Excerpt of The Cycle of Time: The Journey

In honor of the release of The Cycle of Time: The Journey, I am posting this excerpt of the book. Enjoy!

~Anastasia

Excerpt of ‘The Cycle of Time: The Journey’

Suddenly a loud sound reverberated through the air: flapping and the grunting breaths of a beast. Alli’s stomach lurched with each gruff gasp. Her hair was soaked now, sticking to her back, and the rain felt much too cold.

A splash sent the boat rocking, and then the breathing slowed. Small splashes shifted the raft, and a long, interminable silence made the blood drain from Alli’s face.

Hot, smoky breath enveloped her, and she screamed and spun around to face the fangs of a snarling dragon.

“Stay away from them!” Alli heard Eadën string an arrow with a twang.

The dragon moved away, and Alli scrambled to her feet, shaking so hard that the boat shuddered. She tripped over to Dirco and fell into his arms, heaving tearless sobs of fear. He tightened his arms around her, as if doing so would keep her safe.

The huge black dragon was turned, so that Alli could see its back. Three red striped colored its backside, and in a saddle sat a woman with glossy onyx hair.

Alli knew this was Jzän.

The dragon turned again, as if searching for something. It sighted Alli, bared its teeth, and then faced both boats. The woman, Jzän, climbed up the spines jutting from the beast’s vertebrae and onto its head. Her piercing, bloody eyes scanned them, then she laughed. Her laugh was smooth like cream, thick with a honey-sweetened undertone, yet sent jolts of terror down Alli’s backbone. Her hair stood on end.

“Ah,” Jzän giggled, “this is simply too rich. Stand up and let me see you all.” Isidar, Vette, and Oêni rose from the bottom of their boats. Jzän’s blazing eyes found Eadën, standing with his bow drawn, in an instant. Her face blanched as she stared at him. “Yes. Little brother. So you are alive.”

Eadën flushed, pulling the string to his bow tighter.

“Oh, don’t bother. You already tried that, remember? If I recall correctly...” Flame, the dragon, snorted out a blast of air, and Eadën’s ripped shirt opened to expose his scar. “You lost. Now put the bow down and let us talk like civilized elves. Or, in this case, humans.”

Eadën didn’t lower the bow. “What do you want, Jzän?”

“Only to talk. That’s all.” She smiled, and somehow she seemed not so scary. “I’ve missed you, little brother. So much.” She slid down her dragon’s snout and onto the boat. Isidar flattened himself against the mast to avoid being near her, but Vette stood her ground, her face stony but her body trembling. Without a word from Jzän’s mouth, the bow Eadën held dropped to the floor, even though he kept his fists tight. Magic again. She took his arms and spun him around a little. “Oh, you’ve grown so, Eadën. A fine man you have become, no doubt. Of course, I barely remember you when you fought me last. You know how I am about battles.”

“Yes, I know,” Eadën said between clenched teeth as he pulled his arms away. “Leave us be and no one gets hurt.”

Jzän clicked with her tongue. “Such petty threats.” She picked up his bow between her index finger and her thumb. “With this little toy? You know there is only one way to defeat me.” She waved her hand over his head, and several sparks landed upon his inky hair. “Magic.” She lifted his chin. How could Eadën look like such a little boy in her presence? “Or haven’t we been practicing, Eadën?”

Eadën jerked his head away. “Leave us be.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that. You know as well as I do that there’s that aggravating little dwarven prophecy you seem to be trying to fulfill.” She laughed again, but much differently this time. She pointed at Alli and Dirco. “And with those whelps?”

Eadën’s face turned bright red. “What business is it of yours?” he shouted, shoving her arm down. “Besides, I’m not trying to fulfill any superstitious prophecies. I’m fulfilling orders!”

Jzän’s face darkened as she turned to Eadën, and suddenly she didn’t seem so big-sisterly. Her gaze drifted over his scarred chest, and she put a hand out as if to touch it. “You lived through this, Eadën. But I don’t expect you to make a miraculous recovery again.” A knife slid from her sleeve.

Eadën saw it and put his hand on his sword, his eyebrows low. “You wouldn’t try again. I have the same friends who helped me last time here with me now. What do you plan on doing to them?”

She smiled sweetly. “This.” With a jerk of her arm, she plunged the knife into Eadën’s stomach.