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Whit McClendon

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Mage's Burden
by Whit McClendon   

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Kindle Edition
Amazon
Fire of the Jidaan

Category:  Fantasy
ISBN-10:  150023771X

Type: Fiction

Pages: 210

Copyright: 
June 7, 2014
ISBN-13: 9781500237714

Price: $3.99 (eBook)


When the evil sorcerer, Mordak, breaks free, it is up to the noble Mage, Brunar, to stop him. Calling upon ancient magickal weapons, the Jidaan, Brunar gathers a team of Guardians to meet Mordak in battle, and hopefully, save the land.

For over two thousand years, the Realm of Talwynn has known peace. But now, the evil sorcerer Mordak has broken free, and the time for battle has come once more.

Brunar, a noble Mage, turns to the magick of six powerful and ancient weapons, the Jidaan, for aid. Millennia ago, the Jidaan were wielded by trained Guardians, each fully versed in the use of their magickal gifts, and highly capable warriors. Now, the Guardians are no more, and the Jidaan lay silent, waiting for those newly Chosen to awaken their powers. Even as Brunar searches out the soon-to-be Guardians, the vile Mordak prepares his murderous attack.

Afire with insanity, Mordak makes an unholy bargain with a brutal Daemon-God. Filled with unfathomable power, he unleashes his army of hideous creatures and undead soldiers across the land to slay everything it meets.  Brunar works feverishly to train his new Guardians in time, but only five of the six Chosen accept their destiny. Gart, a farmer with scars on his face as well as his soul, angrily refuses the call of the Jidaan. Nevertheless, Brunar plunges forward, teaching his new students the ways of magick and combat. When Mordak’s forces murder Gart’s family, Gart sets out alone, swearing revenge.

As war erupts, Talwynn’s bravest men, women, and the elf-like Weya answer the call to arms as Brunar leads the ferocious struggle against Mordak’s ancient evil. The untested Guardians must rise to the challenge, or else watch Talwynn burn…



Excerpt

“A fortnight ago, our scouts found an entire village decimated. Actually, it appeared to be a gathering of two villages, and it seemed that not a soul was spared. However, there were very few actual bodies to be found.” A heartbeat of silence descended as Moihra took a breath before continuing. Sadness gathered in her voice when next she spoke. “There were signs of reanimation, Brunar.”

The pain in the Weya’s eyes and hearts was all too clear to the Guardians. Weya had a profound respect for life and death. Since their kind so seldom died, it was a great tragedy when a Weya actually did pass away, but they also believed that the deceased would move on to another stage of existence, a brighter, more wondrous life than those left behind could even fathom. Reanimation, the calling back of a soul to its body solely for the purpose of controlling the dead flesh, was to the Weya as abhorrent a practice as could be found in the world. The soul would be helpless within its own body. It could only experience the horror of what its body was made to do, and do nothing to stop itself.

Brunar was visibly stricken by the news. His mouth gaped and for a moment or two, he stood speechless.

“So soon!” he finally whispered. “Goddess! To be able to reanimate the dead so soon after his escape! I had hoped he would remain weak for a time longer...” A haunted look appeared around the edges of his eyes, making him seem older by a score of years.

Kiran spoke up from behind the Mage. “You mean that Mordak can actually use the dead as his soldiers?” No fear was evident in her voice, but the underlying current of dread was felt by all the Guardians through the tenuous link of empathy they all shared. The depths of Mordak’s evil were only now becoming real to them.

Turning so he could address all of his students, Brunar quickly steadied himself before replying.

“Yes, Kiran, he can. However, in the past, it took him years to build the power that is necessary for him to perform this atrocity. In the previous conflict, he only used the dead near the end, when he knew that his time was growing short, and only after he had gathered enough strength to do it. He had only a few score of reanimates, and it was amazing that he could have even that many. It takes tremendous power to do this, and for him to accomplish such a feat already. . .” the words hung in the air like a warning.

“There’s no telling what he might be able to do by now.” Bjarke’s rumbling voice arose at last. “Let’s get moving. This fiend must be stopped.”

The others nodded their assent, and all eyes turned back to the Weya visitors. Moihra, Ginn, and Cohl saw that the faces of the Guardians were set, stern and determined. They nodded, a hint of new respect lighting their own jeweled eyes. The thought that these humans may yet have been rightly Chosen crossed the minds of the Weya.



Professional Reviews

great characters, left me wanting more NOW!
While on the surface Mage's Burden seems to cover familiar fantasy territory, the characterization and descriptions really shine. This book is definitely the introductory segment of a multi-part story and serves to set the stage for fierce conflicts to come rather than providing a self-contained story. The protagonists have great personalities that I want to see more of; conversely, the villain is wholly evil and McClendon does not sugar coat his evil in any way, with sometimes shocking effect. All in all it is storytelling done right and I can't wait to read the next installment.

I loved this!
This is not even the type of fiction that I would normally read, but so glad that I did. Wonderful characters and smooth flow of story kept me interested and never lost...when will the next installment be released???

Weapons, Monsters and Magic, Oh My!
A fun, fast read, full of interesting characters and lots of action. A great first book, and I'm already antsy for the second!


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