Claire fights to prepare herself to fulfill an Unbreakable Promise made in the heat of the moment. A spontaneous adventure north, a catastrophic attack upon Dragonwall, and a surprising realization, all culminate into the perfect storm, bringing Cla...
1. "In a desperate attempt to burn away the legs of his foe, he made a deadly mistake diving too close. He came within the giant's reach. His face erupted into pain as the giant swatted him. He felt the icy fingers rake across his scales, from the eye ridges of his forehead, down to his jaw. He was seared by white-hot agony. "
2. "When she neared his dais, the king moved his hands, exposing his appearance in its entirety. She was met by a face covered in deep scars. Disguising her shock was difficult. The sight of him encouraged her alarm, and even pity. For a brief moment, compassion replaced her intense hatred. What kind of horrors had done such a thing?
When at last she reached the stairs, she beheld the king closely. He was completely different than she imagined. She expected him to be old—perhaps a white bearded man stooped with age. He was nothing of the sort.
Hiding behind marred skin was a young man. She could see that he was once handsome, with a prominent forehead and heavy-set silver eyes that glittered with flecks of gold when they caught the light. Beautiful as they were, his eyes could not overshadow the rest of him. Was it difficult for his subjects to see past his scars? The mutilations covered his face. The most noticeable line ran diagonally from his right eyebrow to his lower jaw. She forced her gaze away to look at the rest of him.
His jet-black hair was thick and unruly, hardly tamed by the crown of gold atop his head. These two wrestled for power—order versus chaos. The winner was clear. Yet the untidiness suited him, lending itself to the beast-like appearance he possessed."
I was so thrilled when captain_prongs used her artistic talent to paint this fan art image of Talon. I worked with her closely on his scar placement, using excerpts from my first books, as well as the image of him in my mind to get them right. When she sent me this, I literally cried. It was the first time I had seen Talon with so much likeness to what I had imagined, from the diagonal scars to the unruly black hair and silver eyes. I wanted to save this image for THIS chapter as a lead-in. I hope you all love it. Let's congratulate her on a job well done!
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Brezen
Claire woke just before dawn when something soft smacked her in the chest. She found Bedelth peering through the tent flap. "A pillow?! Really?" She pushed it off and it tumbled to the floor. There were worse ways to wake up, though she would have expected such behavior from Koldis, more than anything.
"Rise and shine!" Bedelth gave her a toothy grin before disappearing. She grumbled and stretched her muscles, slowly getting to her feet. One day closer to sleeping in a real bed again—to waking up without aching muscles.
