Children of the God of War, the Seren of the Mountain believe in two things: might is power, and magic is sin. Yet in their hubris, the Clan has forgotten their most important role - to protect the most powerful weapons in all the realms from being unleashed upon the Mortal Realms once more. * * * Born with the Goddess's Blessing on her skin, the elders thought Eliah would be the second coming of Taiten, the greatest warrior the Clan has ever seen. What they got was a walking blasphemy. Eliah Taitenschild is short, skinny, and useless in a fight - and she's a magic-wielding heretic to boot. All she wants to do is pass her shieldmaiden training without having her magic exposed. Or better yet, complete the Rite and kill a demonic, shape-shifting Fal'mor to prove herself worthy of wielding one of the weapons that the legendary Taiten left behind. But a silent war between magic and might has been brewing on the mountain for decades. When new life is bled into the near-extinct army of Fal'mor in the name of proving strength, the Clan soon discovers that the weapons they were meant to guard were never the kind that could be wielded. Fortunately, for every weapon, there's a countermeasure. The magic that the Clan so detests may turn out to be the most powerful sword and shield of all. ============== 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗲: This story was formerly published as 'Crossroads' (Apr 2014). Reboot started Jan 2021. Read to vote ratio is skewed due to unpublished chapters. 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀: This book is written in Australian English and uses British style grammar. Cover art and chapter illustrations are originals drawn/painted by the author: JaxCreation (jax-chan.carrd.co). All rights reserved. Do not repost or use without permission.

A silence to keep and a wicked queen to defeat. An exiled princess returns to her kingdom, bent on slaying the immortal sorceress, the Queen in the Glass Mountain. By her side is the Caster, guide and protector. Perils await them on their quest, and will test not only their strength but their hearts as well. Yet how will such thirst for vengeance serve the Princess, if not to lead to her own ruin? Follow the story of the silent Princess, from the fairy tales "Seven Ravens" and "Six Swans", retold as one of grief and hatred, of lost dreams, and above all, of how love can emerge from even the darkest of places. Cover art by Oliver Barcelon: http://oliverpaulobarcelon.daportfolio.com/

"Go ahead," I said, backing up against the pink wall of the shop. "Do something other than glare at me." I waited. One, two, three seconds... and nothing. I raised my chin at him. "You're boring me, mute boy." He stepped closer. Leaned toward me as his gaze burned into mine. Then... ❀ ❀ ❀ After three months in juvenile detention, it's time for Romy Pereira to help out with her family's flower shop. And it's not all bad... until they hire Jack Michel to work beside her. He doesn't speak, communicating with glares and scowls instead of words, and seems to be more interested in literal rocks than other human beings. And with an ex-convict mother, her friends drifting away, and the flower shop falling apart, the last thing Romy wants to deal with is Jack's attitude. She'll forever praise the day he screws up big time and gets himself fired, but until that day comes, it's mostly one cold-hearted girl, her silent (but still infuriating) coworker, and a whole lot flowers. [word count: 100k] [originally written in 2014-2015; re-write completed 2020-2021] ❀ Rankings ❀ #1 in #badgirl #1 in #goodboy #1 in #flowershop #1 in #sociopath