Publication date: September 15th, 202
Synopsis:
She's being held hostage and yet, Magaliana doesn't want to be saved.
Close friends Ikarim, Arteus, and Magaliana always knew the dangers of sky pirates, but what they didn't expect was having their airship repair shop pillaged and being separated when Magaliana, a noble, is sold for a hefty bounty.
Once in the hands of the Techno Mage, her world changes. He's a mythical man with the ability to flawlessly combine both technology and alchemy, and his mythical ship is a haven for Magaliana. There, she discovers how to refine her craft.
Ikarim and Arteus are determined to escape the sky pirates to save her, but do they have what it takes before the Techno Mage initiates his grand plan?
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Excerpt
"Arteus--" Gesselmeyer started but was cut short by another coughing fit.
"Vater, please save your strength. Don't talk."
"Arteus, I must tell you..." Gesselmeyer's words were slow and drawn out, a labored breath in between each.
Arteus reached for the pot's handle and gave it a jiggle to produce embers for more heat. "I'm sure it can wait until morning, Vater."
"Nein, Arteus." His voice was barely above a whisper. "I must tell you the truth."
He sat at the edge of the old man's bed and awaited this 'truth'. Gesselmeyer pulled his hands out from beneath the blankets and brought his shakey fingers to Arteus' gloves, trying to remove them. Arteus frowned and pulled his hands away, adjusting them back on properly. "Vater, why are you taking off my gloves?"
"Let me see your hands."
"You know I do not enjoy showing them off..."
"I don't want to hear it. Show me."
Arteus flinched and reluctantly removed one of the black leather gloves from his hands. Beneath, rather than skin and bone, was a uniform arrangement of metal and wires similar to human anatomy. He pulled off the other one, and a sigh of contentment escaped Gesselmeyer amid a few wheezes when he touched Arteus' hands. He ran his shaky, fragile fingers over each metal extremity, then reached for the cuff of his son's sleeve and tugged at it. Arteus got the hint; he unbuttoned it and rolled the sleeve to his elbow so the old man could see the continuation of metal and wire up his arm.
"My finest work," he whispered, shaky fingers continuing up Arteus' forearm to the wires coursing with blue liquid. "And your leg?"
Arteus patted his left leg below the knee. "As good as the rest."
"Arteus, I have to tell you... This pains me, but you must know."
Raine is Canadian, born and raised, and constantly moved in between Ontario and Quebec with her military family. She moved to Michigan, USA, in 2004, where she currently still resides with her husband and son.
She has always had a vivid imagination and loved reading and writing from a very young age. She took courses in Children's Literature through ICL in Illinois, and published her New Adult Steampunk debut in 2020. She has participated in NaNoWriMo for over a decade and is currently a Manicipal Liaison for the Detroit region.
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