Sneak Peek from Nevertime – Nia’s point of view!

I am so close to finalizing the edits on my book! The following is an excerpt from Nia’s, my second main character, point of view. In this scene, she is traveling to Nevertime, the legendary castle where a phantom is rumored to guard the magical source of power that holds the world together. I hope you enjoy this Sneak Peek!

{Arrival}

I hate you, Zeturnisc, I shouted in my head, I hate hate hate hate hate hate hate…

Aww. So you hate me. A deal’s a deal, Nia Dare. His voice came clearly, yet the storm around the small skiff threatened to sink the pirate’s boat.

I hate hate hate hate hate hate hate you, I screamed internally.

You’ll only hate me more. It gets worse. See that cliff in front of you? One of the pirates is going to climb that, and then they’ll pull you up on a rope. He sounded almost gleeful at the prospect. I wasn’t sure how much he could see through me, but at the moment, I knew he was getting excited to see me miserably arriving at his prison, drenched and frozen to the core. Especially if it meant I got dragged up the cliff face first, likely embarrassing myself with a few squeals of fear. I shuddered, hoping these pirates had come up with a more convenient way since Zeturnisc had passed through.

Unfortunately, true to his words, one of the crewmen leapt out of the boat and started up the wall a few seconds later, suctioning onto the slick cliff with his bare fingers. He Who Rules the Ocean tied the canoe to an outcropping of rock, tipping the boat with his weight and the waves combined. I gave a brief cry of fear, then silenced myself, not wanting to look cowardly surrounded by these pirates.

A rope appeared from above, emerging from the darkness. My guess was that the first pirate had made it to the top of the cliff, and had tied the other end of the rope to a rock. The second crewman forced me into position, tying it around my waist three times, then he tugged on it.

“No!” I screamed, but it was no use. My feet left the ground, and the gusts of wind threw me against the cliff wall, jarring me enough to release my grip on the rope. I flailed against the rising wind and the steady pull of the fraying line, screaming at the top of my lungs. I was aware of laughter, both in my head and by the watching sprites. I didn’t care anymore. I wanted this to be over with. I wanted to throw up, with the wind buffeting me and turning me this way and that in the air. I hit the wall twice more before the crewman hoisted me over the rough edge and untied the knots.

“You can stop screaming now,” the sprite said in clipped English. He grinned slightly, showing off a gap-toothed pointed smile, telling me exactly what he’d thought of me thrashing my way to the top of the cliff.

I let out one last shout, then took a deep breath of salty sea air.

“Good girl.” The pirate coiled the rope, replacing it on a hook on his belt. “You have three days to find what you’re looking for here and bring it to this point. After that, there is no hope for you to get off this island. If you do not bring your bounty back, and a fairy that you bargained with, your life is forfeit. We can always use Oxsie crew members.”

He laughed, saluted me, then ran off the cliff edge, disappearing into the darkness before landing with a splash in the waters far below.

I groaned and curled into the smallest ball I could, sheltering myself from the wind. I felt like I was going to be sick for the rest of my life because of the pirates. The world flipped every time I made the smallest movement, and I groaned audibly over the wind.

Get up, the fairy in my head ordered. Get up. Varina is here. She’s moving in on the gem. Get up.

I shook my head, still curled up, “You traitor. You didn’t tell me I had to get dragged up a cliff. I’m not helping you right now. Give me a minute.”

Zeturnisc Li paused, then said, Actually, Varina has Leah and Ella with her. She’ll use them to release the rest of the magic, saving herself from the collateral damage. You might want to hurry.

I growled, then pushed myself to my feet. Even as the world turned upside down, I steadied myself against a slick rock, then stood fully against the howling windstorm.

Good girl, his voice was like a sigh. To your left is a large path. Ignore it. Walk five steps to your right, then turn toward the ocean.

I did as he asked, taking five steps, then turning back to the cliff face.

Now, take three backward.

I felt behind me with my soggy shoe, then took three backward paces. The second I did, the wind stopped, leaving me shivering and sodden in the sudden calm.

Close your eyes.

I shut my eyes.

Now, turn around.

I kept my eyes closed as I spun around on my heel, suddenly feeling a whole lot colder.

Open.

I let my eyelids ease open. My jaw dropped. Before me, in perfect detail, was the cave that Mara had shown us what seemed like a lifetime ago, back at Rieda’s cave, the trees, and grass frozen in time. The door painted with archaic symbols stood wide open in the clearing of ice. The blue-tinged hillside. Icicles hung off of the silvery trees, carefully preserved, despite the storm I’d just come through.

I shivered, the salty brine and rain still dampening my clothes, and let out a white breath of air.

More beautiful on the outside than the inside, isn’t it? The fairy asked, a hint of a shiver in his mental voice too.

“It’s cold,” I shuddered, drawing He Who Rules the Ocean’s coat around me, even though it was also completely sodden.

Go inside, Zet invited. It’s slightly warmer there. With the iron and such.

“Iron only burns fairies, right?” I checked, edging forward.

Unless you have fairy blood in you. Some half-and-halves don’t have to deal with it. Some do. I’d suggest staying away from the metal as much as you can.

My fingers brushed the strange, circular door. The metal was like ice, and I had to pull away before my fingers stuck with the water dripping off of them. With the barest sliver of my fingernails, I pushed down the delicate handle and opened the door ever so slightly. At Zeturnisc’s direction, I slipped through the crack in the door and blinked in the dark light.

Welcome to Frosty Nook. Close the door. Less chance of having more people show up.

I pulled the doorknob shut, sealing out the frozen air. The small hints of light from outside extinguished. I stood there, shivering, until a ball of yellowish light formed before my eyes.

Fairy light, Zeturnisc explained. Grab it.

I held out my hand, and the glowing baseball-sized orb fell into my palm. A wave of warmth spread throughout my body. I sighed in relief. The ball was as smooth as glass and looked almost as harmless despite glowing with a magic light. The longer I held the orb, the more it thawed and dried me out.

A mixture of a warming spell and light. I invented it, he said with a hint of pride.

“Cool,” I whispered. I used the light of the yellow fairy light to walk further into the cavelike palace. I turned in place, raising the light to study the ceiling, which had icelike stalactites pointing down at me, looking threatening even though they were barely inches long. I took another step into the darkness.

Don’t touch that, Zet warned. I stumbled away from a silvery flash. Holding up the light, I saw that there was an archway in the middle of the room, one I had accidentally come across.

“Where do I go?” I hissed. I was sure he could hear me if I spoke in my head, but out of habit, I talked out loud. “I’ve never been anywhere like this.”

Neither had I, he said, sounding amused. There’s a box on the floor, by your feet. Open it.

I reached down and carefully pulled the wooden box open, the heavy lid warming slightly at my touch. The fairy light in my other hand also grew warmer, suggesting that the reactions had been connected. Inside the wooden box was a pair of levers connected to the stone floor.

Right triggers the alert, the fairy instructed. Left opens the door to the inner rooms. Which one are you going to press?

I rolled my eyes, then pushed the left lever down to the ground, the silver lever giving way easier than I expected. The action made a segment of iron paneling on the other side of the room slide open without even a creak. Trusting in Zeturnisc’s judgment, not my own, I approached the dark hole and turned sideways to slip through.

Spiderweb.

I spat out the cobwebs, wiped my face, desperately hoping the spider that had created the web was not currently stuck to my cheek, then held up the light to better see. Thanks for the warning! I had to suppress a biting retort as I imagined him chuckling at my reaction to walking through the spiderweb. I had now reached a dark hallway, one that looked to be a castle remnant. I stopped. There was a deep rumbling in the ground, one that sounded like a thousand drummers. My heartbeat quickened at the sound. Did that mean Ella and Leah were in serious danger? Was the Opal about to lose its power?

Oh, that’s just the dark spirit mountain, the fairy assured me. You’ll get used to the noise. Follow this corridor until you see the silver door.

I tiptoed down the corridor, walking faster and faster until I reached the plain silvery door set at the end of the hall. I extended a hand to touch it, but the fairy in my head yelled a warning.

Iron, he said quickly. To make sure nobody can get out of Rohjnes’ dungeons. The key is up to the right.

My eyes followed the direction he told me, and sure enough, there was a black ring of keys. I unhooked them with my free hand, pushed the correct one into the latch, being careful not to touch the door at all, and clicked the latch open.

“Speaking of which, where is the phantom?” I murmured. I felt weird asking the prisoner where his captor was since I was the one walking around free, but he’d been very helpful about everything before, so I wondered whether he knew.

With Varina, in the throne room. That’s above you by now. But you can’t beat her alone. You’ll need our help with that.

I reached out to touch the doorknob. It heated slightly at my touch, getting almost uncomfortably searing. I pulled away before the door got too hot.

Just as I suspected. You’ve got fairy blood in you. Take off the pirate’s coat, and open the door with that.

I froze at his words. I really was one of them. I even was allergic to iron, which made no sense, as I’d interacted with it almost every day in the human world. Maybe iron was different here.

I shook my head. That didn’t matter! I was a changeling, even after all my protests. I belonged here, sneaking through weird castles and challenging fairies and phantoms. I was one of them.

I choked down a sob. I didn’t belong in the human world anymore, did I? I’d conjured lightning, for goodness sake! I no longer had a place, a home to go back to. Ever since Queen Narissa had told me, I’d fought the truth, even seeing Prince Tian’s prophecies. But here I was, the truth painfully in front of me.

Nia? Zet asked tentatively. You all right? I know it’s a lot to take in. Take a minute to let it settle. I’m sorry you had to find out this way. I should’ve warned you better.

I’m fine, I thought back. I just need to finish what I’ve started.

I did as he’d directed, twisting the knob with the pirate’s coat and pushing the door open as wide as it would go. There was a stairwell behind it, and as quietly as I could, I raced down them. The length of the journey down made me groan at what it would be like going back up. I jumped the last five stairs and found myself in a familiar open space. This was where Zet had given me a dream for the first time.

Only, there were bones strewn on the floor. Mountains of them. Sorted meticulously. Like the phantom spent his time sorting femurs from rib cages. My mouth went dry at the prospect. An image was beginning to form in my mind, a giggling ghost diving in and out of white bones, tossing them this way and that, swimming through his prizes. Somersaulting through the trophies that proved his existence impossible. Cartwheeling over the many creatures he’d collected over the thousands of years he’d been here.

I tried not to think of what Zeturnisc’s fate would be if I didn’t succeed. What my fate would be. How long before the phantom caught me? How long before my bones littered these hallways too?

Maybe you should keep going, the fairy suggested hurriedly, stirring me from my terrible imagination.

I stepped over a unicorn skull and held the light higher, breathing a sigh of relief to see another corridor past two heavy wooden doors. The journey down the hall was even more daunting, given the fact that I was trying not to step on minuscule bones smaller than my little finger. I walked as quickly and quietly as possible, not liking the possibility of getting caught in this pitch-blackness. Every time my feet crunched loudly, I cringed, waiting to see whether something would come rocketing out of the darkness to capture me too.

Stop, Zet finally said after what seemed like miles of darkness. The door to your left is Tian’s. The smallest key opens it.

I shoved the key into the lock and unlocked it. Pushing the door open with the jacket, I found a sleeping fairy boy in a minute room covered in red stains.

“Hello?” I asked quietly.

The tall boy murmured something incomprehensible and rolled into a ball, whimpering.

Ah, well, he’s a baby, the voice said in my head, Kick him awake if you must. We can’t waste time.

I squatted next to the sleeping fairy and tapped his shoulder. Then I pushed him. I flicked his pointy ear. Finally, I took his brother’s advice. I stood and kicked the boy in the gut.

He woke with a start, scrambling up and pointing at me with a fearful finger. His green eyes flicked to the open door, to the keyring in my hand, then to the fairy light. Clothes in tatters, he drew them around himself, shivering with the small breeze that came through a crack in his cell. His eyes were full of fear and mistrust, and they widened when they found mine. His lips moved, chapped and bloody from the fierce cold I could feel even with the fairy light.

“Who are you?” he asked with a hoarse voice. His eyes went from the fairy light to my ears to my face. He swallowed several times, then coughed.

“I’m Nia Dare, your rescuer,” I said calmly. “And you are Tian Li, the crown prince.”

Tian blinked at me, then straightened, though it didn’t look painless as he winced and took a step toward the open door. His wings spasmed, and Tian grimaced but continued to walk forward, limping, though he held himself up with a regal bearing, tearing a hand through his blonde hair. 

“This just keeps getting crazier and crazier,” he muttered. “Have you stopped Rohjnes yet?”

“That’s next on my bucket list,” I said lightly. “Just what I wanted to do on a Saturday morning. Stop an evil phantom and bind a magic opal. Get pulled by a rope up a cliff by sprite pirates. Oh, and have three fairies begging me to save them.”

The bedraggled teen shook his head again, “When you say that, it sounds almost as if…” He scanned my face again, and a slow, recognizing smile eased his way onto his face. I couldn’t help but notice that even though he looked as though he’d endured a month in the darkness, and a loss of food, he looked… royally good. Tian finished by asking, “Are you a human?”

“Not quite, apparently,” I replied, hardly believing it myself, turning to go. “Well? Are you coming?”

He fell into step behind me, each step looking more painful than the last. I kept glancing back as he followed me down the pitch-black bone-strewn corridor. He, however, did not fall back. “How’d you find this place? How’d you find me?”

Don’t tell him I’m helping you out, Zet said, almost laughing. Leave it to him to figure out. He’s clueless, really.

“I found it because my friends got kidnapped and brought here,” I shrugged. “Now they’re being dragged around by Varina.”

Tian rolled his eyes, “You sound like Zet when you say that. Let me guess, he’s been in your head for the past couple of days, telling you exactly what to do?”

Or… maybe not, the boy murmured. Huh. Don’t say anything back. Door coming up on the right. That’s mine. The key has a skull top.

I rifled through the keys, finding the one I wanted and inserting it into the hole. The latch popped open, and someone kicked the door the rest of the way open.

“So,” said that voice that had been in my head this entire time. “Nice to meet you in person finally.”

I couldn’t stop staring at the fairy who’d opened the door. Since I’d seen Tian, I’d been imagining a blonde-haired sixteen-year-old, with sharp flashing green eyes and silvery bug wings.

This fairy had elegant, long dragonfly-like wings, a pair of ice-blue eyes, and blindingly white hair. Whiter than the snow outside. It should’ve reflected the yellow light from the fairy light, but instead, it seemed to absorb the light, almost glowing in the darkness. His hair was mussed, but it was pushed away from his forehead, styled in a clever wave that drew attention to it and its unique color.

I couldn’t understand it. This was the person who’d been guiding me since I was at Rixon? He… didn’t look like someone who could reach out mind-to-mind and order people around. He looked like… just a kid. Like he’d also been dragged into this without his consent, and now had to suffer the consequences.

He turned to look at me, and for the first time, I realized he was my age. Fourteen. Too young to have to be involved in this.

As I looked at him, he straightened, but not… completely. Like he was afraid of standing up to others.

He didn’t look like someone who would challenge his older brother to a duel or travel to Nevertime searching for a magic gem.

He looked… like me. Willing, but not set on the idea of going up to battle a phantom threatening to destroy Aqua Plata.

“Nia,” he gave me a curt nod. “Tian. Good to see you again.”

Tian gave him a haughty look but said nothing. Obviously, there was still tension between the two of them.

“Tarlin’s down this way,” the boy snatched the keys from me, intentionally dumping He Who Rules the Ocean’s coat on the dirty floor. Tian eyed it for a minute, still shivering, then followed his brother down the hall.

“So you’re…” I still was staring at the fairy my age who’d been guiding me all this way.

“Zet, yes,” he turned and gave me a wink, his ice-blue eyes flashing mischievously in the bright fairy light. “Pleasure to meet you for the fourth time. And no, I don’t sign autographs.”

Tian sighed and muttered under his breath, “You only had to answer the question. Why add the other stuff?”

Zet pretended not to hear, watching the shadows on either side of the fairy light. “Your friends are safe for now. Varina and Rohjnes have gotten themselves into an argument over who should destroy the world. Ridiculous, really. We’ll be able to arrive before they destroy anything too important. First, we need to get King Tarlin out of his cell.”

“Yeah… I don’t really trust you,” I felt the need to say. “Especially because you’ve been talking to me all day long, and telling me what to do, but not explaining why.”

“There is no explanation,” Zet turned to face me, his piercing blue eyes surveying my every twitch. “You see, Nia, in the fairy world, instead of science, we have magic. Magic just… works. It doesn’t explain itself, and we don’t explain it. We trust it, and it helps us. That is the way of Aqua Plata.”

He turned his head toward the last door in the corridor, flicked his wrist holding the key chain, and watched the keys soar across the hall, and land with the largest bit of metal stuck far into the keyhole. It didn’t stop there, however, because the momentum carried the keys, turning the latch and opening the door the slightest crack.

I gaped at him, my eyes wide. Zet smirked, “Learn to trust the magic, Nia. Learn to trust us.”

I hope you liked this little excerpt from my book! Stay posted for more updates on Zeturnisc Li, and join my email list for more news!

Stay Magical,