Sigils of Malice, by Rebecca E. Reyes

April Indie Book Spotlight

An Urban Science Fiction Fantasy Thriller!

It's 1913 in the Omeran Empire's Imperial Capital of Grace. The Clayton Enchanted Extravaganza arrives with the Mighty Beast Woman, a muscular acrobatic beast tamer named Thalia Clayton. Disappointingly, magical creatures are vanishing throughout the city, as are sorcerers of lower caste. Thalia cannot cast magic, so what does she have to fear?

Then the disappearances take away her beast, a fearsome calygreyhound named Frendo. As a result, Thalia loses her job in her uncle's circus. While she tries to find her beloved Frendo, Thalia's cousins are put in danger by whatever is stealing the arcane. Without magic of her own, she must work with questionable characters and learn dangerous secrets to protect everything she loves - putting her very life, soul, and freedom at risk on a violent adventure.

Excerpt

Soon it was her turn, and she was handed a leather bullwhip.

"Wasn't that the cutest thing you have ever seen?" John echoed. "Only the best-behaved children can even approach Biscuit. Now that all of your tension is gone, I bring you Thalia Clayton, THE MIGHTY BEAST WOMAN!"

John's scripted words for the show grated on Thalia. She was used to them, but she had no idea how the audience blindly took him at face value.

Thalia's lift started as she was raised into a smokey ring.

Continuing, John played up the crowd. "Some of you may have seen her earlier today when our micro dragon escaped due to those pesky weeds, but now she has a real fight on her hands!"

The spotlight kicked on, shining on her, and onto a rising platform holding Frendo in a cramped cage. Within his prison was a bloody deer carcass he was consuming, having painted his face a gruesome red.

"With that, I take my leave!" In a puff of dark smoke, John was gone, leaving Thalia and Frendo in the spotlights.

Thalia flicked her hand to signal to Frendo. He used his massive, clawed forearms to tear open the care. Without an arcane barrier to protect them, the crowd gasped. As another signal, but also to look like she was beckoning the beast to come to her, Thalia waved her arms towards her.

Frendo rushed on all fours at Thalia with a mighty roar, only to be met with Thalia's own fierce yell. The crowd cheered when Frendo stopped mere inches from her. He reared on his hind hooves. Thalia cracked the whip, being careful not to hit him, but to make an audible snap. Frendo feigned a cry of pain.

"Down!" Thalia demanded, and Frendo obeyed.

Thalia swung herself onto his back and ordered, "Up!"

The calygreyhound took to the air, causing the crowd to scream as Frendo made a lap over the audience while Thalia found her footing. From her new vantage point, she could see everything.

In the balconies were many noble dandies and patrons wearing the imperial seal, reminding her that she was in the Imperial Capital of Grace. While regular members of the Omeran Army had their own section in the front, Thalia was surprised to see uniforms of bright colors from Omera's Knighted Orders mixed in the nobility. Dryads who were not among the protesters, she assumed, had their own section in a darker corner, but the plant folk did not cheer. She wondered why they came.

Once she felt stable, Thalia cracked the whip in the air and Frendo lowered his altitude. Thalia took this time to do hand stands and various poses on his back. With another whip crack, Frendo went up and the crowd screamed as Thalia fell off. She swore she heard high pitched cheers from the dryads on her way down, but it was brief as Frendo caught her in the loop.

With a graceful landing near his cage, Thalia flipped herself off Frendo and bowed. While bowing, it looked like Frendo was about to rake her from behind with his talons, but Thalia dodged out of the way.

Cracking her whip several times, she ordered, "Back! Back! Back!" Frendo went back into his cage, and she slammed the useless door.

The audience loved it. The crowd cheered and threw flowers and ruby notes into the arena. As the platform descended, Thalia took one last look around and a deep breath.

About the Author

Rebecca is a fantasy and science fiction author, artist, mother, daydreamer, and she is unabashedly human.

As an author, Rebecca's greatest strength are her characters. From neighborly and chubby cactus dryads who offer supernatural bug facts, tiny unicorns with as much trauma as her humans, to beast taming acrobats, her Sigils series offers an amazing cast of weirdos trying to survive and fight for what's right. And that's only one set of her books!

Although Rebecca was born in Gunnison, Colorado, she spent most of her life in Florida, but she's finally come home and has settled at the edge of Colorado Springs where she can prep yearly for the stegosaurus holiday! Encouraging her to follow her passions it the most handsome nerd ever, her husband. Her son and elder sister are also major inspirations.