Storms of Magic Boxed Set: Books 1-4

by Hylton, PT

  Benjamin clapped Olaf on the shoulder. “Think of all the time we’ll have to work on your fire magic. This journey could take weeks.”

  Abbey rolled her eyes. “Weeks aboard a ship with my father—every nineteen-year-old girl’s dream.”

  “Hey, you invited me!”

  “I felt sorry for you, the way you were bumming around Holdgate all day,” she said with a laugh. “Not sure what to do with yourself.”

  In truth, she was glad he’d come along. Their crew was small, and it was going to be challenging crossing the ocean on a ship larger than The Foggy Day with such a small group. Besides Abbey, Dustin, Olaf, and Benjamin, they had Hekla, Viktor, Gideon, and about a dozen others, including Dag. Captain Syd would be at the helm, of course.

  They still hadn’t rechristened their ship with a new name, though Dustin was adamant that they do so as quickly as possible. “Kraken is a shit name. In the old stories, krakens always destroy ships.”

  Abbey had to admit he had a point.

  They would venture into the North Sea, circle the Lost Isles, and then head west. The ship had been docked for nearly a week while Abbey made her solo overland trip to Arcadia. Dustin and Syd had both offered to accompany her, but she’d declined. It was a journey she had needed to make on her own.

  When she’d returned to the ship the previous morning, she’d given her father the letter. She didn’t know if he’d read it…or if he ever would. That was his business. She was just glad she’d been able to give him the opportunity.

  As they were preparing to depart, Syd walked up to Benjamin. “You know, we’ve been through a lot. I think we deserve to have some fun.”

  Benjamin looked surprised, but he nodded. “That we do.”

  “I’m glad you agree,” she said. “I don’t know how long it’s going to take us to get where we’re going, but when we arrive, I’m taking you on a proper date.”

  She turned and walked away without waiting for a reply, leaving the former blacksmith scratching his head. He was confused, but not displeased.

  Abbey stifled a laugh. She went and joined Dustin at the bow. “Are we ready?”

  “I think so.” He looked around. “She’s a good ship. Between Viktor and me, we can handle whatever weather the sea will throw at us.”

  “I meant, are we ready to say goodbye to everything we know? To leave the Kaldfell Peninsula, maybe forever?”

  Dustin thought for a moment before answering. “You know, when I took my Test, Holdgate was a lot different. Captain Tor and Dahlia were stormraiding, Syd’s brother was missing, and the Barskall were attacking villages in northern Kaldfell. We’ve done a lot of good.” He paused. “No, scratch that. You’ve done a lot of good. If you hadn’t been there, I probably would have just gone along with the flow. You convinced me things needed changing, and showed me how to start.”

  Abbey looked away. “You give me too much credit.”

  “I don’t think so,” Dustin said with a smile. “You know, Olaf does sort of have a point. We know your dreams are real, but we don’t know anything about the woman sending you them. Or her village. We’re going a really long way to help people we have never met and know nothing about.”

  “Isn’t that sort of the point?” Abbey asked. “There aren’t many people out there who have the power to cross that sea. A sea so big it stretches beyond the edge of every map in Holdgate. We have that power, and we’re going to use it to help people.”

  Dustin grinned. “All right, then. As long as you promise me there are going to be monsters at the end of this journey. I just wanted to make sure you hadn’t changed your mind.”

  “Never,” she said fiercely.

  Syd joined them. “Shouldn’t you be yelling at the crew or something, First Mate? We have a long voyage ahead.”

  Abbey chuckled. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” She started to walk away, then paused. “Hey, I’ve been thinking about names for the ship.”

  “Yeah?” Syd asked. “What have you come up with?”

  “We’re going to a new land, right? Somewhere they’ve presumably never heard of Holdgate or Storm Raiders or probably even stormcalling. We need a name that says what we’re all about.”

  “Would you just tell us already?” Dustin demanded.

  “Fine.” Abbey cleared her throat. “What do you think about Storm Warrior?”

  They considered the name for a moment, then Dustin slowly nodded. “You know, I kind of like it.”

  “Me too,” Syd said. “It has a ring to it.”

  Abbey’s eyes widened. “Wow, that was much easier than I’d expected. I had the hard pitch all ready to go.”

  Dustin grinned. “Well, if you want us to argue…”

  “No, no,” Abbey insisted. “It’s settled. Now leave me be. Like my captain said, I have work to do.” She cast an eye around the main deck. “Dag! You call that a clove hitch? I’m twenty feet away and I see from here you’re tying it wrong!”

  Dustin closed his eyes and the wind began to blow, softly at first, but quickly gaining strength until it filled the sails and the ship began to move.

  Storm Warrior sailed away from Kaldfell, Barskall, and even Gren. They sailed past where the maps ended, searching for a land of monsters.

  Author Notes - P.T. Hylton

  October 15, 2017

  Wow, okay—I got a little emotional writing that ending. That was unexpected.

  Thank you once again for reading this book. If you made it this far, that means you’ve spent quite a bit of time with Abbey and her friends. I hope you’ve come to like them as much as I have.

  This isn’t the end of Abbey’s story (those monsters are still out there), but it is the end of the first story arc. This book sort of became a statement on why I think the Kurtherian Gambit books are so important to so many people. It’s stated most clearly in the letter from Abbey’s mom. In real life, we don’t always see powerful people defending the weak and having fun doing it. Lots of books have characters fighting for justice, but the attitude and the fun are what set TKG books apart in my mind.

  You probably noticed quite a few references to other heroines in this book. If you’re new to the Kurtherian Gambit world, here’s where you can read about each of them:

  Rhona—the only one on this list we actually meet in the flesh in this book. She’s the heroine of The Hidden Magic Chronicles by Justin Sloan and Michael Anderle. Start with Shades of Light.

  Then we have all the heroines Abbey glimpsed in her dream.

  The one riding the dragon is Hannah from The Rise of Magic series by CM Raymond, LE Barbant, and Michael Anderle. Start with Restriction.

  The dark-haired woman standing next to a tiger is Arryn from the Tales of a Feisty Druid series by Candy Crum and Michael Anderle. Start with The Arcadian Druid.

  The one seeing through the eyes of an animal is Payetta from The Path of Heroes series by Brandon Barr and Michael Anderle. Start with Rogue Mage.

  The one with the white robe and gold belt who’s changing her face is Julianne from the New Dawn series by Amy Hopkins and Michael Anderle. Start with Dawn of Destiny.

  And finally, the one who started it all, the one the dream voice describes as “something very old” is of course Bethany Anne from the original series, The Kurtherian Gambit by Michael Anderle. Start with Death Becomes Her.

  If you’re curious about the origin of the airship Abbey found with the strange skull and crossbones on it, see the Reclaiming Honor series by Justin Sloan and Michael Anderle. Start with Justice is Calling.

  Thanks once again to Michael, CM, LE, Lynne, and everyone else at this remarkable publishing company. They are truly a joy to work with.

  Also, one more plug for the audiobooks of this series. Gabra Zackman is killing it with the narration. Her performance alone is worth the price of admission.

  It’s a beautiful October day as I’m writing this, but I’ve only experienced it from inside my home office so far. Not that I’m complaining. Creating stories a
ll day is pretty much the best.

  Maybe I’ll duck outside for a while and go for a walk. But not for too long. There are a lot more stories left to write.

  One more thing: if you need more PT in your life (and who could blame you?) check out my book The Savage Earth. I wrote it with my lifelong buddy Jonathan Benecke, and I’m really proud of it. It tells the story of a world where feral vampires have taken over and the few remaining humans survive by orbiting the Earth in a giant airship, constantly staying in sunlight. I think you’d dig it.

  Thank you once again for reading! Without you, I wouldn’t get to do this crazy writing thing, and I love it.

  Until next time,

  P.T. Hylton

  Author Notes - Michael Anderle

  Written October 19th, 2017

  First, THANK YOU for not only reading this book, but also reading to the end, past P.T.’s notes to read mine, as well.

  Right now, we are about two weeks away from a fateful time in my life. The day is fast approaching when two years ago, a forty-eight-year-old man (hey, no judgie judgie the age thing, here!) decided that crossing off a bucket list item for himself, and for his oldest son Joshua was something he wanted to do.

  So, two years ago, I wrote a story about a feisty woman who was going to die in six months.

  I called her Bethany Anne.

  Why Bethany Anne? Because I really thought naming characters ‘revolver’, ‘thunder’, or ‘eagle’ (you get the idea) was kinda silly. I wanted a real person’s name that could be you or you or …well, not me. I’m a guy.

  (No, I didn’t make “Michael” out to be me, that name was based on the Archangel Michael.)

  However, I’ll be John Grimes, or maybe Darryl. I think both of them share some of my personality.

  Now, just two years later we have 97 books out with LMBPN Publishing. These books are based around two Universes, The Kurtherian Gambit and Oriceran (or-eh-sair-en) Universes.

  What about when the two-year anniversary hits?

  It will be over one hundred titles. (WOOT shakalaka!)

  We have helped a lot of authors in the last two years. Some we have done it by “pimping their books” and introducing those authors and their books to you, the readers. Some I have mentored and some are collaborating with me and those of us here at LMBPN publishing are helping them find new audiences.

  We now have fifty audio projects finished since February of this year and our audio list is growing quickly.

  Two years ago, I was typing on my laptop, writing Death Becomes Her. Two years later, I am sitting in a chair at the Copacabana Palace Hotel about to put on a dress shirt and leave to go meet with the South American representative for Bookwire (based out of Germany.)

  During our dinner, we are going to talk about whether there is any opportunity to translate the hundred some-odd books we have, plus the next hundred we will do in 2018 into Portuguese for the Brazilian market.

  Translations are VERY dicey. They are expensive to do, and there is a very good chance you won’t make your money back.

  So, why do it?

  Part of the reason is to test the market. We already have the stories, and some of them might do well in a foreign language but we really don’t know. If we want to grow and continue our efforts and possibly (ever) get a show or movie deal, it helps to have an active international community.

  Plus (and let me be open with you) if we have a large enough international community, they will pay more to get the rights to the stories, I’ll have more negotiation clout, and if they pay more, the chances the movie gets shown on the big screen increases.

  ---

  So, that was a few words about our two year plans and some large dreams / aspirations I have. Now, let’s talk about P.T. Hylton and what he is up to.

  Storm Warrior is our fourth book in the Storms of Magic series. P.T. has another series out (The Zane Halloway series) by himself, but he is presently promoting Savage Earth (the Vampire World Saga) he is collaborating with Jonathan Benecke on.

  While he links to it directly on Amazon.com, I’m going to do one better and provide a “universal” link here: http://www.books2read.com/SavageEarth

  That way, if you click MY link, you will (most likely) be taken to the Amazon for your country…Not only the US Amazon.

  Cause I’m advanced like that ;-)

  Also, I’m going to give you a blurb… You know, so you read it and go “Hmmmm…. Tell me more.”

  And maybe a book cover, because books are judged by their cover (and Stephen Campbell just LOVES it when I add images to the Author Notes.

  (You should read that as “Stephen Campbell probably HATES me adding images to the Author Notes because Scrivener, the software we use to produce the ebooks, isn’t the easiest solution for inserting images.)

  So, here is the cover, the title and the blurb. If you are interested, the book is in Kindle Unlimited and (at the moment) is priced at $3.99.

  SEE YOU NEXT BOOK!

  Michael

  If humans want to take the Earth back, they'll need to survive the night.

  It's been over a century since the humans lost the war for Earth. Cities have been reclaimed by nature, and the planet is quiet and empty by day. At night, feral vampires—more beast than man—roam the lands, hungry for blood.

  The few thousand surviving humans live on a massive airship that circles the Earth, moving with the rotation of the planet so it's always in sunlight.

  Alexandria Goddard is a member of the elite Ground Mission Team, a group tasked with making dangerous runs to the planet's surface for the supplies needed to keep the ship airborne. But even as the team fights for their people's survival, dangerous forces are working against them. A growing movement aboard the airship believes it's time for humans to resettle the Earth, and they are willing to go to extreme measures to make their vision a reality.

  As the situation aboard the ship becomes more desperate, Alex and her team discover a terrifying secret about the vampires infesting the Earth.

  Books by P.T. Hylton:

  The Vampire World Saga (Post-Apocalyptic Action Adventure w/Jonathan Benecke)

  - The Savage Earth

  - The Savage Night

  - The Savage Dawn

  The Deadlock Trilogy (Supernatural Suspense):

  - Regulation 19

  - A Place Without Shadows

  - The Broken Clock

  Zane Halloway: Assassin for Hire (Sword and Sorcery Fantasy)

  Storms of Magic series (Future Fantasy w/Michael Anderle)

  - Storm Raiders

  - Storm Callers

  - Storm Breakers

  - Storm Warrior

  Valerie’s Elites (Space Opera w/Justin Sloan & Michael Anderle)

  - Valerie’s Elites

  - Death Defied

  - The Prime Enforcer

  - Justice Earned

  Books By Michael Anderle

  For a complete list of books by Michael Anderle, please visit:

  www.lmbpn.com/ma-books/

  All LMBPN Audiobooks are Available at Audible.com and iTunes

  To see all LMBPN audiobooks, including those written by Michael Anderle please visit:

  www.lmbpn.com/audible

  Michael Anderle Social

  Website: http://kurtherianbooks.com/

  Email List: http://kurtherianbooks.com/email-list/

  Facebook Here: https://www.facebook.com/TheKurtherianGambitBooks/

  Want more Kurtherian Gambit?

  Join the Kurtherian Gambit email list here: http://kurtherianbooks.com/email-list/

  Join the Kurtherian Gambit Facebook Group Here: https://www.facebook.com/TheKurtherianGambitBooks/

 

 

 
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