Read a chapter from her new fantasy book Wizards of Ends: Dark Creature, Chapter 1

I am so excited to share with you the work of a writer friend of mine. Vanessa and I met over a decade ago through a critique group called Critters. She lives halfway across the world in South Africa. She’s such a talented writer and author of 20 books (she’s been busy!).

Right now, Vanessa’s book “Wizard of Ends” is free! Links are at the bottom of this blog. Did I mention it’s free? This is the perfect way to get introduced to Vanessa’s world!

Please join me in giving Vanessa a warm welcome!

Hi Vanessa. I fondly remember how you and I met years ago in the Critters group. Both brought together from our love of fantasy.

1. Question: Do you have a favorite author(s)? Who are they and what draws you to them?

I do! They’re Dean Koontz, John Connolly (whom I actually had coffee with once!) and Terry Brookes. I love Koont’z sick mind and the endless twists in his books, and that you never know if the ‘cause of it all’ will be supernatural or not. Connolly’s imagination is equally entertaining, and he’s an awesome person to boot – just the type I could be good friends with if we lived within coffee-drinking distance! I love Brookes for the truly epic fantasy, the type that you can imagine as a Lord of the Rings type of movie.

2. I was reading your author bio last night on Amazon, and I had no idea you wrote 20 books. Question: What sort of books do you like to write when you’re not working on fantasy?

I also love horror and thriller – those are equal favourites along with fantasy. I enjoy science fiction too, but nothing too heavy on the tech stuff. I also enjoy anything that makes me laugh, and anything weird in non-fiction. (By the way, the school books I wrote for OUPSA are included in that 20, just in case anyone checks my indie author pages and sees a bit fewer!)

3. The book you’re sharing with us today is the second book in your series. Can you tell us about this story?

The Queen of Ends has been cursed, and it’s up to Lashlor to save her. To help the queen, he has to find an old flame, Rune Arcana. The only trouble is, Rune hates his guts and, the last time Lashlor saw her, she threatened to curse him if she ever saw him again. I quite enjoyed writing the interaction between Lashlor and Rune – that love/hate dynamic is rather amusing at times!

4. And you are here to promote book 3, coming out on 21 October. Is this the conclusion of your series or do you have more stories to share?

There will definitely be more books in the Wizard of Ends series. I’ve already started writing Book 4: Tainted Magic, and will be sharing an extract from it on the last day of the book tour. Readers who purchase Book 3 can also read the full Chapter 1 of Book 4 at the end. There will be a few more books after that, and I have some special plans for the final book – all I will say for now is that they involve Lashlor’s herb pouch 😉

Thanks Vanessa for stopping by on your world-wide virtual book tour. And thank you for sharing an excerpt from your second book. Links to all Vanessa’s books can be found at the bottom of this blog.

Enjoy!

Wizard of Ends, Book 2: Dark Creature – Chapter 1

Today, the Wizard of Ends virtual book tour brings you Chapter 1 of Wizard of Ends, Book 2: Dark Creature. Enjoy!

Bleak and foreboding, the Mountains of Eclador rose before the group of weary travellers, the darkening orange sky giving the mountains a decidedly evil appearance. A flock of kreag, nasty birds of prey large enough to carry off a full-grown man, circled above the nearest peaks. Lashlor hoped the birds were not hungry. These mountains were cold and heartless, and showed mercy to no man or beast, and the kreag would show the travellers no mercy either if it was to ease their hunger. Exactly what made the mountains so deadly was unknown – it could be a lack of food or shelter in most parts, or the kreag or other vicious mountain animals, or it could be something more sinister. Lashlor just hoped that whatever it was, it wasn’t magical.

If they returned to exit the narrow canyon they were about to enter, they would be the first in recorded history to survive a trip into these mountains.

The sorceress they were going to see, Rune Arcana, was capable of seeing him safely home, Lashlor knew. However, he wasn’t so sure she would have the power to see thirty-six men and their horses safely out of the mountains. He supposed it depended on why exactly the mountains were so treacherous. He had warned King Lanaran of his fears, but the king had refused to let him make the journey alone.

Then again, Rune might just spell his face rotten, as she had promised she would if she ever saw him again. She, like many others, had accused Lashlor of lying about being a wizard. Even at the vilest of provocations, he had refused to use his magic to prove himself honest. She had told him she would not marry a liar. He had told her he would not marry someone who thought he was a liar. The rest was history. He had since checked up on Rune once or twice, not really sure why he bothered, and one of her cousins had told him about a year and a half ago that she had gone to live in the Mountains of Eclador and wanted to be left alone.

Lashlor’s thoughts turned to the herbs he still had secreted in his belt pouch. These particular herbs were only found in the Land of Ends. He had risked the dangers of the Jeltar Woods at night to get them, so he could return to his place of birth and right a wrong. He had wanted it over and done with, afraid he would lose his nerve and never return. Besides delaying his task, the delay caused by the journey to the Mountains of Eclador meant he would have to gather more herbs, for these would be dried out by the time they got back to Ends.

Lashlor was jolted from his reflections when Captain Amkesh, who rode a black stallion near the front, came to a stop. The captain turned his horse and drew up alongside Lashlor’s steed, a silver-grey mare.

“Are you sure about this?” Captain Amkesh frowned. “This place gives me the chills.”

“The chill in the air is only nature and nothing to fear. Night will be upon us soon.”

Amkesh nodded, still frowning. “Maybe we should camp here for the night.”

“There are still two hours of daylight,” Lashlor said. “Two hours could mean the difference between life and death for Queen Narraki.”

Amkesh sighed. “You are right, of course.” His back straightened and he ordered, “Move on!”

<><><>

King Lanaran took a sip from his wine glass, and then picked up his fork again and played with his food.

Sitting opposite Lanaran at the dining table, the broad-shouldered King Axim Winguard of Storher fixed sea-green eyes on him. “I understand why you have no appetite, old friend, but you must force yourself to eat. You need your strength. Narraki needs your strength.”

Lanaran glared at his plate. “Maybe I will regain some of my appetite if Iaracella Tinletor’s pending execution draws out Thorona, as you suggested it might.”

“The family’s previous actions suggest that is exactly what will happen. Thorona will most certainly attempt to rescue her grandmother. Since the execution is first thing in the morning, expect some trouble tonight.” Axim grinned in delighted anticipation and raised his wine glass.

His friend’s usually infectious grin stirred no mirth in Lanaran now. “Yet still, it will not undo the curse on Narraki.”

“From what I’ve heard, your wizard will accomplish that.”

“He says he cannot.”

Axim swallowed a piece of steak. “He also said Assassa would kill him.”

Hope sparked in Lanaran. “He did, didn’t he?”

“And if he truly believed he could not help,” Axim pointed out, “he would not have risked journeying to the Mountains of Eclador.”

Some of the weight lifted from Lanaran’s shoulders. “Yes, you’re right, of course.”

“The old woman is well guarded?”

Lanaran nodded. “Triple the usual guards, plus more outside and patrolling the grounds.”

“What about the roof?”

“Also teeming with guards.”

“Eat, Lanaran, eat!” Axim bellowed, slapping the table and startling Lanaran into dropping his fork on the floor.

A servant hastened to pick it up and then turned to leave.

“Don’t bother with a new one.” Lanaran pushed back his plate. “And take this while you’re at it.”

The servant moved to comply, but Axim said, “Off with you, boy! Fetch that fork.”

To Lanaran’s annoyance, his servant obeyed his friend’s orders over his. “Count yourself lucky you’ve done me the favour of allowing my men to traipse through your kingdom to reach the Mountains of Eclador.”

Axim chuckled. “You asked me here to help you, but you did not specify how. You must eat or the sorceress has won regardless. You must eat, because, if you die of starvation, once Narraki is herself again, she will be all alone and filled with grief, and she might even hate you.”

Lanaran smiled. “Narraki is incapable of hatred.”

“And perhaps that is why, even as a beyeni, she did not try to harm you.”

“She was going to lick me. That would have–”

“Killed you?” Axim asked. “Yes, yes, but did she know that or was she merely being affectionate? Besides, you don’t really know that she was going to lick you; that’s just an assumption.”

The servant returned with a clean fork and Lanaran thanked him, and then pulled his plate back towards him, speared a carrot and raised it to his lips.

Axim took another sip of wine. “I was thinking, after the execution tomorrow, you and I should help the magic users search for information about undoing curses in the Great Library. The more people looking, the more chance we have of finding something in time.”

“I thought you said my wizard would handle that?” Lanaran asked, his tone more sarcastic than he had intended.

“I have faith in him, but…”

Lanaran sighed. “But no one has ever returned from the Mountains of Eclador.”

<><><>

The gloom thickened the further into the canyon Lashlor and the others rode, the steep walls blocking out most of what was left of the sunlight. Lashlor rode ahead with Captain Amkesh, scanning the skies every now and then for signs of kreag. It was said there had once been a map of the Mountains of Eclador, but, if it had existed, it had been lost so long ago that most people now believed it to be a myth. The captain had forbidden everyone from unnecessary talking, so they would have a better chance of hearing if anything stalked them, hoping for an easy meal. It concerned him that the canyon formed a natural trap and there would be no escape if they were caught unawares.

“Tell me again how you will find this sorceress.”

Lashlor ran a hand through his shoulder-length brown hair. “I won’t lie you to. It won’t be easy. I will need to stop often and try to sense her aura trail. I felt it as we entered the canyon, so I can say for certain that she did, indeed, enter this way. I did not sense her exiting, so she must still be here unless there is another way out.”

“This canyon is the only way in or out, from what I’ve heard.” Amkesh glanced back to check on his men. “That sounds easy enough. Why do you say it won’t be easy? Does it use a lot of magical energy?”

Lashlor shook his head. “No, not really. It’s just that many things could have erased her aura trail, including time. Plus, she uses her magic often, so the trail is weak to begin with and, therefore, easier to erode. It’s only because we… because I know her so well that I can still trace her now, all this time later.”

They rode in silence for a few minutes, and then Amkesh asked, “What things could erase an aura trail?”

“Magic, for one. That’s what I’m the most worried about. Since Rune wants to be left alone, it’s quite possible she erased her trail at some point. If she did, it might not matter how well I know her.”

“Would she have been that paranoid?”

Lashlor shrugged. “You never know with Rune.”

<><><>

Kings Lanaran and Axim sat side by side on a pile of fresh hay in the cell next to the one in which Iaracella Tinletor, Thorona’s grandmother, was imprisoned. They waited in silence in the early hours before dawn, hoping to surprise any would-be rescuers. The old woman’s cell was between them and that which held the beyeni – his queen. Lanaran shuddered, still unable to comprehend how the beast that snarled and spat at the guards through the cell bars could possibly be his beloved Narraki. It seemed none of her old nature remained and, for the first time, he had seen hatred shining in her eyes. The glowing orange eyes of a creature of darkness. Another shudder racked him.

Axim shifted next to him. Unlike Lanaran, who enjoyed peace and quiet, Axim loved adventure and excitement, and the thought of a tussle with an enemy of Ends made him quite happy.

The guards changed shifts, in sets of three so the old woman would always have eyes on her. When the last shift change was over, Lanaran studied the faces of the guards he could see. All had been instructed to report anyone they did not recognise, but still… He knew all five guards within his line of vision, but it did not relax him.

Two wizards sat in the cell to their right, their pulses probably racing as fast as Lanaran’s. Perhaps the security was too tight, or too obvious, he thought. Nobody could get in here.

As if in mockery of his last thought, an explosion shattered the silence and a cloud of smoke filled the dungeon. Something sizzled and the guards cried out in alarm.

Lanaran and Axim leapt up, drew their swords and raced into the smoke.

Thorona materialised in a flash of white light, wearing an inappropriately short white gown that ended halfway between her waist and knees. The cell that held Iaracella was open, and she hobbled towards her granddaughter.

The guards attacked, but their swords met an invisible barrier. Thorona ignored them.

“Do it!” Lanaran commanded the wizards.

They had anticipated that Thorona would shield herself magically if she tried to rescue her grandmother, and the wizards had prepared a spell that would work rather nicely with the help of a little hog sweat spray mixed with the right herbs.

The wizards sprayed the vile stuff on Thorona, who squealed in indignation at the stench.

“You will regret that,” she said, turning her attention to them as her grandmother reached her.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Book 2: Dark Creature can be purchased for only $3.99 and Book 1 is FREE!

Wizard of Ends, Book 1

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Wizard of Ends, Book 2: Dark Creature

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About the author

Vanessa Finaughty is a multi-genre author who has published more than 20 books, including school books published by Oxford University Press Southern Africa. Vanessa grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, and still lives there with her husband and their four children (two human and two furry, four-legged).

Vanessa has always been passionate about books, and knew from a young age that she wanted to write them one day. She loves animals, coffee and the smell of wet grass, and hates excessive weather, long queues and liars. Her interests include reading, photography, the supernatural, mythology, aliens and outer space, ancient history, life’s mysteries and martial arts, in which she has five years’ experience in Ki Aikido.

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Wizard of Ends, Book 1 – permafree

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Wizard of Ends, Book 2: Dark Creature

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