Showing results by author "Katharine Wibell" in All Categories

For Líf, her ability to see each person’s guardian spirit had always been a double-edged sword. She hated drawing attention to herself, especially by those who thought her mad, and yearned for a quiet life. That is until another upended her world. This man brought with him the warning of an invisible plague that would destroy their race and claimed that he was the only person who could prevent it, for like Líf, he also had an unexplainable gift. The problem was that he was a slave. And he was not hers to free....

Since birth, she could see each person’s guardian spirit. Whether gifted or cursed, Líf was viewed as an outsider, an oddity, and perhaps even mad. She had thought that she was the only one with such an unexplainable ability until she met Brasir, a slave unlike any ever captured during the summer raids. He warned that a plague was destroying their race and swore that he could stop it because he was able to see what others could not. When Líf freed Brasir, who had been claimed by a powerful jarl, her family was forced to flee the only home they had ever known.

According to legend, when the world was young, two gods of war — one male, one female — were destined for each other. Yet Ullr, forever unfaithful, lost the love of Issaura, his true match, and was forsworn. His violent anger and bitter rage grew and intensified, poisoning all creation and humanity. Now that the Raiders’ long ships have faded from sight, the kingdom of Elysia is beginning to recover from the summer’s war with the brutal invaders from across the sea. Yet darker forces have taken root, forces that can alter the future of the land and its people in unthinkable ways.

According to legend, when the world was young, the goddess Issaura appeared among men. Those who treated her with kindness received the gift of the gods—the ability to transform into an animal form. This was a great honor but one that separated this race from other humans. Before Issaura departed the mortal realm, she promised to return if her people were ever at the point of destruction.

Líf and her family have traversed Jötunheim, the realm of giants, and survived. Yet many men in the disgruntled Viking band were not as fortunate. Worse, their inglorious deaths have forfeited them the chance to enter Valhalla. And those that remain are sullen and quick to anger. Their quest to save humanity is based upon one man’s warning. An outsider. An escaped slave. And one who shares a gift similar to Líf’s. But Líf is growing weary. Loyalty to her family and its undertaking has waned.

Men could not survive outside their world. Líf believed this. Her family believed this as well. So, what they had done was just short of impossible. They had left Midgard’s shores only to arrive in Jötunheim, the realm of giants that gave this land its name. Gods be with them. After freeing the slave, Brasir, Líf, and her family were outlawed. The only way to regain the good graces of their people was to prove that the warning Brasir brought was true.

The precarious balance between two opposing forces has begun to shift, and threatens the very existence of life throughout the universe. Only the Djed—the prophesied savior—has a chance of thwarting a catastrophe that could destroy the cosmos. And the next Djed is predicted to be a child of Earth.

Líf had been unable to stop the sentence of full outlawry that was now imposed upon her and her entire family. They escaped their enemy’s grasp only by sailing away once again, although this time, it was to the very outskirts of Midgard, the world of man. They were compelled to continue their quest no matter what the cost.

For Líf, her ability to see each person’s guardian spirit had always been a double-edged sword. She hated drawing attention to herself, especially by those who thought her mad, and yearned for a quiet life. Her greatest fear was that her siblings might not return from the summer raids. Being at sea terrified her—the surging waves, the rolling motion of a longship, the murky depths below—and yet her society flourished from the wealth brought from war and water.

A subterranean realm. Creatures of the dark. Traps that lay in wait. Líf and the small band of survivors have fled the surface world and entered a vast realm of labyrinthine tunnels and darkened corridors. There is no time to mourn their losses. To gain the object they seek, they must complete a formidable task set by the dwarven king. Their safety is far from guaranteed. With the odds against them, the dwarves offer little assistance, and the fate of humanity rests on the weary shoulders of a handful of humans and a few begrudging elves.

Ever since Líf freed the slave, her life has been in peril. Now, an unknown world awaits the young woman and her family. Other realms have harbored vile creatures, vengeful giants, and vicious elves who have baited, tracked, and pursued the small band of survivors like animals for slaughter. Many on this wretched odyssey have been killed, others wounded; all are exhausted. Have the gods forsaken them?

Banished from their homeland, attacked by beings beyond the world of man, the dwindling crew must now confront the wrath of nature. Summer never came. Spring and autumn are mere memories. Winter continues to ravish the nine realms, and an endless season of bitter cold has trapped them in a land far from Midgard. Líf and those she loves are starving. Their quest to save humanity may yet cost them their lives. Where are the gods? Why have they not answered her prayers? As a blizzard screams around the travelers, burying them in a tomb of snow, a new threat arises.

To seek answers, more blood must spill. Three years have passed since Líf’s family and friends left Midgard, the world of mankind, and journeyed through realms filled with danger and despair. Many have been lost along the way. Yet the survivors still cling to the hope that their mission will succeed, for failure will doom all humanity. Now that the bitter winter that held them captive has abated, a tentative alliance has been formed between man and elf. Together, they venture to far off lands whose native races lie in wait to destroy them. Fate controls all. Where will Líf’s destiny take her?

Líf never anticipated the effect her actions would have, actions that forever changed her life and the lives of her family. She and those she loves have been forced to flee Midgard, the world of mankind, and must seek answers elsewhere. Now they face relentless trials not only from an unforgiving environment, but also from the monstrous beings who dwell in the realms beyond their shores.

Can a single discovery defeat despair? An endless winter has buried the nine worlds in snow. Mutinous members of the dying village have abandoned their mission and stolen the last of the dwindling supplies. The few people that remain are left to freeze or starve in the merciless weather. They should have never left Midgard. In desperation, Líf’s family and friends venture into the bitter cold seeking any source of nourishment, any form of sustenance. But their prayers are unanswered; the gods remain silent. The truth confronting them is the rapid approach of their own demise.

The Twelve Tasks have been completed. The title of Djed, the prophesied savior of the universe, has been claimed. Such an auspicious role will require countless hours of careful study and weapons training, but for Katie, the fourteen-year-old Child of Earth, time has run out.