Escape Into a World Like No Other
Illustrated Fantasy Novels By Kindrie Grove
BOOK ONE
Dear Reader,
Do you crave a heroine who defies the rules?
She comes from an egalitarian island, trained as a swordswoman of exceptional skill, but now she must walk through a land that sees her as lesser—because she is a woman.
Yet, she refuses to bend. If you love heroines like Eowyn (The Lord of the Rings), Morgaine (The Mists of Avalon), or Sabriel (Sabriel), you will find a new warrior to stand beside.
Power in quiet moments.
Not all strength is shown in battle. Sometimes, it’s in the way a warrior steels herself before entering hostile lands. In the way a fire-lit conversation reveals unspoken fears. This story is as much about these subtle, powerful moments as it is about swords and survival.
If you love books where tension simmers beneath the surface, where meaning is found in stolen glances and measured words, then this is a journey you won’t forget.
The Messenger From Myris Dar
Read a writing sample
Paperback trade copy $.36 CAD
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A Band of Heroes You’ll Want to Travel With...
Book Description
A mysterious warrior hunted relentlessly for the message she carries. A restless swordsman who pledges her aid. As dark chaos spreads across the land, together they must face the vengeful evil at its heart.
Rowan Mor Lanyar is a swords-woman of extraordinary skill, trained from a young age to become an elite guardian of her island home. But a prophesy of hope and salvation sends her across the Eryos Ocean to the turbulent land of Eryos where order and stability are remnants of fallen empires and a forgotten time.
Rowan, unaware of the depth of her role in the coming conflict must deliver her message to the northern most kingdom where a an army of legendary creatures are threatening to end the emerging peace.
Torrin Ralor, along with his brother Nathell and their small band of mercenaries, travel northward toward Pellar, answering a summons to help defend the kingdom. It is a homeland Torrin vowed never return to, and now he must face the ghosts of his tragic past.
In the forbidden Wilds, they discover the mysterious Myrian warrior, Rowan, wounded and hunted by the same frightening beasts. Remarkably, her mission aligns with their own, yet she travels with a strange and unlikely friend, whose true nature leads them to question all they have heard about the northern attacks.
As the danger grows, it becomes more apparent that they must get Rowan and her message to Pellar and the king, but it seems the message is only the beginning, for the true threat is much more complex and sinister than they could have imagined.
Together, Rowan, Torrin, and their companions must face an ancient and forbidding magic, whose dreadful legacy fuels a terrible lust for revenge and destruction.
Traveling through spell-binding landscapes filled with danger and adventure, Rowan and Torrin face a destiny that will entangle them both and forever change who they are.
Escape Into a World Like No Other
If you find beauty in the art of storytelling, This book is more than words. It is art, both in language and in illustration. With elegantly drawn, classic-style illustrations created by the author herself. The world and its characters are brought to life in a way that few fantasy novels offer.
The Messenger From Myris Dar, Book One of The stone Guardians is a page-turning YA cross-over fantasy novel, with richly layered and detailed world building, clear and fluid action, magic, destiny, and the tension of mystery. The diverse cast of complex characters bring to life themes that subtly resonate with our own world – found family, honor, sacrifice and the stirrings of love – all set in a landscape that shapes the journey itself and lives in our minds like another character.
Get ready to open the cover on adventure set in a new fantasy universe, with battles, mystery, intrigue and fantastic characters - an epic and inspiring novel written in the best high fantasy traditions.
Are you ready to begin the journey?
The bonds of found family.
The band of mercenaries Rowan meets are more than just travelers heading in the same direction. They are scarred, complex, and carrying secrets of their own. Together, they must forge trust, not just to survive, but to unravel the mystery of her cryptic message.
If you love the companionship of unlikely heroes, the kind of camaraderie found in The Lies of Locke Lamora or Dragonlance, you’ll feel at home in these pages.
Scroll down to enjoy a writing sample!
Writing Sample For Book One
Excerpt From: Ambush
The morning sun broke through the mist and bathed the company in warm light. Rowan focused on the huge dark form of Hathunor as he paced at the head of their column.
She was interrupted from her musing as a piercing howl erupted from the trees to their left. Hathunor became a dark blur as he charged into the bush toward the sound, disappearing in an instant and leaving the rest of them in startled suspension.
Rowan reached up to draw her sword from its harness, hearing as she did so the ringing sound of other drawn blades. The sounds faded quickly in the mist as the companions pulled into a tight ring facing the surrounding trees.
Another howl sounded from within the forest, its timbre raising the hairs on the back of Rowan’s neck. It was Hathunor’s signal to run.
“Was that Hathunor?” Arynilas asked from Rowan’s right.
“Yes,” she turned to Torrin on her other side. “He is telling us to flee.”
“It’s an ambush,” growled Borlin.
“We move. Now!” barked Torrin as he pulled his excited horse around. He slapped Roanus on the rump for emphasis, and Rowan’s stallion surged under her.
Trunks and foliage flew by on either side as the mounted company fled. Rowan heard Torrin curse and call to Nathell. Then he was beside her, his sword held low along his horse’s neck. Nathell spurred to the other side and Rowan was flanked.
To pass through a small gully, they had to move into single file, and as they did so, a Drae Raken appeared at the exit to the gully, black against the green. Arynilas loosed an arrow to clear the path. The Raken dropped to the ground, but another took its place. Rowan glanced back and saw more Raken closing from behind. She pulled Roanus in from his headlong flight, hauling on the reins as her excited horse resisted.
They would have to stand and fight.
At that moment, a mass of blackness flew at Rowan from the right. Torrin shouted her name, but she could do no more than register the huge Raken before it struck.
The air was punched from her lungs as the beast slammed into her, knocking the sword from her grasp. Warm breath blasted into her face, accompanied by an animal snarl. Then she was falling from Roanus to the stony ground below.
Pain exploded through her side as her vision blurred and then swam into blackness. When she came to, the beast had rolled off her and was dragging her into the trees.
She looked back in panic and glimpsed Torrin, almost surrounded by Raken, battling desperately, his sword flashing. To his right, Nathell lay motionless on the ground, but Borlin stood guard over him, cutting down any Raken that got too near. Arynilas’s was shooting from horseback, adjusting aim as his mount shied under him. Dalemar was still mounted too, twisting in the saddle, sending fire from his fingertips.
Blinking rapidly, Rowan fought to stay conscious. She could barely hear the fighting over the pounding in her ears. Weakly, she reached up, prying at the huge scaled hand that grasped her collar and hair, but her feeble attempts gained nothing. In an instant, her captor would disappear into the forest with her.
Reaching down to her belt, fumbling desperately, she freed her dagger from its scabbard and raised it with the last of her strength.
The Raken shrieked as she stabbed its hand and abruptly dropped her. The snarling beast turned and loomed above her, raising a massive studded club. Rowan froze, staring wide-eyed as the club plummeted toward her head.
Move! She forced her weak, groggy limbs into action and rolled. Her feint felt agonizingly slow, but to her amazement, the club struck a hair’s breadth from her side. Clods of soil sprayed around her.
Suddenly the clash and ring of steel, and the shouts and roars and screams of the battle, flooded back into her consciousness. But there was no time to register how her friends were faring.
The Raken howled and tried to club her once more. She rolled again, narrowly escaping another blow. The ground shuddered at the impact as she frantically pushed herself up and stumbled to her feet.
But just as she gained her footing, her knees buckled and she almost went down again.
One of Arynilas’s arrows buried itself in the Raken’s chest with a bloom of gold on black. The beast stumbled back with a grunt, but it only refocused its red eyes on her and raised the club high again. Rowan didn’t wait for it to take aim. She plunged her dagger into its throat, and the Raken toppled to the ground, its ropy black limbs sprawling and spasming.
Arms and legs trembling violently, head swimming, Rowan bent to retrieve her short blade. Straightening with a groan, she turned to see the battle ending, and most of her friends still standing. She took a step toward them and fell again, landing heavily in the autumn leaves. She sat up and shook her head, trying to clear away the dizziness, but it only made the spinning worse.
A branch cracked behind her.
She sucked in a breath, dread rising in her chest, and turned to see another Raken rushing at her. Panting with effort, Rowan tried to scramble back up, but her muscles wouldn’t work. She cursed her weakness.
Order a Signed First Edition Copy from My Shop
The first edition of Book One is no longer available on Amazon now that the new second edition is underway.
However I still have a few author copies for those looking to get the book in its first iteration format.
