Count Chang wants glory. Leesan dreams of marrying. Neither can foresee the power that awaits them—or the danger.
Cloud-dancers use magic to keep the world in balance. But the Great Northern River ails, and strange, twisted and evil things move across the land. The humans along the river cannot see the danger, but the Great Sky Emperor does. He grows angry. His wrath will remake the world and none of the cloud-dancers want that.
Count Chang hears a rumor of a Chosen One living far to the south, the only human able to heal the river. Instead he finds a corrupted naga and Leesan, the unwanted third daughter. Valueless, cursed, ignorant, Leesan would be better off dead, or so her father's mother insists. Instead Chang claims her and takes her north, to train the gifts she unknowingly carries.
Chang detests the idea of marrying. Leesan cannot imagine a woman with value of her own. Together they must find the cause of the river's ailment and heal it. Evil lurks in the land, and it will take all their power, trust, and strength to do their duty and save the world from the Great Sky Emperor's wrath.
That is, if they can.
73, 000 words.
Genre: Fantasy
Cloud-dancers use magic to keep the world in balance. But the Great Northern River ails, and strange, twisted and evil things move across the land. The humans along the river cannot see the danger, but the Great Sky Emperor does. He grows angry. His wrath will remake the world and none of the cloud-dancers want that.
Count Chang hears a rumor of a Chosen One living far to the south, the only human able to heal the river. Instead he finds a corrupted naga and Leesan, the unwanted third daughter. Valueless, cursed, ignorant, Leesan would be better off dead, or so her father's mother insists. Instead Chang claims her and takes her north, to train the gifts she unknowingly carries.
Chang detests the idea of marrying. Leesan cannot imagine a woman with value of her own. Together they must find the cause of the river's ailment and heal it. Evil lurks in the land, and it will take all their power, trust, and strength to do their duty and save the world from the Great Sky Emperor's wrath.
That is, if they can.
73, 000 words.
Genre: Fantasy
Used availability for Alma T C Boykin's Daughter of the Pearl