✯BOOK BLITZ:✯ The Poison of Woedenwoud by K. Ferrin {EXCERPT + GIVEAWAY!}

The Poison of Woedenwoud by K. Ferrin

Release Date: February 12th 2018

Series: Magicfall #3

Genres: Adult, Fantasy

Magic is draining from the world threatening everything, the tatters of her own family, the warlocks, and the Mari alike. Ling and her companions search desperately for the key to ending it all, but warlocks dog their every step. Meanwhile, Ling, isolated and afraid, struggles against a rising tide of darkness far more threatening than anything in the Darkling Sea.

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{EXCERPT}

Fern stood in the doorway, so emaciated and pale she looked like a ghost. The fine blue scaling along her cheeks sparkled brightly against the livid scars and rough red scabs of her healing flesh. Her blonde hair wafted wildly around her head like a wind-torn sail.

Ling’s objection condensed into a single word. “Fern!” She jumped to her feet, relieved Fern was awake at last. Relieved to finally have someone to talk to who would understand. She put an arm around her friend and pulled her into the room. “I’m so glad you’re awake; I was so worried.”

Drake and Dreskin sprung into motion as well. Drake straightened the sheets on the bed and propped up the pillow, while Dreskin poured a cup of coffee for her. But Fern pulled herself away from Ling, her hollowed eyes staring wide at all of them. “I know what we have to do,” she said. She pushed Dreskin’s offered cup away and crossed her arms over her too narrow chest.

Fern’s eyes darted between the three of them, never settling for more than a moment. She shifted her weight from foot to foot, arms crossing and uncrossing, hands rubbing against one another, restless. “We never should have left her. You never should have left her.” Those last words were directed at Drake.

The smile that had lit Drake’s face when Fern had walked in drained all at once.

“Of all people, you, Drake. How could you leave her like that?”

“Fern—” Drake began, but Fern interrupted her.

“We’re going back. I’ve told them already, the crew. They won’t set a course until you give the command, Drake. We’ve been drifting, for weeks, circling and circling, wasting so much time.”

Drake stood where she was, mouth open wide in shock.

“We’re not going back, Fern. You know as well as I do what we need to do. Alyssum knew it too. We’ve solved the puzzle!” Dreskin approached Fern slowly, hands out, palms up in an offering of peace. “You’re tired—”

“I’m not tired. I’m not sick, not anymore. I see clearly now that we never should have left her there. Never. She was not in her right mind when she asked it.”

Dreskin dropped his hands to his sides. He took a deep breath, the muscles of his chest bunching and releasing beneath his shirt. “We’re not going back. We’re going to Nantes. From there we’ll make our way north to Vosh, where we will learn everything we can about the navire. They are the key, Fern. We need the people of Vosh to show us the way.”

Fern went still as Dreskin spoke, her eyes pinned to the floor. Ling crept close, reaching to place a hand on Fern’s shoulder. Fern spun and shoved. Ling tried to catch herself, stumbling several times before she crashed to the floor, her head cracking against the edge of the bed.

“This is your fault,” Fern said, pointing at Ling. “She’d never have been caught if not for you.” She turned her gaze away from Ling to stare at all of them in turn. “What is wrong with you?” Fern screamed at them, face flushing to a shocking red given her general paleness. She turned her eyes on Drake. “She loves you, and you just walk away from her and let her die alone?” She shifted her gaze, pinning Dreskin. “And you. She took you in when no one else would. She gave you a home, gave you a family. What is the matter with you? You’re not even talking about going after Fariss after what he’s done? He’s killed her!”

“She’s not dead, Fern! She is not going to die. Please, just listen to me. Think back, she’s been in much worse condition before and come out of it just fine; you know that! Besides, she made it very clear—” Dreskin tried again to reach out but Fern slapped his hand aside.

“You didn’t see her!” Fern screamed in Dreskin’s face. “You didn’t carry her body out of that place. I did!” Fern stepped back away from them and hunched downward. “If you won’t do what’s right, I’ll do it alone.” A thin light shimmered around her before fading suddenly away.

Ling recognized it; she’d read about it in the grimoire. Fern was trying to change, to take on her dragonfly shape and fly back to Alyssum. To fly away from her, from what they had set out to do, what she’d convinced Ling they had to do.

Fern screamed wordlessly, hands clenched into fists at her sides. With tears sliding down her cheeks she spun away, vanishing into the darkness.

In the silence Ling could hear Drake’s choked breathing and Dreskin’s exasperated sigh.

“Alyssum is going to be fine,” Dreskin repeated. “She has been grievously injured before. The magic has always healed her and it will heal her this time too. Fern knows this, but it’s hard on her, being away. She is lashing out, but she will come around.” He sighed again before moving across the room to the door. He turned back to them. “Don’t take it personally. People say things they don’t mean when they are upset. I’ll go after her; I’ll talk to her. She’ll be okay. This is a good plan. We need to stay the course.” He waited until he saw her faintly nod agreement before closing the door tightly behind him.

Ling stared at the door for several minutes. She had never seen Fern so upset, so rattled. From her writings in the grimoire Fern was always steadfast and calm, focused on the end goal of sealing the breach, and lustful for life. Fern had taught her to laugh again, had convinced her she could be a part of something bigger than any of them individually, but now all she could do was look back and had convinced herself of the worst possible outcome for Alyssum. She’d never realized Fern had such capacity to hurt others with her words that way. Her aggression was unnerving.

Ling turned to look at Drake. Drake’s eyes were red, streaming, and even from where she sprawled on the floor, Ling could see the tremors rocking the captain. “Sh…she didn’t mean it,” Ling said, climbing to her feet. “Dreskin is right. She’s scared; she didn’t mean what she said.” Ling said the words to Drake, but she was saying them for her own benefit as much as for Drake’s. She needed to believe Fern didn’t blame her for all of this, that she was still a part of something bigger.

Drake settled herself into a chair, running fingers through her short hair. “Yes she did. She meant every word of it. And she’s not completely wrong. We left her there, Ling.”

AUTHOR BIO:

K. Ferrin spends her days surrounded by engineers, technology, and humming machinery, but her evenings are steeped in magic, myth, and adventure. She writes fantasy, loves gardening, and eats way too much pie. She lives at the foot of the Colorado Rockies with her husband and two pooches.

Her novels include the stand alone YA fantasy novel Magicless, as well as Across the Darkling Sea, and A Dying Land, the first two books of a series. You can find her online at www.kferrin.com.

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