Rage (Kingdom Chronicles Book 7)

Book summary

After a mage exam ends in disaster, Arch Mage Cani is cursed with a slow death. Her husband, Nabis, must find a student’s custom spell to save her, leading him into a perilous mission that spirals out of control. "RAGE" is a thrilling fantasy adventure.

Excerpt from Rage (Kingdom Chronicles Book 7)

“The Void Star Academy was burned to the ground by a violent band of Transformationists yesterday in an unprecedented and bold assault. We’re still learning the details, but what we know is that several are dead and—” Nabis shut the television off.

“Too much violence in the world these days. It feels like everything is falling apart,” Nabis said while he poured more coffee into the mug.

The rain hit the windows less now, and the thunder was weak. At last, the storm was coming to an end. This storm, anyway.

“Oh, come on. It’s not that bad. You can’t trust the media anyway. Remember all that blade nonsense? The unicorn attacks? Golem in the Morglands? They don’t talk about any of that anymore either. They blow things way out of focus and just try to scare people with the shock story of the day. Same old thing as it ever was,” Cani replied.

“I suppose you’re right,” he said and took a sip. “I’m not scared of anything on TV. Chances are they have a team of writers to take a tragedy and blow it up for ratings. Just like you said. It’s all smoke, mirrors, a little creative spark,” he replied.

“Yeah, so what are you doing today?” she asked, and he shrugged. “Human developers from up north want to build a club. They think they can make money off Elves or something if it’s fancy enough. I’m going to do my best to talk them out of it and still keep my job.”

“Oh, come on, be nice. Humans can play in Tethys, too. Let the market decide. Maybe Elves are more open-minded than they were three hundred years ago. Things change.”

Nabis scrunched his nose at the idea. “What do humans know about fun anyway? They are addicted to their electronics these days. Elves are, you know, cultured. Civilized.”

She laughed. “Elves only act that way. We’ve both been to the Tower. We know how people get.”

“Point taken,” he replied and took another sip, staring at the black screen of the TV. Seeing a broken reflection creeped him out a little bit. He turned away from it.

“What are your plans?” he asked.

“It’s exam day, remember? Mages need to complete their test. I’ve only been talking about this for the past three weeks. I swear you never listen,” he blinked and shook his head a little at those words.

“I listen to everything you say. I also like your voice, even if you repeat things. It’s nice,” he said, and she smiled. “Oh, well. I’m glad you like it.”

“No, I love it. ‘Like’ was so long ago, I don’t even remember what like feels like,” he replied. “You’re so sweet, it almost makes me sick,” she laughed, and he just blinked.

“Hey, I’m a guy. I never know how much is too much and what isn’t enough, you know. We never quite get it right. We do our best, and you just have to put up with it,” she stopped laughing. “I know you guys do your best. We love you anyway.”

He wasn’t quite sure how to take that but decided to take it as a compliment. “And I love you too,” he took a sip. The coffee was already getting cool, so he finished it and set the mug on the counter.

“But don’t wash out my mug. The grounds add to the flavor. I’d have to divorce you if you did that,” he said.

“Yes dear, you can drink out of the dirty mug all you want. Bacteria and all,” she replied as he finished it and set it on the counter.

“If you leave it there, I’ll wash it. Again.” Cani glared at him, and he recoiled in the best reaction of fear he could manage.

“No, not again, you fiend.”

“Yes, again,” she stared at him with her intense blue eyes. Despite just playing around, sometimes it was hard to tell the difference.

He put the red cup back on the rack on the wall. “See, I saved the mug, gold star for me,” he said, and she smiled. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Also, you’re going to be late for your meeting,” she pointed at the clock. “I have an hour. What are you talking about, going to be late?”

“You are the slowest driver in the world. If you don’t leave now, you’re going to be late. Not to mention all the traffic.”

He grimaced at the last word. “Oh, you’re right. Traffic. I hate traffic. It’s literally the worst. I could just port there.”

She shrugged. “Yeah, you could.”

“I won’t. I enjoy the drive. It’ll be fine.” Nabis looked at the rain coming to an end through the window. “It’s going to be a nice day. Might as well take my time.”

“You better go, then,” she said. “I hate leaving, and you do know I drive so slow because I’m careful. There is no place I’d rather be than right here.” She liked that. It made her blush a little. “Even after all this time, you spoil me,” she said.

“Alright, I’ll be back,” Nabis replied and turned to the door. “You better be back. I’m making Naxia for supper tonight,” she replied.

“Can’t wait.”

With that, Nabis took off towards the front door. She watched him step out, and her smile faded a bit. Even after all this time, she still felt sad a little. The emptiness rushed in like a wave from the ocean.

Cani picked up the remote and pushed a button. The television turned on. The news about the Void Star assault, but she changed the channel.

Lana Volente was on. Cani was kind of hoping she was making Naxia today, but, nope. That’s just not how it was meant to be. She was making some kind of Troll dish, Wooble. She wasn’t sure about how that was looking so far.

Troll food was tough to make, tougher to eat sometimes.

She listened for Nabis to pull out of the driveway. Once he was gone, she pulled the red mug off the wall and rinsed it out in the sink. It was something she did every day. She couldn’t stand the idea of the germs building up in the cup like that.

What he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. She put the mug back on the rack and decided it was time to get ready for work. Thankfully, she worked from home most of the time. Cani poured her coffee into her own brass mug and added the sugar and cream.

“Sorry, Lana, you’re not helpful today,” she said and turned the television off. With a sigh, she made her way to the office and sat down in front of the computer and turned it on. A few seconds later, the login screen popped up, and she entered her information, same thing she did every day.

“Hey, Cani.” A voice came through the speakers. “Hey, Traci,” she replied. “So, did you see the news? Can you believe it? Those crazy transformationist freaks really did it.”

“Oh, not you too. Yeah. I saw the news. No, I don’t think it’s as bad as the news says,” she replied and turned on her camera. Traci was human, young compared to any Elf, middle-aged for a human she supposed, pretty, almost innocent. No love for the transformationists, clearly. Not that she could blame her.

“I heard everyone died in the attack, isn’t that horrible?” she asked. Cani shrugged. “I guess they took out all the shifters too?” Traci thought about it. “I guess that’s true.”

“Well, if that’s the case then I don’t think we have much to worry about, we should get to work, yeah?” Traci nodded. “Yep.”

“How’s Mitchell doing?” Cani asked. “I think his obsession with fire magic is a whole lot stronger than his talent. It’s not looking good. I don’t think he’s going to make it past the third level.”

Cani nodded. “No improvement, that sucks. Pyrocraft is tough. Oh well, after the exam we’ll have to let him down easy,” she replied, and Traci nodded. “Sounds like a plan, most of the others are average. It’s a good class overall.”

“That’s it?” Cani asked. “I mean, yeah, pretty much nothing’s changed. I am sure everyone is going to be fired up to want to take on a shifter now that they’ve declared war on, well, everyone, I guess.”

“Maybe. Anyway. Let me finish my coffee, and I’ll be over in a second, alright?” Traci gave Cani the thumbs up, and she shut the computer off. Cani always liked to go into anything with no surprises, especially on exam day.

Cani stood up, drank her coffee, and moved to the closet. She opened it and put on her black robe then reached in and put on the pendant of the school, a silver dragon with rubies for eyes. “Alright. Let’s go,” she said. With a gesture of her right hand, a bright green, swirling portal appeared in the air in front of her. She stepped into it.