Magic in Ashes, Book 1 of the Ash Duology
Everything comes at a price. Magic, most of all.
For years, Clayara has kept the secret of her father’s disappearance, leaving everyone to believe he died within the mountains of their province instead of Beyond. Nobody leaves Tandrala and comes back alive. Outside, fire rains from the sky. Inside, war and secrets centuries old swirl through storms of deadly Ash. Through it all drifts the Haze, an addicting toxin born of Ash that grants untold power. To keep her father’s secret, and to prove her own complaisance, Clayara has had to encourage its use even though she hates its effects on her people.
A stranger claiming to be from the outside appears in an Ash Storm, telling Clayara the one thing she never dared to hope: her father is alive out there, and he needs her help. But to help her father, Clayara and her friends will have to follow an impossible dream, risking everything for the chance to see the only family she has left and to discover the truth of why their people are isolated.
The world beyond the flames is full of its own dangers. Roaring dragons, impossible new weapons, and shadowy figures threaten Clayara and her crew at every turn. No matter how far they run, the Haze remains a tempting, deadly breath away. Through the storms within and without, Clayara finds herself choosing time and again between her love of her friends and her family, and her hatred of her enemies and her world.
But someone wants them dead, someone who would have preferred they never stepped foot outside Tandrala.
Content Warning List
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Excessive violence/gore
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Amputation
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Drug addiction/abuse
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Language
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Death
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Guns
Magic in Talons, Book of the Ash Duology
My blood is fire. My breath is vengeance.
Three years have passed since Clayara left home to save her father. The Tandralans live safely on the dragons’ island, but a newfound threat festers among them. The dragons are hiding something, and Clayara feels the answers live in the island’s centre. However, the cost of these secrets could resurface a century-old war reignited by a familiar foe whose vengeance she seeks.
Clayara soon realizes there is nowhere to hide from the lingering war on the mainland. But she is no longer scared, weak, and desperate. She is a Haze Master; a weapon. Clayara will burn through the world to find her vengeance. She will destroy anything—including herself—to end the life of the woman who took everything from her.
But Clayara’s addiction proves itself a hindrance, and the mainland is a place with tarnished memories and the scent of failure. She never had a choice but to return. Paltzori will burn, and Clayara will stand in the destruction of her making.
My story is not one of valiancy. Not one of virtue.
Baleryn—a tired Citalai drudging his way through life in Paltzori—wants three things: peace with his cat, cheese that doesn’t upset his stomach, and a job beside the royal Shazori. Despite having all-seeing eyes, he’s blindsided, pulled into a resistance he never supported, and threatened until he complies. They say the royals are the enemy, but he sees how neither side seems the hero.
Even when he gets the job of his dreams, the resistance sniffles up behind him in search of intel. He can ignore them, but they’re not shy in their threats for his head. He can be their spy, but that would go against everything he’s ever stood for.
Torn between two sides and three desires, Baleryn does his best to stay alive while maintaining his sanity and morals—and even those, he can’t trust. According to the resistors, peace will never live while the Shazori remains on the throne.
As secrets unfold, Clayara realizes she needs a Citalai, but Baleryn isn’t certain which side he’s willing to die for. All of Paltzori may face the consequence of inaction: for the cry of griffins echoes in the north, and they have never been so desperate for the blood of a dragon.
Content Warning List
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Excessive violence/gore
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Drug addiction/abuse
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Language
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Death
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Guns
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Insinuated suicidal thoughts