Meet the Characters: Ellinor and Kai

Hey booknerds! With “Resistor” going to be hitting pre-orders soon, it’s time for me to start telling you a bit about the main cast of characters! And even show off some of the new art work that will be part of the pre-order packages. So, without further ado, come meet Ellinor Olysha Rask, and her ex-best friend, Kai Axel Brantley!

Ellinor is an air caster, meaning she can manipulate the natural element to do her bidding. She’s not a very strong caster though, where some of the more powerful air casters can suck the oxygen out of someone’s lungs and cells and create magical beasts from the elements to do their bidding, Ellinor can’t do that. She can turn the air so dense with pressure it makes her punches harder, creates walls that can clear a room, even break her fall, though she’s not finessed enough to really fly. Ellinor has a complicated relationship with her magic, however. As the only caster in her family, her older brother, Andrey, was always a bit envious of his little sister. He tried to tell her that magic made people lazy, made them too reliant on that power to help them, rather than being clever in their own right. So, when Andrey died, Ellinor wanted to honor him by being great IN SPITE of her powers. It was her husband who helped teach her otherwise, which is a whole other story in and of itself.

Ellinor came from an upper-middle class family, so it made little to no sense to them when she aligned herself with a gangster who specializes in creating and smuggling illegal magitech (technology imbued with magic) throughout Euria. Her parents wanted so much more for her, but never stopped to ask what Ellinor herself truly wanted. Only her husband did that, and without him, Ellinor is adrift in a sea of bloodlust and depression where she has lost herself completely. She’s become mean, mistaking kindness for weakness, and if she doesn’t make it out alive from accomplishing her mission, that’s fine with Ellinor. But, fortunately (or unfortunately depending on who you ask) fate seems to have other plans for Ellinor Olysha Rask.
As for her friend, Kai Axel Brantley, he never had the opportunities that Ellinor had. Raised by a single mother after his gambling addicted father walked out on them, Kai has always been poor, growing up on the lower levels of the city where he was constantly bullied for his massive size and not having a father. Kai developed a taste for mayhem, he relishes the adrenaline from a good fight, but he’s also a big softy and always sticks up for the “little guy” because he knows too intimately what it’s like to be bullied. Kai also loves his mother passionately; he knows perfectly well that he wouldn’t have survived to adulthood if it weren’t for the sacrifices she made. Kai’s mother is a hostess now at one of the mega casino's restaurants, which is how Kai first got tangled up with a magitech smuggler, and the gangster Cosmin himself.

Cosmin could tell early on what kind of asset Kai would be, and recruited him young, which allowed Kai and his mother a form of comfort and stability neither had before. It has made Kai unquestionably loyal to Cosmin, and had the big, brawny man fall head over heels in love with the handsome, and smooth gangster. Cosmin does like to string Kai along, as it has Kai do whatever Cosmin wants without question—even if that means going after his former friend, Ellinor. Kai isn’t a caster, but he is a force to be reckoned with when he’s in his Coyote mechanized suit. When in the powerful armor and in the throes of combat, Kai can give even a talented caster a run for their money, making him well suited to handle Ellinor, if he has to.

And there you have it! Just a little background information on two of my main characters who you’ll meet in full on October 1st! The playing card art is down by the crazy talented Golden Rose and will be given out to ALL pre-orders along with Jelani’s character card (more on him later). Be on the lookout for the official pre-order post and the cover reveal for “Resistor” coming on August 7th, it will have all the art you can get, and how to pre-order signed paperbacks—which will come with their own exclusive swag, too! I can’t wait for you to meet Ellinor and Kai, and sorry for not sharing more, but you know, spoilers. ;)