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st of all magic from earth cities and fantastical new worlds comes a collection of stories where heroes grapple with the seen and unseen in order to save themselves their families and often the world fans of patricia briggs and tamsyn muir will love hidden magic the book is only 99 via a kindle countdown sale for another couple of days grab your copy before it goes back to 2 99 it s also on kindle unlimited and includes my story a veil is parted you can read chapter one here and because these anthologies are rapid release you can grab the sequel right now wayward magic just became available april 14th on amazon kindle unlimited along with the continuation of 19 other fantasy stories it includes my sequel when day fades into night grab hidden magic for 99 and wayward magic to binge read a fantasy set that s already picked up loads of reviews from readers what about that giveaway celebrate the launch of wayward magic by entering up to four times for a chance to win an awesome prize pack the prize pack includes 25 amazon gift card one bookish tote bag pack of four bookmarks an enamel unicorn pin a sparkly pencil pen bag one wand pen a 5 x 7 fantasy art print this giveaway is free to enter between now and midnight april 19th so you have through the 18th to enter only two days left no pre order is required international entries welcome don t miss out enter the giveaway today hidden magic is out 12 thursday mar 2020 posted by amidtheimaginary in blog messages 1 comment tags anthology fantasy new releases urban fantasy i m super excited to announce that my newest fantasy story along with the works of 19 other amazing authors is now available on amazon for 99 kindle unlimited hidden magic released on march 10th and is already 1 in one of its amazon categories and hit 1 in hot new releases read chapter one from my novella below what makes this anthology special this is the start of a trilogy of fantasy anthologies unlike anything you ve seen before the project required each author to write 3 interconnected novellas like installments in a tv show that make a complete story by the end that s 20 complete stories these are set to rapid release march april may so you won t have to wait long for the next installments as promised below is all of chapter one from my novella a veil is parted available exclusively in hidden magic the synopsis simith of drifthorn is tired of war after years of battle between the thistle court and the troll kingdom even a pixie knight known for his bloodlust longs for peace meeting with the troll king in secret is the only hope for a ceasefire when the trolls ambush him instead simith flees through a doorway hidden by magic into another world wounded he ll need to defeat his pursuers and get home before anyone realizes he s gone if his commanders find out what he s been up to the trolls will be the least of his worries in skylark michigan jessa leaves a party after some devastating news cutting through her neighbor s sunflower farm she runs into a fight between creatures straight out of a fantasy novel only the blood is very real when one of them falls to his attackers jessa decides to intervene she s known too much death to stand idly by but what does a poet like her know about fighting as their weapons turn against her jessa realizes how much she stands to lose even for someone who s already lost everything chapter one the arrow took simith in the back it punched through his left wing and lodged itself below his shoulder blade flitting between the trees on his way to the meeting place he almost lost his hold on the next branch as pain exploded across his body he scrambled for cover amid the foliage swallowing his pained gasps but leaves were sparse at this spot in the jaded grove he didn t find it in time the second arrow drove through his right wing ripping the aft membrane but he was fortunate the arrowhead only split the leathers by his ribs he found a nest of twisted branches and crouched behind them trying to quiet his ragged breath trying to think he d made certain he wasn t followed when he left camp no one saw him depart and he hadn t dared tell anyone his plans not his fellow knights and certainly not the helms who was attacking him the arrowhead burned in his back with sinking dread he noted the numbness in his left arm iron it was made of iron which meant his magic was inhibited and he couldn t heal the wound simith pressed his brow to the black bark only one creature could wield iron without poisoning themselves he clunked his head against the wood cursing himself of course the trolls would ambush him they had no reason to believe his appeal for a truce was in earnest not from a knight who d butchered more of their kind than any other what better way to kill him off than when he was alone on a mission no one knew about hollow disappointment blended with his fury he wasn t sure whether it came by their blatant betrayal or that he d failed to make rim s dream come true what did it matter he d been a fool he was a fighter not a peacemaker and the dead buried their dreams in the ground along with their broken flesh maybe soon he d be buried along with them simith s keen ears picked up on the whisper of footfalls over the mossy earth below he could no longer fly and he couldn t outrun them he had his knives though and his crystal blade if he could wield it he folded his limbs closer shielding as much of his body as possible behind the wood the muted green of his leathers should ve camouflaged him though night had fallen hours ago the shadows were more friend to trolls than pixies their arrows couldn t pierce these enchanted trees at least simith might have been a fool to trust them but he hadn t chosen the jaded grove as the meeting place by happenstance little moth a gravelly voice called from below your flight is done you re not that precise with your bow he called back a sprite has better aim than your kind the scent of your blood is as sweet as sugar pixie came another s eager chortle come down and tarry with us a while join me up here and i ll tarry all you want silence followed only stone welcomed the touch of a troll no tree would abide them he d witnessed it before the way the bark groaned in warning and the branches trembled with outrage before the wood shook them off like a tick the roots would draw themselves from the soil to squeeze throats and ribcages the fae of the former seelie and unseelie courts had made sentinels of the forests that ringed their respective domains even a century after the destruction of their race the fae s powerful influence lingered in the green world it might ve been the certainty of this power that slowed simith s reaction to the snapping of twigs and the scrape of boots against the tree trunk they couldn t be climbing up he assured himself he d have felt the rising ire through the bark a trick then to lure him from cover simith risked a glance eyes glowed up from the lower branches yellow witchlights in the gloom moving steadily closer he gaped down at them in astonishment impossible he whispered the brush of air whizzed by his face before he felt the skin split high on his cheekbone simith reacted on instinct hurling a silver blade at the encroaching eye shine one winked out a scream rent the quiet grove and a body crashed to the ground he counted four more pairs of eyes their stout forms a shadowed outline in the darkness none of them watched their comrade s demise gazes fixed upward on him they continued to climb simith did the same magic he decided gritting his teeth as he clambered toward higher branches the iron arrowhead scraping against his shoulder blade they must have procured a conduit through which to funnel their magic in a way that the trees didn t recognize them as trolls he didn t know that was possible every conduit had a particular signature that marked its user sprites typically used a crown of roan berries the hobgoblins steel piercings they wore on their skin the boggarts the bones of their first kill a conduit could not simply be swapped for another they became as near and familiar as a limb could they be using power without a conduit simith dismissed the notion out of hand to draw raw magic into oneself was as lethal as swallowing flames only the immortal fae had been capable of wielding it their very blood fabled to be made of the same elements even the fairies their cousin race had to use conduits yet he couldn t refute the quick sounds of pursuit behind him none of this made sense for now it didn t have to for now he simply had to escape get back to the thistle court and confess to his commanders his foolhardy attempt to forge an accord with the trolls and hope the fairies wouldn t see it as treason escape first he ordered himself noting with some worry that his mind was growing unorganized it had to be the iron still lodged in his body he didn t have time to stop and remove the arrows he wasn t moving fast enough either they were closing in on him if he could leap to another tree it might impede their chase they d managed to climb this one but the ground loving trolls weren t as experienced moving between tree tops as he simith found his chance in a tangle of branches that led away from the trunk he climbed he followed them barely as wide as his calf but sturdy enough to bear his weight with any luck it would snap under the much heavier trolls should they dare to follow working his way across in a crouch he was halfway to the neighboring tree when a third arrow struck him it plunged through his sword arm just above the elbow simith couldn t silence the hoarse cry his foot slipped slamming him chest first into the solid wood he threw another knife a mere guess at the direction the arrow had come barely clinging on with his legs he heard a troll curse but knew he d hit nothing vital the distraction bought him enough time to struggle the rest of the distance and put the trunk between them where is your famed battle lust now sun fury one of them mocked we thought there d be a better fight than this hazy with pain simith hadn t the breath to pretend at bravado his hands shaking his skin soaked in blood the branches he d used to cross trembled with the weight of another crossing his heart sank how were they doing this simith dragged himself up and climbed anew slower than before they must ve heard his graceless movements triumphant snickers filled the night air why do this he called down grasping at the frail hope of parlay my intention to discuss peace was in earnest safer to trust a boggart with a newborn babe than to allow you near our king he gritted his teeth your army is on the brink of collapse the fairies will send their legions to rout what s left of it and march toward your homes no reply you re making a mistake he shouted it s too late for peace he said no more cold despair settling on his feverish skin rim s last words to him sounded in his head don t let the blade wield you sim it s your hand on the hilt your choice your will but she was wrong violence had wrung all choice from him even under a banner of peace his enemies saw him as only a weapon those same enemies crossed from the first tree to this one more expertly than he would ve expected of a troll the branches somehow held their substantial weight simith drew a steadying breath and prepared himself though he likely deserved it he refused to be felled like an injured bird he gripped his crystal blade not yet drawing it his magic would light the darkness like a blinding ray of dawn they might know his position and scent his blood on the air but he doubted they expected him to turn and fight not after he d already fled so far a tremor beneath his feet pulled his attention to the branch on which he knelt he frowned at it wondering if he d imagined the wood had stirred he bit back a sound of surprise when the bark under his palm did the same it rippled a vibration that travelled up his fingers and down the bones of his hand as if it beckoned him he put his cheek to its rough skin and listened climb it murmured into his ear up now simith released his sword summoned what strength he had and obeyed the fae had taught their trees to speak though they rarely did until this moment which he d thought his last he d never experienced it before and he didn t believe in serendipity with clumsy arms and shaking legs he pulled himself slowly and unsteadily upward knowing all the while that he likely climbed toward a dead end toward death the sentinels of the jaded grove were known to be tall enough their branches could block the midday sun in some areas but once he arrived at the top it was over still he continued without hesitation the tree murmuring at him all the while higher higher go sounds of pursuit came from below though blessedly no more arrows the branches grew dense here weaving between each other in the complicated patterns of the green world perhaps they didn t think they could aim for him clearly perhaps they needed to concentrate on their hand and footholds this high up or the more likely reason they saw no need to put in the extra effort when eventually they d catch up to his head collided with something solid startled he jerked down a pace staring upward in confusion he could see nothing that in itself seemed odd no sky no stars not even the shadowy outline of branches leading on he lifted a hand wincing with the movement and his fingers brushed against a wide smooth surface pressing the whole of his palm against it he swept outward trying to locate the edge could it be a knotty shelf grown out of the tree it didn t feel like wood it was soft and gave when he pressed in bits of it breaking off to scatter over his face in a gritty rainfall dirt he rubbed it between his fingers the texture held that of soil how could that be up up up the tree chanted again branches creaked somewhere farther down his pursuers approached simith skimmed his hands across the silty surface but he found nothing no edge no hole nothing to get him past this barrier higher climb climb not knowing what else to do simith burrowed his fingers into the cool surface and gouged out a palm full of yes it was dirt he tossed it away delving back in again and again as a hole formed above him his arm and shoulder became a thundering agony greying his vision but he could ve sworn light came through the thinning layers if he could just get to the top of them his hands broke through an avalanche of dirt fell with it and he turned his head to the side just before he caught a face full of it irritated grunts came from below the trolls had come close enough to be hit by some of that hopefully it gave them pause while simith frantically dug along the sides to widen the hole enough for his lithe frame a dim glow filtered its way to him a breeze whispering past the opening with unfamiliar scents it didn t matter where this led the priority was escape and this was the only one he reached for it his hands fou...