ROGUE MAGE ANTHOLOGY I

New York Times Best Selling Author, Faith Hunter, is well known for her Jane Yellowrock series, her brand new Soulwood series, and of course, her Rogue Mage series.

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Rogue Mage Backstory (wording pulled from the FaithHunter.net website):

"No one thought the apocalypse would be like this. The world didn’t end. And the appearance of seraphs heralded three plagues and a devastating war between the forces of good and evil. Over a hundred years later, the earth has plunged into an ice age, and seraphs and demons fight a never-ending battle while religious strife rages among the surviving humans."

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The RM books revolve around a neomage (Thorn St. Croix) gifted with using the creation energy inside stones of the earth, and it takes place in 2117. The Rogue Mage Anthology, 2-book set, will revolve around other rogue mages around the globe in the same world that Faith Hunter created. However, other than a short story or two in each book about Thorn, these stories will revolve around new rogue neomage characters in different places all across the planet. Timeline wise, they could occur as early as the apocalypse itself, 2117, or anytime in between.

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Tamsin Silver's short story, Mettilwynd, takes place in Southeast Asia in the years 2107 and 2115. It revolves around a pirate ship named Persephone, her feared captain, Katara, and her neomage prisoners, Chopra and Miku.

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~~~Here's a snippet from Mettilwynd~~~

 

September 9, 095 Post-Ap (2107 AD) – Mumbai, India

 

Rocking slowly with the sway of the pirate ship, silent tears slid down Chopra’s face as she closed the lifeless eyes of the girl whose head lay cradled in her lap. “Shaanti dhoondhen, my friend. I’m so sorry.”

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Chopra ran a hand over her own half-inch of recently shaved, dark brown hair, and looked up at her best friend, Miku; the Asian girl had been stripped to her undergarments, hands bound together with rope above her head, then attached to a hook in the ceiling.

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“Is she . . .” Miku asked, hesitant to finish her sentence.

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Chopra nodded. “Delphine is gone.”

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“Nooo . . .” Miku moaned, tears streaming down her face.

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“What a waste,” grumbled the large man Chopra’d heard referred to as Val. He stopped behind her, smelling of whiskey and pungent body odor. “She was the prettiest, too. Throw the blonde one overboard and weigh anchor. Jetrel is expecting our special cargo.” Grabbing Chopra’s arms from behind, Val hauled the Indi-girl to her feet and held her while another crewman took her friend’s lifeless body away, her blonde hair hanging, her limbs limp.

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“No!” Chopra screamed, trying to pull free of Val’s big, rough hands as the double, complicated locks were undone on the only way in or out of the hold.

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Sharing a knowing look with Chopra, Miku tugged at the ropes that bound her, yelling in protest as Delphine’s body was carried out. Kicking her closest captor, Miku rammed her heel into his nose, spraying blood across the small room.

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Pretending to faint, Chopra dropped, her body weight surprising Val into letting go. Freed, she somersaulted forward, using her neomage speed and strength to rise and run for freedom.

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Outside the entrance, a man swung a sword to block Chopra’s path, but she slid under it like a Pre-Ap baseball player sliding into home plate, before rolling up onto the balls of her bare feet and rushing down the hall.

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“Run, Chopra!” Miku shouted.

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The fastest and most agile of the three captives, if anyone could escape and fetch help it was Chopra. The pirates had confiscated her change-purse full of spelled coins, but the ones on her belt were still there. Plus, her prime amulet might still hold enough power to protect her from the saltwater below.

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She barreled up a set of stairs, the smell of fish and spicy food from Mumbai’s harbor slamming into her. Finding herself on the main deck, Chopra wove between the busy crewmen, her bare feet slapping the damp wood. Rushing up a second set of stairs to a higher deck, she dove between someone’s legs as the Persephone began to pull out of the harbor, and leaped to the ship’s rail.

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Her only option was to jump and swim for help. Everyone knew who owned the Persephone. Though the Indian Ocean was ruled by many pirates, this ship and her captain, Katara, were famously feared.

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The rail was no more than four inches wide, but Chopra confidently balanced on it. Judging distance for the dive into the water, she squatted for push-off when a scream pierced the air and her heart. Even though she knew better, Chopra turned to look. Standing at the door that lead to the lower decks was Miku, her blue eyes alight with fear as an Indi-woman with long, dark hair pressed a knife against her throat and walked her across the main deck. Val joined them, shoving the barrel of his gun against Miku’s temple.

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“Do it and she dies,” said the Indi-woman.

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~~~To learn what the Pirate known as Katara does with Chopra and Miku, pick up a copy of the Rogue Mage Anthologies!~~~