Blurb
Nine magical stones of incredible power. An evil sorceress who will stop at nothing to claim them. An epic tale of gods and monsters from the pages of mythology. Will Alice stop the sorceress from finding the stones and taking away everyone and everything she loves, or will she join her in destroying the world?
This box set contains Books 1-4 of The Soulbound Sorceress young adult urban fantasy adventure series bundled together at an unbelievable price. Expect breath-taking twists and turns, an unhealthy dose of wacky humor, and a dash of romance.
THE SOULBOUND SCAR
On her 16th birthday, hot-tempered high school delinquent Alice gets one "present" she never expected...armies of mythological gods and creatures wanting her dead.
With newfound powers and a cute vampire boy by her side, she aims to find out the cause of their appearances. But when she learns the sinister truth behind it all, she'll wish she hadn't...
THE SOULBOUND STONES
Just when Alice thought she'd defeated the evil force behind the monster invasion, the real villain has appeared: her.
Framed for crimes she committed under the sorceress's control, Alice must track down nine enchanted stones that, if shattered, will restore the sorceress's magic and make her unstoppable.
Will they find the stones in time? The clock is ticking…
THE SOULBOUND SWORD
To save one friend, Alice must lose another.
Their stone-searching team is torn apart when the sun deity Amaterasu opposes Alice’s decision to save a dying Claire and terminates their alliance. Alice must venture across freezing landscapes, fulfill a goddess’s cryptic demands, and learn how to handle a new weapon while fighting desperately for both her life and Claire’s.
Can she complete her quest in time to recover Claire’s soul before it’s lost forever?
THE SOULBOUND SORCERESS
The sorceress must be stopped. To defeat her, Alice must suffer a punishment worse than death.
Does Alice have what it takes to overcome the final trials, track down the stones, and vanquish Daji once and for all? Before the dust settles, two things are certain:
Not everyone will survive. And Alice cannot avoid the shocking fate that’s in store for her.
Buy this box set now and find out how Alice becomes "The Soulbound Sorceress!"
Excerpt
My mind was preoccupied with the thought of having to hike back down in the rain when I felt bursts of hot air coming from behind me. I flipped back toward the side of the mountain facing the town, but instead of the usual view, I found myself staring into a deep, black space sprinkled with glistening stars.
“What the…?”
I’d never seen anything so spell-binding and gorgeous in my life. Not even the dreamy scenery of the mountains of Peru could compare. The stars and dust gathered into lumbering spiral galaxies that passed each other like ships on the seas in the dead of night. I felt tinier than a grain of rice, and thought I could get lost in here, forever exploring its vastness, its openness, its…infinite-ness.
Even though the sight before my eyes looked like outer space, the twinkling stars inside the abyss seemed so close that I could reach out and touch them.
In fact, that’s what I did.
I threw a hand out to grab a cluster of stars that resembled Orion’s Belt, but before I could reach it, everything vanished, almost as if someone had dragged curtains down on them. I gazed into darkness that was even dimmer than a night out camping in the countryside away from any city lights. No stars, no dust, no galaxies, just…black. Then, just as fast as they’d vanished, the curtains were pulled, and the stars came back.
The beautiful sight had drawn me in so much that I’d lost track of my other senses. Once again, a blast of hot air came over me, rustling my hair and jacket. An awful, putrid stench assaulted my nose. It smelled like smoke, burnt leather, and sea salt. The sound of pained breathing bellowed, louder than the snoring of a hundred people at once. I took a few steps back, and then I realized…
Those weren’t curtains at all. They were eyelids.
Swirling galaxies huddled together, centering into massive, menacing pupils. What was so beautiful a second ago was now completely unsettling. Steam wafted from cave-sized nostrils.
The Beast—that’s the name I’ve given it—lifted its gargantuan head and let out a roar, a roar so loud and powerful that it sent vibrations through my whole body and made my teeth chatter. It sounded like nothing I’d ever heard before, as if every predator on earth cried out in unison. The thunderous clamor echoed through the entire mountain range and shook the ground beneath me.
Fear paralyzed me, and a cold sweat ran down my forehead. The rain intensified, washing away the sweat and obscuring my view of the Beast. The smoke, burnt-leather, sea-salt combo reeked even stronger now. It lowered its head to face me and lightning flashed, giving me a full and terrifying view of the creature.
“Wh-what the hell?” I stammered. No thunder followed the flash of lightning, almost as if the thunder itself was too frightened to approach the Beast.
It looked just like a dragon. But this was no Puff or some fairy-tale-book monster. This creature looked twice as old as time, something that lurks on the dark ocean floor of your nightmares. Droplets vanished between cracks and wrinkles in its ancient, muscular, ashy-gray body. It was supported by huge, reptilian legs larger than tree trunks. At the end of each of its six legs, there were long, gnarled talons that could probably split somebody open like a rag doll. Large, chipped, ram-like horns spiraled out of two bony lumps on its head. Cloudy, starry eyes focused on me.
It looked pissed.
Adrenaline kicked in, and I gave in to the fight-or-flight response in my brain. Flight, definitely flight. My heart threatened to burst out of my chest as I turned on my heels and made a frantic dash for the stairs. The icy rain made my clothes cling tight to my skin. Hot, smoky breaths of the Beast followed me. Every step it took shook the mountain.
Like an idiot, I didn’t pay enough attention to my footing, which, along with the trembling ground, caused me to slip on the now-slick soil and fall flat on my face. The bell on my belt loop broke off and jingled one last time before sinking into the mud. Speaking of mud, my little spill covered me in it. So much for my new clothes. I’d thrown out my hands to brace myself, so when I checked my palms, blood trickled down them. I also tasted blood in my mouth from biting my tongue when I landed. I forced myself up like I was doing a push-up and rolled over on my back. I wanted to spring onto my feet and keep running. Escape from this bad dream.
But it was too late. The titanic creature had caught up with me already, and I found myself facing those gorgeous-but-horrifying galaxy-filled eyes again.
I fought through the pain, stood, and faced the creature. I felt like a flea. But hey, even fleas can bite. I took off a soggy, drenched shoe and hurled it right at the Beast’s eye, just like before. Yes! Got it! The Beast grunted, obviously annoyed. I went to take off my other shoe when I felt something blazing-hot cut into me. My body went flying to the side and slammed into the ground. I felt both burning and chilling sensations. When I lifted my head, I realized where those sensations came from: blood spurted out of my chest and spilled everywhere, mixing with the cold rain. The shock was so severe that I couldn’t quite comprehend yet what had happened to me. It was like I was staring at something happening to someone else. I cried out as the pain sharpened, feeling like thousands of searing knives were tearing into me.
The Beast loomed over me in a triumphant stance. Blood dripped from its claws.
My blood.
About the Author
M.W. Arita loves action-packed roller-coaster rides through all kinds of fantasy, science fiction, paranormal romance, adventure, and mystery stories. Their books contain epic battles, high adventure, and romantic entanglements across a sweeping universe of diverse genres.
They reportedly live in southern Japan with their partner Michael, an energetic little Yorkshire Terrier named Sage, and a mysterious white wolf creature named Toki.
Like the gods and monsters they write about, however, Arita might just be a creature of myth. Legends say if you search hard enough, you might find them riding around on a motorcycle on the seaside highways of Japan…