Today, we have a Book Blitz to share celebrating the new release of author Amy Winters-Voss's Guardian, book 2 in the Liminal Chronicles series! To celebrate this book birthday (today), we have a sneak peek with an exclusive excerpt! We also have a blitz-wide giveaway to share! So... Be sure to check it out and grab your copy NOW! Start the series TODAY!
Inside, the tengu kneels as he reports to his master in a grating, scratchy voice. “My Lord, Ibaraki Douji leads an oni horde. They’ve reached the base of the mountain. She was screaming ‘Death to the kitsune.’ We estimate the horde to be four hundred strong.”
Shit. She followed the Date pair. I’ll help defend my master’s estate. Will even Soujou-bou, the old priest, have to fight?
“Light the flares! Sound the alarm!” Soujou-bou shouts.
The messenger strikes a gong that sends a thrum reverberating through the vicinity and spurring all around to action. So I move out of the way to keep from being trampled. With deafening pops, portals form in every direction.
Taking his swords from their perch, Soujou-bou shouts, “Kumagai, prepare my armor! Zumi, gather the troops!”
In a softer tone, he says to me, “This is the reason I don’t allow portals to be created just anywhere on my land. It allows my troops from across the country to arrive in an instant. Each province’s portal has an assigned location, so there’s no worry about overlap and losing soldiers to the void. Newcomers don’t know the open areas.”
Meanwhile, the sky fills with a cacophony of beating black and brown wings, caws, shrieks, and whistles from tengu that barrel down en masse. Did the intruders think taking Soujou-bou’s lands would be easy? Guess again!
Energy thrums through my veins as I force myself to be still and wait for orders.
Aunt Hisako skitters from the house to my side. “I heard the summons. What’s happening?”
“Invasion. You ok for ki?” My hand hovers over her fur, ready to share my life force.
But she holds up a paw. “Keep it. You’ll need what you have.”
“Kitsune-kind, go, now!” Soujou-bou barks at us.
Pressing my hands together before me in my bow, I volunteer. “Master, let me help defend your home.”
“Protect your aunt in her weakened state, at all costs. Ibaraki will focus on both clans of your family when she realizes how many kitsune are here. My people will buy you time,” Soujou-bou says, then directs his captains to hold the gate.
“Understood, sir!”
Grandma Miwa arrives. Her head whips around to Aunt Hisako. “What do you mean, weakened state? I saw you low on ki, but…”
Aunt Hisako won’t meet her gaze as we retreat inside, with Soujou-bou and his retainers hot on our heels. She gives the unvarnished truth. “Sari stole my hoshi no tama and broke it, leaving me magically crippled.”
Gasping, Grandma Miwa hangs her head as a tengu servant rushes in with Soujou-bou’s armor. In a glowing blur, the bird-man servant helps his master into the many pieces. Black and brown feathered soldiers open the house’s sliding doors and line up the troops outside.
While Soujou-bou puts his helmet on and casts a spell to tie the laces, he barks, “Umeji-kun, I suspend the restriction on you. Create a portal out of sight and get your family to safety. Keep your destination secret.”
“We don’t need your protection, yakuza.” Hoji sticks his nose in the air, then turns to the others. “Mother, let us leave.”
Instead, Grandma Miwa slaps the top of his head with a forepaw. “Baka.”
From outside, the chaos of thunder, the clashing of swords, and continual pops from new portals forming makes my muscles twitch.
“Kami-sama, protect us. They’re using an anti-magic battering ram.” Aunt Hisako’s voice turns tight and my mouth goes dry as a desert, just like it did those years ago in the surprise attack on the Hiragi clan yakuza headquarters.
Soujou-bou and his servants stride through the hall toward the outside. His barked “Now, boy!” enhances the purposeful presence he emanates.
Thank you for being a part of the Guardian book blitz! -- Amy Winters-Voss
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