Honor Raconteur

While Bannen had every intention of finding adventure, being yanked through a magical portal two continents away isn’t quite what he imagined happening. For that matter, being magically bound to a mage-in-training hadn’t ever crossed his mind. Being the first human familiar ever summoned in Corcoran? Not on his to-do list. Rena certainly needs all of the help that she can get, as her magic is very different, inhibiting her of the normal shields and protections. Everyone says her summoning a human familiar is a mistake, that she needs to break the bond and send Bannen back. But Bannen doesn’t like this idea, not one iota. Renata Rocci has the magic of a Grim Reaper, the heart of a lion, and a body too frail to keep up with either. She can face assassins; meddlesome mages; politicians; and legendary, nightmarish monsters without flinching. Without losing and that’s sexy as sin. This is definitely not the adventure he signed up for. It’s far, far better.

This is the final book of the Advent Mage Cycle. Here is the conclusion to Garth's amazing story.

Twenty of them finally poured out into the open street. They quickly split up, coming in at a full run that slowed about ten feet away from us. I watched with a cynical eye, as they spread out in a semi-circle, blocking our path. One of them, judging from the red piping in the dusky brown uniform he wore, was the Squad Captain. He advanced a step in front of his men. “We have detected someone with magical abilities. Hand them over immediately, and your lives will be spared.”Oh please. Spare me the lies. Without any encouragement on my part, Night took a step forward, drawing the captain’s eyes to me. I straightened to my full height, looking down at him coldly. “I am Rhebengarthen, Earth Mage and child of the Jaunten. Who are you to stand in my way?”

After two years of training in Turransky under a new master, Rena is a proper Void Mage, supposedly ready to handle whatever the world throws at her. Which is just as well because Toh’sellor’s influence has proven it can pop shards up anywhere at any given time across all three continents, with nothing to use to predict it. Worse still, it doesn’t seem to have any real restrictions. Meaning they’re in the middle of a losing battle, and even if they destroy the shards, they’re losing the overall war. The Magical Intercontinental Specialist Division approach her, asking for help and offering support in dealing with the shards, but Rena senses it’s not just the shards they want help with. She has a terrible premonition about what they really want her to destroy, and she’s not sure if anyone has enough power to accomplish it. Rena just wonders how long it will take before someone says it out loud.

As my editor and I worked on Advent and Balancer, she had issues with some of the scenes I had written. They didn’t add to the plot in any way, they didn’t really build character, they were written just for my sole entertainment. So she convinced me to take them out of the book. While I did see her point and agreed with her, I didn’t want these stories to sit on some hard drive collecting dust. Sure, they weren’t a vital part of the story but they were entertaining and in one particular case, it gave a great deal of backstory. One story was written purely for fans. (Fans that unfairly bribed Night with peanut butter when I wasn’t looking!) All of this gave birth to—the Compendium. Here are the stories that I give you for pure entertainment.

“Good work, Balancer.” I frowned at the title. “All I did was transport her here, Raile.” “Yes, so you did,” he agreed in a tone that clearly didn’t agree with me at all. “Perhaps you don’t consciously realize this, Garth, but its little things like this that are restoring balance to Chahir. No task can be done in just one stroke of effort; it takes many strokes, and much sustained effort.” He’s right. I started reviewing all of the things I had done over the past two years, memories flicking through my head almost too fast to follow. Each choice led to another; my choice to leave my home in Tobadorage and seek refuge in Hain led directly to my actions now, bringing a Queen into exile. And each choice, each action on my part, had started the chain reaction that was bringing magic back into Chahir.

“That boy thinks the world of you,” Xiaolang murmured. “And…” he visibly hesitated, slanting a questioning look at me from the corner of his eye. “And…?” I encouraged him. Xiaolang rarely hesitates in his speech. When he wanted to say something, he said it. “He’ll be very important in the future,” Xiaolang murmured. “I’m not sure how to put this…” he paused, mouth rummaging for words. “Something will change very soon, Garth. Someone will be discovered who will change everything. When that happens, you need to trust Trev’nor like he trusts you. Much will be lost otherwise.” I looked, really looked at Trev’nor. Trev’nor has always been special, a child prodigy in a life that had no child prodigies. My head was swimming with questions after Xiaolang’s revelation. Who was the boy we were to rescue, and why was Trev’nor so important for that boy?

Mei’s checklist for the next year is simple. On the surface, at least. Travel into the past to get the necessary instructions - check. Travel back into the present to defeat Odom, Zaffi, and Kovel Below - check. Actually defeat Odom, Zaffi, and Kovel Below - well...that’s a work in progress. Mei Li and her team of experts have no time to catch their breath before the next wave of magical problems hit them. Saving the world will take stamina, patience, magic, and time. And a little help from dragons. And by a little, she means a lot. Mei Li is ready for the world-ending disasters to be over, please and thank you.

Apparently, time-travel spells have a sense of humor and don’t take direction well. Mei Li could’ve done with knowing that beforehand, and fully blames Shunlei for not forewarning her. Instead of going back a few years to rescue the missing tomes, Mei Li finds herself thousands of years in the past, with the original events she needs to learn about still ten years into the future. She is stuck in a hurry-up-and-wait pattern she doesn’t appreciate. It doesn’t help that this world is full of its own problems, and Mei Li has more than enough of those already. Now she must face shape shifting demons, volatile water deities, and a murderous sword on a rampage all while trying to figure out WHY the spell sent her here in the first place. There are a few side benefits. Mei Li gets to meet younger Shunlei—or Shunlei the Red. Seeing him as a young dragon is fun. It’s also fascinating being with the first group of magical troubleshooters, the original founders before the Tomes system ever existed. And when the past starts to intertwine with the future in ways she could never have predicted, Mei Li prays she’s able to navigate it without ruining the future. If she does, she fully plans on blaming Shunlei for that as well.

It’s like the start of a bad joke: a Master of Tomes, his apprentice, and ninety world-saving records get lost at sea. Mei Li really wishes the joke wasn’t her life. For two years she’s been stranded in a remote village with no knowledge of where her master is or what’s going on in the world. What she does know is one: she refuses to be sacrificed to the “god” the villagers think live on the mountain, two: she fully plans on negotiating with said “god” (who, luckily for her, turns out to be a dragon more than happy to rescue her). Her relief over being rescued is short lived when she learns that her master is still lost, along with the tomes detailing how to reseal and fix all the upcoming problems for the next decade. And at least four world disasters are due to be prevented in the next two months. To make matters worse, the Tomes Masters are the only people in the world who carry the knowledge of how to reseal the pesky problems like five-thousand-year-old sleeping demons and disintegrating harbor walls. With her master gone, everyone is looking to Mei Li for answers she doesn’t have, but still has to procure. Her options are to solve the disasters—with high potential for the world ending—or somehow find Master and the missing tomes. Right now, Mei Li wants to go back in time and punch her six-year-old self for being an idiot. Being able to read books all day is not worth the stress of dealing with ancient, evil things on a regular basis.

Sevana Warran, reigning prodigy Artifactor, has absolutely no desire to selflessly serve her fellow man. Bellomi Dragonmanovich, Prince of Windamere, is a twenty-one year old cursed into the body of a perpetual eight year old. In order to regain his lost throne, prince and Artifactor know that breaking the curse won't be enough. It will take a coup and more than just a little magic.

“Siobhan, I need to go home.” Blinking up at Tran’s dark face, Siobhan pondered that statement, not quite understanding what he meant. As far as she knew, he was home. She was sitting in the newly finished guildhall that very moment. Pete was even napping on her foot, how much home could they be? And then the meaning clicked, “Jioni?” Note: This is an epilogue short story and should not be read before the Deepwoods Series.