Snippet

"You are without magic and battle-skills and yet you're here in my tent. A woman alone shouldn't be so trusting."

"She is not alone." 

The disembodied voice was deep and male, it seemed to drift into their ears like smoke made out of shadows. It surprised her but not the man who was holding her tightly against him. Seconds before the voice could be heard, Sayid had rolled her down beneath him, raised himself to a crouch and had pulled his sword from its sheath.

This was not the indulgent and indolent man who had shared a meal with her or the strict and no nonsense man days before, not even the irritated, resigned man that had rescued her from death by the sun. 

She saw the flare of dark blue cloth before she was pushed away by Sayid, his sword meeting the intruder's with a sharp hissing sound.

The intruder was tall and deceptively slender, he moved with a coiled grace that belonged to desert predators. His movements were silent and misleading; the tattoos on his fingers and his black sword marked him for what he was: an assassin. Not just an assassin, but an assassin from the Order of the Iron Falcon, the elite squad that protected the Temple. Judging on the markings on his hands, one of the best. But Sayid met him blow for blow, not even blinking at the sight of an assassin inside his tent.

"Wait!" Safia stood and stepped closer to them.

"Get out and call Fauzi." Sayid ordered as he gritted his teeth, his magic seething inside him, itching to strike, hungry for blood. But the spell on his tongue halted at the sight of Safia running head long toward them and then--

--swatting the assassin with the flat of her hand, right at the side of his head like he was an errant puppy.

Copyright © 2013 by D.F. Jules,

Fateless is about...

So, I'm going to enter Camp NaNoWriMo in April. If you don't know, NaNoWriMo is a crazy event where people all around the world tries to write a novel (50k words) in one month.

I know. Writers are masochists. 

Anyway, for April I am going to write a new novel of mine called Fateless. 

It tells a story of betrayal, adventure, friendship, loyalty, politic, love and all that good stuff in a setting of a fantasy land called Sihr. Imagine Arabian Nights, Ali Baba and Sinbad all mushed together. 

In this land religion, culture, business and politics clashes everyday.

With religion there is the Temple of the One God and how they tend to try to override everything. Culture: the tribal leaders and the war between themselves. Business, the trade merchants vs the desert pirates. Politics: the power play between The Nobles and the young Sultan.

And if that is not enough, this is a land that feeds off magic. Interestingly, the magic of the land is divided into two: Academy Magic and Wild Magic. And both are stronger in women than men. So when woman becomes healers, sorcerers and generals, men are usually merchants, clerks, soldiers.

Our story starts with Safia who walks through a desert storm and into a cave filled with desert pirates. She talks and dresses and moves like an acolyte of the One God but she says she is not. When asked why she is there, she says she has a message for the leader of the desert pirates from the High Priestess of The One God.

Everyone knows what that means. It means a prophecy. 

How a High Priestess would experience a prophecy for a desert pirate, or feel the need to convey it, even sending off a lone acolyte to brave a desert storm in Neraka Valley (the most treacherous desert EVER, not to mentioned home to a tribe of pirates) was a mystery.

But Safia was trained to obey orders and ask no questions.

Sayid, the leader of the Dark Blade desert pirates, is not happy. He dismisses her and the words she carry from her patroness, the High Priestess with a casual disregard and a hint of long, simmering rage. 

Sayid has had his fill of Prophecies, a prophecy had wiped out his tribe and his family, he would let the sun bleach his bones rather than listen to another. 

But Safia has her orders and she will not leave until he listens to her.

They intend to leave her. She follows. They try to lose her in the Maze of Hollows. She tracks them. Finally, Sayid uses the wild magic of the desert to cover their tracks. She nearly dies. He comes back for her. 

They start a relationship of begrudging respect. 

But no matter how much she tries, he ignores her whenever she brings the topic of the Prophecy into the conversation.

Their bickering and often childish arguments amuses me mightily. 

 Copyright © 2012 by D.F. Jules

Snippet 1

This story takes part in one of the worlds in my Three Kingdoms world, more specifically Sihr; a world with moonlit deserts and magic, picture 1001 Nights, the Dance of the Seven Veils and Prince of Persia. 

The timeline happens 20-10 years before the Three Kingdoms stars. This will be a stand alone novel, and I mean it this time. 

And yes, instead of the Guardians of Volk that I have been promising you, I will post this one because #GoV is still not fit for your eyes, it's a mess. 

Well, let's carry on. 

“And you are?”

“My name is Safia.”

“Safia…”

“Safia Leharmua.”

Sayif blinked, the culture of their people weighed heavily on tribe and family so every person has a tribe and family name. Unless you are on the run, or you have no tribe or family for whatever reason. Those without went with just their given name, or like Safia took the name of the city where they were born, which also meant that she was a ward of the kingdom. Some eventually get adopted by either families, tribes or went into the work force.

Leharmua was the city where the Academy of Magic and the temple of the One God resided, so orphans born in Leharmua were taken care better than most because some of them, like Safia were raised by the Temple or by patrons--rich people who wanted to show off to their neighbors.

“You didn’t take your vow?”

“No, it was made clear to me that I had other purposes than to serve the One God.”

“And that is?”

She smiled. “Surely you have other important questions to ask me, for example, why is an orphan of the One God temple. disguises herself as an acolyte, ventures into Neraka valley, all alone and without a servant or two for help?”

“We do not want to interfere with Temple matters.” Sayif demurred.

“Do you not?” Her question throbbed in the air, and if Sayif didn't know any better, he would swore that she was a magic user, and since she was an orphan of the Temple, the percentage that she was one was on the high side.

“But since the question is already pointed out, why is an orphan of the One God temple doing here of all places?”

“I am here to find someone.”

“Who?”

“The Leader of the Dark Blade desert pirates.”

Sofia didn’t blinked when two of the men, who had been quietly placing themselves behind her, went for their swords while the one who was doing all the talking merely looked bemused.

She kept her eyes on him, she had a suspicion that he was the one to reason with. She quirked an eyebrow. “I assume that I've arrived at the right place?”

Copyright © 2012 by D.F. Jules