Daybreak (86 page)

Kael knew this. Still, he couldn’t help but look. When the hearth light brushed across Ryane’s eyes, there was a symbol carved into their middles — a pair of diamonds that wreathed the blacks in gold.

They were a whisperer’s eyes …

They were the eyes of a healer.

Well, this has been quite a journey for me, and I’m sad to have it end.

I want to begin by thanking everyone who made this series a possibility. Thank you to my wonderful beta-readers: Prudence, Fran Mason, and Ms. Carmichael. You guys see all the things I can’t, and I couldn’t have done it without you!

I also want to thank Miguel Coimbra, who did such an absolutely fantastic job on the new cover art. You truly brought the characters to life, and gave them a place to shine. Now the story begins before the first page has turned — and that’s a wonderful thing.

Thank you to my family, who has helped in every conceivable way: you read my roughest drafts, encouraged me, pushed me through the low points. You’ve lifted me up in more ways than I can count. Never once was I handed anything but love from you, and I will be forever grateful.

Thank you to my readers, who supported me not only in buying copies of the books, but through their kindness as well. It is a kindness I never expected — a kindness that seems to permeate the world. You brought these stories into your homes and made a place for the characters inside your hearts. If I've been able to make you smile or laugh, if I've lifted your spirits even once over the years, then make no mistake: these stories belong to you.

My own story is a relatively short one. 

Way back in 2010, I was a grad student working towards a business degree, and writing was nothing more than an escape from coursework. But somewhere along the way, I accidentally fell in love with it.

I wound up publishing
Harbinger
in 2012 at the age of 23 — with crossed fingers and a good deal of
misguided courage
. The last three years have taken me on a journey that I will forever cherish as the adventure of a lifetime. I am beyond grateful to have had the opportunity to earn a living doing something I love, and it's an opportunity
you
have given me.

I say all of that to say this: 

Some of you may have read these books and thought, "
Pshh
, I could do that!" And if you're one of those people, I want to be the first to tell you to
Go for it
. Don't hold off until you're "old enough" or have an MFA. Don't wait around for an agent to accept you.

We just happen to live in an age where anybody with a story to tell can share it with the world — and I consider it a golden age. For the first time in the history of storytelling, the writers will decide what is written, and the readers will decide what is read.

So to all of you aspiring authors out there, dust off that notebook and give it a try. There's never been a better time to write.

And to all of you who are readers, as requested, I'll leave you with this:

One thing I have learned throughout this journey is that my intentions as a writer are not nearly as important as my readers’ interpretations. Words can be written, words can be spoken. But, like any other wave of light or sound, unless they hit some sort of receptor, they might as well not have existed.

It’s in the hearing and in the reading that words take on their meaning — and there are as many meanings as there are ears to hear them, eyes to read them, minds to perceive them. It’s a mosaic that began at the first moment of imagination, and it continues on even now.

Your journey isn’t over, dear Reader. There are many characters you have yet to meet, countless worlds left to be explored — and explore them you must, for it’s the eyes upon the page that raise these worlds from the dust, the imagination of the reader that brings these characters to life. A book left unopened has no meaning at all. You make the story what it is.

So stride on, dear Reader. Stride on, and add your colors to the picture.

Aerilyn:
Merchant by class, and the only child of Garron the Shrewd. Her family is originally from the seas, but ran its trade out of the Grandforest. She is married to Captain Lysander and they are expecting their first child.

Amos:
A whisperer with the gift of healing, and the grandfather of Kael. He has served as Tinnark’s healer for as long as anyone can remember. Amos was captured by Earl Titus on the night Tinnark was sacked and has been held prisoner ever since. It’s been Kael’s quest to rally an army large enough to rescue him.

Argon the Seer:
A mage with the gift of Sight who is bound unwillingly in the service of the King.

Baird the Beggar-Baird:
An eccentric blind man who joins Kael on his travels. Despite his odd ways, Baird has quite a gift for words, and soon reveals himself to be a very powerful craftsman.

Banagher, King:
The King before Crevan. It was his attempt to force the whisperers into slavery that started the Whispering War.

Beastkeeper, the:
An enormous (and frankly, terrifying) servant of the King. He is in charge of the many shapechangers held in the dungeons beneath Midlan.

Berwyn:
The King of the wynns, and the wildmens’ mortal enemies.

Bimply, Mrs.:
Uncle Martin’s head cook — and consequently, his sworn enemy. She considers it her personal duty to keep the patriarch of Gravy Bay healthy … whether he likes it or not.

Bloodfang:
A halfwolf from the Grandforest, the alpha of his pack, and slave of King Crevan. Kyleigh lived with the Fang pack for as long as she could remember. When Bloodfang attacks him in Duke Reginald’s office, Kael has no choice but to kill him with an arrow to the heart — an act that has haunted him ever since.

Brend, Prince (Grainer):
One of the giants Kael shares a stall with while captured in the Endless Plains, and a son of clan Grainer. He’s a bit rough around the edges and has a rather mean sense of humor. Convinced he only had a case of the sniffles, he still doesn’t know that Kael saved him from becoming a Fallow. At the end of
Slight and Shadow
, it’s revealed that Brend is actually the long-lost Prince of the giants — and he owes Kael a favor for rescuing his region. Brend has agreed to fight alongside Kael the moment he asks.

Brock:
The head elder of Tinnark. He’s killed on the night Earl Titus sacks the village.

Callan, General (Horseman):
A giant of the plains, Declan’s father, and the Prince’s previous General. He led the giants bravely against the rebel whisperers during the Whispering War, and it is assumed he died while trying (unsuccessfully) to keep Titus out of the plains.

Chaney:
A boy from the Grandforest and the elder brother of Claude. He travels with Garron’s caravan.

Chaucer:
A merchant who serves as one of Duke Reginald’s managers. After Captain Lysander tampers with the votes, Chaucer is cheated out of the position of chancellor of the High Seas. However, he’s finally voted in as chancellor at the end of
Slight and Shadow
and has been causing all sorts of trouble for the pirates.

Clairy (Grainer):
Prince Brend’s little sister, and described as
a rather stunning giantess
. She was an infant when Titus captured the plains and has lived her whole life imprisoned within Lord Gilderick’s kitchens. Jonathan the Fiddler falls in love with her on sight — and loves her even more when she asks him to help pull a prank on the kitchen witch.

Claude:
A boy from the Grandforest and the younger brother of Chaney. He also travels with Garron’s caravan.

Colderoy:
Another of Duke Reginald’s managers. Colderoy is made chancellor at the end of
Harbinger
when Captain Lysander tampers with the votes. But he is voted out of office after Duke Reginald is murdered on his watch, and Chaucer takes his place.

Crevan, King:
The Kingdom’s current ruler. He has murdered the whisperers, declared whispering illegal, and hunts the Dragongirl as his last remaining enemy. He was strangely quiet throughout
Slight and Shadow
and has made no move to right the overthrow of his rulers. With the gates of Midlan sealed so tightly shut, many people have begun to wonder if perhaps he’s gone mad.

Dante (Horseman):
A giant of the Endless Plains, General Callan’s youngest son, and Declan’s little brother. His oldest brother, Dred, murders him as a child and uses his blood to buy his way into Lord Gilderick’s army.

Darrah:
A giantess who was forced to become a part of Lord Gilderick’s plan to breed a new army of giants. She is severely pregnant in
Slight and Shadow
, and only just manages to make it out of the kitchen tower when Kael uses his whispering ability to block the fall of the gate. It is hinted at that Prince Brend has always had a soft spot for Darrah — and consequently, she’s one of the few people he’ll listen to.
 

Declan (Horseman):
A giant of the plains, the scowling friend of Prince Brend, and middle son of General Callan. Described as being the smallest giant Kael has ever seen, Declan makes up for his size with the ferocity of his strength: he is a berserker, one of the
battlemad
, and is capable of amazing feats while infuriated. Brend makes him General at the end of
Slight and Shadow
.

Devin:
A young man found imprisoned within a secret courtyard in the heart of Midlan. It’s soon discovered that Devin is one of the
draega
: an ancient race of men and women possessive of a dark and terrible magic. Though his ancestors once ruled the Wildlands, the Kings stole their throne ages ago. Now Devin finds himself captured by the King, and dragged to the Braided Tree … where the source of the draegas’ magic is revealed.

D'Mere, Countess:
Ruler of the Grandforest, and considered by all to be a flawless beauty … but there’s danger in her icy gaze. She’s forged some sort of alliance with the other rulers — one designed, we can only assume, to seize the throne from King Crevan. D’Mere was the one who set her servant, Elena, to murder Duke Reginald in
Slight and Shadow
. After all, she doesn’t want any loose ends.

Dred, General (Horseman):
A giant of the plains, the eldest son of Callan, and Lord Gilderick’s General. He murders his own little brother, Dante, in order to buy his way into Gilderick’s army. He’s killed by his middle brother, Declan, at the end of
Slight and Shadow
.

Elena:
An assassin from the Grandforest who is revealed to be a whisperer with the gift of war. She’s described as a pretty young forest woman with a rather menacing scowl and wields her twin daggers, Slight and Shadow, with deadly efficiency. She served Countess D’Mere for an unknown number of years before a battle with one of her fellow assassins (Holthan) forces her to go off on her own. She heads out to slay the Dragongirl, learns of the Countess’s betrayal, and instead becomes something like uneasy friends with Kyleigh and company. She sets off on her own at the end of
Slight and Shadow
— determined to live in peace.

Eveningwing:
A young halfhawk bound in service to the King. He serves as both a messenger and spy. He swears vengeance on the man who murdered Bloodfang, and so Argon the Seer sends him to the Endless Plains. After a brief scuffle, Kael frees him — and Eveningwing repays his kindness by helping him rescue the giants.

Finks (Fields):
One of Lord Gilderick’s mages and the head of Westbarn — the barn in which Kael is imprisoned in
Slight and Shadow
. One of his spelled traps blows Thelred’s leg off, and Kael kills him quickly afterwards by charging through his traps and driving a dagger into his chest.

Garron the Shrewd:
A well-known merchant from the Grandforest and the father of Aerilyn. According to Captain Lysander, Garron also captained the ship
Avarice
during the Whispering War — which he then gifted to the pirates (they renamed it
Anchorgloam
). He was killed by wolf monsters in Bartholomew’s Pass.

Geist:
An unremarkable man with an odd set of talents. He teaches Kael a good deal about how to blend in, don disguises, and imitate voices in
Harbinger
. Geist was noticeably absent in
Slight and Shadow
… or was he?

Gilderick the Gruesome, Lord:
The ruler of the Endless Plains, and it seems as if everyone goes out of their way to avoid his unsettling gaze. It is revealed that Gilderick is a whisperer with the gift of healing. His experiments on the giants turned some of them into Fallows: lifeless husks of men that live only to do his will. He mind-walks into Kael’s Inner Sanctum at the end of
Slight and Shadow
— where Kael drowns him in the icy water of his own fear. But Gilderick is able to escape into the desert with the help of his Fallows …

Griffith:
One of the wildmen and the younger brother of Thane Gwen. He is a young warrior with a surprising amount of strength, but manages his power with patience and a level head. A wound from his childhood has left him with a scrambled mind: a curse that only his stone-ice marble seems able to soothe.

Gwen, Thane:
One of the wildmen and the elder sister of Griffith. She is a powerful warrior with a rather fiery temper, and a stubborn will that no one but Kael seems able to contend with. Despite her faults, she cares deeply for her people — and ultimately lays down her pride in order to have their honor restored.

Hessa, Dawn/Grandmot:
A little girl with the gift of Sight who’s served as the mots’ Dawn for many years, until the death of their wicked leader earns her the title
Grandmot
. She was raised as Nadine’s ward for most of her life.

Holthan:
One of Countess D’Mere’s assassins and a whisperer with the gift of war. He used his superior strength against Elena for an unknown number of years. Kael kills him when he knocks Holthan’s sword into the air and throws him beneath its falling path — effectively skewering him in the dirt of the cornfields.