Aldrea Alien's Blog, page 2

Rainbow Snippets: Let the training begin

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

Being a sequel, In Love and Death is set directly after In Pain and Blood. Some snippets will contain spoilers of those events.

Following on from the previous snippet where Dylan wonders if Tracker’s suggestion to go somewhere private to practise swordsmanship is a ploy to have him drop the idea…

Tracker peered over his shoulder, the gleam of those honey-coloured eyes just visible beneath the russet lashes. “You wish to learn to defend yourself without relying on magic before we reach Wintervale? You will start now.” He smiled. “Do not worry, I promise to be gentle.” With that, the man vanished behind a tree, leaving Dylan to follow.

They walked through the forest until reaching one of the clear patches they had encountered on their way in. Even to Dylan’s inexperienced eye, the area was too small and uneven to hold three tents without hacking away a great deal of bush or felling one of the enormous trees. But it looked large enough for the basic sparring techniques he had witnessed the soldiers doing at the army encampment.

The hound circled the area, mumbling to himself and nodding. Occasionally, he would kick aside a cone or toss a heftier branch nearer the bushes. “This will do for today.”

I’ll be back with more from In Love and Death next weekend. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: A ploy, or not?

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

Being a sequel, In Love and Death is set directly after In Pain and Blood. Some snippets will contain spoilers of those events.

Following on from the previous snippet where Tracker suggests they go somewhere private to practise swordsmanship…

Dylan followed the hound’s line of sight to where Authril eyed them over the beginnings of a fire. The bared length of her sword casually rested on the ground beside her. He had no doubts that she would object to him learning to use even the smallest blade in the hound’s arsenal.

“Come.” Tracker turned on his heel. “Let us see if we cannot find one of those smaller clearings.”

He stared at the man, unable to even close his jaw, for a few breaths. “Now?” Why was the hound so keen to begin this? Granted, Dylan felt stronger than the day he’d first asked, but he’d seen how much a sparring session could take out of a person. Surely, a meal and a little rest would be the way to go. “Weren’t you advocating for me to rest not that long ago?” Was forcing him to train so soon after the day’s travel some ploy to make him rethink the request?

I’ll be back with more from In Love and Death next weekend. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: Secret training

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

Being a sequel, In Love and Death is set directly after In Pain and Blood. Some snippets will contain spoilers of those events.

Following on from the previous snippet where Tracker offers to teach Dylan swordsmanship…

The man’s question had Dylan’s brows climbing to their highest. After being reminded how the army didn’t allow spellsters to learn any other weapon beyond their magic, he hadn’t bothered to speak with Authril about training. Tracker had brought up that very point and Dylan had assumed the man agreed, but he also hadn’t said as such.

Wetting his lips, he searched for the right words that would leave him sounding adamant without seeming desperate.

“Does the silence mean no?”

“No. I mean, yes. That is—” He clapped a hand over his mouth, physically restraining himself before his babbling talked Tracker out of teaching him. “I want to learn,” he finally managed. “I take that to mean you’ve changed your mind?”

“That would be difficult to do when I had not given you a solid response in the first place. I am open to teaching you, but not here. Not in front of them.”

I’ll be back with more from In Love and Death next weekend. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

In Love and Death is live!

The year prior was full of so much, losses of elderly kitties to kidney and heart failure, an elderly dog to cancer, illness and upheavals, getting my child’s application for uni sorted… I was forced to push this release back twice and I still wasn’t sure I’d make the date. But it’s finally out… the middle half of Dylan and Tracker’s love story is live for all to enjoy.

Yay!

Buy Now!

Rainbow Snippets: An Unintentional Shielding

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

Being a sequel, In Love and Death is set directly after In Pain and Blood. Some snippets will contain spoilers of those events.

Following on from the previous snippet where Dylan’s feelings put Tracker and himself in an ice shield…

“I…” He fought for speech, his tongue unable to form anything beyond a few garbled sounds. Even those scattered as he faced the man. Instead, he fumbled to dispel both the shield and the ice it had formed.

The whole time, Tracker continued to wordlessly watch him, those honey-coloured eyes boring deep. Concern drew his brows together. Was he reconsidering their journey? Their goal? His task as a hound?

Dylan didn’t know what to say. He hadn’t meant for his shield to form, but admitting that would mark him as unpredictable. Dangerous. To everyone around him.

“Am I right in thinking you would still like to learn swordsmanship?”

I’ll be back with more from In Love and Death next weekend. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: The Three Ds

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

Being a sequel, In Love and Death is set directly after In Pain and Blood. Some snippets will contain spoilers of those events.

Following on from the previous snippet where Dylan blames himself for being able to save anyone…

Unruly. That was a more apt description of himself. Disorderly. Disobedient. Disruptive. Observations repeated by so many. The overseers who forced him to fight in the brawl or die because he had disobeyed. The sergeant who had sent him to the front line when he had only wanted to heal the wounded. The warden who had promised a short existence of abuse no matter how he followed orders.

“We are feeling poorly, yes?”

Dylan stiffened, the hound’s words jerking him back into the present. Both them and the tent stood inside the sphere of his shield. The surface had hardened, shifting whorls of ice coating the outside. I hadn’t even noticed. In its most basic form, a spellster’s shield reacted on instinct, the desire to keep out what was likely to do a person harm. But he should’ve been aware.

I’ll be back with more from In Love and Death next weekend. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: Not Strong Enough

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

Being a sequel, In Love and Death is set directly after In Pain and Blood. Some snippets will contain spoilers of those events.

Following on from the previous snippet where Dylan’s looking for a distraction from his issues…

He’d gone into the original leashing blind. He understood that, now. He’d been so sure of what effect the collar would have on him, that it couldn’t be any different to the isolation cells, just portable. And permanent.

Except it hadn’t been. Not that time.

He ran his fingers across the smooth patch of skin at his throat. Whatever fault had allowed his magic to slip through, had saved him from a swift death, would be rectified by whoever was capable of leashing him at Wintervale.

Could he really go through it again? I have to. He was too dangerous to wander about unleashed. Strong. That was what the hound had called him. Strong enough to free himself, to leave him alive and unconscious, hidden from sight and presumed dead.

Just not enough to save any skin but his own.

I’ll be back with more from In Love and Death next weekend. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: A Needed Distraction

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

Being a sequel, In Love and Death is set directly after In Pain and Blood. Some snippets will contain spoilers of those events.

Following on from the previous snippet where Dylan’s remembering the night he shared with Tracker…

He needed something else to distract him. But what? A scan of their camp showed little left he could assist in without also getting in the way. Training, then. The others were clearly doing their best to avoid any conflicts, but they also travelled in the same direction as the horde that took out the tower. Meeting those who meant them harm had to be inevitable. They needed to be ready.

And he needed to be capable of fending off an opponent without the use of his magic, be his inability due to lack of energy or even being leashed again.

His neck tingled at the memory of the cold metal wrapping around it, the iciness leeching into his mind, the world drained of any vibrancy. Sharper still was the recollection of pain, pinpricks of fire and lightning assaulting his flesh whenever he tried to use magic unsanctioned.

I’ll be back with more from In Love and Death next weekend. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: One Night

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

Being a sequel, In Love and Death is set directly after In Pain and Blood. Some snippets will contain spoilers of those events.

Following on from the previous snippet where Dylan’s imagination runs wild over sharing a tent with Tracker…

His final hit on the tent peg came down hard enough to crack the stone in his hand. The uneven edges bit into his palm, not enough to break skin, but his innate healing rushed to the site nevertheless to soothe the ache.

Shaking his hand to relieve the tingling such magic left behind, Dylan risked a glance at Tracker. Was elven hearing sensitive enough to hear a fist-sized rock break? Were his hound senses alerted to the small amount of magic?

If the man had noticed anything, he played the part of being oblivious well.

Dylan slowly exhaled. He had to stop these thoughts. It was one night. He’d spent plenty of nights with others. Not as intensely. Nor for as long and definitely not with that level of vulnerable intimacy.

I’ll be back with more from In Love and Death next weekend. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!

Rainbow Snippets: Not Yet Tent-mates

Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.

Being a sequel, In Love and Death is set directly after In Pain and Blood. Some snippets will contain spoilers of those events.

Following on from the previous snippet where Dylan wishes he could return home…

It wasn’t long before the hound came to Dylan’s side. The man didn’t ask if his help in setting up the tent was required, merely took up a stone and started securing the opposite end. “All this would be a lot easier if we altered the sleeping arrangements,” Tracker said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Dylan remained silent whilst tapping the last peg into place. He knew precisely what the man was getting at. He even agreed that, logically, having one less tent to worry about would lessen the strain of finding places to camp. It would likely decrease their chances of being found, too.

Yet the idea of sharing such an intimate space with the hound, of lying next to that warm, lithe form, the very air filled with the aroma of citrus and cinnamon whilst the faint purr in the man’s breath thrummed through his body…

I’ll be back with more from In Love and Death next weekend. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.

If you’re looking for more news of my books, be sure to “Like” my Facebook page and/or join me in my Facebook group!