Read a sneak peek of The First Ancestor
With The First Ancestor coming to Amazon on May 1st, I wanted to give you a taste of what you’re in for in this next book in the Ranger of the Titan Wilds series.
Read below for a a short excerpt of the book, in which Leiyn and company discover they’re not alone in the wintry mountains…
May you enjoy the excerpt!
CHAPTER 1 OF THE FIRST ANCESTOR
RANGER OF THE TITAN WILDS: BOOK 2
As the evening light died behind the snow-capped Silvertusks, the beast finally caught up.
Leiyn raised her head to look at the incline by which it approached. She'd felt the creature at the edges of her lifesense for a league now and hoped it wouldn't come closer.
That hope soon frayed. A gentler being might have stayed away, but this one only drew nearer.
She didn't recognize the shape of its esse. Few beings burned as brightly as it did, only titans and dryvans. Whatever it was, it wouldn't easily fall.
Leiyn turned in Feral's saddle to the rider atop the draconion next to her. "We're being stalked."
Acalan followed her gaze. "From there?"
She nodded.
The Gast chieftain's dark eyes took in the lay of the land. His experience was carved into his skin, scars interwoven into the moss-green tattoos of the Tekuan tribe.
Leiyn looked with him. They were in a shallow pass, inclines to either side. Snow scattered among the stones and shrubs and mounded at the roots of the few scraggly trees capable of surviving this high into the mountains. The first snowfall had already come, a sign that autumn was on the decline. It wasn't a landscape in which prey could easily hide, nor could a predator approach unnoticed.
After several moments of observation, Acalan turned and nodded back the way they'd come. "The mating doves ought to be told."
Leiyn grimaced. "I'll do it. Keep an eye out."
It was an unnecessary request. Rare was the moment she'd caught Acalan unaware. Almost, he seemed to possess a lifesense of his own, if to a lesser degree. Still, he nodded as she turned away.
Feral bore her back toward the final two members of their company. Batu and Isla had been laughing, but they quieted as Leiyn wheeled Feral around to trot beside them. Like I'm a thorn in their cocoon, she thought with a wry smile.
"Leiyn," Isla greeted her. "Something wrong?"
Leiyn pretended affront. "Does something need to be wrong? Maybe I just fancied a chat with my friends."
Batu raised an eyebrow. Isla's expression echoed his skepticism, though she tried to hide it.
"What would you like to chat about, then? The weather? Seems bitter headed toward miserable, by the ache in my leg."
Leiyn only sighed. "Fine. There is something. A beast has been stalking us through the Silvertusks."
Their reactions were slow, wariness muddled by infatuation. To their credit, however, both reached for their bows within moments.
"How far?" Isla queried.
Leiyn arrowed her mahia toward the bright spot among the mountain slopes. "Half a league, maybe. Distance is always difficult to tell."
Isla nodded and followed Leiyn's line of sight. "We could try to outpace it."
"I doubt that'd work. It's kept up with us this long, and it's big, telling by its esse. Guessing it's a snow ape."
"A snow ape?" Batu frowned as he stared back. "I haven't heard of that before."
"It's a myth." Isla gave Leiyn a long-suffering look. "Even Tadeo had never seen one, only the lodgemaster before him. It could be anything, Leiyn—a thorned lion, maybe."
"I've met one of those, remember? This is different."
Isla sighed, but she nodded. Leiyn summoned a small smile, which her friend returned.
Leiyn gazed in the direction of their pursuer once more and gnawed her lip. "Nothing for it but to wait."
"And then?" Batu asked.
She only raised her eyebrows and dug her heels into Feral's flanks, eliciting whinnies of protest from the mare. By his expression, Batu knew the answer as well as she.
Whatever the hunter, they would meet it with arrows and steel—and, if necessary, magic.
* * *
The beast had nearly crested the ridge to their left when Leiyn called for their party to form up.
As her companions galloped toward her, Leiyn dismounted and gave Feral a quick pat. "Be brave, old girl."
The mare stared at her as if planning mutiny, yet she stayed put as Leiyn extracted her bow.
The others followed suit, then looked to her. Even Acalan seemed content with Leiyn directing the defense, though with a watchful gaze, as if waiting for her to fail. She ignored him. She'd had enough men doubt her abilities to remain steady now.
"Batu, keep hold of our horses. Isla, Acalan, keep your bows at the ready. We'll take it down at a distance, if we can. If not, have other weapons close at hand."
Everyone nodded. Likely, the same plan had occurred to them. Yet someone had to lead, and Leiyn had never been one to follow.
Batu took the horses and led them back several paces. Though she'd chosen him for the task because of his unfailing obedience, his strength would be a boon if any tried to bolt.
From this creature's esse, bolting seemed a distinct possibility. Its spirit burned across the landscape so that she felt she should be able to see its life's glow with her eyes. But their first glimpse would come soon enough.
Leiyn and the other two lined up, Isla on her left, Acalan taking her right. Each had readied a bow and loosened the straps on their close-range weapons. Her fellow ranger bore a spear, obtained in Folly, slung with a strap over her back. The chieftain had his knife and macua on his belt. Her own long knives hung in their scabbards from her left hip.
No sooner had Leiyn set an arrow to her longbow than their guest appeared on the ridge.
Even across the distance, it took but a glance to know her guess had been correct: a snow ape lumbered toward them. It was large, perhaps half and again as tall as she was, though with it being hunched over, it was difficult to tell. Its coat was white and shaggy and rimed with frost, while its snout was a startling red. A patch of deep blue curled around its black eyes.
As the snow ape came closer, she detected yellowed fangs jutting from its mouth. It moved in a curious fashion, propelling itself forward on long, powerful arms, though its speed was no less for the odd stride.
Leiyn felt her shoulders tighten and consciously loosened them. The beast wouldn't die easily. They'd be lucky if their arrows penetrated its coat deep enough to be effective. Only one to an eye or the heart would put it down for good.
Her hidden sense gave graver warnings. Its lifeforce churned like a blizzard in full blush. More than a predator's determination to make the kill filled the snow ape.
Hunger. Fear.
It had been a lean hunting season, and it wouldn't survive the winter without another feast. Without killing Leiyn and her companions.
She pushed aside her guilt and lifted her bow. To either side, her friends mirrored her, knowing the stakes as well as she did. The world, so often mired in shades of gray, had resolved into black and white.
Either they survived, or the ape would. There was no room for compromise in the Titan Wilds.
"Loose!" she called, and three bows thrummed.
I hope that’s whet your appetite for what’s to come in The First Ancestor! If so, you can reserve your ebook copy through the button below.
Otherwise, it will be released come May 1st, 2023!