Wings of Arian by Devri Walls is on sale for 99c!!!
Blurb
Kiora thought she had never heard a lie until she was sixteen. But she was wrong. Her entire existence was based on nothing but. She thought that evil did not exist. Lie. That magic was not real. Lie. And that the land of Meros was all there was. One more lie.
With Aleric telling her that evil is knocking on the door and that she is the only one who can stop them she has a choice to make. Refuse, or start the wildest most painful ride of her life.
She reluctantly dips her toe into her new existence of magic and threads, dragons and shapeshifters, and the person who wants to take control of it all: the evil Dralazar.
However, this journey was never meant to be hers alone. She will be accompanied by a Protector. To her disbelief, and utter irritation they name the hotheaded, stubborn, non-magical, (albeit gorgeous) Prince Emane. They will have to trust each other with their lives, but right now Kiora would settle for a non hostile conversation.
And now it comes down to this, If you had never heard a lie, would you know when you heard one? Is knowing good from evil innate? Kiora finds herself having to decide who lives and who dies on those very questions.
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Excerpt
Emane came to her after dinner with two swords and handed
her one.
“What is this for?” she asked,
as the weight of the sword jerked her arm to the ground.
“I
have decided you need to learn how to fight,” he
said, laying his blade across his hand, examining it.
“You have, have you?” She grunted, trying to wrench the
sword back up.
“Well, Aleric and I decided.”
Emane shrugged, dropping the sword back to his side. “If I
do get separated from you and you happen to run out of magic, you need to be
able to defend yourself. I have already spoken to the Guardians and they have
promised to make you a sword that is your size. But for now, we will practice
with these.”
“Emane, I don't even know how to hold one of these things.”
“Lesson number one, it is called a sword.”
“All right, a sword,” she said, placing a hand on her hip.
“Problem number two, I can’t lift it.”
“Try,” he said, jerking his head towards her sword.
Rolling her eyes, she grabbed the hilt, struggling under the
weight of it, managing to pull it up a few inches before the weight dragged her
back down to the ground. Emane burst out into laughter, taking it out of her
hands.
“Well worth it!” he grinned, shouldering her sword. When she
looked at him confused, Emane leaned forward as if telling her a secret, “I
really just wanted to watch you not be able to do something.”
“Are you serious?” she sputtered. “You gave me that sword
just to laugh at me? Did you even talk to Aleric?” Her face flushed.
“Of course I talked to Aleric.” Emane was trying to stifle
his laughter but it wasn't working. “And I am going to teach you to fight.” He
buried the swords into the ground so that they were standing straight up. “But
we normally don't start with those. He pulled out two wooden swords he had
stashed behind a tree. “Normally we start training with these,” he said,
spinning them around in an arc before presenting her with the much smaller,
much lighter wooden sword.
She snatched it out of his hand. “You really are a jerk, you
know.”
“Hmmm,” he said smirking, tossing his sword from one hand to
the other. “I'm happy with jerk. It’s much nicer than what you used to call
me.”
“You're that too.” She half grinned.
“Nope, we have downgraded to jerk and I am keeping it.” He
started circling around her. “First things first, you need to protect yourself.
I will try to get past your guard. If you block me, you win. If I get past your
guard, I win. And,” he drug out. “I will expect to be paid with a kiss.”
“What do I get if I win?” she asked.
Emane took advantage of the question and jabbed in quickly,
connecting with her arm. “One kiss for me,” he winked, backing out again.
“That was cheating!” she objected.
Emane swung around the blade, lightly connecting the flat
side of the sword between her shoulder blades.
“Two kisses for me.”
“Oohhh,” she growled. “You are an arrogant horse’s
ass!” She took a protective stance and blocked the next blow.
“Nice job.” He danced around her and connected with her
opposite shoulder. “Three kisses for the horse’s ass,” he gloated. “Come on,
Kiora, you have to move your feet.” His eyes glinted mischievously.
She started to move and circle, following his lead. She
blocked blow after blow, but missed at least one out of every three. “Come on,
Emane,” she complained. “Take it easy on me. It’s my first day.”
“I am taking it easy on you,” he laughed. “You’re terrible!”
“Thanks a lot,” she said, trying to force a glare at him.
“You’re not exactly encouraging.” She lifted her sword to block another shot.
Pushing his sword down over hers, he leaned in, “I actually
like the fact that you’re terrible, more kisses for me.”
Kiora heard a few snickers from behind her and noticed that
the camp was turning up to watch the training session. Pushing back, Emane
jabbed in and caught her in the stomach.
“Hey!” she yelled, doubling over.
“That’s at least fifteen kisses, I am losing count.”
Spinning in a wide lazy circle, he asked the spectators, “Anyone want to keep
track for me?”
“You...are, such a...”
“Uh-uh,” he said, shaking his finger at her, “we have little
ears amongst us, watch your language.”
“Jerk” she yelled.
“That’s better.” Emane swung again and she soundly blocked.
It went on like this for longer than she had wanted. The
crowd cheered when she blocked a shot and they counted kisses when Emane made
it past her guard. And they laughed at every joke he made, which only
encouraged him.
“Please,” she gasped. “I am dying, can’t we take a break?”
“Breaks are for girls!” He taunted her, dancing around her
with the stupid, albeit gorgeous, grin plastered on his face.
“I am a girl, Emane.” He moved in to take another
shot, which she barely blocked. “I mean it, Emane, I am going to cheat if we
don't stop.” He raised his sword over his head. With a flick of her wrist she
swept his feet out from under him. He reached for his sword, but with another
flick of the wrist, the sword slid across the ground out of his reach. She
dropped to her knees, putting her sword to his neck, “Do you yield?”
The crowd was in hysterics. Emane stretched his neck looking
around. “How many kisses am I owed?” he shouted to the crowd.
“Seventy-two,” the answer came.
“Hmmm, seventy-two kisses,” he put both arms behind his
head. “That should be enough. Yes, I yield.”
“Thank heavens!” Kiora collapsed on the ground next to Emane
as the crowd cheered and laughed with approval.
Emane rolled over and leaned on his elbow, looking down at
her through half-open lids. “I think the Lady should pay up.” He leaned down
and kissed her “One down, seventy-one more to go.” Emane jumped to his feet and
offered her a hand up. “All right, folks, that’s it for today.” There were some
moans and groans as the crowd dispersed.
“You are shameless, you know that?” she said, brushing off
her pants.
“So you tell me.” He threw his arm over her shoulder. “Let's
go get something to drink.”
Goodreads (Book 3) Coming in June (I hope!)
And as an extra special treat, Devri Walls has a special, first look, sneak peek of Wings of Nestor on her blog: Writing My Future!!! Make sure you check it out, the excerpt is one of my favorite scenes from the book!
And as an extra special treat, Devri Walls has a special, first look, sneak peek of Wings of Nestor on her blog: Writing My Future!!! Make sure you check it out, the excerpt is one of my favorite scenes from the book!
About the Author
Devri Walls lives in Kuna ID with her husband, two kids and one very bouncy lab. After suffering from an abundance of creativity with not enough places to put it, she turned to writing. Which in the end, turned out to be exactly where she should have been putting it all along.
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