(In the fourth book of the Stoneslayer dark fantasy series, Helen Andros awakens her spiritual mastery to gain the skills and power she needs to survive a death mark. Following is an excerpt.)
The red haze dissipated and she released a bit of her tension. But her misery lingered. It was not easy to be civil to the family who had taken her, a fugitive from a death mark, into their home. The despairing part of her wanted to withdraw and weep nonstop, as she had when she first arrived in Azgard all those years ago.
That part of her, she knew, made her vulnerable to the Stoneslayer. And despite the green stone’s warmth, her terrors taunted her. She would never again be with her father, her Andros family, her husband, or her friends. The unwelcome red glow again flashed in her inner vision. You are going to die here, alone and forgotten.
No! Liar! I told you to go away! Go!
Helen jumped to her feet and pounded her palms against her upper arms, trying to chase away all thoughts of the Stoneslayer who haunted her, trying to keep at bay the bite of winter in the mountains.
Colonel Jackson Orlando lowered the axe he was using to turn logs into firewood. “You are chilled, Lady Justin. You should go back to the house. You are not used to the bitter cold at this altitude.”
“Your mother kindly suggested that I might enjoy the morning sunshine, Colonel. Besides, how am I ever to get used to the weather if I cower in front of a fireplace all day?”
Orlando returned to his task, soon becoming warm enough to doff his jacket and roll up his sleeves.
“Speaking of your mother, I have a question,” Helen ventured.
“Why don’t you ask her?”
Helen flashed her too-sweet smile. “Good try. But this one’s for you, Colonel. Why did you not warn me that you go by your mother’s name instead of your family name?”
He let the crack of the log splitting under the blade answer for him; Helen dropped the subject.
Looking around, she spotted a handcart partially filled with cut wood and pointed to it with a gloved finger. “Perhaps I can be helpful, Colonel.”
“It will be too heavy for you to move, Lady Justin.”
Helen walked to the cart, grasped the handles, and pushed it a few feet. “If I don’t fill it completely, I can manage. I’ll just make more trips.”
“It would not be proper, Lady Justin. You are a guest.”
Helen stamped her foot. “In a sense, so are you. Yet you are pitching in with chores.”
“My situation is different. This is my family. I once lived here.”
“Well, I live here now,” Helen retorted. “I am not a guest, and I can’t bear to be treated like some dainty dimwit who mustn’t chip a nail or soil her perfect gown.”
“The wood has splinters, Lady Justin.”
Helen thrust a gloved digit toward Orlando. “I come prepared, Colonel. Just show me where you want the damn logs.”
Yes! I want to pre-order a copy of Stoneslayer: Book Four Outcast, scheduled for publication Sept. 15.
About Candace Lynn Talmadge
Candace Lynn Talmadge is a USA-based author of dark high fantasy about political intrigue, demonic warfare, and spiritual awakening. Get a free excerpt from Stoneslayer: Book One Scandal when you sign up for her free author newsletter on her Substack channel, Wider Realities.
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