I think we have the final covers or pretty close to them. Before you scroll down and look at them, please keep one thing in mind:

***If you purchased the retail ebook copy of Chaos Rises from us, either through:

• our shop or

• the kickstarter that launched it last year or

• you got a copy as part of your paid membership through Patreon or Substack, then:

We’ll update the cover on Bookfunnel and you can just download a new copy to your ereader with the new cover that will match the other three books in the story arc.***

That’s the end of my public service announcement. I’ll let you know when we update it. It’ll be closer to the launch date of the kickstarter because you never know. We could make further changes. My scribe would like us to leave the cover alone, but it’s our best marketing tool, so it needs to grab attention.

This is Ran, Sarn’s son from the Curse Breaker series, and I might be driving the cover revisions. I want Jousts to grab a lot of attention. Fourteen years’ worth of attention would be great!

So with that out of the way, it’s time to see those covers!

And after much arguing, that is the official reading order. Although, my aunt claims you could read Chaos Reigns before Curse Breaker Jousts, but that would spoil the epic story arc in Jousts. So don’t do that, okay?

We’ll have close-ups of the covers as we get closer to the big launch event.

When will that be?

We hope for Sept 28, 2026, and I’m sure that’s no surprise if you’ve been with us a while. We always aim to have a new book out around the end of September.

But we can’t promise that because we don’t hit the launch button until all 4 books are 100% written, edited, formatted, and we have proof copies in hand.

As of right now, Chaos Rises and Curse Breaker Jousts are written and we have one bespoke art piece created by an upcoming artist for Jousts. My scribe, Melinda, is writing Chaos Reigns, and she’s working hard to channel that chaos into an epic tale.

At the rate, Melinda is writing it, we think she will finish Chaos Reigns in less time than it took to write Curse Breaker Jousts. But that still leaves the final book in that story arc. So we’ll just keep you updated as the books progress.

Meanwhile, I’m thinking about what happens after the Riders of the Apocalypse story arc, and what new and exciting trouble my father might get into. I will absolutely help him with that magical mayhem.

You can read Chaos Reigns and Curse Breaker Jousts on Patreon or Substack right now if you can’t wait. They are not edited or polished and some chapters have moved in the final versions.

• Read Curse Breaker Jousts on: Patreon | Substack

• Read Chaos Reigns on: Patreon | Substack

The first chapter of both books is free to read right now on both platforms.

But there’s a 50% chance that another chapter may end up as chapter 1 in the final version of Chaos Reigns. The characters don’t agree on the final order, and there are some really good arguments for switching the order and putting chapter 2 first. So I’ll just let you know what happens with that.

Patrons received a finished copy of Curse Breaker Jousts yesterday as a thank you for being part of the writing process. It really motivates our scribe to write more when there are readers waiting to read the next chapter.

Since we characters only exist when you read our stories, this helps us to exist. So we’re exploring some new functionality Patreon added recently to see if we can offer more value for Patrons and more books!

Books are life, so we must have more of them.

Chaos Rises is available in our shop as well since Melinda wrote and released it last year. We have not updated the cover on our shop yet. If you buy it through us, then you’ll get the updated cover later this year too.

I just got everyone to agree on the covers this morning so that’s why it’s not updated anywhere yet. I needed everyone to agree before I could share the covers. That’s kind of important.

That also brings me to my next piece of news.

Book Availability

Our books have temporarily disappeared from library systems and some online stores. Don’t panic! They should return soon.

Why did they disappear?

Indie authors like ours have to go through third parties to reach library systems and bookstores. We’ve been using one third party since 2018 (we’ll call then Distributor A) but they recently announced they were changing their policies and assessing fees if an author did not earn a certain amount through them.

That’s double dipping on their part since they also take a 15% commission on every book sold.

So I told our scribe, we’re not paying that, and I took all our books down off that distributor.

Why are they adding new fees?

The reasons given don’t make sense because the new fee structure for published authors earning under a certain amount won’t stop bad actors. It will likely incentivize them to put out more poor quality books in the hopes that more bad books will result in more sales to meet that new threshold.

But that’s not the only reason our books are leaving that platform. I might be rash but my scribe, Melinda isn’t. She wouldn’t let me unpublish all our books over a new fee even if she doesn’t agree with it and said fee penalizes new authors and authors who are not good at marketing or advertising.

(Our scribe is terrible at that too, so no judgment here! That’s why I took over the newsletter. Someone has to try and get the word out about our books.)

I digressed. Melinda wouldn’t let me remove our books just because of a fee unless the fee was really high. It’s not high at least not for us. But this opens the door to the fee rising if the distributor needs to deliver more value to shareholders.

And they will raise it. Maybe not next year. But they will raise it. Unfortunately, prices just keep going up.

But I digressed again. Melinda let me remove our books from that distributor because she has been looking into another distributor for a couple of years now. Distributor A (the one we left) sends our print books to Distributor B and takes their cut.

Melinda didn’t like that since it made getting proof copies so much more expensive and it added an extra 15% onto what you pay if you buy our books from online bookstores.

But moving 35+ books is a lot of work, so she was on the fence about doing it for the last two years. So this all just pushed her to test out using Distributor B and cutting out the 15% the middle man was taking from our books.

So far, she’s just republished Curse Breaker Enchanted through Distributor B, and the process took about a week. So it only just republished. We don’t see Enchanted available in stores yet, but we’ll keep searching. It might take a few more days.

We’ll let you know how things go. If moving to Distributor B doesn’t work out, we’ll go back to Distributor A.

In the meantime, we’re looking at other options so you can continue to read our books. But we’re still in the research phase, so I’ll let you know when we have some information to share.

That’s it for this week. Cross your fingers that new-to-us distributor works out and our books get back into stores. Have a great week and I hope you read some great books!

Searching for your next obsession?

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New Release Alert!

They conquered his home. They killed his father. They made him one of them.

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Misriah didn’t stop the knife from plunging into Sarn’s back. Why didn’t she stop it? So what if that wasn’t a spiritual attack? It was an attack and that should count for something. She should have stopped it. I couldn’t do it because of this stupid rope. Sovvan struggled to free her arms.

Green light shot out from her brother as he fell f…

Read more

“That’s all I know about the stalled apocalypse and the riders trying to unpause it. So now it’s time to keep your promise and send me home.” Fay folded her arms. She had enough of this watery place. She needed sun on her skin, sand under her sandals, and volcanoes in her view, not miles of water lit by natural light source she could see.

Read more

Sovvan felt like she’d walked in halfway through a play. Just when she thought she’d figured out what was going on, Jerlo’s ghost ran through a solid stone wall and headed for her brother’s spirit. Why is everyone disembodied? Why can’t people’s souls stay inside their bodies? What is going on here?

“How can you stop Hadrovel when yo…

Read more

Somewhere under Mount Eredren

I need your help, sis. Sarn sent that plea through the bond with his twin as Misriah returned to her rightful place in the Mortal World. She didn’t recognize this part of the city under Mount Eredren, but many of the caverns looked the same to her but not to Sarn. She didn’t know how he told them apart. Like all…

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And now you’re probably wondering did Curse Breaker Jousts finally end for real? And did it stay ended?

Yes, it did! You read that right.

Curse Breaker Jousts ended and stayed ended. My scribe moved onto to write the next book in the Riders of the Apocalypse story arc, Chaos Reigns.

Curse Breaker Jousts ended with 63 chapters, 2 author notes, ~149,000 words.

Melinda had the idea for it in 2012 at the New York Renaissance Fair, where she watched a joust. She wrote the original draft that fall. But it took 14 years to get to the final version for reasons discussed in the two author notes.

Melinda started posting chapters from the final draft the Curse Breaker Jousts on Patreon on Dec 25, 2025 and she wrote the last chapter on April 8, 2026.

Curse Breaker Jousts has 3 climaxes, mesmeric magic-eating monsters, rogue knights, a necromancer who raises the dead (War, the second rider of the apocalypse), thousands of zombies, a possessed queen, and one curse breaker and his friends stand against them.

But that’s not all because it’s also a book about healing and accepting help since that curse breaker (my dad) was wounded in a previous adventure (Curse Breaker Revealed). He finally makes good on that wish to be better and take some tentative steps in that direction.

Melinda wanted to post something on social media to commemorate the 14-year journey from crazy idea to finished book. Since social media isn’t her thing, she asked a friend what to post.

Her friend sent the image below back. She must have grabbed the latest version of the cover from our website because it’s part of this image.

The image above shows the epic scale of what we’re facing in this book. So I obviously liked it a lot. But my opinion might not be enough to convince Melinda to revisit the cover again, and I want an epic cover for such an epic story.

Don’t worry. We still have all the cozy vibes and character craziness as usual. We just do all that around the multiple enemies. So Jerlo will lecture someone, Furball will teleport at the worst possible moment, and I will plot things.

So I enlisted help from the rest of the cast, and they liked the top part too! With their votes hand, I went back to my scribe to make the case for changing the cover. But Melinda posted the above graphic on social media, and non-fictional people commented that they loved the image Melinda’s friend made too!

Imagine that! After I went to all that trouble getting the cast onboard with changing the cover, social media convinced her to change the cover first.

I thought for sure I’d have a battle in my hands since the image is not exactly book accurate, but it does get across the scale of the story visually. So Melinda is working with that friend on a new version of the cover this week that has that top part showing the army of zombies, the evil queen, and the monsters with the less crowded bottom half from the last version.

We’ll have the final version by the end of the week so we can send out copies of Curse Breaker Jousts to our patrons. I’ll show you next week. So that’s exciting. I hope to have more exciting news next week.

Last week, I mentioned some new podcast episodes, so let’s talk about them. This is Ran, Sarn’s son from the Curse Breaker series.

A few weeks ago, Joshua Olivieri reached out and asked if he could come onto the podcast to talk about his debut epic fantasy book, The Fifth Commander. Since my scribe, Melinda, likes to talk about fantasy books, she said yes!

Melinda interviewed Joshua last week and the episode is live now!

What’s The Fifth Commander about?

When the hero chosen by the divine becomes a tyrant, who is strong enough to kill him?

The Alkatharos, Valazar’s prophesied savior, has ruled for five centuries. However, peace is but a memory for its people. A rebellion gnaws at the borders of His Lordship, and whispers of a traitor within His walls turn fear into panic.

Gallen Tramore, the feared Fifth Commander of the Alkatharos, is sent to expose and slay the traitor. What he uncovers instead is a betrayal that shatters his faith in his master, his home, and his comrades.

To discover the truth, Gallen commits a crime worthy of death: abandoning his post. Now declared a traitor, Gallen is hunted by those he once bled alongside. Caught between centuries-old vendettas and a forbidden power that should’ve stayed buried, Gallen must decide where his loyalties lie and if he is strong enough to defy an immortal legend.

Intrigued? Listen to the whole interview now on YouTube or Spotify.

And that other episode? Melinda sat down and talked about the story behind Curse Breaker Jousts. Where did the idea come from? Why did it take 11 books to get to that story? (It wasn’t my fault!)

Listen to that on YouTube or Spotify now.

Searching for your next special edition?

Look no further! These bestselling authors have teamed up to offer a delightful selection of new special edition books. Available for a limited time on Kickstarter. Check them out now:

Hunter: Epic Fantasy 7th Anniversary Edition!

Mulan meets the Hunger Games in this enemies-to-lovers, action-packed dystopian romantasy for fans of Rumi & Jinu in Kpop Demon Hunters. Follow the campaign to find out when it launches:

j

Sovvan glanced behind her again but there still wasn’t anything there except fog. So why do I feel like someone’s following us? The feeling only intensified until Sovvan checked their back trail again. The fog just sat there doing nothing interesting except covering the ground.

“Why do you keep looking behind us?” Giraya struggled to carr…

Read more

Looking For A Rider

A desert appeared far below and a cloudless blue sky above as Conquest reformed somewhere in the Mortal World. At least he was free of the Agents of Chaos and their machination…

Read more

Sovvan’s quest to find all the horses of the apocalypse and capture them hits a snag when one hell horse targets her warrior angel friend and tempts her to become his rider and conquer the world.

What the hell did I eat? Fay sat up after the strangest series of dreams she’d ever had and the bed undulated like it was filled with water. It certainly wasn’t when she laid down to rest. Besides, beds shouldn’t undulate like a snake. There was something unnatural about that. Fire and water didn’t mix, not in nature and not with magic eit…

Read more

Read more

It did end again, but I don’t want to say that Curse Breaker Jousts officially ended since I did that last week and then some Rangers changed our scribe’s mind on that. I want to wait a week and see if the book stays ended. If it does, then it did officially end.

Do I want Curse Breaker Jousts to officially end and stay ended?

Yes actually because I’m not getting more page time with these new additions. The Rangers are. So I am okay with it ending. After all, a new book presents new opportunities for page time.

Who am I? I’m Ran, Sarn’s son from the Curse Breaker Series, and I have big plans for my dad. But you’ll have to read Curse Breaker Jousts to find out what those plans are.

So this week, I bring you an excerpt from a fellow indie fantasy author’s book, and I confirmed that not only did that book end, but it’s available right now if you want to read more.

The “I” in the next section isn’t me. It’s a young woman named, Meilin. According to the book’s blurb, Meilin rises from obscurity with the power of the gods burning in her veins and unleashes a storm that shakes the empire.

That sounds like fun. I’m not sure my dad would let me do that, but I’ll add it to my ever-lengthening to-do list. While I find an empire to shake, you go and meet Meilin. I’ll check back with you after the excerpt.

It is my pleasure to present:

Heaven’s Warrior

by Ken Baker

I ball my fists in an attempt to hold back the flood of fear and anxiety welling up in my chest. How do you tell your older sister she’s going to be murdered if she doesn’t run away from home? I breathe out long and slow, trying to reassure myself that the murder part isn’t certain. It’s little consolation, since the near-death torture and bloody suffering are definite. A lump forms in my throat. What if she doesn’t listen to me?

I try to come up with the right words as we catch our breath. My legs ache and my heart beats fast after our predawn hike through the damp ancient woods of Gudai. Lian and I sit on the low stone wall that borders the forest and the shrine gardens of the weather goddess while we wait for the other villagers to gather for morning exercises. We watch with anticipation as rays from the rising sun touch droplets of water from last night’s rain cling to leaves and blossoms all around us.

Excitement rises in my heart, almost dispelling the fear that holds me. At once, the droplets pulse. They glow like liquid gold. The glow intensifies, the water droplets pulse faster and faster until they burst into one hundred different tints and shades of colored mist that swirl upward like fireworks. Shen Breath.

When we were little, Father would pay us a copper Zhu for each paper lantern that we had scooped full of Shen Breath. Then, he would hang the rainbow swirling lanterns at the edge of the growing fields in hopes that the Shen Breath’s Chi would enhance our crops’ growth, or at least invite the Two’s blessings.

Hope rises inside me as I push my face into a small cloud of swirling mist and inhale deep. Right now, I could use as many of the Two’s blessings as possible. I’ve never had much faith in the parent gods or their children, the Shen gods, but I’m desperate. Somehow, I have to convince Lian to accept my plan to protect her. Maybe the Two will show me the way.

My body jerks at a monkey screeching in the woods behind us. It sounds too much like the shrieking golden dragon in my nightmares.

“Is everything alright?” Lian asks with a look of concern.

I take a deep breath. “No. Everything is not alright. I’ve had a true dream.”

I half expect Lian to grin with interest. True dreams are rare, and when we were little we’d giggle together at our aspirations to be the recipients of true dreams. But Lian’s face tightens into her latest habitual frown.

The words rush out. “You’re no longer safe here. We need to hide in Gudai and run as far away from Ning valley as we can.”

“What?” Lian snaps. “What are you talking about? We can’t abandon Mother and Father. They need us.”

I want to correct her. Mother needs us. Father cares nothing for me, his delinquent daughter. But I hold my tongue, knowing how Father coddles Lian, his favorite and perfect daughter. I can’t argue. Lian is practically perfect. But this has nothing to do with Father and Mother. Lian’s life is at stake.

I tell her about the ravaging golden dragon in my nightmare, Lian’s screams for help, and the bubbling pools of blood that engulf Lian. True dreams rarely play out in literal fashion, but the danger to Lian is clear. The longer she stays in Ning the harder it will be to evade it.

Her eyes turn hard. Is it because of Cai? She still mourns his death, her fiancée, lost in the Lord Emperor’s war with the Yemaren on Dashi’s northern border. For some reason, she blames herself for his death.

“I won’t run away!” she blurts. “I deserve whatever evil fate the Two have for me.”

“But Lian…”

I want to pound my head and shout, “You witless fool!” This isn’t like Lian. I rebuke her.

I give her a soft smile, trying to show empathy. “The Two offer only gifts of love. This evil does not come from them. They want you to flee it. Why else would they send me this dream?”

Serenity returns to Lian’s expression. “Yes, the Two love us. That’s why they sent you this dream. So, you would not despair the day it comes true. So, you would know that all will be as it should be.”

I shake my fists. “No!” But Lian has already broken free of my grip, jumped down from the wall, and sprinted toward the exercise lawn.

***

If you want to learn more about Ken and what he’s up to do, sign up for his newsletter. Get Heaven’s Warrior.

***

This is Ran again. I didn’t find an empire to shake, but I’ll keep looking. In the meantime, read some fun fantasy books. I’ll see you next week when I will hopefully have the news we have all been waiting for plus two new podcast episodes.

New Books, Special Editions, & More!

Searching for your next special edition?

Look no further! These bestselling authors have teamed up to offer a delightful selection of new special edition books. Available for a limited time on Kickstarter. Check them out now:

The Thief of Numbers: A Dystopian Special Edition Hardcover

A rebel heroine, AI ruling lord, and timeless love in a new standalone silver foil edition from Philip K. Dick finalist Kay Kenyon. Follow the campaign to get notified when it launches:

Curse of the Moon: An Epic Fantasy Novel

Book 3 in an epic fantasy series with cursed sisters, vengeful witches, endangered dragons, and sweet romance. Follow the campaign to get notified when it launches:

And don’t forget our kickstarter! Follow it to find out when it launches. Unlike our books, when our kickstarter ends, it doesn’t restart or resume.

I started writing Curse Breaker Jousts in 2012 and I finished the final edit on April 10. This book was 14 years in the making! I just sent it off for the last round of proofs.

63 chapters, 2 author notes (I might add another one), ~149,000 words.

I started posting ch…

Read more

The Final Piece

Jerlo didn’t know what to expect when he stepped off the switchback trail with the rest of the crowd…

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Paper Pieces

Jerlo glared at the stacks of paper on his desk as Jallister dropped more papers on top of the shortest tower. “Where did those papers come from?”

Read more

Hi, I’m indie fantasy author, Melinda Kucsera, and in this episode, I talk about what’s been happening behind the scenes (updates on life, my job, and my family, as well as the situation with Amazon), what I’ve been writing, and what’s coming next.

New Books Out Now:

• Tales of the Curse Breaker in NY Trilogy: https://melindakucsera.com/tales-of-the-curse-breaker-in-ny/

• the last two books in the Curse Breaker’s Companion Series: https://melindakucsera.com/curse-breakers-companion/

What I’m writing now:

• Curse Breaker Jousts, book 12 of the Curse Breaker Series. I talk about the story behind it in this episode.

What I’m writing next:

• Chaos Reigns, the next book in the Riders of the Apocalypse series.

Where to get Curse Breaker Jousts:

Follow the kickstarter campaign: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/melindakucsera/two-riders-of-the-apocalypse-illustrated-epic-fantasy-quests

Where to find your host:

• Newsletter: https://www.melinda-kucsera.com/embed

• website: https://melindakucsera.com/

Hi, I’m indie fantasy author, Melinda Kucsera, and in this episode, Joshua Olivieri is joining me to talk about his debut book, The Fifth Commander.

What’s it about?

When the hero chosen by the divine becomes a tyrant, who is strong enough to kill him?

The Alkatharos, Valazar’s prophesied savior, has ruled for five centuries. However, peace is but a memory for its people. A rebellion gnaws at the borders of His Lordship, and whispers of a traitor within His walls turn fear into panic.

Gallen Tramore, the feared Fifth Commander of the Alkatharos, is sent to expose and slay the traitor. What he uncovers instead is a betrayal that shatters his faith in his master, his home, and his comrades.

To discover the truth, Gallen commits a crime worthy of death: abandoning his post. Now declared a traitor, Gallen is hunted by those he once bled alongside. Caught between centuries-old vendettas and a forbidden power that should’ve stayed buried, Gallen must decide where his loyalties lie and if he is strong enough to defy an immortal legend.

Where to get the book: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/joshuaolivieri/the-fifth-commander

Where to find our guest:

• Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61587664119664

• LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-olivieri-555760bb/

• Website: https://joshuaolivieriauthor.com/

Where to find your host:

Melinda’s website: https://melindakucsera.com/

Many Hands

Gregori just stared. He didn’t expect this many people would show up. Word must have traveled far because one hundred carters with their empty carts showed up. Next to them, fifty retired Rangers including old Beleg…

Read more

First off, I hope everyone who celebrates it had a happy Easter. We celebrated it with more shenanigans, obviously. But I’ll get to that in a minute.

I have big news. Did the thing we have all been waiting for since Christmas Day finally happen?

Yes, it did!

Melinda finished writing Curse Breaker Jousts!

She started posting chapters on Christmas Day 2025, but she started writing it a few days before that, and now the story is done.

Wait a minute. I got a message that it’s not done. Give me one moment while I check what’s going on.

Okay, I am back, and I have the full story now. Curse Breaker Jousts ended on friday when my scribe, Melinda, posted the last chapter in the book.

Then she went back and wrote an additional chapters to cover some events the book left out. But that chapter started another story arc, so now she needs to write two more chapters.

So Curse Breaker Jousts ended and then it resumed so it’s not actually done right now.

But it will finish this week. She needed more time to figure out how to handle this new story arc. Since it’s something she’s been trying to do for 12 books and all the Rangers really, really want it, she’s going to write it. She just needs to work out how to weave it into the current story.

So yesterday, she published the first chapter of Chaos Reigns since that is written and doesn’t need more time to marinate.

You can read all that on Subtack and Patreon if you’re a paid member.

If Melinda only writes two more chapters, that will bring the total number of chapters in Curse Breaker Jousts to 61! And for those keeping score, it’ll be almost the same length as Curse Breaker Hidden, book 6 of the Curse Breaker Series.

So you might be wondering, what happens next?

First Melinda needs to finish Curse Breaker Jousts for real this time and then the book needs an edit. But it’s one step closer to you already since it did end. It just didn’t stay ended.

Follow the campaign to get notified when the Kickstarter launches, so you can grab your copy:

So that's the next thing, getting it edited. Melinda did some editing this week and that was how she discovered she needed to add this scene that turned into a story arc. But the editing will happen in earnest next week. I have my red pen all ready to go, and I might need it.

Melinda got a new prescription and new glasses, but they make the screen blurry. So the chapters she wrote over the last few weeks need extra editing because they have more typos than usual. But the character that catches the most typos gets a bigger part in an upcoming book, so we’re extra motivated to find them all.

It's hard to write when the screen is blurry. But Melinda soldiered on because the story must go on. It waits for no one, not even its scribe.

I’d say that’s rude of the story to keep moving on but I want to grow up, so I need it to keep rolling onward like an unstoppable wheel.

How can Melinda write if she can’t see the screen?

Don't worry. She went back to the eye doctor to find out why her glasses make the screen fuzzy since they never did that before. This glasses issue may have affected the previous couple of newsletters too.

Melinda thought she just needed to get used to them because it's a much stronger prescription, but that's not been the case. She needs to get glasses at a weaker prescription.

And no, that’s not a typo. That’s what the eye doctor said!

When Melinda went back to the eye doctor on Friday, the doc redid the eye test thing and adjusted her prescription to make text clearer at a distance of 21 inches. That’s apparently how far away people put their monitors.

Since my scribe is extremely nearsighted, she ended up with a prescription for computer glasses at a weaker prescription than the ones she needs to drive her car. And that’s so weird.

The optometrist said that happens when the distance number is so negative. Even when you add positive numbers to them to increase the clarity on closer objects, the prescription is still negative and so my scribe will end up with two pairs of distance glasses.

Melinda also started writing Chaos Reigns, the sequel to Chaos Rises.

You can start reading Chaos Reigns on Patreon and Substack now since the first chapter published yesterday. New chapters will publish Thursday-Sunday until it's done. When will that be?

Only the characters know. Am I in it? I'll get some page time in there somehow. I don't know how yet. Melinda only wrote one chapter so far so it's early days. I have plenty of time to figure out how to get into that book.

Who is in the book?

Since it's the second book in the Riders of the Apocalypse series, and my Auntie Sovvan is supposed to catch them all, she's in it. Misriah is also in it and Fay too. The remaining riders must be in it since my aunt will chase them.

That's all we know right now. Have a great week, and don’t forget to come back next week to find out if Curse Breaker Jousts ended for real this time.

Book Deals & Special Editions

Four Families Complete Series-Romance, Comedy and the Mafia

Back six sizzling mafia rom-coms—where love, laughter, and danger collide as four families unite against one deadly enemy. Follow the campaign to find out when it launches:

Read all our books in Kobo+

And our boxed sets too! They’re all waiting for you.

The characters introduced a new element that I didn’t expect to happen in that book. I had been trying to come up with a way to make it happen for the last 12 books, but it never fit.

I guess the Rangers got tired of waiting because they made it happen and I need to figure out how to work that in because I think we’ll need it in the next book.

So while I figure that out, I bring you the first chapter of Chaos Reigns, the sequel to Chaos Rises.

We’ll get Misriah’s reasons for bring Argeaneal to Mount Eredren in this one when the story catches up to where the Mount Erederen crew are. The Curse Breaker books are ahead in the master timeline so this book needs to catch Sovvan, Fay, Misriah and anyone else who shows up in it up to the main timeline, show you what they were doing and pick up all the loose ends they left hanging in the last 5 Curse Breaker books and they also need to find and defeat another rider of the apocalypse.

So strap in because this is going to be a wild ride, and I’m going to try not to repeat much from the Curse Breaker books, so this can be all new stuff. Hopefully, the characters are on board with that.

So without further ado, I bring you, chapter 1 of Chaos Reigns. It will be followed by the final chapters of Curse Breaker Jousts next week and then chapter 2.

Thank you so much for coming on this adventure!

Not Her Favorite Place

As the thick fog of the Gray Between enveloped them, Sovvan fought the sigh of frustration rising from her core and failed. So she gave in and she kicked the dusty ground under the fog for good measure. “I really hate this place.”

The Gray Between was so named because it was gray from the fog covered ground to the cloudy sky above. The only color in this cheerless place came from their glowing violet eyes and their golden halos. So a lot of the Gray Between remained gray and dreary probably by design. Sovvan didn’t understand why the Creator chose gray for the waiting room of the afterlife and no angel could explain it either. They just accepted it was so and got on with things and so should she.

“I know. It’s not my favorite place either.” Misriah touched down on the ground hidden by the fog but she didn’t let go even though Sovvan couldn’t go anywhere without her unless she wanted to swim in the Drops of Eternity. She’d have to find one first but there were easier ways to return to the Mortal World.

Unfortunately Sovvan couldn’t do that until she did what they came here for. I promised Misriah I’d deal with the Riders of the Apocalypse and that’s what I’ll do. I wish I knew where the other three are right now. That would help a lot. But she didn’t have any way to find them so she’d just have to improvise or hope they ran into an angel who could give them a clue.

“Where’s that temple that housed the seals before they broke?” Sovvan scanned the fog bank that came up to her shoulders for any sign of it but she just saw the same gray nothingness for miles around them.

“We’ll go there next. Let’s deliver the demon in your pocket to Hell first.” Misriah set off in a direction and kept going like there was somewhere she could reach if she walked for long enough. But there wasn’t anything unless it hid under the fog. Since she still had an arm slung around her waist, Misriah dragged Sovvan along with her.

“Where is the door to Hell?” Sovvan glanced around for it as the demon bounced around inside her skirt pocket. Was he trying to escape? As if I’d let him.

Sovvan rested a hand on top of the bulge to hold her pocket closed. She went to a lot of trouble to trap that demon so she didn’t want to lose it. Besides Misriah would probably make her chase him down if the demon got free somehow. And she’d be right to do that because it’s my responsibility to deliver him to Hell not hers. Sovvan squared her shoulders and squeezed her pocket closed.

“It’s around here somewhere.” Misriah shrugged like she didn’t mind wandering around.

“Shouldn’t we fly to it? I thought we were under time pressure to stop the apocalypse.” Sovvan wished stopping Death would have stopped the clock on that but she didn’t think it did. Things didn’t feel normal or settled.

“I would but the guardians of this place don’t like anyone going to Hell. So it’s better to approach on foot. They’re more likely to leave us alone.” Misriah froze as shadowy figures surrounded them, and they weren’t the grumpy elephantine guardians of this place.

A giant eye-shaped black thing appeared behind the shadows, and it looked entirely too much like the gateway she and Fay took down. But it couldn’t come back. Gateways couldn’t spontaneously generate themselves. They needed someone to cast them. Who cast this one?

Malachiah can’t do it. He went to Hell. Didn’t he? Sovvan slipped from Misriah’s grasp as doubts seized her. Could he cast another gateway from Hell?

It took a lot of power to create a gateway since it essentially bored through everything between the realm one stood in and the realm one wanted to reach. There was no way he found that kind of power in Hell or someone else would have created a gateway long before now. Since they didn’t then there wasn’t that kind of power in Hell. Or was there?

Besides, the Gateway she and Fay took down was white, not black. Why was this one different?

Sovvan padded closer but the shadowy humanoid figures never clarified. The watery light from above did nothing to light them. It was like they were shadows cast from somewhere else.

They dissolved and blew away like ashes on the wind and she wrinkled her nose at the acrid scent of sulfur. The door to Hell must be close by even if she couldn’t see it. Distance was deceptive here.

“What is the shape of time? Is it a line or a circle?” asked the Watcher of the Moon but he didn’t appear. Where was that weird angel? And why was he spouting riddles?

“I don’t know, but I hope it’s a line because I don’t want to take down another gateway. The first one was hard enough.” Sovvan returned to Misriah’s side. “Hey, are you okay?” She grasped Misriah’s arm and shook the warrior angel.

A lightning bolt struck the ground on her other side and Sovvan yelped in surprise. Where did that thing come from?

“Did you sicc the council of angels on me?” Giraya demanded from above as she conjured another lightning bolt. The blond woman was the last angel Sovvan wanted to deal with right now but the Gray Between was Giraya’s domain so she couldn’t exactly avoid her.

“Hi Giraya. I’d say it’s nice to see you but it’s not really.” Sovvan stepped closer to Misriah since Giraya wouldn’t dare strike Misriah with a lightning bolt.

“I could say the same thing about you.” Giraya landed, but she didn’t banish the lightning bolt from her hand, and it crackled as she approached. The blond angel was pricklier than Periel.

“What’s got your wings in a tangle?” Sovvan fought the urge to duck behind Misriah. Instead, she stood her ground.

“A lot of things. The seals broke and the things inside them went to the Mortal World where I can’t go. So I can’t track them down and lock them up in the temple. And if that’s not bad enough, weird shadowy figures and giant eye-shaped things keep appearing and disappearing. An angel I thought was my friend went to Hell and I keep catching glimpses of the Agents of Chaos out of the corner of my eye but when I turn around, they aren’t there. I’d think I was losing my mind but that’s not possible since I’m an angel.” Giraya let go of the lightning bolt and it disappeared in a shower of sparks so she could press both hands to her head.

“When did you see the Agents of Chaos? Fay said they went back in time.” Sovvan hoped they returned because their mission failed.

“I don’t know. Time doesn’t mean anything to me. So I can’t even begin to speculate about that when I don’t notice its passage.” Giraya let her hands fall to her sides. “Did you see those shadows and the eye-shaped thing?”

“Yes, I saw them. I don’t know what they are but they seem harmless so I think we can ignore them right now since they disappeared.” Sovvan glanced at Misriah but the warrior angel still didn’t move. Why was she frozen and Giraya wasn’t?

Giraya was an angel of place and the Gray Between was her place to guard. So she wasn’t tied to the Mortal World. But Misriah is tied to it because she’s my brother’s guardian angel. Aren’t I tied to the Mortal World too since I have a magical bond with my twin brother?

Maybe she wasn’t as tied to that place as Misriah was. It could have something to do with the whole Angel of Death thing. Sovvan could drive herself crazy trying to figure that out or she could put it aside and concentrate on the bigger threat, the Agents of Chaos.

“What did the Agents of Chaos do?” Sovvan spun to make sure mentioning them didn’t summon them.

“They talked to this guy in garish robes. He looked like he fell into a rich man’s closet and threw on the first things he grabbed. Oh and he had long white hair. I think he was one of those ex-gods. The time ones are still around. I think he’s one of them.” Giraya shrugged and smoothed her white robes like they would dare wrinkle on her.

“Okay what else happened?” Sovvan didn’t need a description of this guy since she didn’t have time to track him down. But maybe Fay could. If he was a time god then he might be related to her.

“I don’t know. I saw them talking out of the corner of my eye, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying. It sounded like gibberish but they were probably just speaking a language I don’t understand. If I look directly at them, they disappear. I’d think I imagined it but I don’t have an imagination, and if I did, I wouldn’t imagine the Agents of Chaos. I hate them.” Giraya summoned another lightning bolt and she twisted it into glowing knots.

“I know. I’m not a fan of them either. Do you see them now?” Sovvan didn’t see them but that didn’t mean they weren’t there.

“No. I lost them when they went toward the door to Hell.” Giraya kicked the fog curling around her skirt.

“That’s where we’re going. It can’t be a coincidence.” Sovvan wished it was. She had enough on her plate right now with this stalled apocalypse business.

“Why are you standing there ignoring me? I didn’t hit your little friend.” Giraya touched Misriah’s arm.

“Who are you calling little? I stand a head taller than both of you.” And she didn’t need to stand on tiptoe to do it. Sovvan glared at Giraya.

“Why isn’t she moving or talking?” Giraya clasped Misriah’s arm and shook it.

“I don’t know. This happens every time something weird happens. But she usually unfreezes when the weird things go away.” But not this time and that worried Sovvan. I can’t stop the apocalypse without her. She’s got to unfreeze. I need her muscles and her friendship.

“How long does it usually take for her to unfreeze?” Giraya circled Misriah as she studied her.

“A few minutes maybe?” Sovvan wrung her hands. “There’s got to be something we can do to speed it up.”

“Maybe she needs to return to the Mortal World.”

“Maybe but we came here to do several things so I can’t go with her until I do that.” But there weren’t any other angels besides Giraya anywhere she could see and she could see for miles in every direction. Would Giraya take Misriah back to the Mortal World?

“I’d take her back but I can’t leave this place unless the council appoints another guardian.” Giraya gestured to the featureless gray fog surrounding them.

The council probably wouldn’t appoint another angel to guard this cheerless place. But they ordered Thaniel to investigate the shadows and the eye-shaped things that could be gateways. Unfortunately Sovvan didn’t see the cavalier warrior angel anywhere. “You said an angel you thought was your friend went to Hell. Which angel was it?”

“Oh that. I doubt you know her.” Giraya waved the question away.

But Sovvan had a feeling the answer was important. “Who was it?”

“A warrior angel named Thaniel.” Giraya folded her arms and glared at the fog in front of them like it did something to offend her.

That was another coincidence. What were the odds of so many coincidences happening in this place? Probably nil. The Gray Between just wasn’t that interesting.

“I need to find the door to Hell right now. Can you show me where it is?” Sovvan stared at the fog in front of her since that’s the direction Misriah headed before she froze. So the door must be somewhere ahead.

“Yes, but what about Misriah? I don’t think we should leave her alone here, not with all the weird things happening lately.” Giraya glanced at the warrior angel with worried eyes.

“Can we carry her?” Sovvan wondered if she could even lift her. Misriah was stronger than anyone she’d ever met.

“We’ll have to. I’m not leaving her here.” Giraya bent so her chest was parallel to the ground, then rammed her shoulder into Misriah’s stomach, and grasped her legs as she straightened with the frozen angel resting on her shoulder. It looked awkward but Giraya managed it. “Let’s go.”