Facing the Blank Page

Hey all,

I just did a guest post over at http://www.fictorians.com/ about my struggles with writer's block and something I do to overcome it. Check it out. It includes a couple of pictures of my skydiving. :)

A Really Great Deal

Celebrate the release of CARIBBEAN CROSSROADS by Connie Sokol with a special price today!

I have a special offer for you—it’s only good for today—Thursday, June 14, 2012. Purchase CARIBBEAN CROSSROADS from Amazon.com for only $1.99. Then email RachelletheWriter@gmail.com with your order confirmation/receipt. Once Rachelle receives your order details, she will email you an amazing selection of over 10 free gifts from Connie Sokol and several others!



Here’s what’s in store when you purchase CARIBBEAN CROSSROADS today:

(All items will be emailed to you from Rachelle after she receives your order confirmation.) You can purchase the Kindle Edition HERE for $1.99 today! Paperback also available.

To celebrate the launch of her new romance novel, Connie Sokol- author, speaker, and life coach is offering two incredible free gifts when you purchase CARIBBEAN CROSSROADS TODAY.

• · You’ll receive a free Ebook of Life is Too Short for One Hair Color-- A humorous collection of anecdotes and helpful tips to survive being a woman, wife, and mother. Laugh a little, lighten up a lot, and take something from each story to practically and positively help you change your life and perspective–one tip at a time.

• · Mp3 file of Get Organized -- Need extra hours in the day? You can find them today! Learn how to realistically streamline repetitive tasks such as bill paying, laundry, meal planning and cooking to create FREE hours for what you need most. Discover a fabulous organization formula to use in ANY area of your life for more effective time management. Get organized and stay organized to enjoy a more fulfilling life!

• · Shear Luck free ebook by Heather Justesen—a romance novella-- When salon manager Chelsea Robison walks into the restaurant next door, she's surprised to run into her teenage crush Vaughn Krenshaw. Though he is still mourning his wife's death, he can't help but take a chance and ask her out. As things start getting serious, family pressure about dating again, and rumors from his past surface, making the chance for happily ever after look farther than ever.

• · Vertex42.com offers the ultimate money management spreadsheet! Create and monitor your budget. A free alternative to Quicken.

• Free download of The Secret Sisters Club: the first book in the Ginnie West Adventures middle-grade series by Monique Bucheger.

• · TheSeedtouch--An Epic Fantasy Romance by Rebecca Lyn Shelley

When Keil's father succumbs to dementia, she disguises herself as a man to save her family. But her quest is threatened when she accidentally bonds with a man who has traded all his wealth and land for the addictive drug, tam. Furious, she rejects her new bondmate and takes control of the landholding that she believes will keep her family safe. But the tam is spreading and will soon destroy not only her land but also all life if she cannot find a way to stop it. Like it or not, she's forced to team up with her bondmate to save their world.

·

• Precision Editing Group is offering a free critique for 10 pages of your manuscript. Fiction or non-fiction. For more information about the editing company, visit their website: www.precisioneditinggroup.com Blog: http://writingonthewallblog.blogspot.com

• · Angela Morrison is the author of Sing me to Sleep, 2010 Goodreads Choice Nominee and USA Best Books 2011 winner for Young Adult Fiction, and the critically acclaimed Taken by Storm saga. Her free gift: All-new Taken by Storm ebook.

Mormon girl, Leesie, has life figured out until devastated Michael lands on her doorstep. Originally published by Penguin, this intimate novel is a rare journey into a Mormon teen's inner life. Ebook includes a never before published scene and free chapter from Unbroken Connection (Book #2). Follow Angela's new "liv2writ" blog at http://angelamorrison.blogspot.com.

• · Enjoy the incredible YA Paranormal Bestseller--Bound by Christine Bryant.

When a photo shoot ends in tragedy, Kira discovers her best friend, Lydia, has been keeping a secret. Knowing the truth, and accepting it, will change Kira’s life forever and thrust her into a world of ancient curses, magical objects, and savage enemies. What happens next will challenge everything Kira knows about her world, herself and the shape-shifting warrior she’s falling in love with.

• Three free ebooks from award-winning author Karen Hoover— The Sapphire Flute ( Book 1 of The Wolfchild Saga) Seven Keys and seven guardians born to save a dying world. AND

The Armor of Light (Book 2 of the Wolfchild Saga), TheMisadventures of a Teenage Wizard, Book 1: Two Souls are Better Than One

Chased by dragons. Saved by a Pegasus. Sharing his mouth with a wizardly spirit.

• · Amy Chandler’s free gift offering--Where are your photos? Sign up today for a FREE account and get those photos out of a box, off your computer and into 100% customizable beautiful books your whole family will cherish!

• · 10% off a Content Evaluation from Eschler Editing. Check out their detailed list of services here http://www.bookeditingandmore.com/services/author-manuscripts/content-evaluation-revision-direction/

Why a book bomb? A book bomb is when a large group of people purchase a certain book on a specific day on Amazon. This pushes the book's popularity up the Amazon ranks, which in turn gives the book more visibility to Amazon shoppers. That’s the goal today for CARIBBEANCROSSROADS. Grab your copy and help us celebrate! Just remember to email Rachelle with your order receipt!



So feel free to pass this on to your friends and shout it out on FB, Twitter, etc. We’d like as many people as possible to benefit from these bonus gifts. Connie is giving an extra gift to you just for spreading the word about the book bomb. Visit 8basics.com and click on the green button to share for a FREE audio download of "CoachCast: Joy In Womanhood"

Announcing a New Pen Name

Hi All, I'm excited to announce the launch of my new pen name, Rebecca Lyn Shelley!

Books and short stories under the Rebecca Lyn Shelley pen name will be fantasy and science fiction for the general adult audience. I've started this new pen name because the Rebecca Lyn Shelley stories contain themes appropriate for YA and adult audience, not for children. I want my younger readers to be able to differentiate between books meant for children and these other stories, which tend to be a little bit darker. Here are some of the things now out. For the full line so far click here. There will be more books and short stories published under this name on a regular basis.

Worldshifters

An Epic Fantasy. Hunted to the edge of chaos for crimes spawned by his untrained shifting powers, Alamon Truda hatches a desperate plan to turn the tables on his pursuers. His plan is threatened, however, when the son of the goddess of chaos steps into the human realm, shattering the world's balance.

 Now pursued by servants of both order and chaos, Alamon has to fight to keep the son of chaos alive as well as himself. The hunters chase him across the continent in a desperate bid to save the unraveling world, but both hunters and hunted stumble into the clutches of an unexpected foe.

Windseeker.

A Sweet Fantasy Romance.

The wind hears every word spoken beneath the sun and stars. It brings tidings of war to the only woman capable of understanding its whispers.

Cyren has always hidden her connection to the wind. Now she must use it to save her family and people from a bloody tyrant who seeks their destruction. During the struggle, she learns the power of the wind is not enough. Forest and Sky must join together to win her people's freedom. But royal intrigue, ignorance, and fear conspire to keep them apart.

A Ship of My Own.

A Science Fiction Short Story.

When Benjamin Blake stows away on the pirate spaceship Diamond Lady, he plans to use his sword fighting skill to instill himself as part of the crew and eventually win a ship of his own. But when he comes face-to-face with his father's murderer, he finds himself crossing swords with one of the best swordsmen in the entire pirate armada. Cold space awaits the dead body of the loser.

Magic Works

A short story.

A line of magical housecleaning products causes mayhem.

The New Dragon Series You've Been Waiting For

Yipeee! It's finally official. The first book in my new series, Dragonbound: Blue Dragon is now out in print as well as ebook. I'm writing the second book, Dragonbound: White Dragon, now and loving the series more and more with each scene.

Dragonbound: Blue Dragon

Life started at Stonefountain.

Near the bubbling fountain of power, the humans and dragons grew up together. Bound by blood, the two races became great and powerful. But with power came division. For not all were bound, and those with the power brought on by the bonding abused that power, subjecting all powerless ones to servitude.

In time the servants rebelled against their masters. Their violent uprising left almost all the bonded dragons and humans dead. From that day on the races separated, fleeing from Stonefountain and claiming their own lands. Distrust and war grew up between humans and dragons. The humans, fearing the power of the dragon bond, killed all those born to bond with the dragons. But some survived.

When Kanvar's brother comes down with the dragon sickness, his mother learns that her husband and both her sons are Nagas, human traitors that bond with the Great Gold dragons. All three must die. Kanvar's father is shot in the back and falls from a high window with Kanvar's brother, leaving Kanvar to escape execution, survive on his own, and face the wrath of a Great Blue dragon whose family has been killed by the humans.

 

Dragonbound: Blue Dragon is now available in print and ebook.

http://www.amazon.com/Dragonbound-Blue-Dragon-Volume-1/dp/1475042477/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1335195343&sr=8-2

http://www.amazon.com/Dragonbound-Blue-Dragon-ebook/dp/B007CMFRWA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335195343&sr=8-1

The print version is on sale right now on Barnes & Noble.com for 28% off.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1109130651?ean=9781475042474

Dragonbound: Blue Dragon

Here's the preliminary art for the cover of the new dragon book. I'm super excited!!!! And here's a preview of a rough draft of the first chapter that I promised to post today.

Dragonbound: Blue Dragon

Chapter 1

Heart pulsing, Kanvar pushed his way through the cloth door of the herbal shop out onto Daro's busy street. His left leg dragged behind him. It had been twisted and crippled since birth. His left arm hung at his side, half as big as a normal arm with only two fingers and a thumb. But he couldn't let his deformed body slow him down. His brother's life depended on him getting home quickly with the healing herbs.

The afternoon sun radiated from the clay brick buildings and beat against Kanvar's face. He ducked through the crowds of people in head coverings and long cotton robes. Raised voices filled the street as shoppers bartered with the shop owners. The scent of spices and herbs made the back of his throat itch.

He tied the pouch of herbs to a leather thong and hung it around his neck, tucking it deep under his robes, flat against his chest, where thieving hands in the crowd would be least likely to get at it. The herbs had not come cheap, but Kanvar's family was part of the elite dragon hunter jati. They could afford them. They had to, to save Devaj's life.

Limping down the street, Kanvar tried to hurry, he made slow progress through the crowd. He grew impatient with himself and tried to walk faster. Each step took thought and effort. Sweat soaked his skin, and the blowing sand caked against it. He kept moving, leaving behind the shops and stepping into a square where members of the farm jati sold fruits and vegetables in a maze of stands. Itchekins squawked from cages, clawing at the wooden bars and rubbing their scaly hides against the wires that held the cages together. Itchekins laid soft sweet eggs, and thoughts of cooked itchekin made Kanvar's mouth water. Of all the lesser dragons, Kanvar liked the taste of itchekin best.

A camdor and its rider barreled through the square, most likely carrying an urgent message across town for the All Council. The camdor's four massive legs propelled its lizard-like body through the press of people. Its tale snaked out behind it. Kanvar kept well away from the camdor and its rider. Though the camdors were tamed lesser dragons, their sharp claws could kill a child if one accidentally strayed in its path.

Kanvar kept moving. His mother feared Devaj would not survive the day without the herbs.

"Look what we have here?" an older boy saw Kanvar and followed him across the square to the street on the far side. "A cripple. Untouchable, pile of dung. What did you do in your past life, murder innocent children?" The boy spit into the dirt behind Kanvar.

Kanvar whirled to face him. "I belong to the dragon hunter jati. My grandfather was Kumar Raza, the greatest dragon hunter who ever lived."

"Raza?" the boy's eyes widened. "You lie. Besides, I heard Raza went in search of the Great White Dragon and never returned. He's probably dead, so that makes him the worst dragon hunter that ever lived."

Kanvar threw himself at the older boy, tackling him to the ground, and pummeling him with his good hand. The older boy tried to block Kanvar's blows, but he belonged to one of the farmer jatis and hadn't been trained in fighting like Kanvar had. "Never insult my grandfather again." Kanvar gave the pathetic boy a kick in the ribs for good measure then set out once more for home. He pressed his hand against his chest to be sure the herbs were still there.

He reached his home street and entered the building which stretched the entire length of the block. It had four floors. Since Kanvar's family was elite, they lived on the top floor. That meant they got fresher air and more sunlight and were free from many of the scaly ground vermin that raided food stores and carried disease. Kanvar kicked a kitrat off the stoop and pushed through the cloth doorway.

Devaj always made climbing the narrow stone staircase look easy. Kanvar gasped for breath as he hauled his body up each flight. Nothing physical came easy for Kanvar, but he didn't let his crippled leg and arm stop him from doing everything anyone else in his jati could do. Sometimes it just took him longer.

Kanvar pushed through the bright blue cloth with gold stitching that covered the doorway into his home. Inside he found a Unani doctor hovering over his brother. This doctor had gray hair and looked old enough to be the head of the Unani jati.

Kanvar's mother stood close by, her face puckered with worry, her hands clasped tightly in front of her. She acknowledged Kanvar's entrance with a questioning look. Had he gotten the herbs? Kanvar nodded and pressed his hand against the pouch he wore around his neck.

Sweat drenched Devaj, soaking through the sheet that covered him, and plastering his golden hair to the sides of his face. He tossed and moaned and muttered about dying of emptiness and flying away.

The Unani lifted the sheets, revealing an angry red rash marked with scaly white skin sloughing off. The Unani's eyes flashed angry and hard. "Three weeks of this fever you say?"

"Yes. Kanvar has brought herbs from Stonefountain. I think they will help."

"I think not," the Unani said, letting the sheet drop back over Devaj.

"The rash is new," Mother said. "Surely there is some kind of treatment for it?"

"Yes, I have a treatment."

Kanvar didn't like the coldness in the Unani's voice. The Unani opened his outer robe to reach into one of the pouches he had secured around his waist. "Bring me some hot water, Mani," he ordered Kanvar's mother.

Mani retreated to the other side of the screen that separated the cooking area from the rest of the house.

While he waited for her to return with the water, the Unani elder paced to the wide open window that looked out across the city to the bay and the ocean beyond. The blazing gold sun looked down on the baked bricks. The Unani stared out into the empty blue sky as if looking for something until Mani returned with the water.

While the Unani mixed his medicines, he questioned Mani. "Can you recite your ancestral line?"

"Of course I can," Mani said. "It is the most renowned dragon hunter line in all of Varna." She started listing names until the Unani waved her to silence.

"Can you recite your husband's ancestral line?"

There was silence for a moment. Mani's face flushed. Kanvar realized with horror his father had never made him memorize the required ancestral line. All the other boys he knew could cite their ancestors back at least twenty generations.

"Amar isn't from Varna," Mani spluttered. "My father met him on a hunt in Kundalin. Amar has killed dozens of dragons. He's been in Kundalin hunting dragons this past month. He's well-known for his hunting abilities and an accepted member of our jati."

The Unani took the cup of medicine to Devaj's side. "Ah, but has he ever killed a Great dragon?"

Mani plucked up her courage and marched over nose to nose with the Unani. "Very few men have ever killed a Great dragon."

The Unani held out the cup to Mani. "Give this to your son."

Mani took it, sat down on the bed with its iron frame, and ran her fingertips across Devaj's sweat-soaked forehead. She started to lift his head up to drink, but she sniffed the medicine cup, and her eyes widened. "This smells like snakelily. That's poisonous. It could kill a grown man in minutes."

"Yes," the Unani said, rubbing his hands on his robes. "A quick and painless death. Your son is doomed one way or another. This is the most merciful way."

"No," Kanvar shouted. He would not sit by and let this merciless Unani elder kill his brother. He hobbled forward and threw himself across the bed, blocking his mother from administering the poison.

"I don't understand," Mani said. She held the cup away from her in horror.

"Do you not?" the Unani said. "Then I will be very clear. Your husband is a Naga. The boy has dragon sickness. He must bond with a Great dragon or he will die a slow painful death. His very existence is a curse to humanity. By our laws he must be killed before he gets a chance to bond with one of those monsters. If you do not give your son that drink, I'll take his case to the All Council. They will send men to hunt and kill him as well as your husband."

"It can't be." Mani's hands shook so the poisoned drink sloshed over the sides of the cup. "My husband is a dragon hunter, not one of the dragonbound, not a Naga."

"Suit yourself," the Unani said. He straightened his robes and headed for the door. "I'll be back with the Naga hunters to finish the job. If you have a singing stone, I suggest you get it ready to use against your husband when he returns. He is a Naga. He has controlled your mind and forced you to love him so he can breed more of his evil kind."

The Unani pushed his way past the door cover.

Kanvar eased himself off of his brother. Devaj moaned and blinked up at Kanvar. "So empty," he cried. "So alone."

"No," Kanvar said, gripping Devaj's hand. "You aren't alone. Mother and I are here with you."

Kanvar looked up at his mother. "What are we to do? The Unani must be wrong."

Mani set the cup down on the dragonhide-covered table beside the bed and went to a locked chest she kept in the corner. It was grandfather's chest. Kanvar had been allowed to look inside once or twice. It held grandfather Raza's dragon armor, his spear, sword and crossbow. And grandfather's singing stone. All his tools for hunting dragons.

"Your father's ship is back from Kundiland. It came into port a few minutes before you arrived. He could be home at any time." Mani lifted Grandfather's heavy crossbow out of the chest. Raza was a big man and had designed and built the double-firing crossbow himself.

Straining, Mani cranked the handle to cock the bow. One string first, and then the other. She fitted two of the steel bolts into the grooves. The crossbow bolts were sharp and strong and could pierce dragon scales.

Kanvar had spent many a pleasant afternoon practicing with the smaller crossbow his father had bought for him. But that was only a toy compared to Grandfather Raza's bow. Now Kanvar tensed as he watched his mother ready the crossbow. He couldn't understand why she would need it. If father had returned, he could recite his family lines and prove that he was not a Naga. The All Council's men would leave Devaj alone.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs, and a deep voice called out. "Mani, I'm back. You won't believe the hunt we had."

Mani winced and moved the crossbow behind her back while she reached into the chest and grabbed the little iron box that housed Grandfather's singing stone.

Kanvar's father pushed his way past the curtain into the room.

"Father." Kanvar limped over and wrapped his arms around his father.

"Greetings, little one," Father said, returning the embrace and then peeling himself free of Kanvar. He caught a look at Kanvar's frightened face. "Are you crying, boy?"

Kanvar wiped the moisture from his eyes and backed away.

Mani remained across the room where she stood stiff-backed in front of Raza's chest. "Amar, thank goodness you're home. Devaj has a fever. The Unani thinks he's going to die."

"A fever?" Amar's face lit with a bright smile. "Devaj? Are you sure?" He strode across the room to the bed where Devaj lay pale and sweat soaked.

"Why are you smiling?" Mani's voice shook. "I just told you our son is dying."

"No. Not dying." He stroked the hair back from Devaj's face.

Without a sound Mani moved the crossbow out from behind her back.

Amar whirled to face her.

"You read my mind," Mani said, flipping open the little iron box with her left hand. "Deceiver. You are a Naga." She aimed the crossbow at Father's chest.

Kanvar cried out in alarm. It seemed insanity had dug its sharp talons into his world.

"Now, Mani, put the bow away," Father said. "You don't need it. I'm your husband. I love you, and you love me."

"Don't try to use your mind control on me." Mani grabbed the singing stone from the box and let the box clatter to the floor. She held up the glowing blue stone.

A painful rush of singing voices filled Kanvar's mind.

Amar reeled against the bed, and Devaj cried out in pain.

Mani took aim and fired a crossbow bolt at Amar's chest. The weight of the bow and her shaking hands let the bolt go astray, and it sliced across Amar's right shoulder and buried itself in the wall behind the bed. Amar turned with the momentum of the shot and grabbed up Devaj from the bed. He raced for the open window.

Kanvar, run! Kanvar thought he heard his father's voice in his mind, like a faint echo behind the painful cut of the singing stone voices.

Mani's second bolt hit Amar in the back just as he reached the window. The bolt slammed him out the window. Carrying Devaj, he fell. A blinding flash of gold light brightened the sky beyond the window, and Kanvar heard the beat of heavy wings on the wind.

"Unbelievable, a Great Gold." Mani swore.

Kanvar stood frozen, staring in disbelief at the sky outside the window. His blood throbbed in his veins while his mind tried to process what he'd just seen, or hadn't seen. Grandfather Raza had told him the Great Gold dragons were nearly invisible in direct sunlight. Their golden scales wrapped the sunlight around their bodies, hiding them unless they moved. A trained dragon hunter would recognize the shimmering flash of gold from the dragon in flight, where other folk wouldn't. Kanvar had seen the flash, and surge of wonder went through him. The sheer amazement at seeing the dragon vanished quickly to the thought that his father had fallen out the window, shot twice with bolts that could kill a lesser dragon with one shot.

Shot by his own wife.

Why?

Because he was a Naga. A human bound by blood to a dragon—the Great Gold, most likely. The Nagas were human traitors who joined the dragons and used their power to fight against other humans. They had the power to talk to the dragons telepathically. The power to read human minds. The power to control human thought and actions and manipulate human emotions.

Kanvar had grown up hating the Nagas above all else.

Yet, how powerful his father must be to trick Kumar Raza into thinking a Naga was a human dragon hunter and take Raza's daughter as his bride. A good bet Raza's disappearance had something to do with Kanvar's father. Kanvar was old enough to realize his grandfather wouldn't have gone after the Great White without all his gear. He'd questioned his mother about that before, but she hadn't been able to give Kanvar a reason. Until now.

His mother stood at the window, the empty crossbow in one hand and the singing stone in the other. She turned away from the empty air, and her eyes fell on Kanvar.

"Kanvar." She held up the stone and crossed the room toward him.

With each of her swift steps, the rush of song in Kanvar's head intensified. He cried out and pressed his hands to his ears, but it did nothing to stop the music.

"You too?" his mother said. "I should have known. Deformed as you are. Dragon blood runs in your veins."

She set the stone down on the table and lifted the cup of poison, holding it out to Kanvar. "Drink this now. Hurry, before the All Council's hunters get here."

Kanvar sucked in a pained breath. The mind-piercing song from the singing stone left no room in his brain for him to think clearly. Still, the truth settled over him and interwove with the music. His mother wanted him dead.

"Kanvar, now. Drink it!"

How could she? His own mother who had loved and cared for him all his life. Who had been so proud of Devaj's fighting skills. Who had hung on his father's arm and looked at Amar with adoration. In only a few moments she'd turned against them all.

I don't want to die, Kanvar thought. But he knew he should die. By all laws and all sense of right, he knew he must die. Better that than become a Naga. Better that than betray his own people. With a shaking hand he reached out and took the cup from his mother. It felt warm against his palm from the heated water the Unani had used to dissolve the poison. The sour scent of snakelily wafted from the drink.

Kanvar lifted it to his lips. But could not force himself to drink it. The cup slipped through his fingers and clattered to the floor. The poisoned drink splattered his robes and soaked into the clay bricks.

Mani rushed back to the chest and grabbed more crossbow bolts.

The faint message his father had put into his mind before vanishing with Devaj, finally melted its way past the singing stone's music into Kanvar's consciousness.

Kanvar run!

He turned and fled. Speed had never come easy for him. He counted the seconds it would take his mother to ready the crossbow while he hurtled down the stairs, not striving for any balance, just throwing himself downward and hoping, between his good arm on the wall and his good leg on the steps, to get to the bottom without breaking his neck.

When he reached the final flight of stairs he heard his mother start down after him.

He redoubled his efforts. Gasping for breath. Imagining the fire off the crossbow bolt as it took him in the back like it had his father. His father had gone. Left with Devaj and the dragon. Abandoned Kanvar to his mother's furry. The taste of betrayal mixed with fear on Kanvar's tongue as he brushed aside the door covering, limped into the dusty street, and turned toward the harbor.

But it wasn't his father's fault, was it? Mother had shot him. Shot him! He might not have gotten far with a crossbow bolt in his back. He could have died in flight with the gold dragon. Then the dragon would have died too. And Devaj would have fallen. Dead. They were likely all three dead. His father had pulled Mani's attention away from Kanvar and told him to run. Run while he had the chance. Kanvar cursed himself for waiting so long to act. If Mani caught him, it would not be his father's fault, but his own.

"Kanvar, you'll never get away," his mother called from behind.

Kanvar rushed headlong down the street, not caring that his lame foot dragged against the stones, scraping his skin along the side where his sandal couldn't protect it.

He heard the twang of the crossbow and tensed his shoulders.

The bolt hit the building beside him, sending splinters of brick into his face. He cried out in fear and twisted around the corner just as the second bolt whizzed past him.

She'd missed. Somehow she'd missed both shots, but then she was using Grandfather's crossbow, which was much too heavy for her.

Kanvar continued his run down the hill toward the port. She'd have to go back up and reload now. That meant he had time. Not much, but a little. Time to get to the water. Time to barter the herbs for passage across the channel to Maran where the All Council had no power. The Maranies were Varna's arch rivals. The two nations were at peace for the time being, but peace never lasted long between them. Kanvar could hide there. He hoped. As long as the Maranies never found out that his father was a Naga.