Fantasy/Romance
Date Published: 9/04/2017
When her parents were murdered eleven years ago, leaving her
physically scarred during the event, dragon shifter Astri never learned the
identity of their killer. That is until he appears to her in a nightmare.
The powerful Duke Jorgen not only rules the city of Rivenna
where she lives, he is also responsible for her parents’ death and for the
disability she’s had to bear most of her life. When the chance arises for her
to compete to become Duke’s assistant, she realises this is her opportunity for
revenge.
But everything in Astri’s world comes with a price. Can she
overcome her disability and make Duke pay?
Excerpt:
“Hey, Astri, you lazy arse … wake up … wake up!”
“Ouch, Lenin, what the hell is your problem?” I hiss,
massaging my arm. My Welsh Pixie just pinched me really hard while I was
dreaming about having my own apartment. I usually never have this kind of dream,
but it’s good to have a break once in a while.
Now he’s flying around, screaming and banging a miniature
spoon into a pot, probably because he likes annoying me. “I’m up now, so stop
making all that racket and let me get ready.”
“I don’t want to. It’s my new morning routine. I read it in
one of your magazines. It’s supposed to set me up for the day ahead,” Lenin
says flying closer to my ear. “Jetli thinks the noise scares demons away.”
I glance at Jetli, who’s pretending she doesn’t see me, and
I can’t help but smile. Of course it was her idea; she just likes seeing me
suffer in the morning.
It’s been years since I adopted Lenin and Jetli. It was
during one of my hunts in the Black Forest. I found them cold and scared under
a tree. Neither of them could remember who they were or how they got to the
outskirts of Rivenna. They knew their names, but that was about it. In the
past, I’d read a little bit about Welsh Pixies and I knew humans weren’t able
to see them, so I decided to take them home with me. It was pretty clear from
the beginning, those two were quite the characters. They kept me company, they
made me laugh, but unfortunately, they never regained their memory.
“There's no demons and I have a headache, so give it a
rest, will you?” I ask, dragging myself off the bed. It’s freezing in this
stupid basement. The days in the city are humid, but at night the temperature
may drop to below zero Celsius. My uncle won’t allow me to turn the heating on;
he thinks keeping me warm is a waste of money.
I’m supposed to be
at work by eight in the morning, so I still have a bit of time to waste. When I
start putting my clothes on, the face from my nightmare flashes in front of my
eyes again.
The Duke of Rivenna,
Jorgen III. I still can’t quite believe he’s the one responsible for everything
that went wrong in my life. His image must have been inside my subconscious for
years, but only now I’ve managed to retain his face in my memory after waking
from my nightmare.
Since I started living with my aunt and uncle I’ve had
these odd dreams reflecting both the past and future. I was shopping with my
aunt when I experienced it for the first time. It was Sunday and my uncle was
away on business. Beatrice didn’t want to leave me alone in the house, so she
begrudgingly took me with her. It was one of those rare occasions when I
finally had a chance to go shopping with her. She was in Madame Belini’s
Boutique, discussing the alteration of a dress she was going to wear for a very
important party at some politician’s house the following week. We were just
about to walk out when I suddenly pulled her bag, as a dream from the night
before flashed in front of my eyes.
I saw her being robbed on the street, just outside Madame
Belini’s Boutique by some random human man who wanted money for drugs. He was
tall and very boney with rotten teeth and dirty, torn clothing. In the dream, I
saw him ripping my aunt’s bag–her stuff went flying everywhere, pushing her
onto the pavement, then running away as fast as he could. She wailed and
screamed until people stopped to help her and the police arrived.
“What are you doing, child? I don’t have time for your
nonsense,” she shouted when I tried to delay her in the boutique for as long as
possible.
“But aunt, there’s a man waiting for us. We can’t leave
yet. We should wait in here until he disappears–until it’s safe,” I mumbled not
understanding what was going on or why my instinct told me to wait. I couldn’t
tell my aunt I saw her being robbed in some random dream–she would never
believe me.
“Astri, you stupid girl. We’re already running late. Let go
of my bag or I’ll lock you in the basement when we get back to the house,” she
warned, through gritted teeth.
She smacked my hand when I didn’t let go of her and
literally dragged me outside. Seconds later, the man sped past us and snatched
her bag. It was exactly as it happened in my dream; my aunt’s scream could’ve
been heard up and down the entire street.
All of a sudden, I feel someone pulling my pyjamas and I
glance down, noticing Jetli. Lenin’s sister is mute. I have no idea if she
could talk before or not, but she hasn’t said a word since the day I found her
and Lenin in the forest. Her bright, blue eyes are asking me what’s wrong.
The Pixie brings me back to the reality that’s my life–living
in this cold, dreadful, basement, and the memories about that incident quickly
fade away.
“Nothing, hon, it’s nothing. I need to get myself ready,” I
tell her, knowing this is only one of my many lies.
They’re like miniature, little children, except they have
pointed ears. I’ve tried to find out where they’re from, but the books are
pretty generic. Their wings are beautifully translucent, sprinkled with golden
pixie dust as they flutter about and their bodies are so tiny they fit into the
palm of my hand.
Lenin and Jetli are rude and mischievous. I’ve tried
teaching them manners, but they just don’t seem to get that farting in front of
humans or shifters is so very inappropriate.
“So what are we
going to do today, Astri?” Lenin asks, flying around me while I try to find
something decent to wear. I live with my aunt and uncle who are both humans.
They raised me after my parents died because my other family wanted
nothing to do with me. “I’ve been thinking, you know… How about I pour vinegar
into Richard’s tea? Can you imagine his face when he spits the whole thing out
all over the kitchen in front of your aunt?”
I point my finger toward Lenin, trying not to laugh while
attempting to look angry that he’s even considering something so mischievous.
Jetli thinks it’s hilarious. She’s already rolling on the
floor, holding her tiny belly.
Oh yes, those two love annoying humans in general. My aunt
and uncle especially. We all live in a huge detached house in a very nice human
neighbourhood.
“I’m going to get in the shower, Lenin, and if you behave
then we'll do something exciting today,” I say.
I have to walk through the main part of the house to get to
the bathroom.
The basement’s often used as storage, and I’ve had to adapt
to the fact that there’s not much space to move around down here. The basement’s
where my aunt and uncle moved me after my nightmares became too much for them–I
was an embarrassment. They needed to remind me I was never meant to be part of their
family.
Richard and Beatrice had no children of their own. They
never showed me any warmth or affection. I just had to be quiet and
pretend as if I was never there, then things remained under control.
I manage to sneak into the bathroom without bumping into
anyone in the hallway, which is a hell of a relief. I switch the shower on and
for a long moment I stare at my scarred face in the mirror. My pale skin on the
left cheek is completely deformed, and it looks disgusting. I always knew I was
hit with a blow-back spell—the scar runs all the way down to my
neck, creating a perfect balance between ugly and disturbing. I can’t stand
staring at it.
I’m a full-blooded
dragon shifter from the Wyvern’s clan, yet the creature inside me turned
against its own kind due to powerful magical forces beyond my control. I haven’t
found a way to get rid of the scar. Spells, potions and formulas aren’t working
and I don’t know if anything ever will.
The mage managed to manipulate my magic and turn it against
me; now I know his identity. It’s still a bit of shock.
I step into the shower and ten minutes later I’m running
back to the basement, contemplating my revenge.
“Watch where you’re going, Astri. You nearly made me spill
my coffee!” snarls the unpleasant voice belonging to my Uncle Richard. He’s a
tall man, over six feet, broad with a huge stomach and ugly, thick moustache.
He’s dressed in a grey suit and a boring, black tie. His eyes rove over my face
and he instantly cringes. The scar—my aunt and uncle hate I don’t look like everyone
else. They think I’m a freak of nature, someone who should be kept in a cage.
“Sorry, Uncle,” I mutter under my breath. For now, I have
to obey their rules because I’m forced to live under their roof.
“What time are you going to be home today?” he asks, when I
try to walk past him. The water’s dripping down my body, onto the floor and I’m
shivering with cold chills. I wish I’d dressed in the bathroom, then this whole
meeting could’ve been avoided.
“Same time. Around eight,” I respond.
“All right, just use the back entrance. We have guests
tonight and it’s better if they don’t see you,” Richard says, reminding me no
one in his firm knows I’m part of their prestigious family.
This is how it is
and I should be used to it by now.
“Oh, and remember, Astri, the next loan instalment is due
tonight. I hope you have the right amount this time,” he reminds me, just
before I’m about to disappear on the stairway leading back to my basement.
“Yes, it’s all there. Don’t worry, Uncle,” I mutter, wishing
I could be someone else, at least for a day, but that’s impossible. Astri, one
of the last Wyvern shifters, has to work in order to repay a debt to her human
family. As my uncle says: school, hospital bills and food don’t come cheap.
“Don’t
worry, Astri, I just farted in his face, and with my spell, he’ll be smelling
it for the rest of the day,” Lenin giggles when I’m back in the basement. He
must have flown over when he heard I bumped into my uncle in the corridor. I
smile to myself, no longer feeling depressed, because I know Lenin’s always
going to have my back.
My Review:
A young Wyvern dragon shifter lives in the basement of the
home of her human aunt and uncle who took her in when her mother and father
were murdered when she was only eleven years old. They put her in the basement
after she started keeping them awake with the nightmares she has of the murder
of her parents.
Astri’s aunt and uncle are cruel to her. They treat her as
if she is a servant and not family. Astri was injured by the killer and left
scarred so her aunt and uncle didn’t want people to know that they were kin to
her. They were always verbally abusive to her and they made her clean their
house as if she was a servant. Astri works in a shop for a witch and when she
is paid she comes home and gives her check to her aunt and uncle to pay for her
hospital bills all those years ago. Astri and her little pixie friends thinks
she has paid the debt over and over but aunt and uncle says that it will never
be paid.
Astri believes that her nightmares are visions that tell her
who is responsible for the death of her parents and she has made herself a
promise that she will make the person responsible for their deaths pay.
When Astri hears that the Duke is looking for an assistant and
that there will be a contest to determine who will get the job she decides to
enter. If she can become the Duke’s assistant it will put her in close proximity
of the killer and she can make them pay. Astri will have a lot of obstacle to
get through to win the contest. With being the only woman she will have to
fight harder because men do not like being beaten by a woman.
There was this one guy Sebastian who was also fighting to be
the Duke’s assistant who would make me so mad with the things he did to Astri
to win with his mean, terrible and cheating ways. Her aunt and uncle would make
me mad too. I wanted to reach in the book and give them all a good shake.
I loved Lenin and Jetli. I loved how Lenin wanted to help
Astri out and the way he would help her. Oh did I say I loved Lenin? Lenin and
his little pixie self, so cute. I can’t wait to read more of Lenin and Jetli
and Astri as well as Duke Jorgen. I would recommend Wyvern Awakening to anyone
who loves a good book or who just loves reading about dragons and pixies of
course.
About the Author:
Joanna Mazurkiewicz was born in Poland. She moved to United
Kingdom when she was only nineteen and just finished high school. She had
aspired to be a writer upon completion of the Harry Potter series but also
enjoyed reading books like 'Gone with the Wind', 'Animal Farm' and 'The doll'.
She graduated from Swansea University with a bachelor degree in American
Studies. While studying in the UK she made a decision to start writing fiction
in English.
The "Whispers of the Sprite" is her first debut
novel and she is currently working on the second book in the series. Joanna
lives in Cowbridge, a small town in South Wales near Cardiff with her boyfriend
Bruce. She enjoys cycling around Welsh countryside some of which has become the
settings in her first series.
Sign up for the author's New Releases mailing list and get
free ebook of your choice! → http://jmazurkiewiczauthor.com
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