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Albert Camus

Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.

Sunday, February 10, 2019

Dangers and Wonders - Silver Tears Series by Daniel J. Strait

Trained in a deadly art and able to become...completely invisible
A New World Full of New Dangers and Wonders
... they begin to realize the road to knowledge has more danger than they bargained for and they must use all of their skills and tap into some they didn't know they had to endure the reality that is Vazdrag.

Description:

Trouganda (#1)

Trained in a deadly art and able to become...completely invisible

A prophecy written over a millennium ago. A baby girl is born with a birthmark matching the one described in the prophecy. Her parents feared the worst so they fled from the elders. They found solace in the small village of Jin, where Nakiata would be trained by the greatest SOT Master ever known. After years of intense training, Nakiata must face her Final Test. A test that would send her out into a world of danger, mystery, and death. Nakiata would have to use every skill she knew in order to survive the dangers and wonders of ...Trouganda.

EXCERPT

Nakiata reached the city gate at the northeastern edge of the city and stopped for a moment. She had a strange feeling as though she were being followed. Nakiata slowly turned around and began looking around as if she had just dropped something, she noticed not one but two SOT masters, who were invisible to the average person, slowly moving closer as they walked carefully around the people in the streets.

Nakiata turned back around facing the gate and continued walking down the path which led into the jungle. Once the two SOT masters passed through the gate they followed her in close pursuit. After about fifteen or twenty minute’s journey into the jungle Nakiata stopped and knelt down as if she were retying a shoe. The two SOT masters saw this as their opportunity to strike. Nakiata’s ears twitched back as she heard the two SOT masters begin their fast paced approach to strike her down. A split-second before they reached their target, Nakiata entered pure SOT and moved, with surprising speed, out of harms way.


Completely taken by surprise, the two SOT masters instantly changed their tactics and instead of an assault they backed up to each other in a defensive manner, with their Kharak blades out in front of them. Nakiata smiled as she began to circle the pair of SOT masters. Nakiata then did something that very few masters ever do, especially while in SOT, she spoke out without losing her concentration, “I told the two guards of your precious Lord Grundley that blood would be spilt if I was not left alone. I see now that he has sent you to your deaths and has insured his own demise.”


One of the SOT masters yelled out, “Who are you? We know of no woman being trained in the SOT art. We also know that it was you who took the ‘Heart of the Wild’, because only one such as you, who can enter pure SOT, could have gotten passed me undetected.”

“You are correct. I did acquire the ‘Heart of the Wild’ as I was tasked to do.” Nakiata replied.

“Tasked, by whom?” the SOT master asked.

“It’s of no matter to you. I was paid and that ended my interest in that object. Your employer was warned and now you will pay the cost.” Nakiata then moved in with her unique Kharak blades and easily sliced through the first SOT masters blades, arms, and head killing him instantly. With her other blade she simply pushed the knuckle blade into the back of the other SOT master’s head killing him as well.


Nakiata moved the bodies to the side of the road. She didn’t want to go back to the city and take care of Lord Grundley, just yet. Nakiata decided to leave a note for the guards who were probably not far behind. She searched the two bodies and found a piece of paper in the pocket of one of the dead bodies. She then dipped her finger in the fresh puddle of blood that was in the middle of the path, and wrote the following note:

Lord Grundley, the employer of these two men. You were warned not to pursue me. These men have paid the price of your obsession. I will see you soon.

Nakiata

Nakiata attached the note to the shirt of the headless SOT master. She then grabbed their packs and went through them looking for anything of use. She found a piece of cloth which she then used to clean herself off and then she cleaned her blades before continuing on the path northeast as she searched for the Arkouda.

Zondura (#2)

A New World Full of New Dangers and Wonders

Nakiata and Dravone have found themselves on a strange new world. The moment they arrive they are pitted against danger and have no choice but to fight their way out of the castle of The Prowess. Caution and concealment will be a must as they search for any help they can find if any help is to be found as they venture across...Zondura.

EXCERPT

The two guards shook their spears at her again and spouted something out that Nakiata took as meaning, ‘Put down you weapons and surrender.’ Nakiata laughed, entered SOT, ducked and moved quickly to her left avoiding spear tips that had been thrust where she had just been standing.

Nakiata quickly killed the closest two guards by stabbing them in the chest. She then moved through the middle of the confused guards and cut the head of the next one. Nakiata then cut a leg off of two separate guards simultaneously then moved back as several guards ran to the aid of the injured. Nakiata then launched her next attack and decapitated a guard who had knelt down to help one of the injured guards.

The guards continued the efforts to help their injured comrades while Nakiata picked the helpers off one by one. As their numbers began to thin, the leader of the guards yelled something out and only two guards stayed to help the fallen, leaving five guards standing around the room waiting for Nakiata to strike at one of the two guards who were helping the fallen.

Nakiata giggled at their tactics, which alerted the guards to her location. She easily moved out of harm’s way as several of the guards threw their spears at that spot. Nakiata then leapt off a dead body, sliced the throat of the next guard and as soon as she hit the floor she changed course so that she went in almost the opposite direction. As the remaining four guards lunged at her supposed landing point, Nakiata thrust one of her kharak blades deep into the chest of an oncoming guard. Before the guard’s body hit the floor, Nakiata had changed direction again. Placing a foot on another fallen victim, she launched herself into the air and this time she decapitated two of the guards and then immediately stabbed the final guard standing in the chest.

The room was now almost void of movement with the exception of the two guards who were still attending to the two guards missing a leg. Nakiata slowly walked over to the first helper and stuck her blade into the back of the helper’s neck and when Nakiata pulled her blade back out the guard fell over dead. Nakiata then ran to the other guard who stopped attending and was grabbing a spear when Nakiata’s blade sliced cleanly through her neck allowing the guard’s head to fall away from her body. 

Nakiata reappeared in front of the two fallen guards covered in the blood of their sisters. Both of the guards started pleading with Nakiata in their native tongue. Not understanding a word, Nakiata walked over in between the two guards as they continued to plea and with considerable force Nakiata made a downward thrust and stabbed both guards in the chest.

The room was now silent and all motion had ceased, allowing Nakiata to look around the room for anything she could use to clean herself up. She then noticed a couple of barrels in a corner of the room; one was empty but the other was full of what appeared to be water. Nakiata then cut a clean piece of cloth away from one of the dead guards and proceeded to clean herself and her gear. She then cut out another sizeable piece of cloth and dried herself and her gear off. Once she and all of her gear were clean and dry she entered SOT, went over to the outer door and slowly opened it.

Vazdrag (#3)

Three of the five members of The Prophecy have been found. Nakiata who is a Shadow of Thought or S.O.T. master along with Dravone, a Morphan which is like a werewolf, and Ka'tia, the newest member who is a princess from Zondura and a fierce warrior. They had just walked through the Black Door on Zondura and find themselves lost in the dark. Eventually the three of them loosely ally themselves with the Roarrgs who send them on a mission in exchange for knowledge about The Prophecy. Before long they face enemies more powerful than before and the fights become epic. Soon they begin to realize the road to knowledge has more danger than they bargained for and they must use all of their skills and tap into some they didn't know they had to endure the reality that is Vazdrag. 

EXCERPT

Promnarr spun around, saw the disc on the ground, and then roared through his helmet. He quickly tapped on his left forearm and vanished from sight. 

Nakiata knew immediately that a fight was about to begin, so she yelled out, “Ka’tia, get on the ship!” Then she pushed Dravone to her left just in time to keep him from being hit dead-on by the blast from Promnarr’s weapon. The blast grazed her left arm, causing a searing pain to race through her body, which in turn made Nakiata scream in pain. The graze left a burn mark on her arm. Nakiata focused on putting the pain out of her mind and yelled at Dravone, “Get to the ship and help Ka’tia!” Then she vanished into S.O.T. and began to move around the roof top. 

Dravone ran for the stairway as fast as he could and just avoided another blast from Promnarr’s weapon. He made it to the stairway in a few seconds and was out of danger for now. 

Promnarr kept circling the edge of the rooftop to keep Nakiata from pinpointing his exact position. However, he failed to realize that Nakiata had just positioned herself in the center of the roof and was vigorously focused on finding him. Nakiata was having a hard time reaching, let alone keeping, the level of concentration she needed to find Promnarr as well as stay in pure S.O.T. due to the pain from her arm. 

Promnarr began to circle the rooftop as he tapped on his forearm, causing the view in his helmet to change. Promnarr was now able to see the heat coming from Nakiata’s body. He smiled, raised his weapon and depressed the tiny button on the handle, which allowed his weapon to charge between shots. The button made a very faint “click,” which was just enough noise to give away his location. Nakiata sprang into action and rolled to her left and dodged the blast. 

Promnarr growled in frustration and fired his rifle a little faster than before, but Nakiata moved and avoided being hit just like the Ugs. Finally, he stopped and held his position while contacting the Black Grissarr, “Activate external auditory amplifiers and set them to translate everything I say!” 

“Yes sir. Amplifiers active.” 

Nakiata was caught a little off guard when the ship itself began speaking to her: “Do you realize what you’ve done? You have sided with the enemy. The Ugs have brainwashed you. They tricked you into doing their dirty work.” 

“I have not been tricked by the Ugs, and I have no idea what brainwashing is, but it hasn’t happened to me. Besides, they’ve shown me the true nature of the Roarrgs along with some of the cruel things the Roarrgs have done!” Nakiata yelled as she moved around to keep Promnarr from zeroing in on her position.

book #1 & #2 are only .99 each
About the author:
Daniel J Strait lives and works in Indiana. He spends lots of his free time with his family and whenever he gets the chance he continues to write the Silver Tears series of books. 

Author's Giveaway

10 comments:

Laura said...

It would be interesting to be able to turn invisible. This series sounds exciting and I sure love the covers.

Bernie Wallace said...

I like the planets on the cover. Congrats on the release. Bernie Wallace BWallace1980(at)hotmail(dot)com

Nancy P said...

Intriguing cover

Betul E. said...

Zondura intrigues me the most!

Bea LaRocca said...

Exciting covers and excerpts! This looks like a must read series.

bison61 said...

I like the covers-favorite would be Vazdrag

tiramisu392 (at) yahoo.com

Daniel J. Strait said...

I've been told its much better that the first book and its really where I fell into my grove while writing. Hope you get the opportunity to read it.

Dan Denman said...

I really like the book covers. This sounds like a great fantasy series.

Stephanie LaPlante said...

These books sound great. Covers are pretty cool too.

Bridgett Wilbur said...

Sounds like something I would enjoy reading.