Fantasy

Fallout is here

Hi Readers,

It’s the day you have been waiting for! Curse Breaker Fallout published today in all stores. Grab your copy now. I’ll wait. (This is Ran, and I’m back to reprise my role as the best sidekick ever in Curse Breaker Fallout.)

You can now find out what happened to the baby dragon. Did I get another adventure? After all, Papa did say we’d go on another adventure at end of Curse Breaker Hidden. And you know I’ll hold him to that. 😉

Those questions and more are all answered in Curse Breaker Fallout.

Some of the cast, (ahem, Jerlo), headed off on their own adventure. If you read Curse Breaker Hidden, then you know why. If you haven’t, we’ve got two boxed sets to help you get caught up:

In other news, our books are available on Smashwords. Yes, Curse Breaker Fallout is too. We’re sorry for the delay. We had to reformat all the book files for some reason, and that took a little time.

I blame our resident dragon for that. She’s digital, and she’s always messing around with our files. Eat humble pie, dragon, and apologize for creating more work for our Scribe.

And now you’re wondering if I thanked her for getting us an international Bookbub for today.

Well, I did. Papa raised me to have manners, and good manners require me to thank her so…

I pulled up my big character pants. (I might have borrowed Papa’s pants for this. Since he’s at least three feet taller than me, I had to roll up the pant legs for this exercise in gratitude. But I wanted to do this properly and have an extra layer of cloth between me and any fire that might result.)

Where was I?

Oh, yes, I was in my Scribe’s apartment, and that dragon sat at her computer. I walked over and said, “hello, dragon. You’ve been a good girl lately.”

This was before I found out about her messing with the book files. Don’t worry. Curse Breaker Fallout was already locked and loaded for release everywhere before she touched the files, so it’s fine everywhere. Only the files for Smashwords were disturbed, and Melinda (our Scribe) fixed them before our books published to that store.

That dragon blew a smoke ring at me. Ew. But I carried on with my mission anyway. I learned perseverance from Papa. He never gives up, so I wouldn’t either.

“Thank you for the BookBub.” I waited for a response, but she blew another smoke ring at me, so I backed away.

“You’re welcome. But I didn’t do it for you.” That dragon shook a wickedly sharp blue glowing claw at me.

“Oh no? Then who did you do it for?” This was a confusing turn of events. I’m in all three books in the boxed set featured in the Bookbub, but so is Papa. Maybe she did for him?

That didn’t seem likely either since he and the dragon had clashed every time that dragon had come after me.

“I did it for our Scribe.” The dragon clicked a few buttons on the keyboard.

What could I say to that? Without our Scribe, Melinda, we wouldn’t exist. “Well, thank you anyway.” I backed away until my backside touched the purple glowing portal that led back to my world. But it no longer went to our cave because I don’t live there anymore.

Where do I live now? Find out below in our special launch day presentation of:

Curse Breaker Fallout

by Melinda Kucsera

Darkness surrounded Sarn. Where am I? No light shined from his eyes. Why weren’t they glowing? They should be. I got my magic back. So why isn’t it obliterating the darkness? My magic knows I hate it.

Sarn extended both arms and probed the surrounding area, but there was nothing in front of him or on either side. Where am I?

Green light finally broke up the darkness, but it didn’t illuminate anything. Sarn spun and faced a green man-shaped cloud of earth magic behind him. It stood as tall as him. “Why aren’t you inside me?” Sarn touched his chest, but it was whole, despite the empty feeling inside.

“You’re broken.” His magic folded its glowing arms.

“I’m not broken anymore.” Sarn rubbed his face. “This must be a dream because we already had this conversation.” But he didn’t wake up.

“We didn’t finish it.”

“What do you mean? You came back. I thought I resolved everything.” Sarn let his hands drop to his sides. “I defeated the Ægaldar, and the Adversary disappeared. What else is there besides the seals my sister’s dealing with?” But that had all happened three days ago. Plenty of time had passed for something else to go wrong. I hope nothing did.

Had the Adversary returned to torture him or his family? Sarn shivered. The Adversary had tried to take over his brother and Sovvan too. What if that fiend had gotten to her? Could he reach me through our bond?

Sarn ran his hands through his hair. How would he know if that had happened? Sovvan had disappeared with those angels, but she hadn’t returned since then.

“No, he’s not here. He can’t bother you for seven years.” His magic shook its glowing head.

Sarn didn’t like the sound of that, but what could he do about it? This mage thing was complicated, and he still had so much to learn. “What happens in seven years?”

“You’ll face the Question again, and you must decide what your truth is.”

“You’re my truth. I thought we settled that in the pit.” Sarn laid a hand over his heart where the bond to his twin dwelt. Are you all right, Sovvan? His magic hadn’t said anything about her.

Nor did she reply. Sarn tamped down the worry flooding him. Sovvan was busy. The Adversary might not be trying to take over her mind and body. In case that devil was, Sarn closed his eyes and sent good thoughts to her. I believe in you, sis. If the devil speaks, don’t listen.

But Sarn had listened. He hadn’t meant to, and he’d regretted it right after, but the damage had been done.

“What do you want?” His magic paced a tight circle around him.

“Right now? I want my twin sister back, so we can catch up.” But that wasn’t the right answer. Nor was it possible. Sarn cursed when his magic turned away.

“Then get her back. We’ll finish this later.”

“Wait,” Sarn reached for his earth magic, but it floated away from him. “I need you too.”

“Do you really?” his magic asked in a strangled voice.

“Yes, I said so in the pit, and I can’t lie.” Sarn extended his hand to his magic, but it still had its back to him.

“Then why haven’t you used me?” His magic stared into the darkness.

Sarn opened and closed his mouth, but no words came out. Why hadn’t he used it? Sarn touched his head. “I have a concussion. I’m supposed to rest, not use magic.” Or so Thing kept telling him.

“Are you sure that’s the only reason?” His magic shook its head as it vanished, leaving Sarn alone in the darkness he hated.

So much had happened. He’d lost his magic, found a baby dragon, reunited with his twin, lost her, found someone who could teach him magic, regained his magic, contained a bunch of magic-stealing rocks, met an angel, fought with the Devil, destroyed an ancient monster, and he’d somehow survived it all. But his own magic didn’t trust him anymore. Why do these things always happen to me?

Just thinking about the events of the last week made his head hurt as the dream faded but not the darkness. Sarn opened his eyes, but no light shined on the ceiling because his eyes weren’t glowing. Had his magic left him again?

No, it’s still there. Your eyes aren’t glowing because you’re not using magic right now, Thing said in his head because that OwlCat listened to all his thoughts and commented on them. Didn’t you learn that? It should have been your first lesson in magic. A mage’s eyes glow, so others will know when he’s working magic.

Sarn didn’t answer because he didn’t want another lecture. Instead, he squeezed his eyes closed and pretended to fall back to sleep. But that didn’t fool Thing.

You can’t avoid me forever, that owl said in his head again, especially not when his family was staying in the same flat as that mind-reading OwlCat.

Sarn clenched his fists because Thing was right. But he could avoid that mind reader until morning. Sarn gritted his teeth. I don’t have to talk. I’m not my sister. Sovvan was the talkative one.

Sarn rubbed his chest. The wound dealt by her death was knitting together, making him strong like her. She should have been there to celebrate their victory, but she was stuck dealing with another problem. Is someone helping you save those seals? Or are you on your own?

Sovvan was a capable woman, so why did his mind keep casting her as a damsel in distress? Was it because so many stories relegated women to that status? Or was his sister in danger? It didn’t help that she wore a long white dress like a virgin sacrifice in an old tale, and she wandered around like a wide-eyed innocent.

Oh Fate, the more he thought of her, the more he pictured her as a prisoner in a dark place like the one in his dream. Was she in prison right now? That would explain the strange dream he’d just had.

Are you all right, Sovvan? Send me a sign before I worry myself to death. Sarn wished their bond had more information to share.

***

To read what happens next, get Curse Breaker Fallout now!


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