Book: IMMORTAL ASCENDING By J.G. SAUER
Subject: Interview with Immortals Isadora “Dory” Winthrop and Kaden Crenshaw
Immortal Times Interviewer, Neve McMillian (A bit flustered): Oh my gosh! I just want to say what an honor it is for me to have this time with the most famous and revered individuals in our Immortal world. I know our IT readers are going to be thrilled with this interview.
Dory: That’s very kind of you to say, Neve. But please call me Dory. Isadora is from another lifetime and makes me feel as old as I am.
Neve: Well, you look fabulous for your three-plus centuries. And Chosen One as well. We’re going to get into your history and how that happened in a bit. But first, welcome to you, too, Kaden Crenshaw. Fairly new Immortal and Chosen Warrior. Now that you have a few years as an Immortal under your belt, how are you adapting?
Dory: Oh, please. He’s adapting just fine. I’m having a hard time keeping up with Mr. Chosen Warrior here. (She grins at Kaden.)
Kaden: (He winks at her.) Jealous much, love?
(Dory rolls her eyes.)
Kaden: I will say, Neve, after my initial shock of learning about the Immortal world—shock which was quite substantial, I might add—the transition hasn’t been as hard as one might imagine. At least, it hasn’t been for me.
Neve: Really?
Dory: (Shaking her head) Within a few months of coming home from England after his death and Immortal re-birth, he was moving the furniture around the living room with his mind. So, it hasn’t seemed to be a difficult transition to date.
Kaden: Hey, if you got it, use it. Plus, I’m an ex-cop. I like to be prepared for whatever gets thrown at me. That means exploiting every ability and learning to harness any skill available.
Dory: (Scoffing) Yeah, whatever.
Neve: Well, then let’s talk about history and this Immortality thing for you both. You start, Dory. Most Immortals know the legend but have, at best, only a vague idea of how you became the Chosen One. What was your childhood like? Did you have any idea of what your future held?
Dory: Oh, good lord, no. I had a normal upbringing. Well, maybe not normal but typical for the period. I married quite late at the age of twenty-four to a wealthy man who died not long after in a riding accident. That was daunting, to say the least. I had to grow up very quickly, but I was lucky to have good people around me to guide and protect me. Then, on the night of my twenty-eighth birthday, I found myself on the Glastonbury Tor smack dab in the middle of a fight between two Ancient Immortals.
Neve: Oh, my gosh! That must have been terrifying. And that was the night you were made Immortal and became the Chosen One?
Dory: Yes. Terrifying is a very good word for it. I died that night, but when I woke up in my bed the following morning, I thought I’d been dreaming. That is, until I threw back the covers to find that my feet and the bottom of my nightgown were covered in mud and grime. Then Morianna appeared in all her glory to tell me that not only was I now Immortal, but I was the Chosen One by ancient Prophesy.
Neve: Morianna, High Priestess of Avalon. Sister to Morgan la fey and confidant of Merlin. That must have been quite a meeting. And was she the one who’d made you Immortal?
Dory: Yes. The battle on the Tor that night was between Morianna and her cousin, Darius. I didn’t know until much later that the whole scenario and her ultimate actions were foretold by that same Prophesy.
Neve: That’s amazing. How did you adjust to that? It was in the 1600s, correct?
Dory: (Nodding) 1670 to be exact. And adjust? I didn’t very well. I spent the next couple of decades just trying to keep my head down to avoid being accused of things like witchcraft. As I’m sure you’re aware, as an Immortal, we can only die in a couple of very specific ways.
Neve: (Making a face.) Yes, removing the head or the heart. Disgusting.
Dory: You’re not wrong. And being burned at the stake for witchcraft wouldn’t do it, but would have been pretty heinous anyway.
Neve: Oh, man! What a horrible thought.
Kaden: Yeah, I can imagine that back then the torture thing would’ve been horrifying for an Immortal. They had so many vile ways to torture a person at that time in history.
Dory: (Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly.) As the years spun out and I began to watch those I cared about grow old and die, my adjustment skills deteriorated further. I also found out that Morianna’s cousin Darius was hunting me, but at the time I had no idea why. I know now that he was intent on taking my heart, and along with it, my power as Chosen One. After that, I closed myself off from life. I moved every decade or so, never made any lasting ties that could be used against me, and just tried to survive.
Kaden: Until the deal with Vee’s ancestors.
Neve: Vee? Who’s Vee?
Dory: Velma Reed, my Sentinel. I made a pact with her ancestors. They agreed to protect me and assist me with anything I needed in exchange for information on Immortals for their tomes. In those days, Sentinels were to watch and not engage with Immortals, so although it was unorthodox, it was a good arrangement for us both.
Neve: Sounds like it was a pretty lonely existence. How did you cope?
Dory: Again, not well. There were some very despondent times when I just wished for it all to be over. I was about done. (She hooks a thumb in Kaden’s direction.) Until this one bullied his way into my life.
Neve: (Giving Kaden a speculative look.) Bullied? Do tell?
Kaden: Bullied is a strong word. (Dory snorts) Ex-cop, remember? I’m curious.
Neve: How did you two meet?
Kaden: I came home late from work one night and, unbeknownst to me, Miss Thing here had moved into the house across the road. My Rottweiler, Henry, ran into her backyard where he was injured, shot by someone using a silencer. Dory met me on her front porch with a loaded Glock.
Neve: (Shocked – turns to Dory.) What? You met him with a loaded gun? Why? And who shot poor Henry?
Dory: (Shrugging) Well, to be fair, I had no idea who this guy was in my yard, so I wasn’t taking any chances. I’d just learned that Darius had hired a bounty hunter to run me down. Later, we discovered that this same bounty hunter had been in my backyard that night and was the one who’d shot sweet Henry. We were lucky that our fur baby had scared him off or no telling how it would have ended.
Kaden: (Shaking his head.) Fur baby? Really? You know that you’ve ruined my guard dog, right? (Turning back to Neve.) So, the Chosen One was pretty good with her cover stories, but my cop instincts kicked in and I wasn’t buying what she was sellin’. So, I started to dig. As I went down that rabbit hole, what I found didn’t make much sense, which made me dig a little deeper.
Dory: In other words, he became a huge pain in my ass. I did everything I could to push him away but he just kept coming. (She narrows her eyes at him.) That’s were the bullying part comes in.
Kaden: (Grinning) I can be persistent. (Dory snorts again.) Anyway, I knew she still wasn’t telling me everything but we’d finally seemed to get our footing. And then I realized that I’d fallen for her. It was football season and we’d ordered pizza for the game. I’m in the kitchen and she goes to answer the door thinking it’s the delivery guy.
Dory: It was a delivery, all right.
Neve: What do you mean?
Kaden: The bounty hunter that Darius had sent delivered three taps at point blank range to her chest when she opened the door.
Neve: Oh my God! (Turning to Dory with a stunned look.) He shot you?
Dory: (Nodding with a grim look.) Oh, yeah. See, I’d gotten sloppy, complacent, because I was falling for Kaden as well. If it hadn’t been for him, the guy would have taken my heart right then and there, and I wouldn’t be here today.
Kaden: Yeah, I came out of the kitchen to find him sitting on her chest with a humungous knife ready to do just that.
Neve: What happened?
Kaden: I dove into the other room for my gun, and we exchanged fire. I clipped him, but he got away. Then I performed CPR on Dory until I realized that she was gone. I was wrecked. I’d just found her, the one I’d been waiting for, and there she was dead on the floor in a pool of her own blood.
Neve: (Putting a hand to her heart.) Oh, Lord! That’s so tragic. Love found and then lost in an instant.
Kaden: Yeah, until the bullets he’d pumped into her started popping back out like jelly beans, and she sat up spewing foul language.
Dory: Hey, you weren’t the one shot a point blank range. (Turning to Neve.) That’s when the conductor of the crazy train hollered ‘All aboard’. You should have seen the crazy look in his when I sat up. He literally tried to merge with the wall behind him.
Neve: Well, sure. That must have been hard to comprehend, Kaden. How did you handle that?
Dory: By calling me a vampire—the undead. By accusing me of not being human. (Chuckling) Don’t get me wrong, I don’t blame him. Poor guy was in shock. But still…
Kaden: (Laughing out loud) Shock’s putting it mildly, pal, but we got past it. Then Darius killed me on the Tor. She killed him back and destroyed him before bringing me back to life and making me an Immortal. The rest is history.
Neve: Wow. That’s quite the story. I’m sure the details are just fascinating. It’s obvious that you two are in love, soulmates. So, in the time since all of that happened, what’s been the biggest challenge to your relationship?
Kaden: Well…we’ve had trust issues—still do—but I think we’re slowly getting past those.
Dory: (Taking Kaden’s hand.) After being alone for so long, I backslide quite a bit, but I’m learning to be more transparent, to be more open and upfront. I was recently reminded that we’re a team.
Neve: So, what’s your greatest source of joy?
(They blurt at the same time…)
Dory: He is.
Kaden: She is.
(They smile at each other.)
Dory: After three centuries of waiting, this man, my Chosen Warrior, is a gift and my greatest joy, for sure.
Kaden: Right back atcha, babe.
Neve: (With a heavy sigh) Aw…that’s so sweet. I hate to follow that with the opposite side of the coin, but in contrast, what do you think is your greatest personal failing?
Dory: (Blowing out a breath.) I don’t think he has one. (Kaden’s turn to snort) But that is an uneasy truth for me. Denying my destiny is my greatest failing, mostly because I’ve always felt unworthy of my calling. Morianna recently likened my previous behavior to a petulant child made to do something she didn’t want to do.
Kaden: (Quietly) That’s an unfair comparison, Dory.
Dory: It’s really not, Kaden. It’s what I’ve done for centuries because I really didn’t want to be the Chosen One. It hadn’t been my choice from the start. This last mission really brought it home for me. A very important person made me understand that only I can embrace my destiny and own it or I could continue to struggle for a few more centuries. But either way, it wouldn’t change anything.
Of course, Morianna was also right. I have acted like a petulant child for way too long. (Turning to Neve with a grin.) And if you print that in this article I will call you a liar. Morianna is already too full of herself. I refuse to give her any further ammunition.
Kaden: (At the look on Neve’s face, he laughs out loud.) Don’t worry, Neve. They have a very contentious yet symbiotic relationship.
Dory: Eeew!
Neve: (Taking a deep breath.) I think we’ll just leave that right there and skip ahead to my last question. Dory, as the Chosen One you’ve seen so much over the centuries. You’re kinda the world’s protector for mortal and Immortal alike.
And Kaden, you’re fairly new to the job but I imagine that you’ve already seen some pretty scary stuff in your time as Chosen Warrior. What keeps you guys up at night?
(The two look at each other for a long moment…finally, Dory turns back to Neve and answers.)
Dory: The next crisis. This last mission was pretty intense and was brought to us by a very unexpected source—from the highest level of command, if you will. We prevailed for now, but we lost one of our own in the process. And unfortunately, it’s not quite over.
Neve: Not over? What do you mean?
Kaden: We basically won the first battle but the war isn’t over. We can’t really say much more, but the threat is still out there and very real.
Neve: That sounds truly ominous.
Dory: (Nodding) Welcome to our world. Unfortunately, all we can do for now is wait. However, know that we’re on it and when the threat rears its ugly head, we’ll be there to meet it head on.
Neve: Well, on that note, we’ll hold tight to the fact that you and your team are watching and waiting. I’m confident that you’ll handle whatever comes, that you’ll keep this world safe for us all. On behalf of IT and its readers, I can’t thank you enough for making time in your complicated schedules for us.
Dory: You’re very welcome, Neve. Take care…
(Neve escorts them to the door with a smile on her face.)
Neve: What a rush. If you want to know more about the Immortal world, grab a copy of Immortal Ascending, available on June 11, 2024! And if you’d like to find out how it all started, check out the Immortal series by J.G. Sauer.
My thanks to Fresh Fiction for posting my Immortal Times interview with the Chosen One and her Warrior.
Immortal Prophesy #4
Dory Winthrop has been the designated Chosen One by ancient Prophesy for over three centuries, but she’s never been comfortable with her calling as an Immortal savior. Now, just when she’s struggling with her fate more than ever before, she and her team are again tasked with protecting the world from peril. They must find the key to avert a threat that could change the world in inconceivable ways and upend history. With the assignment coming from an astonishing source, Dory must find a way to be the shield for the world that she was meant to be… and finally make peace with her destiny.
With a few more years as an Immortal under his belt, unlike Dory, Kaden Crenshaw, has embraced his role as Chosen Warrior. By Dory’s side, he’s done things he could never have imagined, seen things that even now he can’t explain. Just when he thinks he’s got a handle on this new Immortal life he’s been shown, something new challenges his very core beliefs. This latest mission is no exception, to say the least. However, for him, it’s about trust and faith, and he will not falter. He’ll support the love of his life and lead the team to the mission’s conclusion because failure is not an option.
Romance Fantasy [Oliver-Heber Books, On Sale: June 11, 2024, e-Book, ISBN: 9781648396250 / ]
A native of Oregon, Joni Sauer-Folger spent twenty-two years with an airline traveling and moving around the country before settling down near the beautiful Pacific Ocean with her three very spoiled cats. She writes Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance under the name J.G. Sauer, and Cozy Mysteries and Romantic Suspense under Joni Folger. When she’s not spending quality time with the characters she creates, she enjoys gardening, crafting, and working in local theater.
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