The druids once healed kings, called storms with song, and bound the land to the stars. Now they are scattered to ash, their circles destroyed, their names erased. And among the ruins walks one they thought silenced.
Branded a traitor and left for dead, Thaleia, the Burned Druid, carries fire not just in scar and soul but in memory. Exiled for speaking truths the Crown would rather bury, she retreats into solitude, her magic fading into moss and silence until the mist returns.
The island stirs, a myth reborn, veiled in sea brine, blood, and a language older than gods. As dreams blur with prophecy, Thaleia finds herself haunted by visions of Raithe, the long-lost husband swallowed by legend, and drawn again into the web of Elric, the former ally who betrayed her and wears the same cursed sigil she does.
The Codex, a sentient force of forgotten lore, has chosen again. But to claim its power is to bleed for it, to be rewritten by it. And to walk the trials of the Grove is to face not monsters but memory, merciless, sacred, and sharp as steel.
Thaleia must endure rites etched in bone, relive betrayals that scorched entire bloodlines, and confront a terrible truth that shattered history. Within her burns is the last key to what the island once was and the seed of what it must become.
This is not just a reckoning. This is the return of the land's fury, and the land does not forget.
Tandino, Athinia: -
I was born in Canon City, Colorado, to Irish/Scottish parents, grew up in Canon City and Texas, now living in Florida for the last eleven years. My first book, "Arkadia a Druid's Tale," was published on March 1st, 2010. I love to write since I was 14 years of age but never thought myself good enough. When I met a man that encouraged me to fulfill my dreams at the age of 32 and still encourages me to move forward with my new works of art. Now I have the sequel to Arkadia and two others published. I hope you all will enjoy them.
When I'm asked if I write about myself, I have to sit back and try not to laugh. I was told that since my characters carry my pen name that my readers think it is about me.
The truth is, I write under my characters' name since she is the one who is really writing the book. I'm just her instrument of use. The one that allows her to write through me. Now you might think I'm crazy, but I can assure you, I'm just as sane as everyone else. I don't want people to know my real name. Those who do already think I have lost my ever-loving mind.
My family seems to think I should write successful conclusions, where the hero or heroine lives happily ever after. Yet that is not me. I want to write about good/evil, happiness/devastation. I want it where my readers are crying with the characters when they are happy or sad. I want them to want to do murder when the bad guy is out to harm another. I want my readers to cheer when the characters finally have a happy time and things have gone their way.
That is who I am. The kind of writer I want to be. So yes I hide behind my main character. I use her to keep me safe.
