{"id":1997,"date":"2014-08-30T07:34:16","date_gmt":"2014-08-30T14:34:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bestfantasynovel.com\/?p=1997"},"modified":"2014-08-30T07:34:16","modified_gmt":"2014-08-30T14:34:16","slug":"aranya-by-marc-secchia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/2014\/08\/30\/aranya-by-marc-secchia\/","title":{"rendered":"Aranya by Marc Secchia"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Aranya<\/a>Aranya<\/a> by Marc Secchia<\/a> is the first book in the Shapeshifter Dragons series.<\/p>\n

You can download Aranya<\/a>\u00a0for only $.99 beginning August 30 for 4 days only from\u00a0Amazon<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0AmazonUK<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chained to a rock and tossed off a cliff by her boyfriend, Aranya is executed for high treason against the Sylakian Empire. Falling a league into the deadly Cloudlands is not a fate she ever envisaged. But what if she did not die? What if she could spread her wings and fly?<\/p>\n

Long ago, Dragons ruled the Island-World above the Cloudlands. But their Human slaves cast off the chains of Dragonish tyranny. Humans spread across the Islands in their flying Dragonships, colonising, building and warring. Now, the all-conquering Sylakians have defeated the last bastion of freedom\u2013the Island-Kingdom of Immadia.<\/p>\n

Evil has a new enemy. Aranya, Princess of Immadia. Dragon Shapeshifter.<\/p>\n

\u00a0EXCERPT<\/h2>\n

When Aranya\u2019s eyes cracked open, it was to light upon the stars nestled between Jade\u2019s crescent arms. A night bird flew by overhead. She saw that she wore the remains of her dress, and a mountain of chains.<\/p>\n

For the first time in her life, she felt cold.<\/p>\n

Torchlight flickered nearby. Drawn by the light, she turned her head on the cold stone. A grim throng rolled into view. Mostly Sylakians, they wore heavy red robes against the pre-dawn cold. She realised where she lay.<\/p>\n

The Last Walk.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe await the hour of judgement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her eyes flicked to Yolathion. He stood ramrod-straight nearby; it was he who had spoken, but his voice had never sounded so devoid of life, Aranya thought. She could not speak. Her mouth was stuffed full of cloth. A rope tied it in place, pulling her lips back cruelly. They would not care for the comfort of a proven enchantress.<\/p>\n

All she could do was watch and wait.<\/p>\n

She would fly.<\/p>\n

Now there was an irony.<\/p>\n

Slowly, a perversely exquisite dawn fired the eastern sky. The stars became indistinct. The crowd stirred slightly to allow Beri, Zuziana and Nelthion through to the front. Aranya could not bear what she saw in their faces. She closed her eyes.<\/p>\n

Her thoughts were choked with regrets. The dawn, her last dawn, had never seemed so evocative. She feared to watch it.<\/p>\n

But when boots tapped the flagstones, approaching her, Aranya opened her eyes. From a distance of twenty feet or more, the Supreme Commander glared at her. It was a cold comfort that he kept such a distance for his safety. Aranya could not have summoned so much as a puff of smoke. Her inner fires were mute.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy son lives,\u201d he announced.<\/p>\n

The crowd murmured. Aranya let out a breath she had not known she was holding.<\/p>\n

The Sylakian spat, \u201cBut you burned him, Immadian enchantress. You cast the fires of your magic into his face and burned his sight from him. You killed four Sylakian Hammers.\u201d The Supreme Commander addressed the crowd. \u201cThe penalty for an enchantress is death. The penalty for burning my son is death. Accordingly, I sentence you, Aranya, Princess of Immadia, to walk the Last Walk until your body is seen to fall into the Cloudlands. May there be nothing left for the vultures to pick over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Silently, Yolathion limped to her side. Aranya wondered how badly he was hurt. She had tried to protect him; trying to direct the fire outward while shielding him with her own person. Yolathion untied the rope and pulled the wadding of cloth out of her mouth. He helped her stand up. But he immediately put his dagger to her throat.<\/p>\n

Yolathion proclaimed, \u201cLet the last words of the condemned be heard.\u201d<\/p>\n

What could she say?<\/p>\n

Aranya\u2019s mouth was terribly dry. She rasped, \u201cI regret not killing the Butcher of Jeradia as he so richly deserves.\u201d Well, that certainly captured their attention. \u201cBeri, you were a mother to me when I had none. Zip, a beautiful friend, when I had none. Take care of each other. Please tell my family\u2013\u201d she choked up. What could she tell them? \u201cTell them how much I love them, and how much I wished I could fly.\u201d<\/p>\n

She turned to face the Last Walk.<\/p>\n

Yolathion put his hand on her shoulder. At the end of the walkway, Aranya saw a block of stone with a chain attached to it. They really wanted to be sure she\u2019d drop straight into the Cloudlands, she thought. The old stories still held weight. No graceful dive off the edge for her. No enchantress transforming herself into a bird and flying away.<\/p>\n

It should have been called the longest walk.<\/p>\n

Ten Crimson Hammers processed with her and Yolathion. Perhaps they thought she\u2019d make a break for the rajal pit. Her feet brought her alongside the block of stone. Her body and her mind seemed to belong on different Islands.<\/p>\n

Yolathion knelt, clearly in some discomfort, to fit the manacle depending from the stone about her ankles, locking them together. \u201cI\u2019m sorry, Aranya,\u201d he said, unexpectedly.<\/p>\n

\u201cMe too. I think I could have loved you, Yolathion. But your loyalty and your heart lie with Sylakia. I could never love that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her words hurt him; she read it in his eyes. Just another regret she would shortly leave behind.<\/p>\n

Yolathion lifted her in his arms. Two of his fellows hefted the block.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the count of three,\u201d he said. \u201cOne \u2026 two \u2026 three.\u201d<\/p>\n

He tossed Aranya over the edge.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Read the rest of Aranya<\/a> by downloading it for only $.99 beginning today from\u00a0Amazon<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0AmazonUK<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aranya by Marc Secchia is the first book in the Shapeshifter Dragons series. You can download Aranya\u00a0for only $.99 beginning August 30 for 4 days only from\u00a0Amazon\u00a0and\u00a0AmazonUK   Chained to a rock and tossed off a cliff by her boyfriend, Aranya is executed for high treason against the Sylakian Empire. Falling a league into the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[628],"class_list":["post-1997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dragons"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1997\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/taramayastales.com\/bestfantasynovel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}