Fantasy

It’s happening! (and we’re trapped…)

Hi Readers,

You can order your copy of Curse Breaker Trapped today! It will publish on July 7, 2022. We have the editing all scheduled. It’s officially happening!

My long-awaited revelation begins on July 7th. (This is Ran, Sarn’s son, in case you were wondering.)

If you’re a part of our fantasy reader community, you’ll get your copy as soon as we have the final edits done. (We’re supposed to receive the edits back on June 20th, and we’ll get cracking on them ASAP. You can join our community here and get our books first and read chapters before anyone else.)

And now, how about an excerpt to get this party started?

It’s my pleasure to bring you this preview of:

Curse Breaker Trapped

by Melinda Kucsera

(Curse Breaker Trapped is the sequel to Curse Breaker Fallout. I strongly recommend you read that first.)

Troubling Thoughts (Chapter 1)

How can I help Queen Shayari? Sarn pushed open the door in front of him.

We could look for her, his magic said.

We could. Sarn entered the dark room. But he’d used a lot of magic today. Should he use more just to put his mind at ease? Sarn closed the door behind him and turned to lock it until he remembered this wasn’t his cave. The door didn’t have physical locks either. It didn’t need them since runes surrounded it. Were they better than physical locks?

Sarn stared at them. They weren’t his spells, so he only knew what a few of them did because Nulthir hadn’t been around long enough to ask about the others. Sarn touched the one that was supposed to lock the door, but there wasn’t a click or a glow or anything to confirm it had done anything. He grabbed the handle and turned it, but the door didn’t budge. Was his family safe?

That was another question that had no answer. Sarn turned away from the door and tiptoed around Miren and the little sheet-covered lump next to him. His eyes glowed just enough to light his way, but not bright enough to disturb his family. They slept on as he glanced out the window at the dark forest crouched a mile away beyond the two circles of standing stones. But the Queen of All Trees didn’t appear. Sarn turned away from the window and laid down next to his son. He needed rest and answers and an end to all the relighting.

We could look for her, his magic offered again.

Maybe he should let it, so he could stop worrying. All right, but don’t go too far. I’m too tired to fight with you. Sarn stifled a yawn as his earth magic radiated out of him in concentric green spheres that expanded beyond the mountain, and the meadow surrounding it, and dove into the enchanted forest. The River Nirthal flowed east to west in front of Mount Eredren’s south face, and his earth magic backed away from that shore, but that was all right because the Queen of All Trees would be somewhere within the enchanted forest, anyway.

Sarn spread his magic through the forest and searched for her. Symbols popped up on his head map, but none marked either of the two queens. What was Jerlo doing in the enchanted forest? Was he returning from his vacation already? Please don’t. Take another week or two off. Sarn willed the commander to turn around and head back into the forest when the man broke camp, but he probably wouldn’t because Sarn couldn’t make him. He could just hope Jerlo wouldn’t choose tomorrow to end his vacation.

Neither queen of Shayari had appeared on his map while he’d stared at Jerlo’s icon. Did they know he was looking for them? Could they sense his magic? How did their magic work? Is it like mine or Nulthir’s? Sarn stared at the ceiling, and his eyes cast green light on it.

But he’d taken his mind off his magic, so it stopped racing through the forest. Instead, it delved under it. Oh, no. Sarn reached for his magic. He must stop it before it dived too deep. Information pummeled him about the rocks and minerals underground, and he lost his grip on his magic. When will I ever need this information?

His earth magic didn’t answer. It just tried to delve deeper while Sarn pulled on his magic. Return to me. But it kept fighting to break free.

Delve down deep into the earth where secrets lie, his earth magic said.

No. I need to stay out of trouble or Jerlo will slap more constraints on me. Do you want that? Because Sarn didn’t. But to avoid that, he must leave those ancient secrets alone until he’d proved he could handle his magic. I hope Jerlo doesn’t see my magic. But the commander might because his magic liked to be seen. It glowed green all the damned time, even when Sarn wished it wouldn’t.

Return to me and shield my son. Sarn tugged on his magic. Things were better between them now, but his magic didn’t always listen to him.

That got his earth magic’s attention. Little Light’s in danger? That was its name for Ran since the boy was a small white star shining on his head map.

Ran wasn’t in trouble, though. His son slept, sandwiched between him and Miren. But Sarn closed his eyes and put that thought out of mind. He couldn’t lie. His other magic prevented that. But other than keep him honest, it didn’t do much else except break a curse when it felt like it. I don’t want to lose him, and a lot of people know where I live. If they saw my son, Sarn had to stop when the old fear gripped him. I can’t lose him.

His earth magic responded to that fear and rushed back into him. It wrapped around the sleeping child. We protect him.

Right now it did, but Sarn wasn’t always here. When he left later, Ran would be here with just the OwlCats. Thing would usually butt in now and allay his fears, but that OwlCat hadn’t done much mind talking over the last week since his brush with that Rider of the Apocalypse.

Sarn rested his hand on his son’s back. He should get some sleep too, but his thoughts slipped back to that last summoning. Was the Queen of All Trees all right? Probably since she was a giant magical tree. But what about Queen Shayari? She’d moved like her sword and armor were part of her and as weightless as that silver gown she’d appeared in. Queen Shayari was probably fine, but he couldn’t stop thinking about her.

“What do I owe you for this boon?” he whispered into the dark room, and her last words echoed in his head.

***

Can’t wait to find out what happens next? Read more chapters from Trapped on our Patreon. Don’t forget to order your copy, so you get it the day it drops!

And if you are looking to buy a copy directly from us, you can do that too. We’re building a new store on Gumroad, but we’ll have more on that soon.

We’re building a new store on Gumroad, and it should be ready by early July.

Unfortunately, we had to give up on our old PayPal store after going through multiple agents and getting no answers. So that’s what your favorite characters are doing now besides begging for more page time.

We’ll be back next week with more Curse Breaker Trapped! Have a wonderful day.


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