The sleeping witch had awakened, their sacrifice eased. And now the circle could rest, dormant until the next storm.
For now, if not forever, the work was done. The spell was complete.
To be continued...
Thank you so much for reading! I so greatly appreciate your help in bringing this weird book into the world. The other thing that helps indie books more than anything is word-of-mouth and reviews—so even a 1 or 2-sentence review would be incredible. Thank you again, so much!
- RoAnna Sylver
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Thank you, as always, beyond words to my parents, for feeding and loving me while I wrote this weird-ass book. These things are very important, and I appreciate them greatly. It also means I can keep making weird-ass books. <3
Eri, for the amazing story edits and yelling, without which this book would not exist or at least not nearly as good, and the people in it would not be who they are.
Julian, for always understanding what I was going for even when I didn’t quite know. You Get It (™) and that matters more than words.
Lynn for the cheerleading and reassurance that I’m not doing everything wrong. You make me feel like I am in fact doing many things right!
Lyssa for the amazing formatting and interior graphic design. Look at this pretty thing. Look at it.
Claudie and Emery for being the actual best, through every struggle. I wish you 100% less discourse and nonsense, and 100% more rest and creative fulfillment. Also naps.
My awesome Patreon supporters, who saw most of this first, and liked it even in all its initial messy glory. And my also-awesome beta readers and newsletter friends, for wanting to know what weird-ass thing I did next.
Everyone in the word-making community who’s been united by pain and grief and the desire to still, still, still put beautiful things out into the world. I hope we can always remain Friends of Corey.
RoAnna Sylver writes unusually hopeful dystopian/vampire/space opera stories about marginalized heroes actually surviving, triumphing, and rocking really hard. RoAnna is also a singer, blogger, and artist who lives with family near Portland, OR, and probably spends too much time playing videogames. The next adventure RoAnna would like is a nap in a pile of bunnies.
Visit RoAnna online at roannasylver.com, or support on Patreon at patreon.com/roannasylver.
Enjoyed Stake Sauce? Check out these other stories by RoAnna Sylver:
Stake Sauce, Arc 1: The Secret Ingredient is Love (No, Really)
ARC 1, IN WHICH: A cute punk-rock vampire and a disabled firefighter-turned-mall-cop with a dark past join forces to battle the forces of evil.
Jude used to leap out of helicopters to rescue/protect people from terrifying infernos. Now, by day, he protects the local mall from rowdy teenagers who ride their skateboards inside. By night, he protects the the parking lot, and the rest of Portland, from undead, bloodsucking creatures of the darkness. Or would if he could find them.
Pixie refuses to bite anyone. Assault/murder/draining fluids isn’t punk, even if being a vampire really kind of is. He’s very hungry by now, and the much bigger, meaner, deadlier vamps kick him around on the nightly. And Pixie could use some help staying… ‘alive.’ Time to make a deal.
Chameleon Moon
The city of Parole is burning. Like Venice slips into the sea, Parole crumbles into fire.
The entire population inside has been quarantined and left to die—directly over the open flame. Eye in the Sky, a deadly and merciless police force ensures no one escapes. Ever. All that's keeping Parole alive is faith in the midst of horrors and death, trust in the face of desperation... and their fantastic, terrifying, and beautiful superhuman abilities.
Regan, silent, scaly stealth expert, is haunted by ten years of anxiety, trauma and terror, and he's finally reached his limit. Evelyn is a fearless force on stage and sonic-superheroic revolutionary on the streets. Now they have a choice - and a chance to not only escape from Parole, but unravel the mystery deep in its burning heart. And most of all, discover the truth about their own entwining pasts.
Parole's a rough place to live. But they're not dead yet. If they can survive the imminent cataclysmic disaster, they might just stay that way...
The Lifeline Signal (Chameleon Moon, Book Two)
Parole is still burning. And now the day everyone has been waiting for is finally here: it’s collapsed. A lucky few managed to escape with their lives. But while their city burned, the world outside suffered its own devastating disaster. The Tartarus Zone is a deadly wasteland a thousand miles wide, filled with toxic storms, ghostly horrors, and just as many Eyes in the Sky as ever. Somehow, this new nightmare is connected to Parole. And it’s spreading.
Now Parole’s only hope lies in the hands of three teenagers reunited by their long-lost friend Gabriel—in their dreams. Now they're on a desperate cross-country race, carrying vital plans that may be Parole’s salvation. First they’ll board the FireRunner, a ship full of familiar faces that now sails through Tartarus’ poison storms. Then, together, they’ll survive Tartarus’ hazards, send a lifeline to lost Parole—and uncover the mystery connecting everyone, inside Parole and out.
The world outside Parole isn't the one they remember, and it didn’t want them back. But they'll save it just the same. It's what heroes do.
Life Within Parole
Living in a city whose population has been quarantined and imprisoned over an eternally burning lake of fire isn't what most people would call a 'normal life.' Then there are the superhuman abilities. Thousands of people with wings, scales, telepathy, sonic blasts—'normal' seems long gone. But life goes on. Eventually, everyone discovers that life within Parole is just as real, meaningful, fun, frightening, mundane, and survivable, as any other. Sometimes it's just a little more intense.
These collections of short stories from the universe of Chameleon Moon give readers a look at everyday life in Parole, and the colorful, memorable, and thoroughly human characters who call it home.
Volume 1 | Volume 2
Moon-Bright Tides
The night sky is very dark without a moon, and there hasn't been one for decades. Without one to govern the oceans, it falls to Riven, reluctant sea-witch, to sail out alone every night across the midnight ocean to cast a spell to call in the tides.
She hates it. Hates the moonless dark, hates the endless deep, and hates the fact that without a witch to sing in the tides, sea and land alike would fall to ruin. Riven faces her worst fear every night for years—until she meets a mermaid.
Her new friend is lost, starving, and just as lonely as she is. And now that they've found one another, neither of their nights on the midnight sea will be the same.
The Kraken Collective is an alliance of indie authors of LGBTQIAP+ speculative fiction, committed to building a publishing space that is inclusive, positive, and brings fascinating stories to readers. Looking for your next great read? Check out these other titles from Kraken Collective authors!
Failure to Communicate (Xandri Corelel, Book 1) by Kaia Sønderby
As one of the only remaining autistics in the universe, Xandri Corelel has faced a lot of hardship, and she’s earned her place as the head of Xeno-Liaisons aboard the first contact ship Carpathia. But her skill at negotiating with alien species is about to be put to the ultimate test.
The Anmerilli, a notoriously reticent and xenophobic people, have invented a powerful weapon that will irrevocably change the face of space combat. Now the Starsystems Alliance has called in Xandri and the crew of the Carpathia to mediate. The Alliance won’t risk the weapon falling into enemy hands, and if Xandri can’t bring the Anmerilli into the fold, the consequences will be dire.
Amidst sabotage, assassination attempts, and rampant cronyism, Xandri struggles to convince the doubtful and ornery Anmerilli. Worse, she’s beginning to suspect that not everyone on her side is really working to make the
alliance a success. As tensions rise and tempers threaten to boil over, Xandri must focus all her energy into understanding the one species that has always been beyond her: her own.
The Ice Princess’s Fair Illusion by Lynn E. O’Connacht
All Marian wants is for society to accept that she’s just not interested in… whatever society thinks she ought to be interested in. A princess with a reputation for insults and snide remarks, she’s afraid to show anyone who she would be if people would let her. In a fit of temper at her refusal to marry, her father creates her worst nightmare: she is to be wed to the first beggar who arrives at the gates.
Edel was visiting purely for diplomatic reasons, aiming to ensure her daughter inherits a strong and peaceful kingdom. She sees something in Marian that is achingly familiar and when Edel hears the king’s proclamation, only one thing is on her mind: to protect Marian from the fate that had befallen Edel herself.
Their lives threaded together by magic, Edel and Marian will have to find their way in the world in this queerplatonic, sapphic verse novel retelling of King Thrushbeard.
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