Fire of the Forebears

Primary Genre: Fantasy

Word Count: 170,000

Description and Details:

.
Fires of hope reflect in bared fangs and sharpened steel.

***Hey everybody, I know this might be a long shot with my wordcount, but I just learned about this app on Jenna Moreci's channel and I'm so excited to find a new group of beta readers! What I think I'm offering is a story ready to start the self-publishing process. I'd love any and all feedback, and especially your thoughts from a reader's perspective.***

Kura’s family awaits the return of a prophesied savior, but she believes in surer things: the sword in her hand, and her role as a secret rebel informant. A deserter’s daughter, she’s spent her life on the lam, fighting to survive in the Wynshire Waste—a desolate forest renounced by human civilization and overrun with talking animals. She sees the king’s demise as their means to safer territories, until soldiers catch wind of her sedition and condemn her family to death.

Triston, crown prince, is a loyal soldier under his king’s command—an onerous job. The people have never been content with his father’s regime, and the ongoing draft furthers their resentment. Seeking to quell unrest, Triston joins his mentor on an expedition to rid the Waste of its derelict refugees and end the rebellion for good. He intends only to arrest and prosecute, but this attempt at compromise still leads to bloodshed, that of his men.

To save her family, Kura crosses and befriends centaurs, rebel factions, and devotees of ancient, elemental magic—as, thanks to her stolen sword, they mistake her for that prophesied savior. Triston dutifully pursues Kura, the rebel who escaped him, but remains lost between his father’s guidance and his mentor’s advice. To follow one is to deny the other, and both require he betray himself. As their paths collide, Kura struggles with whether she should live a lie and fulfill a prophecy she doesn’t believe in, while Triston strives to prevent a war where both sides hold his sympathies—and want his head.