“When a Chaos mage fights, only blood and scorched earth remain.”
Welcome to one of the many stops on the book blitz for Winter Dragon by Olena Nikitin with Xpresso Book Tours. Look for others participating in this blitz across social media and on your favourite bookish blogs December 18-24, and don’t forget to enter the giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.
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About the Book
Winter Dragon
Season’s War Book Two
by Olena Nikitin
Published 18 December 2022
Viper Dawn Press
Genre: Dark Fantasy Romance
Page Count: 340
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!
“When a Chaos mage fights, only blood and scorched earth remain.”
Mage War Chronicles
Some victories are more costly than others, and Ina was the one that paid the price.
Determined to rescue her dragon, the newly appointed royal witch embarks on a gruelling journey through the wintery Grey Mountains. The weather is not her only obstacle, as the enemy forces gathered in the kobold mines have only one goal.
To capture the Chaos mage and deliver her to the heart of the mountain.
With the help of Sa’Ren, Ina arrives at Castle Liath almost unscathed, but her joy is short-lived, as its granite walls hide a shocking revelation.
With blossoming love shattered by a possessive dragon’s claim and an impossible mission to fulfil, will the mysterious Blessing of the Mountain help or hinder her efforts to protect Cornovii?
Immerse yourself in the second book of Season’s War, where passion mix with cruelty and the world-changing power is buried deep in the ancient tomb guarded by the stern Mountain God.
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Excerpt
They charged again, but Ina was prepared, and she released her vipers, one wrapping around her sword, another coiling around her, acting as a shield. Mar and Ren exchanged grins and attacked. The clash of steel from Ina’s sword parrying Mar’s attack was a sharp counterpoint to the hiss of magic as Ren’s strike was repelled by the viper protecting her body. Her protagonists instinctively controlled their assault, allowing Ina to learn how to fight, but she was soon sweating and panting from wielding both magic and sword in combat. Too proud to stop, Ina fought on, despite waves of dizziness and nausea, barely hearing the cheers from their audience. Just on the brink of fainting, a sudden commotion interrupted the sparring.
‘My chickens! A beast is eating my chickens!’
A serf from the household ran onto the training field and pleaded with Alleron.
‘My lord, help us. A beast is eating the chickens.’
Ina was trying to catch her breath, and the servant’s words made little sense, but she followed everyone as they followed the lord of Liath and the distraught woman.
As they arrived at the kitchen garden, Ina skidded to a halt, eyes wide in shock at the sight of her horse, perched on the poultry house like an animated gargoyle, watching the panicked chickens run around, occasionally snatching one when it came too close, consuming it messily and with great enthusiasm. Before she could collect her thoughts, two soldiers approached the horse and tried to grab its reins, but with a disdainful shake of her head, Zjawa twisted around and leapt over their heads, trotting happily over to Ina to beg for a cuddle.
Ina looked at her ‘horse’, who dropped a half-eaten chicken at her feet, shook her mane, and whinnied happily. The witch sighed deeply and looked down. As her gaze rested on Zjawa’s feet, Ina frowned, perplexed, watching her mount pawing at the ground. Her horse had five toes where a hoof should be, each ending with a sharp talon that easily tore through the grass underneath. Ina looked at the other feet, studying the bunched fingers, their claws almost like a normal hoof.
‘What the hell are you?’ the witch asked, looking at the horse, her question met with an amused animal stare.
‘She is an orein.’ Ina heard Alleron’s mournful voice behind her and turned around to look at him. The witch noticed Ayni heading in their direction with an unreadable facial expression.
The dragon nodded respectfully to the horse, taking a long look at the mare before turning to Ina.
‘Care to tell us how a mere human earned the blessing of the mountains?’ Ina’s head snapped up at those words, and a chill ran down her spine when her gaze met the assessing stare of the dragoness.
About the Author
Olena Nikitin is our pen name. We are an enthusiastic couple of writers who are fascinated by the fantasy/paranormal romance genre and decided to write a book we would love to read
Behind the Pen name:
Olga – is Polish, armed with a wicked sense of humour and typical Slavic pessimism she is the wicked witch from the East. She has written stories since childhood, initially mostly about her work. As an emergency physician, she always has a story to tell and often not much time to write.
Mark is a typical English gentleman whose charm, refined taste and an impressive collection of books were tempting enough to make Olga leave her homeland. Don’t tease him too much; this man has an impressive sword collection and he knows how to use it. He also can fix everything, including Polish syntax in English writing.
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Giveaway Alert!
Blitz-wide giveaway (INT)
$30 Amazon gift card
Signed copy of Winter Dragon
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
I have really enjoyed Olena Nikitin book series ‘Season’s War’.