Regor was the goblin capital, home to my friend Tam and thousands of
other goblins. Their home. My Hell.
I'm Raine Benares. An elven seeker whose job used to be finding lost
things and missing people, usually in nice, safe places like prisons and war
zones. Now, thanks to a run-in with a soul- sucking rock looking for someone to
call home, the entire world was about to turn into a war zone, and yours truly
was the epicenter.
Yesterday the world- ending stone known as the Saghred had been
stolen. I called it several other names not repeatable in public. The thing had
attached itself to me and magnified my magic; and even now that it was thousands
of miles away, we were still bonded. The goblin who had ordered it stolen needed
me dead to break that bond and transfer control of the rock and all of its power
to himself. To stand a snowball's chance in hell (excuse me, Tam's home) of
destroying the rock, I needed to stay very much alive.
Hence my dilemma— save the world or die a slow and painful
death. Though I couldn't exactly call my situation a dilemma. A dilemma implied
you had a choice. If it was up to me, somebody else could save the world; I'd
just rather keep breathing. However, if I managed by some major miracle to do
both, I wanted to be properly dressed for it. Head-to-toe steel surrounded by a
platoon of Conclave Guardians should do the trick. Some people would call that
paranoid; I called it barely adequate accessorizing.
But I wouldn't have a platoon, and head-to-toe steel would make
running away more of a challenge than I was up for. I was armored, both leather
and steel, enough for protection, but without impeding any sudden need to
retreat. Less than a dozen of us would be sneaking into Regor, stealing the
Saghred, destroying it in a way that would hopefully not do the same to me, and
getting back to Mid with the same pieces and parts that we left with.
A handful of us against the might of the goblin king, the goblin
army, and probably some absurdly huge demons who owed them all favors. Oh yeah,
and one soul- hungry rock. And how could I forget an all- powerful, fledgling
goblin demigod by the name of Sarad Nukpana?
Survival would take a miracle.
Especially since I didn't have a lick of magic to my name. The
Saghred had stolen my magic, then the goblins had stolen the stone.
It sucked to be me right now.
ABOUT ALL SPELL BREAKS LOOSE
Even on a suicide mission, you need an exit strategy.
My name is Raine Benares—and it sucks to be me right now. I'm a seeker who
managed to "find" the Saghred, a soul-stealing stone that gave me unlimited
power I never asked for or wanted. Now I've managed to lose the rock—and
the magic it gave me—to a power-hungry goblin dark mage whose main goals
are my death and world domination.
I'm still bonded to the Saghred, and the dark mage can't use the stone as long
as I'm alive. If he kills me and gains control of the Saghred, he'll become an
evil demigod with the seven kingdoms at his mercy. This is more than enough
incentive to plan a little trip to the goblin capital of Regor with a small band
of good friends, not-so-good friends, and one outright enemy. Don't ask.
All we need to do is destroy the Saghred, kill the mage, and put a renegade
goblin prince on the throne. Did I mention I'll be doing that with no magic
This is normally not the type of book that I'd read, but after reading the first chapter that you put down on your blog today, you have me totally enrapt!! This is one book I have down on my list of books TBR!! Thank you for sharing such a wonderful story today, and getting me hooked as a new reader!! (Peggy Roberson 10:28pm May 24, 2012)
Having an exit strategy reminds me of a hospital stay. As soon as you enter, they are looking for how long you'll stay, where you're going when you leave and what you need to take home. (Alyson Widen 12:25pm June 2, 2012)
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