**Exclusive SNEAK PEEK** of Zeturnisc Li Book 1

This is a sneak peek of my first book, I can’t wait to know what you think of it!

“It’s all your fault, you know!”

I whipped around to find Tian seething at me.

“What do you mean?” I snapped.

“You could have saved him if you’d just tried,” Tian glared.

“Well, maybe you should’ve done something too!” I shot back, “It’s not like you had the power to save him.”

Tian’s eyes shot daggers at me, “You should’ve known. That’s how your magic works, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know, why don’t you go ask Spiraltail?” I spat.

“Tell me now. Tell me now, Zeturnisc, could you have saved him?” Tian seethed.

I stared at him, stunned. He’d never used my full name.

“You think I would have just let him die?” I asked quietly, “He was my friend too.”

“Rome was my friend first! You had no right to steal him from me!”

I stiffened, “Do not say his name!”

“It is all your fault, and you know it,” Tian said in a low voice.

“How dare you!”

“How dare you! You stood by and watched him die! How could you?”

My heart thudded in my chest, “Tian, there was nothing I could do. You know yourself that the cure is hard to come by. There was no way I would have been able to get it in time.”

“Maybe because you didn’t try,” Tian hissed, “You have no right to speak to me as your brother. I am the crown prince. You are a commoner. Remember that.”

I lifted my chin, “No. I am your brother, whether you like it or not. And I am second-in-line only to you.”

Tian drew his sword, “You should have never run away. Then Rome wouldn’t have taken a liking to you.”

“Don’t say his name,” I warned, my hand on my sword.

“I, Tian Marcus Li, challenge you, Zeturnisc Marahili Li to a duel, the loser taking the whole blame of Rome’s death, and being exiled to the elves,” Tian said coolly.

I hesitated.

“What? You aren’t scared, are you?” Tian mocked.

I drew Starfall, “You know you will lose.”

“You are too weak,” Tian sneered, “I will beat you within seconds.”

“That’s a lie,” I said, heartbeat pounding in my ears, “And you know it is. Why, Tian? Why lie now, after all these years?”

Tian pounced, sword thrusting forward, “And just so you know, I never liked your hair,” He growled.

I batted it away, “Why?”

The angered fairy swung again, “You never know what it’s like.”

“To lose a friend?” I yelled, “Of course I do. I know what it’s like to lose my entire family in a week! Do you know that feeling?”

Tian glared, “I lost not only my friend, but my favorite pastime, my fame, and you turned on me!”

“I did not!” I screamed, “You are the one trying to hurt me!”

“You are a deadly, psychopathic, maniacal mutant!” Tian raged.

“I am not!”

“You will pay for what you have done,” Tian hissed, “Pay with the rest of your life in the land of the elves. You hate sparkles, don’t you?”

He flashed the last beams of sunset into my eyes with his sword.

I grimaced and looked away.

Tian used the opportunity to strike again. I blocked him without even looking.

“You’re afraid of sparkles, you don’t save the people who need it most, and you run away from destiny,” Tian accused, “You will always fail. Because you are a failure!”

I slashed at him, and cut his left arm just below the shoulder.

“Your eyeballs look like cucumbers!”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

I shoved his sword backward, “Cucumbers are evil and not to be trusted. Inside, they’re bitter and tasteless. Outside, they’re ugly and poky.”

“Yeah, well, your eyes look like blueberries!”

“I like blueberries. They’re delicious.”

Tian stabbed forward with his rapier again. I dodged to the side.

“If only my eyes were blueberries,” I continued, “Then I could have snacks with me all the time.”

“You want to eat your eye?” Tian asked, slightly horror-stricken.

I licked my chops, “You have no idea. Now that you mention it, I’m craving blueberries. A nice basket of them would do nicely.”

Tian whacked away my sword and shoved me against the wall, “I doubt you’ll get them any time soon.”

I brought my knee up, “Neither will you.”

 I kicked him backward and stepped away from the gray wall. Tian doubled over in pain.

“You killed Rome,” Tian snarled, collecting himself, “And soon everyone will know.”

We locked eyes, then swords.

“I hate cucumbers,” I spat, “And pickles.”

Tian’s arms shook with determination, “I hate you!”

He started to move, but suddenly something that hadn’t happened for a long time happened.

A vision.

Tian yanked his blade away from mine, and as I stumbled to catch myself, he stabbed me three times to the heart. Instantly killing me.

I froze, then in the present, dropped my sword.

Instead of just clanging on the ground, like it always had before, Starfall fell to the marble floor and cracked lengthwise down the middle, perfectly cleaving itself in two. An exact imitation of my heart.

I stared at Tian, fear quickening my pulse.

He lowered his sword, then sheathed it.

“This duel is over,” He said, voice flat, “You lose. The elves await. Goodbye, Zeturnisc.”

You may not know these characters yet, but you will! I’ve just finished writing out the full story and now it’s on to minor corrections and edits before I’m ready to go to the final stage: Publishing!

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Think you know what’s going on in this scene? Share a comment below and see if you’re right when book 1 comes out!

Stay magical,