There and Back Again
Hi, your favorite fantasy character is back!
I know what you’re thinking. “But Ran, isn’t this your newsletter? So how can you be back when you never actually left?”
And that’s a really good point. But it’s not really my newsletter. Technically, this newsletter belongs to my scribe. Unfortunately, the only interesting thing she does is write about me and my family. So that’s why I took over many years ago.
I’ve said this before, and I’ll probably say it a lot more. I only exist when you read my stories. The same goes for Papa and all the characters in our stories. So must entertain you every week so you’ll go read about us!
In case you forgot, this is Ran, your friendly neighborhood fantasy character and I’m also the son of a pacifist with the most showiest power I’ve seen. He’s also known as Sarn, and he’s the Curse Breaker in the Curse Breaker series.
And yes, I know cursebreaker can be one word, but there was already a series using that spelling when our first book, Curse Breaker Enchanted came out. But that’s only in the language this email is written in. In my native language, curse breaker is two worlds because curse makers and curse breakers use different types of magics.
So I might have corrected the spelling when my scribe, Melinda, wasn’t looking to make every instance of Curse Breaker two words like it is my language. It just looked wrong as one word, and I’m sorry if that annoys the grammarians, but it’s not wrong that way either.
And you’re wondering where I’m going with all this. Actually, I was just going to segue to the next part of our ongoing story, Catch the Scribe, but first:
Book News!
Rogue Gift, book 5 of the Robin of Larkspur series is edited and ready for release and you can preorder it now. Patrons and Kickstarter backers who backed a tier that had Rogue Gift as part of it or added that book on have all got their ebook copies in their BookFunnel libraries.
In other news, an ex-war god has been seen roaming around Amazon. You can join is army—I mean get his book since it’s out now.
We’re still waiting for the first round of proofs from the printer for the Robin of Larkspur kickstarter. Follow the Kickstarter so you’re notified when it launches.
That’s all the book news this week. And now for the next installment of:
Catch the Scribe
by Melinda Kucsera
Chapter 3: The Woman in the Leaf, Part 2
When a green glow caught his gaze, Ran sat up. It was Papa’s magic. It poked its green-glowing head out of Papa’s outstretched hand and looked around. Maybe that mystery had come to find him. “Hello magic, do you want to play with me? I’ll be quiet. I won’t wake Papa or Uncle Miren. I promise. Will you play with me?”
Sometimes Papa’s magic wanted to explore but not tonight. It took one last look around then retreated into the palm of Papa’s hand where it curled up and presumably slept. Damn, there went that avenue of amusement. Papa’s magic must be tired too. Papa tended to work a lot of magic when he was in trouble, and Papa tended to get into a lot of trouble, just not when Ran was around, and that was a serious problem. How can I learn how to be a great sidekick if I’m not here when trouble comes a-calling?
Ran kneaded Bear’s fuzzy ears in thought, but that didn’t rouse its sometime occupant. That was okay because Papa was here, and he’d made the cave safe again with the Queen Tree’s light. But that light was fading a little more each day. Soon, her protection would be gone unless Papa renewed it. Would Papa refresh it? Maybe I should remind Papa just in case.
A breeze wafted in under the door, and a thin sliver object shot across the cave. What was that? Ran wriggled out from under the arm clamping him to Papa’s muscular chest and rushed over to investigate. Maybe this was just what he'd hoped for, a mystery to solve.
That leaf must be one of the Queen Trees’ shiny leaves because it was silver, and it flew around like it had a mind of its own. Granted, there could be other trees with silver leaves. Ran had only seen a few trees in his life, but only one very special tree knew where he lived, the Queen of All Trees. Ran waited as the leaf flew past again and timed his jump just right. He captured that leaf before returning to Papa’s side in case he was wrong and the leaf was a trap or something dangerous. He didn’t think it was, but after the scary events of a week ago, who knew?
Bear had said the shadow monster wouldn’t return, but Bear’s button eyes went dark and vacant right after that without any warning at all. So he could be wrong. Ran poked his furry friend’s tummy, but Bear didn’t react. He was back to being a plain old non-animated stuffed animal again. Will Ghost Bear return to his fluffy home in time to help me if that shadow monster returns?
Ran didn’t know, so he stuck close to Papa. His magic would protect him even while Papa was asleep. That thought made Ran feel all warm and fuzzy inside as he unclenched his fist to view his newest treasure.
More than a week ago, Papa gave him one of the Queen Tree’s seeds. Now, Ran had one of her leaves to add to his growing collection of luminous objects. Ran smiled. But as He gazed at the leaf, shapes formed.
“There’s a woman in the leaf!” Unable to contain his wonder, Ran patted Papa’s side. Papa must see this. Here, at last, was a mystery worthy of his magic.
***
Next week, we’ll continue with the next chapter. But you can read ahead on patreon right now. Have a great week!
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