{"id":1679,"date":"2024-01-31T12:13:57","date_gmt":"2024-01-31T11:13:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alexisveenendaal.com\/?p=1679"},"modified":"2024-11-21T13:36:29","modified_gmt":"2024-11-21T12:36:29","slug":"tide-of-sands-first-chapter-sneak-peek","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.alexisveenendaal.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/31\/tide-of-sands-first-chapter-sneak-peek\/","title":{"rendered":"Tide of Sands – Sneak Peek"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
A sneak peek at the first chapter of my Epic Fantasy book. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
Chapter One<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n
Ros<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The gods\u2019 damned storm came out of nowhere, a black mark on the horizon heading straight for them \u2014 against the wind. They had minutes if they were lucky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said we\u2019d get through. <\/em>Ros stood at the helm, frowning as she read the distant clouds. Through, as in\u2026 <\/em>Right. She took a fortifying breath, <\/em>tied back her dark curls, and shouted, \u201cStrike the sails!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Errant Pride<\/em>\u2019s crew leaned over the rail, but at her command, they broke from their muttering and ran to follow the captain\u2019s orders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ros had been expecting this. Well, not this<\/em>, per se. But some kind of shit storm. It wasn\u2019t natural, which meant they couldn\u2019t outrun it \u2014 not so long as they kept to their course. But she didn\u2019t have a choice. They had <\/em>to get to that land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ros\u2019s hand dropped to her hip by instinct. She\u2019d left her swords in her cabin. Right, because swords are helpful in the middle of the ocean<\/em>. Still, their absence nagged at her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the distance, the first preternatural bolt of lightning whipped over the dark clouds. A second later, the ship\u2019s sails billowed under the first buffeting breaths. The crew wrestled the ropes, taming them before the canvas could tear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhere in the hells did that thing come from?\u201d her first mate, Ardon, swore as he came up the stairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think \u2018the hells\u2019 isn\u2019t far off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ardon Sutori had tied his thick black hair back from the wind, but strands still cut across his shaved jaw. Ros had to crane her neck to look up at him as he approached, a familiar line of concern pressed between his brows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll be fine,\u201d Ros said, the wind stealing the words. \u201cShe can take it,\u201d she added louder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ardon grimaced. \u201cI\u2019m not so sure about that. I\u2019ve never seen anything like it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She and Ardon had spent more than half their lives sailing Karrun\u2019s coastlines. Storms at sea had telltale signs \u2014 until this one. But they were far from home, navigating unchartered waters. Unusual <\/em>was the least they could expect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kyrie Jaimins, her golden braid whipping in the wind, ran up the deck and shouted, \u201cCaptain! I don\u2019t know how we missed it. Emiel says it\u2019s dark magic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEmiel\u2019s been reading too many of Ardon\u2019s books.\u201d Ros quirked a self-indulgent smile in Ardon\u2019s direction. Ardon rolled his eyes on cue. \u201cNo; there were signs. We just missed them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Until recently, Ros hadn\u2019t believed in magic at all. Most sensible people didn\u2019t. But now\u2026 It was hard to ignore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs you say, Captain,\u201d Kyrie said with a doubtful expression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ros scanned the familiar lines of The Errant Pride<\/em>; she wasn\u2019t just a ship anymore. After a year on her maiden voyage with Ros at the helm, she was home<\/em>. Ros\u2019s crew weren\u2019t the first to attempt sailing across the Great Ocean, but they\u2019d damned well be the first to survive if she had anything to say about it. You\u2019d better come through for me now,<\/em> she thought grimly. She looked back at Kyrie. \u201cWe\u2019ll have to bear through it, Jaimins. Take Dietric and Colm to secure everything below decks.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ros turned back to Ardon as Kyrie went off with her orders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Looking at the storm now, Ros knew there was no navigating through it, even with Ardon\u2019s expert guidance as the ship\u2019s navigator. They\u2019d have to ride it out and hope Ros\u2019s ongoing dreams weren\u2019t a figment of her drug-induced mind. He made a rutting promise. We\u2019ll make it through.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ros read Ardon\u2019s thoughts in his expression: he knew what she planned. He also knew what she\u2019d say, but she lowered her voice and said it anyway, \u201cWe\u2019ll have to go through. There\u2019s no outrunning it now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThose clouds aren\u2019t natural. Whatever this is \u2014 magic or not \u2014 it isn\u2019t right<\/em>.\u201d They both looked at the approaching clouds churning like a pit of poisonous snakes. Ardon sighed at her immovable expression. \u201cThe ship won\u2019t take it. Why not delay a few days? Try going around. We could bring up the sails \u2014 pull her out. There\u2019s still time.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re running low on rations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA few days won\u2019t kill us \u2014 but this storm might.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She didn\u2019t meet his gaze. \u201cReady the ship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ardon\u2019s hazel eyes probed her face for answers she couldn\u2019t give. Not yet. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
His puzzlement made her gut clench tighter. \u201cWe\u2019ll get as close to land as we can. I\u2019ll keep a skeleton crew up top.\u201d Before he could protest, she added, \u201cTake everyone else below decks.\u201d They\u2019ll be safer there.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
He opened his mouth, then closed it, shaking his head. He wanted to ask her, she knew, but the loyalty that drove him aboard her ship a year ago was the same staying his tongue now. Were she not so used to this feeling, she might\u2019ve grabbed him by the shirt and demanded: Why do you still trust me? Why are you here, Ardon? Why did you forgive me for leaving?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
She clutched her hands on the rail and looked out, taking one last, long breath. \u201cTrust me. Just a little longer.\u201d The lightning cracked and popped like knuckles loosening before a fight. They were so close, now. She eyed her friend with desperate hope. \u201cCan you do that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI always do.\u201d He answered so softly she almost didn\u2019t catch it over the building storm. Only a few more minutes to share, just the two of them. A split of lightning blazed across his pupils. \u201cI guess all that\u2019s left is to pray we make it out alive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPrayer is for the desperate,\u201d Ros said, amusement tugging at her lips. A game they\u2019d played since the orphanage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2018The Nine Gods mark the wisdom of believers, and cast a light upon their path.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPlease don\u2019t quote the Nine Points<\/em> to me,\u201d she pleaded. \u201cI really<\/em> need to be awake for this next part.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ardon made a face and was about to retort when the air shook, the thunder crawling ever closer. They were out of time. Ros squeezed Ardon\u2019s hand. Forgive me,<\/em> she thought, releasing him. \u201cPrep the crew. Please. <\/em>And Ardon\u2014? Take care of them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ardon offered another brief smile \u2014 a promise they\u2019d always shared and had never needed to speak aloud. \u201cAye, Captain.\u201d The title still made her grin despite everything. He stepped away, calling to the crew over the noise. \u201cAll hands ready! Brace for the storm!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ros watched their reactions. A sane captain would direct them away from the storm, as Ardon had suggested, leaving land for another day. But she knew they couldn\u2019t avoid it. No matter how many days they rerouted, the storm would come. They could sail tomorrow, or in a week\u2019s time, and the result would be the same. So long as her father kept his end, they\u2019d get through. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTie everything down!\u201d Ardon cried as the first fat raindrops splattered over the deck. \u201cWe sail for rough waters!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ros steeled herself for dissent, but it didn\u2019t come. It was that inkling of power \u2014 that influence that wasn\u2019t quite hers but spurred them to fall in line as they always did, racing to their tasks and shouting over the wind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The storm overtook them like the great maw of a beast, devouring them in chaotic waves and wind that obscured the horizon, or any notion of direction. Night fell early, casting Ros\u2019s ship into a quaking nightmare. The few sailors remaining above had each fastened themselves with a short tether \u2014 as she had \u2014 to avoid the storm sweeping them overboard. The rest, thank the nonexistent gods,<\/em> sat secured below and saved from this sight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A wave swelled up as if in slow motion, sucking The Errant Pride<\/em> into its inexorable grasp. Ros\u2019s stomach rose with her ship. They crested the massive wave and hovered \u2013 frozen on the edge for a split second \u2013 before the ship nose-dived headlong into blackness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She couldn\u2019t help but think, for half a heartbeat, that this was the end. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But they tore free of their icy plunge, the wrestling waves doing their best to sweep the teetering ship into oblivion as it bandied for balance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The storm battered The Errant Pride <\/em>from all sides. Ros clutched the wheel with white-knuckled hands as her feet slipped on the slick deck. Another crack tore through the air, leaving a shuddering ghost of timber and rigging behind her eyes. The air tasted of metal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The night wore on. Once or twice, between the waves, the darkness, and the consuming black sky, Ros swore she saw a flash of green. But then, just as fast, she blinked and realised she\u2019d imagined it. All the while, she cried out through chattering teeth: \u201cWhere are you?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She was wrong. He wasn\u2019t coming. She\u2019d committed her friends to a death sentence. Ardon. De\u2019Car. They were all going to die, because of her. I\u2019m a monster. I\u2019m deluded. I\u2019ve killed them all.<\/em> It was all should could do not to tear through her rope and cast herself into the sea \u2013 sacrifice herself and maybe the rest would live. Maybe that\u2019s what he\u2019d intended all along. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maybe none of it was real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Crack!<\/em> The mast snapped and flew off into the foaming waves, tearing canvas, rope, and one body from the deck. Through the haze, Ros couldn\u2019t see who\u2019d fallen, but she heard a woman scream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The next behemoth wave came like a great wall; it vibrated low and deep in Ros\u2019s chest. This is it.<\/em> She found herself reaching for something \u2014 a glimmer, too far away.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ros knew before the storm dragged them in that The Errant Pride<\/em> had endured all she could. In that final dive, as they hit solid water, the deck splintered. Ros\u2019s fingers slipped from the wheel as she lurched back, pulled by the rope at her waist. She felt more than she heard something pop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The rope snapped and she flew back into nothingness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The cold ocean hit like a carriage running at full speed, sending an icy shock through her body that expelled the breath from her lungs. She spun in the darkness and kicked. Up. Which way is up? <\/em>Pieces of The Errant Pride<\/em> streaked past, dragged by the tossing weight of the ocean. Her body burned for the air she\u2019d forgotten above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Something flashed in her periphery. She whirled. There! <\/em>A faint shimmer of green light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before Ros could kick toward it, a dark shape fell past her vision \u2013 a chunk of the hull. She spun, but the light had vanished. She\u2019d sunk too deep. Her head felt like it was being pressed between two irons. She shook it, trying to clear her wits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Swim! <\/em>But her body had stopped responding. I\u2019m dying\u2026 I\u2019m actually bloody dying. After everything. <\/em>Her limbs felt numb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ardon was right<\/em>. We shouldn\u2019t have come.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Find me\u2026 <\/em>The voice from her dreams had said. My light will guide you.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the light was gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A glint of silver. Ros raised her sluggish hands and a sudden warmth flooded every limb. Her fingertips brushed against metal, and then \u2014 blinding green light exploded around her. She propelled upwards. Closer, closer. There! <\/em>She could see the surface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Something slammed into her, forcing out the last few bubbles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About the book:<\/strong> How\u2019d you like to kill a god? What about someone powerful enough to think he can become one? It\u2019s up to Ros, a sea captain with a ship full of secrets and a haunted past, to figure it out. TIDE OF SANDS <\/em>is a 115k-word Epic Fantasy reminiscent of \u2018GODKILLER\u2019 <\/em>by Hannah Kaner meets \u2018THE SHADOW OF WHAT WAS LOST<\/em>\u2019 by James Islington. Ros and her crew shipwreck on a hidden continent \u2013 where a forbidden romance, a selfish father, and a friend\u2019s betrayal force them on a winding pursuit to save magic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About the author:<\/strong> Alexis Veenendaal grew up in Canada, earning an English Literature from the University of Lethbridge. She lived in the Netherlands for three years and currently resides in Wales in the UK as a full-time writer and editor for an AI robotics automation company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How\u2019d you like to kill a god? What about someone powerful enough to think he can become one? It\u2019s up to Ros, a sea captain with a ship full of secrets and a haunted past, to figure it out. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1919,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[15,309,306],"series":[],"class_list":["post-1679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fantasy","tag-fantasy","tag-the-peacemaker-chronicles","tag-tide-of-sands"],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/blog.alexisveenendaal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/2.png","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/blog.alexisveenendaal.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"amazon":{"key":"amazon","url":"https:\/\/music.amazon.ca\/podcasts\/09c34bbc-b359-49af-a286-31830ed5634c\/short-stories","label":"Amazon","class":"amazon","icon":"amazon.png"},"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/short-stories\/id1621456328","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_play":{"key":"google_play","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.google.com\/feed\/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbGV4aXN2ZWVuZW5kYWFsLmNvbS9mZWVkL3BvZGNhc3Qvc2hvcnQtc3Rvcmllcw","label":"Google Play","class":"google_play","icon":"google-play.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.google.com\/feed\/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbGV4aXN2ZWVuZW5kYWFsLmNvbS9mZWVkL3BvZGNhc3Qvc2hvcnQtc3Rvcmllcw","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0lcQCRs52MfYlKs35lVX4K","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"itunes":{"key":"itunes","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/short-stories\/id1621456328","label":"iTunes","class":"itunes","icon":"itunes.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/blog.alexisveenendaal.com\/feed\/podcast\/default-podcast","embedCode":"
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