Warlord Reunited, the fourth standalone story in the Chamele Barbarian Warlords series, is releasing on February 18th.
As we wait for Warlord Reunited to release, I thought I’d share the first chapter. This week I’m sharing the first scene of that first chapter.
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Chapter One
A Chamele warrior couldn’t live without his gerel.
Berke had proven that ‘fact’ to be false. He was living without her. It was torturous, more painful than a deep stomach wound. But he had survived the separation.
He would continue to tolerate it until the last threat to his female was dead.
“We have to find Tolui. Now.” He crossed his arms in front of his chest, his frustration and impatience hidden under a countenance as icy as the planet he ruled.
They were running out of time to deal with the would-be Warlord.
A chill gripped Berke. Knowing his Ellie, she was already contemplating traveling to Chamele to retrieve her bounty hunters, the two females his brothers had claimed as their gerels.
If he and his warriors failed to find their sole remaining enemy before she arrived, his little bounty hunter, the holder of his heart, would be placed in peril. All his sacrifices, all of the time spent in agonizing solitude, would have been for nothing.
“And how do you propose we find Tolui?” Murad, the youngest of his two brothers and a fellow Warlord, lifted his eyebrows. His image, along with their brother Khan’s, was displayed on a wall viewscreen in Berke’s private chambers. “He and his clones have eluded every trap we’ve set for him. His ships are indistinguishable from ours.”
“They were our ships.” Khan was the most battle-ready of his brothers and the Warlord of the lushest planet in the system. “That’s why they’re indistinguishable. The dishonorable male stole those ships from us.”
“We were sloppy.” Murad’s lips flattened. One of the ships had been his private vessel. “It won’t happen again.”
“I agree. It won’t happen again. Once Tolui is dead, the thefts will stop.” Berke didn’t care about the ships. His sole concern was protecting the one being he loved most in the universe.
That had been his top priority since the first moment he saw his Ellie, his gerel, the only being who could thaw the frost inside him and heat his soul.
His brothers had never met her.
They must have realized he’d found his female. His scent had changed after he bonded with her. That happened with all Chamele warriors once they claimed their gerel, the one being they were destined to find.
But his brothers might have believed the rumors about her having died. They weren’t aware that she was very much alive, was the reason he was driven to hunt down their rivals and end the Succession Wars.
“When we find Tolui, we’ll find our ships.” If that was the incentive his brothers needed, he would supply it.
“We could ground our warriors and shoot any remaining ships out of the skies.” Khan had offered that option in the past.
It remained unacceptable. The risk they could kill the one being Berke couldn’t live without was too great. His Ellie was…unpredictable. He couldn’t foresee when she might arrive and where she might go.
“At sunrise, we’ll employ all our fleets and all our warriors, both active and inactive. We’ll gather every being we can spare and canvass Chamele, searching every planet, every square of terrain, every section of space.” Berke shared his plan with his brothers. “We’ll locate Tolui and we’ll kill him.”
“He could surrender.” Murad glanced off-viewscreen. His expression softened.
Both of his brothers foolishly kept their gerels close to them.
Berke’s lips twisted. He cared for his Ellie too much to do that. “If Tolui surrenders and pledges loyalty to us, he will live.”
The would-be Warlord would be given the same choice they had offered to all of their rivals during the long and bloody Succession Wars. If he surrendered, he would be watched by some of their warriors for the rest of his lifespan.
Berke didn’t trust the rogue Chamele to keep his word.
“We’re in the midst of the harvest.” His youngest brother’s planet supplied much of the nourishment for the sector. “If we wait ten more planet rotations, I can spare more warriors for the search.”
Berke couldn’t wait that long…because his Ellie wouldn’t delay her voyage. She might have already left her bounty hunter academy. Excitement edged with fear rushed through his form.
“The search for Tolui is happening at sunrise.” He wouldn’t move on that timing.
Murad narrowed his eyes at him. “A postponement of ten planet rotations won’t make a difference to you and your search.”
A postponement of ten planet rotations could kill his gerel. Berke folded his fingers into tight fists. “We stick to the plan.”
His youngest brother opened his mouth.
“Sunrise is optimal.” Khan surprised Berke by defending his timeline. “This is a battle, and in battle, we strike hard and fast.” He extended his claws and jabbed the air in front of him. “It will give Tolui less time to prepare should one of our warriors betray us and inform him of our plans.”
They had all been deceived by beings close to them, had learned to be wary.
“Then we search at sunrise.” Murad blew out his breath, his youngest brother conceding defeat.
“We’ll communicate after the rest cycle.” Berke nodded, satisfied with that decision.
He ended the transmission. The images of his brothers faded.
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Read the next scene (available January 27th) here:
http://tasteofcyn.com/?p=7060
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Warlord Reunited
This barbarian warrior’s cold demeanor hides the warmest of hearts.
* * *
Solar cycles ago, Berke, a savage Chamele Warlord, found his gerel, the one being he is destined to be with for all time…except he couldn’t embrace that fate. He was fighting a series of brutal wars.
To protect his little human female, he conveyed her far from the Chamele sector. He then returned to the endless battles, concealing his pain, his anguish, his need, under a thick layer of ice.
His gerel was safe. That was all that mattered to him.
When Elle was a young bounty hunter, she bonded with an arrogant warrior on a distant planet. She was deliriously happy…for a while. Then he dumped her in a strange settlement far from his home and left, never to return.
Their parting caused her excruciating pain—both physical and emotional. She endured it, earned the esteemed role of head bounty hunter of an academy, salvaged a bit of a life from the disaster her primitive warrior had made of it.
Now, two of her bounty hunters have made the same terrible mistake. Elle is determined to rescue her friends and break their connections with their Chamele Warlords.
While she is in the sector, she plans to kill the warrior she’d once considered hers. Elle is ending her relationship with Berke…permanently.
* * *
Warlord Reunited is based on a much shorter story sharing the same title.
It is a STANDALONE Alien Barbarian SciFi Romance featuring a warrior hero and a take-charge heroine set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.
Pre-order Now:
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082RM76RF
Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B082RM76RF
Apple/iTunes:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/warlord-reunited/id1491702046
B&N:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/warlord-reunited-cynthia-sax/1116110455
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/warlord-reunited-1
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/995680
