My fantasy trilogy, SAGE (The Fall of Onagros, Bargain With Fate, and Silver and Iron) are now available in new editions through Three Fates Press. Many thanks to my business partners, T. Lee Harris and Amanda Rotach Huntley, for making it happen. [Update: Now with Per Bastet Publications.]

Here’s a copy of the new cover of book 1.And here’s a li’l snippet. Brady and Elsie are on the road.

The Fall of Onagros, Book 1 of SAGE – excerpt
by Marian Allen

When they stopped for lunch they took off their boots, rolled up their
leggings, and waded in the shallows.

“Aahh! that’s good….” Brady sighed as he plopped his feet into the
water. The river was narrow here, and swift; even in the shallows, the cur-
rent was fast. Miniature breakers tinkled against the banks, and miniature
waterfalls poured over shelves a child could climb. Brady sat on a shelf the
water didn’t reach and let the current play about his ankles.

“Why don’t you make use of your one talent and catch us a fish?”
Elsie asked. “You could turn into a bear and knock one onto the bank.”

“I could turn into a bear and knock you onto the bank. Listen, you
silly twit: I change my shape, not my nature. Brady the bear could no more
catch a fish unaided than Brady the man. That takes instinct, or practice,
anyway. If you want a fish, why don’t you spear one with your sharp tongue?
That’s your one talent.”

Elsie sloshed around a spit where Brady couldn’t see her and surrep-
titiously tried to catch a fish barehanded.

Brady propped himself against a twisted tree. He took out his bird’s-
tail pipes and pulled a gentle tune. As the sun warmed him, his playing
ceased and he closed his eyes. He breathed deeply and tried to identify
smells. Old dead fish, of course. Drying mud. Himself. Something minty….

He drowsed.

Something buzzed nearby – a bee or a hummingbird. The humming
grew louder, and modulated into an old Kozabirian folk tune. Brady opened
his eyes and saw the reflection of a woman rippling on the surface of the
river.

Her hair was roan red. It was pulled back and showed itself as a large
soft bun behind her neck. Her face was broad at the brow and narrow at
the chin. She wore a short-sleeved white chemise and was draped in an
embroidered linen palla, a rectangular shawl worn by Kozabirian women.
Her lips parted in a tender smile, the tenderness reflected in her dark blue
eyes.

“Careful,” she said. “Don’t fall in.”

Brady’s first thought was that Elsie had been carrying these clothes
with her and had changed into them to be cooler. The smile, he took as
mockery.

“And just how far do you expect to walk, dressed like that?” he shouted.

Elsie sloshed back into view, hotter and more vexed than ever from
her vain pursuit.

“I don’t expect to walk any distance dressed like this. I’ll be dry and
have my boots on before you’re ready to move, you lump.”

Seeing Elsie, Brady leapt up and scrambled onto the verge of the
road, leaving his pipes teetering on the edge of his rocky seat.

There was no one. Nothing.

“I thought I saw someone. A woman. She was beautiful. She smiled at me.”

“You were dreaming.”

“I must have been: She was beautiful, and I still thought it was you.”

~*~

Here are the new links for the paperback and Kindle versions of the books.

The Fall of Onagros: Sage: Book One (Volume 1)
paper
Kindle

Bargain With Fate: Sage: Book Two (Volume 2)
paper
Kindle

Silver and Iron: Sage: Book Three (Volume 3)
paper
Kindle

Makes a great gift, too! 😉

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: If you were traveling or camping, and you could turn yourself into any animal, what would it be?

MA