First new fantasy series--with a quest problem.

On preorder now, releases Jan. 13, 2026. (yeah, yeah, that space between the paragraphs won't be there--just a Blogger thing ;).

Please note: still in edits ;).

PREORDER

Chapter One

Icrouched into the shrubs as I stalked my target. My green and brown hooded tunic,leggings, and the vines covering my bow would blend into the trees behind me.As long as I kept my rambunctious mass of red hair tucked under my hood. Some dayswere worse than others, and today it had turned into a creature from the wildwoods. I kept saying one of these days I was going to cut it, but I liked itwhen it did what it was supposed to.

I’dchosen to ignore how rare that was.

 The late afternoon sun also helped hide me aslong shadows filled the woods. But the most important part was holding stilluntil the exact moment my quarry crossed the targeted spot.

Beingstill was not a natural occurrence for me, no matter how many times I did this.I told myself I was getting better. At some point, I’d believe it.

Ifroze as the sound of horses came down the tree-covered path below myhiding spot. Three. My source had said there would be four. Had she beenmistaken, or was it simply that the fourth rider had too much to drink at theDrunken Ox pub last night?

I held my breath as they moved closer, and my time of deciding to attack or not grewslim. Skipping this job would be bad, very bad. Vuelo was paying good money fora bag of rare coins. But without backup, there was no one to save me if Iguessed wrong.

Thenthe riders crossed an open part of the trail. One of the guards was missing.Which could mean he was coming up behind, had passed out somewhere, or was takinga different route. I really needed this job, so I took the chance that he wasout of the picture completely.

Theremaining three people were where I needed them to be. Taking a steadyingbreath, I released the string of my bow. The long arrow sliced through the ropeholding up the net, which covered the road, dropping it over the three riders. Thespells embedded in the rope knocked out riders and horses, but left themstanding. It wasn’t a cheap spell to buy, but worth every coin. Of course, it wouldonly last for about five minutes. I had some magic of my own, but I was new toit, and something this touchy could take years of training.

Islipped my bow and quiver into the sling over my shoulder and raced down to thestunned group. I bypassed the two guards—the man looked like he’d been stunned whilegetting ready to shout, the woman had her hand on the hilt of her sword, andhad already drawn it a few inches.

Neitherboded well, as it seemed they’d sensed me right before the net dropped. Whichshould have been impossible.

Swearingunder my breath, I ran to the nobleman. Getting the pouch out without touchingthe netting over him wouldn’t be easy. In theory, the heavy gloves I wore shouldkeep the spell on the net from my skin, but it still wasn’t a good chance totake.

Ittook longer than I’d practiced, but I got the heavy pouch free safely. I noddedthanks to the nobleman for the coins, not that he could see anything, nor wouldhe see more than a plant-darkened face under a heavy hood, even if he hadn’tbeen spelled. But it was nice to be polite.

Ha.In her last letter, my foster sister Alia had bet me three half-pence Icouldn’t pull off a job without fighting someone. Nice to know my friendlythief was wrong. And she owed me some coin.

“Holdit right there.” The deep voice behind me wasn’t what I needed right now.

Iturned to the man, expecting it to be the missing guard, but he had beendescribed as a half-troll, and this one was human.

Hewas also cloaked and hooded, not unlike me. And, uncommon to most rogues, hewas armed with a longbow. Also, like me. Yet his hood didn’t cover his facewell, and I could see he was about my age, with dark brown hair and deep hazeleyes. Attractive, but not smart enough to completely hide his face. I wascertain he wasn’t local.

Hewas someone I would remember.

Ikept my head up, watching the hooded man as I tucked the pouch into the vestunder my cloak. The one Alia swore could stop an arrow at close range whenshe’d stolen it for me last year.

Iwould rather not test her claim.

“I’llbe taking the bag.” My opponent kept his bow steady as he lifted his chintoward me.

Downto two minutes before the stun spell on the net broke. I’d timed this to be on myway out of here by this point. “I didn’t see you doing the work. I don’t thinkyou’ll be getting the reward. Besides, there are widows and children to feed.” Iadded the last part as a lark. This was going into my pockets, those of Vuelo,who gave me the job, and a large anonymous donation to schooling for theyoungsters of the Fae Workhouse. But I’d heard of some thief robbing and givingto the poor halfway across the country, so I might as well play off it.

“Thenyou won’t mind me taking it to them. I can’t see your face, but you sound likea lovely young woman. One who shouldn’t be out where it’s dangerous.”

Aguaranteed way to get under my skin was to mock me as being a frail anddefenseless woman. And this idiot wasn’t even doing it based on my looks. At aspeed my elven ancestors would have approved of, I drew one of my throwingblades and flung it at the archer.

Heducked but stayed on his horse as I ran around the still-frozen, but not formuch longer, nobleman tableau and vanished up the hill into the deep bushes andtrees. It was the wrong direction from where I left my horse, Moose, but I’dcome back to get him if he didn’t come down on his own.

Hewas too ornery to let anyone else take him.

Swearingfollowed me as the spell on the nets expired, the noblemen and guards woke up,and the archer who’d tried to rob me tore off in the opposite direction. Atleast that was what it sounded like. I had excellent hearing and wasn’t aboutto risk being caught by turning around to check.

“I’vebeen robbed! Follow him!” The noble’s voice was high-pitched and whiny.

Ialmost felt bad for the archer, but if he was as woods-smart as he’d appeared,he should have no trouble getting away. If not, then maybe he’d learn not torob people. I chuckled. I’d need to tell Alia and Wynne my joke when I next sawthem.

Ithought I was far enough away from the ambush, so I slowed down. Luckily, Ihadn’t pushed back my hood as a large form crashed through the shrubs behind me.

I’dforgotten about the missing half-troll guard.

Iwasn’t tiny; those elven ancestors gave me height, but this guard was a goodtwo feet taller than I.

Andfrom the massive arms, long tusks, and heavy brow, I’d say he was more thanjust half-troll.

“Staystill.” The guard’s face was brutish and he looked extremely confused. “Whatdid you do?”

Hechased me, but wasn’t certain what I’d done? I might need to give some of mypilfered coins back to the nobleman so he could hire a better class of guards.

“Iwas coming down the path when I heard yelling, and I am now returning home.It’s dangerous for a lady to be out.” I tried to hold myself regally, but thecloak and hood made it difficult.

“Withthe gunk on your face? Push back yer hood.” The half-troll held a short sword,but rather ineffectively. If I charged him, there was a better than averagechance I could knock it out of his hand. Of course, that would put me withinhis reach. He might not be used to a sword, but his arm muscles indicated heknew how to squish things. Or people.

Orfeisty human-elf hybrids with a tendency toward robbery.

“Thisgunk, as you called it, is the newest skin treatment from the capital. It usesthe power of nature to bring forth our inner beauty.” I gave a haughty sniff asI took a step away from him.

Hescratched his head. “You don’t look like a noble. And you have a bow?” Hisforehead crashed down over his eyes. “You’re hunting.”

Hisslow nod prompted another two steps back by me.

“Ihave been out communing with the natural world. Of course, I have a bow. Would youexpect a noble lady to use a sword?” Three more steps back.

“Ithink you needs to come with me. Now.” His face scrunched up further. Luckily,he indicated his intended direction toward me early enough that I was able to dodgeand run.

Mymentor, Jeliac, had always said to never fight what could be outrun. And if Icouldn’t outrun a lumbering half-troll, then my elven ancestors could rise fromthe beyond and smite me.

Iglanced around as the guard crashed along after me. I wasn’t one to believe inthe afterlife or spirits, but my other foster sister, Wynne, did, and some ofit must have rubbed off. I sent whatever beings were out there a request forhelp.

Keepingmy swearing under my breath, I smiled as a clearing opened up ahead of me. Afamiliar one. There was an open-ended cave system on the other side of the deepgrass. I could run through and be safe and settled in my front room before thetroll blundered his way out.

Thesound of an approaching horse at a good pace wasn’t welcome.

Thearcher from before cut into the clearing and lifted an impressive sword. “Getbehind me! I’ll protect you!” He threw back his hood. Even more attractive thanI’d originally thought, with warm brown hair drifting past his collar, hazeleyes glinting in the late afternoon sun, and dimples even a serious frowncouldn’t erase. But dropping his hood wasn’t a great idea if he didn’t want tobe identified by the guard he was now threatening. However, I would take anydistraction at this point. Even a heroic, handsome, but not bright, one.

“Thanks,but I’m fine.” I ducked around him and his horse, but only to scramble into thecave mouth. I hadn’t been there since I was a girl, and it was narrower than Irecalled. To be truthful, I doubted the half-troll guard could have made it pastthe entrance.

Iwatched as the guard charged the archer. Then I ran into the cave. The soundsof fighting faded away as I made my way through the twisty tunnels. I had a fewfalse turns, but eventually came out on a hill overlooking the town I calledhome, Dialitlyn. It wasn’t much, but it was a sight to see after the events ofthe last few minutes. Peering out of the cave, I made sure no one was nearby,then raced out of the cave and down the hill. The borrowed spell on my hoodkept it from flying back, but Wynne had warned me it wouldn’t last long.Another bit of magic on my long list of spells to learn.

Ididn’t feel safe until I’d unlocked my massively oversized front door, checkedfor attempts of break-ins, gone inside, relocked, and spelled the door. Then I listenedcarefully for sounds of pursuit.

Thenoble and his people weren’t from Dialitlyn, so there wasn’t much fear they’dknow who I was. Not to mention, neither the half-troll nor the archer had seenmore than my cloak and my gloved hands.

Iquickly scrubbed the spell mud from my face; it was already starting to itch.Had my hood fallen off, I still would have been almost impossible to identifywith the gloopy mess on my face.

Now,to see what was in this pouch that Vuelo was willing to pay three sovereignsfor me to retrieve. That was a healthy amount of gold.

Icarried the pouch over to my favorite chair, ignoring the two empty ones nearit, and dumped the contents out on the small table next to my chair.

Ithad felt like coins, but thanks to the archer, I hadn’t had time to check. Iwasn’t expecting the dozen small, cut, and polished gems that tumbled out. Ilet out a whistle. Without even knowing what these were, they were about ahundred times more valuable than three sovereigns. What was Vuelo’s game? Shewas a mostly honest leader of the criminal world, or at least the edges of itin Dialitlyn and the villages nearby. I did simple, low-level jobs for a few coins.Why would she have sent me after a major haul? Vuelo had said it was a pouch ofrare coins. Did I grab the wrong thing? The pouch looked as Vuelo had describedit, and there had been nothing else in the nobleman’s top pocket, which waswhere Vuelo promised they would be.

Igrabbed a writing stick to turn the gems around without touching them. Not onlywere gems valuable for just being themselves, but they could also be used tohold dangerous spells. The less contact, the better.

Theselooked as if they might have the remains of extremely faint gold jewelry settingson them. Whoever took them had been careful about making certain they wereclean. Another advantage of my eleven ancestors, exceptionally good eyesight.Luckily, for me, aside from my height and slenderness, I didn’t look elvish. Myears and light green eyes were rounded and human. Not that being an elf was abad thing, but they weren’t common in this part of the kingdom. Not to mention,my exceptional aim with a bow, which brought in much-needed prize money fromtime to time, would be questioned if it were known I had elven blood.

Ipushed the gems around some more, but they weren’t giving me any answers. Icould possibly use my low-level magic to get a response, but I’d promisedJeliac I wouldn’t try to use magic in the house until I received more training.All my life, I’d wanted to be magical, like my two foster sisters. Then,suddenly, a year ago, magic smacked me upside the head.

AndI’d almost blown the roof off my second favorite pub.

Luckily,Jeliac, Alia, and Wynne had all still been in town at the time and shut medown. Alia had sleight of hand magic, low-level but enough to recognize when mymagic flared to life. Same with Wynne, although her magics were from the seas.Jeliac was a former royal wizard of a distant and unnamed kingdom. He was themost concerned. He taught me some low-level magics, but admonished me not toplay with magic, then vanished eight months ago.

Alialeft for Tuctown four months ago, and Wynne went back to the high seas twomonths ago. The house Wynne, Alia, and I shared felt cold and empty now. Evenmore so when I’d just escaped from being captured and had some extremely oddgems to deal with.

Grumblingto myself, I used the writing stick to push the gems back into their bag. I wassupposed to bring the bag and its contents to Vuelo first thing in the morning.Normally, I didn’t have a problem handing over what I lifted off unscrupulous richtravelers. Jobs for Vuelo were usually clean and easy. And allowed me to keepliving in this house. Plus, helping out the orphans in the Fae Workhouse withdonations made me feel good. Anonymously, of course.

Iwashed my face again, the spell mud still felt as if it was lingering, changed myclothes, and had a nice stew simmering when a sharp knock rattled the frontdoor.

Itwas full night now. Proper people wouldn’t be calling. Dialitlyn was arelatively safe town, but still, chances shouldn’t be taken. I grabbed one of mydaggers and kept it behind the door as I cracked it open. Jeliac had been afterus for years to get a spyhole installed. I now regretted that we had ignoredhim.

Ihad a magically powered torch outside my house, one Jeliac had installed tocome on at dark, so I could see the face of the person facing me as I crackedopen the door.

Ialmost slammed the door in his face. “What do you want, Xial?” Vuelo was mostlyupstanding. Many of the people working for her were not. Xial was one whom Iwould count myself lucky if he died a sudden and horrific death.

Thescar running down his face from eye to chin, and a second, fainter one acrosshis throat, pointed out that I wasn’t the only one to feel that way.

Unfortunately,nothing had killed him yet.

Heshoved his way into the room. I was fast, but he’d taken some sort ofspell-drug as he not only shoved me back, but he shut and locked the doorbefore I could get my dagger up. He also pulled out a nasty-looking shortsword. “I’ll take the bag Vuelo sent you after. You can give it to me, or die,and I'll take it anyway.”

PREORDER