Sassy Saturday: Kasile vs the Black Cloaks

Welcome to another week of the Sassy Saturday Blog Hop. Its purpose is to showcase excerpts from our novels about kick-butt heroines. Every Saturday is a new post. If you want to join, the link is here.

This week's post is from Journey to Chaos book 1: A Mage's Power, and it features a new heroine, Princess Kasile of Ataidar. Here she is fighting a group of criminals who crashed the Spring Joust that she was attending. Also a note - Eric is not with her at this time but is observing the event through her due to a plot point that is explained later in the story.
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Eric was no longer standing in a pitch-black world, but running through it. Fear flooded his mind and tossed ideas. He looked over his shoulder and saw a pursuing swarm armed with a multitude of weapons. He picked up his skirts and ran faster. Skirts!?

Instead of looking down to check, his eyes searched the darkness in front of him. Pain exploded in his forehead. A hand clasped in a glove and gold bracelet traced the wall. Heart racing, he checked the length of the wall to the right and found more wood. Dashing—and almost tripping on his skirt hem—he checked the far side and found more wood. A dead end, and this made him relieved.

Perfect, I can force a two-on-one fight here . . .

Eric mentally scratched his head. He hadn't thought that.

Though the fog was thick, he could see a crowd two chests across and some heads deep. All of them wore black cloaks with hoods obscuring their faces.

“End of the line, princess,” one of them taunted. Princess? . . . Of course! That man sees Kasile, not me! Next question: why am I seeing and hearing what she is?

“It is indeed,” Kasile said regally. “By the blood of my veins, I charge you with disturbing the peace, reckless endangerment, vandalism, and a misdemeanor in fashion.” She gestured to her dress. “Don't you know? Silver-gold is the new black.”

One of the crowd stepped forward. “Your decrees are no good yet. We know your blood is useless until you come of age.” He pulled a length of rope taut.

 He reached for her arm, but she evaded and generated a claw of light on each finger. Amplified by the surrounding darkness, the flash blinded him. The princess drew the sword from his waist and, swiftly reversing the blade, stabbed his ankle. He yelped and hopped on one leg. Kasile pushed him over. His cohorts howled in laughter.

“Dark Blade, you loser!” they jeered. “You were outmaneuvered by a cheap light spell!”

The rogue called Dark Blade crawled, pathetically, back to the crowd. All the while, he muttered “royal luck” and “fluke.” He's never gonna live this down. Kasile pulled a knot that dropped her layers of formal skirt to reveal a short one. She assumed a fighting stance and beckoned.

 “Come! It's rude to make a lady wait!”

Two more rogues stepped forward, carrying an ax and a stabbing spear. Kasile gritted her teeth and tightened her grip on her new weapon. They moved within reach and she fired a light sphere at their feet. Expecting this, they closed their eyes and advanced. Dark Ax reached out and grabbed a gloved hand. Grinning, she yanked the body closer and grabbed the second wrist.

“No don't! Let me go! AHH!” Kasile shrieked as Dark Ax tied the two wrists together.

“Princess secure, Boss,” Dark Ax said.

Dark Spear's voice finally rose above Kasile's false distress. “You secured me you, moron!”

It was only then that Dark Ax opened her eyes and saw the back of her companion's cloak. The silver of Kasile's dress flashed in the darkness and she reached for it, only to be stuck fast. Her own wrists were tied together and then to Dark Spear's. They struggled uselessly while Kasile laughed. She disabled them and they crawled back.

            Their leader face-palmed. “I'm surrounded by idiots. Clearly we underestimated you, princess.”

The leader was an intimidating figure: tall, broad, and shrouded in a long black cloak. Kasile could smell his power; his bloodlust. She gulped and stood straighter.

“You have!” she said bravely. “Lay down your weapons and you will receive mercy. If I hear even a hint of a 'no,' you will face the Wrath of Fire!”

 The leader strolled forward, pulling off his hood in the process. Suddenly, all she could see were his eyes: big, red, and terrifying. Lances of fear and pain stabbed Eric's mind and soul. The feeling left just as quickly as it came and Eric could again see Kasile's surroundings. She was on her back and screaming hysterically. The leader pulled his hood back and waved his minions forward.

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The next Sassy Saturday entry is "Danger of Dark Staff"

The previous Sassy Saturday entry is "Training Dummy"

 

To learn more about Kasile and A Mage's Power, visit Tvtropes at http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/AMagesPower.

A Mage's Power, and the rest of the Journey to Chaos series, are available for purchase at
http://amzn.to/10NsG2i

Brian Wilkerson is a freelance book reviewer, writing advice blogger and independent novelist. He studied at the University of Minnesota and came away with bachelor degrees in English Literature and History (Classical Mediterranean Period concentration).