Under a dark grove of something rather sticky, the dusty dead grass was shriveled and barely comforting in any way for the four of them laying flat on their backs. The glamorous fortress above them.

“Kira’s rather rude,” Eryx said, slowly sitting up, “she literally pushed us out a window.”

“Eryx, stop,” Caspian muttered.

“But–”

“She literally saved us. If we had stayed for a minute longer we’d all be dead in this ditch, not breathing nor alive,” Calum snapped, “She didn’t fall either, and we all know full well why she didn’t.” He glanced over at Cirotri, who just stared in silence still laying down, distraught. “We need to get away from–”

“Oh shit. I didn’t kill that psycho,” Eryx gritted his teeth.

“Who?” Caspian asked.

“I should have killed him the minute I saw him, she’s gonna end up in that cell again, ain’t she?”

“Again? What the hell are you talking about?” Calum shot up before slowly sitting back down.

“Kira. She was in some cell tied up to some table when I got here. That weird ass guy, Kai, had some kind of plan,” Eryx sighed, “but I got her out of there, but she honestly might be worse off now.” 

Cirotri finally sat up, “What the fuck? There’s no way–”

“Ciro…” Calum gave him a pained expression, “you remember now. Don’t try to deny it.”

Cirotri squeezed his eyes closed. Why? Why was this happening to him? He opened up his eyes once more. “Eryx, did you have a plan for after you got Caspian out?”

“Not anything well thought out.”

“Didn’t you have friends or something that were going to attack?” Calum asked.

“Oh shit,” he looked over at his brother, “Cas, how strong have your powers gotten?”

“I’m not sure, the restraints limited me.”

“Shit, if you were limited in that room, any normal person would cower,” Eryx turned to face Cirotri, “Aren’t Starfallen supposed to be super rare?”

“Yeah,” Calum muttered.

“Was anyone, including him, aware he was a Starfallen?”

“No,” Cirotri whispered.

“Not even your mother?”

“Eryx,” Calum warned.

The sun was getting lower and lower, and Cirotri’s look visibly declined by the second. His whole body shivered with the wind. Eryx slid off his outer jacket that had somehow reappeared at some point and draped it around Cirotri’s shoulders. He crouched down in front of him. “Thanks for saving our fall.”

“Huh?” Calum started, confused.

“Who do you think broke our fall?” Eryx asked, “Even if it was subconsciously, he used some kind of power and we landed without ending up dead in this ditch.”

“I–” Calum started but the stone in his hand started crackling.

“H…hello?” a grated voice sounded from the device.

“Are you Ryxx?” Calum asked.

“Yes, wh..re…are…y..u?” she asked, the words barely coming through.

Calum whispered into the stone, quiet enough so no one could hear but the ear on the other end of the device.

“Affir..ative. Head…y..ur…way.”

“We need to leave. And quick,” Eryx urged, “because the others…are either attacking now or will do so any minute. We can’t afford to get caught in the crossfire.”

“It’s almost been two hours, Mal,” Lilith sighed as she lay in the bed of the truck.

The roads anywhere on the outskirts of Altherin were gravely and not straight in any form. They had somehow ended up in the only tiny canopy of remaining trees.

“You thought I was serious?” Mallory asked, hoping into the truck beside her.

“You typically are,” Lilith muttered.

Mallory glanced through the small window, peering into the truck where Vivienne and Zenith slept. “Yeah… I am, but it’ll be different tonight.”

Lilith looked at him, “you’re not going alone.”

“I don’t see how else,” Mallory looked up through a small fracture in the leaves, “someone has to stay with Vivi and Zenith…and someone has to make sure Eryx isn’t dead. And we both know, sending you to get Eryx is a death sentence. Either because you’ll kill him. Or because you’ll be killed by the queen. And we both know perfectly well why.”

“How long have you known?” Lilith asked. Unlike an abnormality like Eryx, not just any one could find out her identity.

“Since we met. The stars take quite a liking, you know,” he gazed at one of the few stars that could be seen, even with the city’s lights not too far off. “My mother was a Starfallen. But we all know how that went down.”

Lilith looked up at the same star as though she could feel its power.

“Though, I suppose many think it was all over thirty years ago. But that war didn’t truly end until about fifteen years ago,” Mallory scoffed, “the queen didn’t stop till even her own husband was dead.”

“If your mother was…”

“I’m not,” Mallory stated, “I’m not sure how it’s possible, but I’m not. I’m one of the few who was born as a Marked. That might have overruled any Starfallen heritage. Somehow.”

“But if you have kids someday, they could inherit it,” Lilith said.

“You know just as much as I do that I won’t have any kids. Fuck, I’m no straighter than this gravel road.”

Lilith laughed, “Dam right you aren’t.”

Mallory stood up and hopped out of the truck. He looked directly into her eyes, “Take care of them, I’ll be back before you know it.”

“I’ll protect them with my life. Don’t let me find you dead in a ditch.”

And thus, Mallory made his way to the ‘impenetrable fortress’ like the speed of light.

To dine on the finest food is an adventure.

For screen readers

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Fast And Furious Food

We’re celebrating the August release of Embarkare by Aubrey Nymphaea with a tour this week. Beneath this gorgeous cover is the perfect story for fans of The Lord of the Rings and The Witcher!

Embarkare is the first book in the Woods of Brashen series by Aubrey Nymphaea. When this story begins it drops readers in a quaint little village and introduces readers to Andra. The introduction to Andra is quite cute to be honest. LOL! She’s being harassed by pixies. It’s rather humorous to be honest. They are pelting her with acorns, and her attempt to get back at them? Falls flat. Sorry, but throwing leaves? Fruitless and futile, but funny!

The expectation is that Andra is alone in this world, but the good news is…she’s not. She has an uncle and a cousin who live nearby and are a part of her life. But there is more than just these two in her life. A kindly older woman has worked to care for Andra in her own way over the years after her mother’s death. So, their entire world is thrown into chaos when a monster attacks.

We know what you’re thinking…how many lives were lost? Was anyone Andra truly cared about lost in the mayhem? The simple answer is – no one of note is lost. But it puts a lot of things into perspective for Andra. Why? Because the attack was targeted. This creature was sent to send her a message specifically. Someone wants revenge for what Andra’s mother did years ago…and Andra must be the one to pay…or the villagers will.

The problem? Andra is woefully unprepared. She can’t fight. Her magic isn’t offensive. But despite these facts…she makes the decision to go it alone. Thankfully, her cousin Luca doesn’t allow her to remain alone. Yet, Andra’s emotional reaction to being told that she’s in no way prepared…is odd. She knows what she’s capable of, and even when she sets out by herself…it’s only exacerbated.

We salute Andra’s desire to protect those she cares about, but what would have happened if she had died along the way? Did she think that this person seeking revenge against her would spare the village and just assume that a monster killed her along the way to the meeting place? Unlikely.

Monsters are prowling the woods. These are some seriously wicked creatures. By wicked we mean – dangerous, elusive, and savage! Readers will get a glimpse at one in particular that nearly decimates the group that Andra originally starts out with. It’s heartbreaking in it’s brutality and cruelty.

Leaving the “safety” of the village behind Andra begins to see the dangers that swirl all around. The monsters are the biggest danger so to speak, but the humans that she encounters? Are just as dangerous…and twice as evil. It’s quite the learning experience for Andra as the story goes along.

The storyline is written in the third person POV and focuses primarily on Andra. She’s on quite the journey to learn how to protect herself if she has any hope of protecting those she cares about.

Embarkare is an engaging novel that draws you in and teases you with danger at every turn. Andra is a unique character, but her “blind belief” in herself despite her shortcomings…it makes us question her as a character. Even when she fully knows what she knows she still persists on trying to “go it alone.” Granted, she finds help along the way, but she’s not as prepared for what lies ahead as she needs to be.

The story flows well, but it does move at a slow to moderate pace throughout. It allows readers to really immerse themselves in the story and get to know the characters better.

Embarkare definitely lives up to the “dark” element when it comes to this particular dark fantasy. You get romance, but it’s allowed to build and develop over time. There is no “insta-romance” here which we appreciate. Danger lurks at every turn, and the story will leave you wondering what happens next.

Embarkare (The Woods of Brashen Book One)

Release Date: August 4, 2026

Genre: Dark Romantic Fantasy

• Elemental Witch x Monster Hunter
• Heroine/Quest
• Reluctant Allies to ???
• He Trains Her. She Heals Him
• One Horse
• She’s Sassy. He’s Broody
• Found Family Worth Dying For
• Anxiety/Mental Health Rep

Dark magic has returned to the continent of Brashen. Villages are destroyed. Families torn apart. And the darkness? It yields to no one.

When a monster bred of sharp teeth and talons is sent to attack her home, elemental witch, Andra, is given a choice: pay for her mother’s supposed sins by winter solstice, or someone from her village will be brutally slaughtered each day thereafter. Certain of her own strength, she sets out into the continent for the first time.

But the continent is nothing as she’d imagined, and Andra finds only cruelty beyond her village’s borders. She is stalked by monsters both real and imagined, and when a mysterious monster hunter chases her through the woods, she doesn’t know if she can trust him. But as the danger rapidly escalates, and it is clear to Andra she is woefully outmatched, he might be the only one who can help her before it’s too late.

Perfect for fans of The Lord of the Rings and The Witcher, ‘Embarkare’ is a story packed full of emotional self-realization, the vulnerability of trusting others, and the strength it takes to believe in your own abilities.

AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

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Embarkare Review Spotlight

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Embarkare Review Spotlight

Welcome to the book tour with The Write Reads as we share about author Shami Stovall’s latest release – The Last Rift Dragon!

Ready for your next read by author Shami Stovall? Then you’re not going to want to miss checking out The Last Rift Dragon.

Bridgehaven is a unique place where dragons have called it home. There they have breathed silver fog across the land which has allowed the people to develop magical gifts of their own. Technology has flourished thanks to this fog. However, the number of dragons has been diminished greatly. Now, only three remain and with them only a handful of eggs. The future of Bridgehaven is in question if they cannot find more and replenish their numbers.

In a neighboring nation, another group of people live. The difference? Magic is controlled. Only a select have it with the aid of their creatures. They look at things differently than the people of Bridgehaven, and desire to destroy Bridgehaven for these differences.

Richter Whitlock is soon to assume the role of Knight of the Silver Fog. But he has to first acquire an egg, and since they are only a handful his chances are anyone’s guess. Especially when you learn that a couple of the eggs? They aren’t perfect which means that the dragons that hatch will be potentially be crippled. So competition will be fierce to be able to have first pick of the eggs in the hopes that you’ll get a good one.

Right from the beginning author Stovall draws us in with Richter’s story. His family fell on hard times and things began to crumble. The estate, once thriving, lost people due to lack of funds. Now, there is only one who still serves and he serves out of love rather than money or sake of duty. Thankfully, Richter has a good friend in a former stable boy he helped elevate to a higher position as well.

Richter and Lex are thick as thieves and we love the dynamics between these two. They stand with each other and defend each other. Granted Richter knows when to compose himself compared to Lex, so when Lex makes a rather scathing quip about one of the other trainees, Richter minds his composure.

Unfortunately, things go off the rails rather quickly. A twist is waiting in the wings for the characters, and one…isn’t going to take it well. For someone of noble birth he behaves more like an immature child. But it’s his threats…that will raise alarm bells in your head and that you’d hope would raise warning flags in the minds of the older characters.

Author Stovall is going to 100% shock you and break your heart with what transpires in these first few chapters. But there’s hope to be found as well. While tragedy takes place, there is still hope in what comes next. The hope is what will fuel you to plunge deeper into The Last Rift Dragon.

Written in the first person POV, The Last Rift Dragon focuses on Richter and those who remain. Richter assumes a lot of responsibility and it’s impressive how certain characters show their true colors once separated from less desirable influences.

When the dragon on the cover, a rift dragon, makes his appearance it will be a truly glorious moment. It is also a moment that author Stovall utilizes to showcase the differences between dragons hatched around humans, and those who are not. This wild rift dragon is dangerous, but truly beautiful. While we’re learning about these dragons, we learn quite a bit about how things have come to be the way that they are.

Based on this information you’d think that the characters would have more sense in making better choices. But power is craved, and that continues to be showcased throughout the story. But we’re not complaining! What author Stovall is doing is keeping the characters realistic in their human nature and we absolutely appreciate that element.

We absolutely devoured this book. When we say that after we read “Time Marked Warlock” we became a fan we’re not joking. LOL! This book was so good, and any time we had to put it down it was not done easily. This book will stick with you and have you continuously eager to return to it as soon as possible.

Truth be told, you’ll be already eagerly looking for the next book in the series! LOL! We have awhile to wait, but we’re sure that it will be worth it.

The Last Rift Dragon by Shami Stovall

Book Info

Genre: Fantasy

Age Category: Young Adult

Number of Pages: 340 Pages

Publication Date: July 20, 2026

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/252687866-the-last-rift-dragon

Storygraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/f3fa1557-d6f7-4ea1-b8b7-6f2466c5f8d0

Amazon: https://a.co/d/04EtdMyQ (Canada) https://a.co/d/0f5Fb13E (USA) https://amzn.eu/d/06wvvM6E (UK)

Blurb

The City of Bridgehaven is under attack.

The nation to the west intends to murder Bridgehaven’s last three remaining dragons, rendering them extinct. They’ll stop at nothing to crush the eggs, flay the dragons, and burn Bridgehaven to the ground.

But Richter Whitlock is determined to make sure that doesn’t happen. He joins the Knights of the Silver Fog—individuals dedicated to protecting Bridgehaven, and the dragons, at all costs—in the hopes of caring for a fragile dragon egg, so that one day he may bond and fight back.

But there are traitors in Bridgehaven, and enemies are circling close.

If Richter hopes to save his home, and his egg, he’ll have to master his magic, learn to craft magitech, and become one of the greatest Knights anyone has ever seen…

About the Author

Shami Stovall is a multi-award-winning author of fantasy and science fiction, best known for her Frith Chronicles and Chronos Chronicles series. Before she was author, Stovall taught history and criminal law at the college level, and loved every second.

When she’s not reading fascinating articles and books about ancient China or the Byzantine Empire, Stovall can be found playing way too many video games, especially RPGs and tactics simulators, or hanging with John 3 and John 4.

If you want to contact her, you can do so at the following locations:

Website: https://sastovallauthor.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GameOverStation/

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The Last Rift Dragon Review Spotlight

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The Last Rift Dragon Review Spotlight

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The Last Rift Dragon Review Spotlight

Well then. Ykka and the other Castrimans are ungrateful rusters. Kinda feeling like Essun should have just left them to be abducted by stone eaters, murdered by Rennanis soldiers, and eaten by boilbugs 😒

@bookstodon@fedigroups.social #Books #Reading #SFF #SciFi #Fantasy #Fiction #BrokenEarth

(comment on The Stone Sky)

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N. K. Jemisin: The Stone Sky (AudiobookFormat, 2017, Hachette Audio)

A few hours earlier.

“I thought it wasn’t that far. How long does it take to get to your oh-so-secret base?” Eryx asked. They’d been walking for an hour and the sun was long gone now. So much for meeting back up with Zyv and Cyrene. Eryx groaned.

“You’re very impatient. It’s not much further,” Lilith sighed, then began pulling out a black ribbon. “Put this on.”

“If you think I’m going to put that in my hair you should think again,” Eryx scoffed.

“Not your hair. Put it over your eyes.”

“Why? I’m not looking to get kidnapped today.”

“I assure you, you won’t end up like your brother. Just put it over your eyes. I have to protect the safety of everyone else if you turn out to be worse than I thought.”

“How do you-”

“Know about your brother? I put two and two together. Desperately following strangers to look for your long lost brother and hating the madam’s right hand man? You’re not very good at hiding a secret,” Lilith remarked, then gestured the ribbon to Eryx once again. “Take it.”

Eryx grabbed the cloth and brought it to his eyes, wrapping it over like he did with all the bindings on his body. 

“You’re awfully good at that, do you normally blind yourself?”

“No.”

“Back to one word responses I see. You don’t seem to talk unless there is something in it for you. Do you not enjoy friendly conversation?”

“No. Friendly bantering can get you killed,” Eryx wouldn’t meet her eye, even with the blindfold, he could still see. If anything, the darkness of the ribbon enhanced his vision.

“So can solitude without human interaction. Perhaps that’s your problem. Depression is for you I suppose.”

“I’m not depressed.”

“Well the only reason you could…wait, are you a Shadowborn?!” Lilith spun to face Eryx, her whole body movement lay on edge, no longer calm, cool, or collected.

“Does it matter?” Eryx hated this question.

“What is a Shadowborn doing out of Loryn, better yet what are you doing here in Calstine?! This is one of the brightest towns in all of Recorvia. How can you not be affected? There’s no way unless you’re some cross–”

Eryx jammed his hand over her mouth, pining her against the nearest wall in the alley. “You need to learn when to shut up.”

Lilith shoved his hand away from her, “You can see through the ribbon,” she laughed, “Of course you can.” Lilith’s whole tone had shifted, she wasn’t her normal flirtatious, manipulative self. She wanted to punch this guy. And thus, she called upon all nearby demonic entities. 

Essun's last chapter is wild. The activation of the Obelisk Gate is awesome, in the true sense of the word, but I'm actually not sure how I feel about Essun's part in the whole thing 🤔

Why go to Castrima-over? Why even attempt parley with the army threatening her home? Then, when parley fails and she's forced to fight (slaughter) the army, why kill all of Rennanis after? It was a city of millions (before the Season, anyway, said someone from Castrima in Chapter 14). I'm not sure Essun put much thought into it—she was channeling the Gate—so maybe we can argue that it was a horrific act of instinct, but that still leaves her with genocide on her hands. I don't remember thinking much about it the first time I read this book, but now all I can think about is Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the gnawing dread in my stomach when I read things like "Pentagon Drafting New Nuclear Strategy To Expand Options for Tactical Nuclear Weapons Use"…

And then Nassun's last chapter 💔 Poor girl has to kill her father to keep him from murdering her, and then Steel steps in to manipulate the traumatized girl into going along with his plan to kill everything on the surface of the Earth 😳

Those two final chapters fucked me up. The Broken Earth is such a heavy story 😢

@bookstodon@fedigroups.social #Books #Reading #SFF #SciFi #Fantasy #Fiction #BrokenEarth

(comment on The Obelisk Gate)

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N. K. Jemisin: The Obelisk Gate (EBook, 2016, Orbit)