Anne Elisabeth Stengl is the author of the award-winning Tales of Goldstone Wood series, adventure fantasies told in the classic Fairy Tale stule. She makes her home in Raleigh, North Caroline, where she lives with her husband, Rohan, a passel of cats, and on long-suffering dog. When she's not writing, she enjoys Shakespeare, opera, and tea, and studies piano, painting, and pastry baking. She studied illustration at Grace College and English literature at Campbell University.
I am very pleased to be part in the Dragonwitch blog tour! Anne Elisabeth has so kindly given me a sneak peek of Shadowhand, and stick around for the giveaway at the end!!
And now....for the Shadowhand sneak peek!
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| Psst...ain't the cover gorgeous?? |
Shadow Hand
By Anne Elisabeth Stengl
It
must be a dream or an illusion brought on by the magic intoxication of Nidawi's
presence. It must be, for how else could he see, even through dark and rain,
that form in white rags, her hair falling free in red-gold tatters below her
shoulders, her icy eyes fixed upon him in unbelief. His bride: his beautiful,
broken, terrible bride.
"Daylily!"
he cried, and took three strides. But he had not taken a fourth when, with a
roar that shook the orchard, Lioness sprang over his head and charged; charged
in streaking, snarling fury right at that vision which was no vision, but which
breathed and moved and looked right at him.
"No!"
Foxbrush shouted, though he did not know he shouted. Like one in a dream, he
could not run, could not make his limbs move, straining against the pull of
resisting time. Seconds, half-seconds, were hours too long, for the white lion
bounded with the speed of lightning.
Daylily
shook herself free of her shock at seeing Foxbrush in this of all places and
focused her gaze fiercely on that which approached. It was not a wolf. It was
not! It was a Faerie beast, an invader, and her enemy.
Our
enemy!
She
snatched the Bronze from around her neck and crouched, prepared for battle.
Save
our land!
The
Lioness leapt, and Daylily, though her arm was none too strong, would have
driven her sharp stone up and into her flesh as she descended, had the great
cat not turned in the air at the last and landed to one side. Lioness lashed
out, claws flashing, but caught Daylily's gown and not Daylily herself. The
lion’s second swing struck Daylily in the side, sending her crashing to the
ground and her Bronze stone spinning through the air.
Daylily
bared her teeth and reached for the stone, but Lioness pressed her to the dirt
with an enormous, crushing paw. Claws tore into Daylily's shoulder and she
screamed. Her voice pierced the rain and the thunder and Foxbrush's heart, and
he screamed as well and threw himself at the lion.
But
just as he did so, a savage yell rang out, and a wild man in skins, his hair
pulled back in a long braid, fell from the branches of the fig tree above and
landed square upon Lioness's broad back. With strength greater than his size
indicated, he unbalanced her, pulling her off Daylily so that both of them
rolled across the ground. Foxbrush narrowly avoided losing his face to
Lioness's flailing claws, and found himself standing clear, staring down at
Daylily's flattened form.
Nidawi
caught Foxbrush's arm and pointed at Daylily, screaming, "Kill it! Kill
it, my king!"
Yes. You may tell me how awesome that was. You may say how you hate you have to wait for the book to come out.
Because those are my exact thoughts.
Okay, giveaway time! The giveaway goes through the 16th, and Anne Elisabeth will announce the winner on the 16th.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
And now, if you're interested in following the rest of the tour, here are links!! Starting from Day One of the tour, and continuing on. :)
Tour Schedule
July 14 - Day 1
July 15 - Day 2
July 16 - Day 3
And then, Day 17!
The winner of the giveaway announcement!
A closing post to the tour. :) It will be on Anne Elisabeth's blog.
Next blogger up on the tour is Makai Queen's interview! Have fun!
-Molly
It was awesome. I hate that I have to wait for the book to come out.
ReplyDeleteSeriously though.
THAT WAS SO INCREDIBLY AWESOME! We got to see Daylily who has a Bronze stone (OH NO), we get to see Foxbrush (with Nidawi and a white Lionness???) and we get to see SUN EAGLE (Who's back to rescuing fair maidens. Typical.)!!!!
I LOVE THIS.
Thank you, Anne and Molly. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Incredible! I can't wait to read this!
ReplyDeleteThis was an incredible excerpt. I've been pondering the character interactions and how things will turn out--and this excerpt completely surprised me--completely turned my expectations on their head. I do hope some of my predictions come true, though... ;)
ReplyDeleteOh my word!!! Time pass more quickly, please!! Haha ;) But seriously, that was awesome!
ReplyDeleteNO! How did I stumble upon this! Ha!
ReplyDeleteWait a minute, what about the Bronze stone??? I am missing something. I must go back and reread the books before the spring. Yes, that is a great idea. ;-)
Thanks for sharing!