Weekend Briefing: New Nicki Chapelway Release!
Welcome back, agents. Today I have some exciting news. The next installment in Nicki Chapelway's Ruskhazar saga is releasing tomorrow! And today I get to show you the cover reveal, the synopsis, and some special quotes and images.
But first, the first book set in this world:
Once there was a battle between gods and demigods, and the
demigods lost. Now sorcery is banned and those who choose to follow the
demigods are shunned, even the followers of the Lady of Dawn, the only
demigod to side with her godly parents in the battle.
Azern
doesn’t know much about the outside world, or anything other than the
crumbling secluded temple she was raised in. Year by year goes by, and
one by one the priests leave the temple never to return. As one of the
few remaining members devout to Lady Dawn, Azern is faced with a calling
bigger and far more deadly than she ever could have imagined.
The
demigods are awakening, and once again the Lady of Dawn calls upon her
followers to aid her parents in their fight. Azern is given the task of
finding and protecting the mortal heroes that the gods have chosen to
save humanity. To aid her in this task she is gifted a taste of Lady
Dawn’s foresight, but the first vision she ever sees of the future is
about a Magicker, an injury, and a werewolf attack. Azern is convinced
that she was given this vision so that she could save this Magicker’s
life. Even if she must join a mad lord in his suicidal battle against
werewolves to do it. What she didn’t count on was the Magicker being a
stubborn fool who would likely rather die than break a rule. To gain his
trust, Azern must keep her sorcery a secret. More than just his life
may depend on it. If her sorcery is discovered the werewolves will be
the least of her problems.But then, for mortals caught in the ancient
struggle between gods and demigods, death is just an occupational
hazard.
And now for a little look at this newest release . . .
“Any story you have heard about me is doubtless true.”
I look down at the pouch of money in my hands. How many people have died for this money to reach my hands? The bandits, their victims, how far back does it go?
It’s blood money.
I probably should have figured that all out before I let her drag me into all of this, but as they say, you can never turn back the sands of time. Only brace yourself for the next storm.
Stars twinkle down at me from on high, and it’s hard to believe that this is the same sky I lived under in the deserts. Everything else has changed, why should this not as well? I don’t find the idea that no matter what happens to me the stars will never change to be comforting at all. I would rather it if the stars better reflected how my life is going, what I have been through should have rattled the heavens. But no, they keep on sitting there, twinkling down and taunting me with the fact that they are able to continue on exactly how they always have and I cannot.
And now, the cover itself:
“I wouldn’t be here if I believed the tale I had been told.”
The name of Lord Taliz the Champion of Coldhaven is one that almost everyone has heard... but the story? Well, the story is less well known. Now I don’t mean the tale that is sung in every tavern across Ruskhazar. I'm talking about what really happened.
Taliz and his sister Sofarynn are exiles seeking a new home in the mountainous peninsula of Ruskhazar. What they find instead is a world where monsters and magic exist outside of bard’s songs. While looking for work, Taliz instead is recruited by a reclusive group of individuals only to realize too late that they are werewolves. Now a member of the pack with powerful abilities he doesn’t understand, Taliz must learn to balance between who he once was and who—or what—he has become.
To many people Taliz is a hero, a legend, perhaps a figure made up by the bards. Some believe that he never existed at all. Oh, his home Coldhaven was certainly real enough, but how could someone like Taliz have lived and still be considered a mortal?
As the years pass, Taliz works to prove himself to his pack and perhaps in the process woo a beautiful but aloof werewolf named Ylfa. Sofarynn turns her attention to unlocking the mysteries of magic, a force that exists only in Ruskhazar. Except where Taliz goes trouble always follows. The siblings soon find themselves defending their new home from werewolf killers, a cult that worships a tiny statue, and bounty hunters sent to bring them back to their desert homeland to face charges. However, there is something buried under Coldhaven far more dangerous than anything they have ever faced, and it just came back from the dead.
But I’m here to tell you, Taliz is real, he existed, and he is not the hero you believe him to be. Yes, he did the things the bards claim. He charmed monsters, rose in status, saved Coldhaven, and then burned it all to the ground. But there was nothing exceptional about him. So, you may ask how did an ordinary man—a foreigner no less—come to be revered as the champion of the very city he destroyed? Well, I suppose if you trust the bard's accounts it’s because there was a worse fate than the fire, but if you ask me... the bards got it all wrong.
Hi, everyone! I'm Nicki Chapelway, I'm a twenty-something fantasy indie author. I write YA, NA, and adult books; however, all of my works can be considered clean. I create stories about twisty-stabby faeries, morally gray anti-heroes, large casts of misfits, and found families. I love writing dark retellings of fairytales, stories full of monsters, and different takes on mythologies. My books always have a touch of humor, a hint of romance, and a dash of magic.
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