Blog Tour Kick Off: The Wolf Queen by Cerece Rennie Murphy @cerecermurphy #YA #fantasy

THE WOLF QUEEN
Cerece Rennie Murphy
* YA Fantasy *

Title: THE WOLF QUEEN: THE HOPE OF AFERI (Book 1)
Author: Cerese Rennie Murphy
Publisher: LionSky Publishing
Pages: 242
Genre: YA Fantasy

Once great and powerful sorcerers, the Amasiti were hunted to the brink of extinction by the Hir and his followers. For four hundred years, their legacy faded from memory waiting for the hope of Aferi to be renewed…

In the Land of Yet

At the edge of the Forbidden Forest

A young woman lives alone.

Forced to fend for herself after the brutal murder of her family, Ameenah Yemini has made a life for herself as a master tanner and farmer, only venturing into the world to earn her living then return to the safety and seclusion of her home.

Until a chance encounter brings her work to the attention of the powerful Hir and her careful life begins to unravel.

Drawn to the hidden magic that lingers in everything she touches, the new Hir insists on having her for himself, using the people around her to force Ameenah into his grasp.

When she realizes that her greatest enemy may hold the key to a secret she thought lost to her forever, Ameenah is determined to reclaim her stolen past.  But, at what cost? As an ancient power waits to be unleashed, Ameenah’s choices will make the difference between awakening a new magic or delivering it into the hands of evil.

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______________________

I knelt before Safaro, as I swore I would never and accepted his chain.  I watched as he swelled with pride, eclipsing any possibility that he would discover my plan. Blind purpose and certain victory propelled him forward without the slightest concern for why a woman who had defied him every day of her life would have surrendered so easily.  I bowed my head and followed, prepared to betray everything I knew to preserve the hope of what we could become.

Like a slave, he brought me dutifully to his master.  We rode through the gates of Elan to the Hir who sat outside the battlefield on a tall, white horambus that was draped in blood-red velvet.  The Hir spared only a second to regard me with contempt before sending me with Safaro to the center of the battle where our right to exist would be decided. 

All around me, from every corner of our world, the people of Yet fought against the tyranny of the Hir.  Closing my eyes, I could smell their desire to live, to protect their loved ones, and see them survive past this day as if the earth itself was calling out to me. Once again I looked to Safaro for any sign of the boy I loved, but he was nowhere to be found.  He knew, as I did, that while their resolve was as hard as iron, the people of Yet were not warriors.  Worse, we’d only had months to prepare.  From the power-crazed look in his eyes as he surveyed the battle, I knew that the Hir had been planning the expansion of his Kingdom his entire life.

The final battle came to our doorstep just outside the city of Elan, where our defenses had held as fiercely as they could, but it was only a matter of time.  The people of Elan, the peoples of Yet had given no ground easily, with mounting casualties on both sides, but the Hir had too much of everything we lacked: weapons, men, strategy, and now the most powerful Amasiti at his beck and call. 

With me at the their side, they pressed forward.  The poison chain connected my will to Safaro’s, so that the power between us acted as one, except only I understood the true meaning behind the Hir’s command to create an earthquake that would swallow his enemies.  Safaro could wield my power, but only I could give it the purpose that would call it into being. 

I knew what the Hir’s soul was meant to be.  His greatest enemies were not in front of him; he was surrounded by them, masking the truth of his insanity behind greed and false adulation. 

And so, when I spread my hands wide and bellowed across the sky “I am the Sorceress of Elan, now and always,” I did what I was meant to do: create.

The boats of Elan were just out of firing range, harboring the men, women, and children who were unable to fight.  Only the strongest were allowed to keep the front. It would be difficult for them to escape, but they had a better chance than anyone who was not privy to my plan. 

I felt the fissure crack open far beneath me, then bubble up and break with a diagonal energy just 100 feet from where I stood.  The fissure would only hold for a few minutes, announcing itself as a warning of things to come, so that my people would have some time to retreat, before the fault folded back on itself and consumed everything standing.

Safaro watched with satisfaction as the people of Yet began to run.  He did not understand until he watched them forego the high ground of Elan and run into the sea.   He rushed forward just as the fissure we created together broke open into a chasm that pulled the dirt right out from under the Hir’s army.

The people of Yet scattered as the depths swallowed the Hir’s front line.  As soon as the last of my people were safe, I took it all. The land that held Elan to the shore of Yet fell away, allowing the water to rise up, pounding out new territory as it ripped through the battle field.  But it was not enough. 

It was only then that I understood that creation and destruction are often the same thing.  As the sea claimed its prize, I opened up the foundation of Elan itself—breaking it from the bottom like an egg. 

The power of the sea did the rest, opening her arms to the island in an eternal embrace that left only the tip of the land visible, with the children I had left there clinging to the ancient trees.

Fear, terror, and isolation had burned through their innocence, but in exchange I had given them something else—a chance to survive and create something new, to evolve into sorcerers who were also warriors.

As Safaro twisted the poison chain around my neck, I imagined I could see the eyes of all those Amasiti children and hoped only for their forgiveness.

And in the burning light of my death, I ascended to the withering screams of the Hir, Safaro, and all his murderous men and was at peace.

 

Cerece Rennie Murphy fell in love with science fiction at the age of seven, watching “Empire Strikes Back” at the Uptown Theater in Washington, D.C., with her sister and mom. It’s a love affair that has grown ever since. As an ardent fan of John Donne, Alice Walker, Kurt Vonnegut and Alexander Pope from an early age, Cerece began exploring her own creative writing through poetry. She earned her master’s degrees in social work and international relations at Boston College and Johns Hopkins School for Advance International Studies, respectively, and built a rewarding 15-year career in program development, management and fundraising in the community and international development arenas – all while appreciating the stories of human connection told in science fiction through works like Octavia Butler’s “Wild Seed,” Frank Herbert’s “Dune” and “The X-Files.” In 2011, Cerece experienced her own supernatural event – a vision of her first science fiction story. Shortly after, she began developing and writing what would become the bestselling Order of the Seers trilogy.  Order of the Seers was selected as one of The Best Kindle Books of 2014 by Digital Book Today.  To date, Mrs. Murphy has published nine speculative fiction novels, short stories, and children’s books.

In addition to working on the 3rd book in the award-winning Ellis and The Magic Mirror children’s book series with her son and releasing her 5th adult novel, The Wolf Queen, Mrs. Murphy has launched NARAZU, an online platform designed to deliver the best in indie sci-fi content and comic culture to the fans who love it most. You can visit the new site at www.narazu.com.  Her current writing projects include the second book in The Wolf Queen duology and plotting a science fiction thriller set in outer space.  Mrs. Murphy lives and writes in her hometown of Washington, DC with her husband, two children and the family dog, Yoda.

Website: www.cerecerenniemurphy.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/cerecermurphy
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cerece-Rennie-Murphy-205753729546299/