The Storm-Wing Is Published!

You can now buy The Storm-Wing in paperback, Kindle (not quite ready for a link -- they got my name wrong), and Smashwords.  Kindle and Smashwords are $2.99 because the book is about 100 pages shorter than v.1: The War of the Stolen Mother.  The paperback is $14.49.  Don't hesitate to buy the book, even if you haven't read v.1!  Most of the characters and background are reprised, and the book includes a Glossary of Shshi Words, as well as the usual footnotes.

 

Here is the description of the book:

 

 If you enjoy tales of high adventure and battles with strange monsters (with a theme of sibling rivalry running through the mix), you will love The Storm-Wing! At the end of v. 1 (The War of the Stolen Mother), the Champion of the Shshi (termite people) Ki'shto'ba Huge-Head and its Companions set out to cross the dangerous Nu'wiv'mi Marsh on their way to visit a friend in the mountains.  They soon encounter and do battle with the Marsh Guardians – huge sauro-avians that attack from the air with beak, claw, showers of poisonous dung, and barbed feathers.  Ki'shto'ba lops off the leg of the King-Bird but fails to kill him, with consequences that will prove ominous. 

       The Quest is then diverted in a southerly direction, where a fortress being terrorized by a water monster requests Ki'shto'ba's aid.  As a reward for slaying this creature, Ki'shto'ba is granted the surname of Monster Slayer.

       Finally the Quest heads west, where the Companions find themselves in the domain of the Marchers, a Shshi people ruled by another great Champion.  After an eventful sojourn among the Marchers, whose Seer pronounces some disturbing prophecies regarding the Quest, the Companions at last turn northward into Northern Nasute country.  There they find that the fortress of their friend Sa'ti'a'i'a is being invaded nightly by a monster that resembles a primitive Shi.  Ki'shto'ba kills this formidable enemy, only to find it must also eliminate the monster's mother, who lives in caves under a lake and is even more fearsome ...

 

And here is the tease from the back cover of the paperback, excerpted from Chapter 5:

 

THE COMPANIONS JOURNEY BETWEEN THE FORTRESSES

 OF EI'TOT AND GUT'AKH'ZI

       About halfway along, I happened to glance up at the sky and I saw something circling there.  It caught me in the gut.  “Ra’fa’kat’wei,” I said in a sending too small for anyone else to receive, “look up.”
       She did so.  The thing had dipped lower.
       It was definitely a yak’nu’wiv’mi| – I recognized the tufted tail, the long neck, the sharp-edged wings.  “tha’sask|>||” said Ra’fa’kat’wei.
       Ki’shto’ba received this and said, “What is the matter?”
       We told everybody, and then it was A’zhu’lo that swore.  There was no cover in that area, so we quickened our pace.  Ra’fa’kat’wei and I continued to watch the sky.
       The creature – there was only one – dropped lower.  And then we both saw something.
       “Ki’shto’ba,” I said, “he has only one rear leg.”
       “For sure, he is Hak’tuk!” exclaimed Ra’fa’kat’wei.
       “How can that be?” said A’zhu’lo.  “The ei’tot’zei| said the others would kill him.”
       Ki’shto’ba’s legs had not missed a step.  “Or drive him away, they said.  It seems he survived my slashes but has lost his Mothers.”
       “He is alone,” said Twa’sei, crowding up against Ki’shto’ba.
       “He cannot be happy,” said Wei’tu.
       “Perhaps he is thinking of revenge,” said A’zhu’lo broodingly.
       “I do not know about you,” said Za’dut, “but we just got over one attack by that sask’zei|.  I would prefer a challenge I have not experienced before.”
       We continued to scuttle along as fast as we were able.  The Storm-Wing circled in the sky over our heads for some little while.  His position never changed in relation to ours, so I was sure he was watching us.
       Then suddenly he wheeled and veered away toward the southwest.  I do not know where he went.  At the time I had no desire to know.  Just then we saw the shapes of fortress buildings ahead of us and soon we were safely inside the walls of Gut’akh’zi, huffing with relief.

HAPPY READING!