty regularly since the portal connects from my scribe’s apartment to the cave under Mount Eredren where I live with Papa and Uncle Miren. I hope nothing’s wrong with the portal since Melinda (my scribe) isn’t here to correct it. (She has magical powers too.)

Uh-oh. Those knights saw us, and they’re heading this way.

“What are you doing here?” Zoya asked as she rounded a giant tree. It was probably wondering the same thing.

She was long and lean in her leathers, but mischief sparkled in her brown eyes as she set her bandaged stump against her hip. Behind her, a man, who was probably a relative of some sort, lumbered into view.

“Not another child. Saints preserve us. Haven’t we got enough children in this book already?”

“So that was a younger version of Papa.” I nodded. “I thought so, but he ran by so fast. I didn’t get a good look at him.”

“Well, he looks just like you only older. Or never mind. This conversation is starting to hurt my head.” Zoya rested her one remaining hand against her forehead.

“So would you say it’s Papa’s fault that the story is not finished yet, and it’s publication had to be pushed to May 7? These nice people would like to know.” I gestured to you, and you smiled expectantly because such smiles aways invite answers.

Tune in next week for more as we dive deeper into Relic Hunter.