Hey, I’m back with another preview! This one features a shady character. You might know him.

But first, some book news!

We have no news about our scribe’s Amazon account still. 😦

Did the proof copies arrive?

Not yet. We’re still waiting for them too. So I have no new pictures to show you yet. But they can’t stay in transit forever, right?

So the kickstarter is not launching today.

We hope the proof copies will arrive so we can launch it next Monday. It’s not just the fancy hardcovers traveling across the ocean. We also ordered copies of the paperbacks for Storm Spells & Void Spells too, and we’d really like to flip through those and search for typos one last time before hitting the launch button. So stay tuned!

(This is Ran, Sarn’s son in case you forgot. Find us in the Curse Breaker series and also in this week’s preview.)

And now for that preview!

Last week, I brought you the first chapter of Book Battles, Tales of A Curse Breaker in NY #2. This week, I bring you chapter 1 of the sequel, Rogue Characters (Tales of A Curse Breaker in NY #3).

Who’s that shady character? Future Ran! Yes, an older version of me stole the story at the end of the previous book (Book Battles) for important plot reasons. You’ll have to read the series to find out why he felt that was necessary.

In case you missed it, the reading order for the stories based on our newsletter adventures goes as follows:

Story Arc #1: TALES OF A CURSE BREAKER IN NY TRILOGY

• Catch the Scribe
• Book Battles
• Rogue Characters ← You are here if you were wondering

Story Arc #2: CURSE BREAKER’S COMPANION SERIES

• Dragon Spells
• Rogue Spells
• Storm Spells
• Void Spells

And now, let’s go to that preview!

Rogue Characters, Tales of a Curse Breaker in NY #3

by Melinda Kucsera

Chapter 1: The Fade

Future Ran rested his chin on his fist and stared at the chalkboard as the professor droned on and on about the history of Shayari’s legal system. Ran stifled a yawn. How did Uncle Miren get through this class without falling asleep?

Somehow, his uncle had since he remembered his uncle taking this class when he was little. So that was like ten years ago or something.

Ran didn’t glance to the left when a green glow appeared there. It was just Dad checking on him as usual. I wish he’d stop doing that. I’m fourteen, not four. Plus, I’m in school like I promised, listening to the most boring lecture ever given about the most dramatic and chaotic time in the history of my country.

Ran didn’t understand how this young guy could make such a fascinating time as boring as writing a shopping list. But here he was, stuck listening to the guy for the next hour even though he knew the history of the coup by heart since it was the only time period Dad was interested in because it ended the age of heroes.

The law book lying on the table in front of him became transparent. Ran blinked to clear his sight in case his imagination was trying to run off with him. That happened sometimes. The book flickered as it became opaque for a moment and then faded until he could see through it to the stone slab underneath it.

That’s definitely not supposed to happen. Ran poked the book just to be sure he was seeing what was really there. He did since his finger went through the book. It really was fading. He suppressed a groan.

Not again. I just fixed things so my world wouldn’t fade away like two days ago. It can’t be happening again already. I helped my younger self and a digital dragon publish the story of my family. That was supposed to fix everything. It had fixed things. So why was the book in front of him fading? Why were the shelves of books that separated this classroom from the main library fading too?

I need to go to Melinda’s apartment to find out. Ran stuffed his hand into his pocket, but there were no lumir crystals in there because Dad took them away. Ran sighed. Why must everything be so complicated?

He could sneak out of class, run back to the apartment he shared with his dad and uncle and fetch the crystals, or he could try using his magic without a focus. Ran considered that for only a moment before he rose from the bench and slipped past his classmates.

“Where are you going?” The professor asked.

Ran didn’t turn around when he reached the end of the bench. “I need to talk to my scribe. I’ll be right back.”

Ran bolted for the narrow aisle between the fading bookshelves and didn’t stop, not even when the professor threatened to tell his dad about this.

He probably knows already or he will know soon. Ran didn’t bother to say that aloud as he ran past the green glow of earth magic creeping across the floor. Of course his dad wasn’t the only earth mage living under Mount Eredren. But he was the most powerful one, and he had a vested interest in a certain student studying in the library right now.

Ran didn’t know if any of the other kids attending classes in the library had magical parents. So it was possible that earth magic came from someone else, but it wasn’t probable unless that magical parent was as overprotective as his dad. So it was safe to assume that Dad already knew that he cut class. I’d better run faster.

Thankfully, that magic didn’t form a wall and stop him, even though it could have. Maybe that magic belonged to someone other than Dad since it let him pass. Ran didn’t wait around to find out. He rushed out of the library into the hallway that connected it to the rest of the underground city and pushed himself to run even faster just in case he was wrong. Now, he just needed a stairwell since he lived upstairs where the nobles used to live. Technically, he was a nobleman now, but that didn’t have any bearing on his current problem.

Since he was woolgathering, he didn’t notice the wall shimmer with green energy right before Dad appeared in his path. But Ran couldn’t stop in time, so he crashed into his chest. Dad had always been lean and muscular, so it was like running into a stone wall.

Oof. Ran bounced off Dad and might have staggered into the wall that Dad probably walked through to get here so fast. But Dad caught him and held him at arm’s length.

“Why do you always do that?” Ran rubbed his forehead.

“Why are you skipping class? You said you’d take a few days off this scribe thing.” Dad was paying the professor to teach the class, so that was a fair question.

“Because everything’s fading again. I need to go to our scribe’s apartment to find out why. So I’m skipping class, not because it’s boring, even though it is, but because I need to save the world. Will you let me?” Ran tried to give him the sad puppy dog look that got him out of so much trouble when he was four instead of fourteen, but Dad was immune to it. Damnit. I must have used it too much when I was little.

“What do you mean everything’s fading? I don’t see anything fading.” Dad glanced around at the carvings on the walls.

There used to be statues everywhere, but they came alive when Ran was a little kid. So there weren’t any more statues, and that was good because they were in the way back then. But now they weren’t. Things got really complicated after that happened. But then they settled out, and Ran couldn’t remember how that all turned out.

Where did the army go after it turned from stone back into flesh and blood fighters? Ran couldn’t remember that either, and that was troubling because that was a major event in the history of this underground city and his family. Were all the events in his past in flux until Melinda turned them into books?

Dad stared off instead of continuing the lecture. Did he see or sense that their world was fading again?

Dad was the quiet type, so his grip on Ran tightened, and that was all the warning he got before Dad threw a shield over him. Green light wrapped around Ran in a blinding sphere as Dad pulled him forward.

“Where are we going?” Ran hoped Dad wasn’t taking him back to class.

“I need to talk to my brother.” Dad tugged him onward until he stopped.

The shield vanished, revealing a large room dominated by a long table in the center. A bunch of people sat around it, and they fell silent as they saw Dad pull Ran through the wall. Uncle Miren rose from his chair, but he didn’t look surprised. Maybe he saw the green glow come through the wall before they did since the shield preceded them?

“We need to talk,” Dad said, even though that was obvious. He rarely interrupted meetings unless he had a good reason, and this certainly qualified as a good reason.

“Ran, what did you do now?” asked his uncle. Thankfully, he looked amused, unlike Dad. But Uncle Miren was only ten years older than him, so he was more like a big brother than an uncle.

“Why do you think I did anything?” Ran tried to look innocent as Dad towed him toward Uncle Miren.

“Because I know you.” Uncle Miren gestured to Dad’s firm grip on Ran’s arm like that was proof to support his claim, and it probably was. Uncle Miren turned to the folks still seated at the table. “Let’s adjourn. We can meet later if we need to. Thank you, everyone for attending. I need to see to this.” Uncle Miren waved in Ran’s general direction as Dad tugged him toward the door.

Oh, now he wants to use doors like normal people. Ran rolled his eyes ceiling-ward. Dad was a great guy, but he could get a bit carried away with the overprotective parent thing.

Auntie Sovvan said he was better off with a loving but overprotective parent rather than a neglectful one. But she looked sad every time she reminded him about it, like she wished she and Dad and Uncle Miren had overprotective parents. Well, Uncle Miren kind of did since Dad raised him. But he should stop thinking about that since the wall turned transparent around the door.

I must do something. I don’t want to lose Dad and Uncle Miren. He didn’t think he could lose Auntie Sovvan since she was already dead but still very much a part of the family and their lives. I wonder what Auntie Sovvan is doing right now. She’s probably arguing with angels since she does that a lot.

Ran didn’t wait for everyone to leave. There wasn’t time for a private chat. “Everything’s fading again, and you know what that means. We have to go to Melinda’s apartment! We must find out why that’s happening and stop it.”

The room flickered like a lumir crystal about to go dark because its magic was gone. Everything turned gray too, and that was even worse because it meant the nothingness he glimpsed once as a child when Dysteria tried to erase his story was back. What did Dysteria do this time?

“Bro, what’s happening? I can barely see you,” Uncle Miren said, and he sounded scared.

“I’m not sure.” Dad didn’t sound scared, and that was comforting.

Ran felt around until he found his uncle and captured his hand. “I’ve got you, Uncle Miren, and I won’t let go.” Ran squeezed his uncle’s hand.

“Thanks. I won’t let go of you either.” Uncle Miren squeezed his hand.

“We need to go to Melinda’s apartment right now. Where’s that portal when you need it?” Ran didn’t see its purple glow. I wish the portal would show up right now and whisk us away to safety. He didn’t have a lumir crystal to tuck that wish into, so he just repeated it three times in his head and wished with all his might that the portal would appear.

Purple light blossomed in the gray nothingness, and Ran headed for it as he dragged the two most important people in his life behind him. “Hurry! The portal’s here, and we don’t know how long it can stay.”

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Dad asked that like he was certain it wasn’t.

“Yes. We need to go to New York right now.” Ran pulled his dad and his uncle into the purple light and away they went. We’re coming, Melinda. Hang on for a little​ longer.

***

After we find the portal, we run around NYC searching for our scribe for important plot reasons and also for your entertainment. Get Rogue Characters asan ebook (a DRM-free epub delivered by BookFunnel that you own forever) or a paperback or as part of Tales A Curse Breaker in NY Books 1-3 SE Hardcover Omnibus.

Next week, I’ll bring you the first chapter of the sequel, Dragon Spells! It features me and a dragon, and we definitely get into lots of trouble for plot reasons.

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