RANGER OF THE TITAN WILDS
ABOUT THE SERIES
Ranger of the Titan Wilds is an epic fantasy tale full of friendship, magic, resilience, vengeance, and wonder. Enter a land trembling with a legacy of war, where rebellion simmers and giant beings known as titans terrorize the land. On this perilous frontier, only the rangers can keep the commonfolk safe.
But when tragedy claims the protectors themselves, the last ranger embarks on a quest for justice, only to unravel a plot with even greater stakes.
THE WORLD
The series is set in a place called the Veiled Lands, a recently colonized continent that remain wild and dangerous. It boasts fearsome beasts called titans — giant elementals that take the shape of creatures such as hawks, elephants, and dragons. A single titan has the potential to level an entire village, should it be unfortunate enough to lie in its path.
The rangers were established to surveil the Titan Wilds, the farthest reaches of the Veiled Lands, and keep watch for infringing titans. But titans are not the only menace to be found. There are also the mysterious beings known as dryvans, shapeshifters that incorporate plants and animals into their bodies.
The greatest threat, however, may come from humans. The indigenous people known as the Gasts did not easily yield their land to the invading colonists and occasionally send war parties into the colonies of the Veiled Lands. Making matters worse, the colonies have long had tensions with the Ancestral Lands that established them.
A ranger must be skilled and cautious if they are to survive long in this untamed wilderness. But even then, tragedy can claim the most resilient warriors.
THE PROTAGONIST
LEIYN OF ORILLE
Leiyn is one of the rangers of the Titan Wilds. Though still young, she has already acquired the name "Firebrand," and not only for her auburn tress. She can hit a knot with a longbow at fifty paces, and her skill with her knives is nearly unparalleled at the rangers' lodge.
Yet for all her martial skill, her most potent weapon remains her long-denied magic. Acquired at birth when her mother gave her life for hers, Leiyn has always blamed the shaman involved and inherited her father's bias toward Gasts. Both because of the magic's origin and the laws that seek to control sorcery, Leiyn has hidden her gift and seen it as a curse.
To survive the coming days and claim justice for her fallen comrades, Leiyn will have to reconcile with her past and herself. If she can, she may gain power over her world, and even over life and death.
ABOUT THE BOOKS
THE LAST RANGER
BOOK 1
Betrayed. Hunted. Left for dead. But not even death itself can keep the last ranger from vengeance.
Leiyn “Firebrand” is no stranger to a fight. A brash ranger of the Titan Wilds, she takes up her bow to ward against the colossal spirit creatures known as titans, ever a threat to the colonies she has sworn to protect.
But no amount of skill can guard against treachery.
When tragedy strikes the rangers’ lodge, Leiyn vows to avenge the fallen. But if she is to succeed, she must embrace a power within her she has long denied.
Power to move mountains and rivers.
Power over life and death.
She did not choose this path, but Leiyn knows her duty. For if she fails, the legacy of the rangers dies with her — and all the Titan Wilds will fall into shadow.
The Last Ranger is an epic fantasy tale full of friendship, magic, resilience, vengeance, and wonder. If you enjoy archery, fantasy rangers, and small party adventures, then start a new journey with the first book in the Ranger of the Titan Wilds series.
Scroll below to read an excerpt.
THE FIRST ANCESTOR
BOOK 2
She avenged the fallen. Rebelled against an empire. Commanded a titan itself. Now Leiyn must win a war against death incarnate.
Oathbound to a deceased shaman, the ranger Leiyn ventures north with her comrades to fight alongside the Gasts in their ancestral war.
But this enemy is like none other Leiyn has faced. Ancient and malevolent, the very world bends to their dominion.
To overcome them, she seeks to rediscover a secret lost to time. A magic that even dryvans fear.
The true power of titans.
Leiyn must prevail, for the Gasts’ war reaches far beyond the Veiled Lands. Should she falter now, the Gast nation shall fall, and all of Unera will soon follow.
The First Ancestor is the second book in the Ranger of the Titan Wilds series. Continue the tale of adventure, wonder, friendship, and magic in this next installment today.
THE HIDDEN GUARDIAN
BOOK 3
She slew a devil. Held a titan's power. Defied ancient and formidable foes. Yet the greater war remains—and it will rob Leiyn of all she loves.
Returning to her homeland from beyond the mountains, the ranger Leiyn goes to defend Baltesia during its war of secession.
But the Ilberian Union refuses to relinquish its old colony. With the greatest fleet in the world and a host of odiosas at its disposal, a shadowy accomplice further augments the Union's power. The dangers to Leiyn and her comrades are greater than ever before.
To survive, Leiyn will have to rely on more than her magic. She must find allies who possess secret knowledge beyond anything she's imagined.
Allies even lyshans fear.
Baltesia's fight is not for its freedom alone—it is the next front in the war for the world. To protect her country and loved ones, Leiyn must defeat the Union, here and now.
But no battle is won without sacrifice.
The Hidden Guardian is the third book in the Ranger of the Titan Wilds series. Continue the tale of war, found family, heartbreak, and sorcery in this next installment today.
RANGER’S JUSTICE
PREQUEL
A ranger never rests till she claims justice.
Leiyn, a ranger of the perilous Titan Wilds, has recently earned her cloak. After seven years of training, she’s finally recognized as a fully inducted member of the Lodge.
But her fellow rangers don't call her “Firebrand” for nothing.
When she and her mentor follow a suspicious trail to a precarious situation, Leiyn will show just how far she’s willing to go to uphold her duties as a ranger.
Even if the price is her life…
Ranger’s Justice is the prequel short story to Ranger of the Titan Wilds, an upcoming sword-and-sorcery series.
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AN EXCERPT OF THE LAST RANGER
BOOK 1 OF RANGER OF THE TITAN WILDS
CHAPTER 1: THE HIDDEN ONE
The silver fox watched the Hidden One travel along the wooded trail.
He had followed the human and the horse for some time now. This human had always had a peculiar scent, an aroma that contained many things. The fragrance of the forest. The predator’s stench. A second life burning within the first.
The fox sniffed again, but could sense no more. Once, when the human was a kit, lost and vulnerable, she had been open to him, and he had brought her comfort. Now, the Hidden One closed herself off, both to him and the surrounding wilderness, in a way he had never felt before.
And so he followed, seeking to understand what had gone wrong.
The silver fox was not accustomed to isolated things. Around him, the woods were alive and open. Trees smoldered with ancient persistence. Insects sparked brief lives along the loamy ground. Birds and squirrels, tempting the fox's hunger, were bursts of essence as they scattered at his approach.
But the Hidden One held her life-fire close, only a hint of it escaping her bounds. As she scanned the surrounding forest, her eyes were sky-bright and wary. Her mane, reaching past her shoulders, was bark-brown but for a single russet tress, like the color of a common fox’s summer coat. She had tangled it like interwoven vines, and the auburn threads created a striking striped pattern. Like all humans, she had bundled herself in the skins of slain beasts and bore items of shaped wood and stone that shone when the sun caught upon it.
It was not only the furs that put the fox on high alert. It was her posture, her gaze, her keen awareness — all spoke of a huntress' prowess. She was a kit no longer, and he would not treat her as such. That she held her fire close only heightened the danger, allowing her to prowl almost unnoticed.
The Hidden One reached the edge of a wide meadow, amidst which a mighty creature stood. But it was not this beast nor the Hidden One’s tensing posture that told the fox his lurking had come to an end.
Death hung thick in the air.
It was the odor as well as a subtler sense that warned him to be wary. The fox was attuned to both and heeded them well. Though his curiosity was far from sated, he backed away from the meadow.
Prey did not linger when hunters were near.
The fox knew his place in the world's fabric. He could not protect the huntress from herself. So as the Hidden One crouched in ambush, the fox bounded away and leaped through the bright leaves to seek the dark places in between.
Pressing his way into the web of life, the silver fox wriggled for a moment, then disappeared entirely.
CHAPTER 2: THE WILDS’ PROTECTOR
She was a whisper among the leaves as she ghosted to the edge of the clearing.
Leiyn’s heart drummed on her ribs. Her muscles burned as they worked to keep her movements silent, her figure small and unseen. Her natural senses were awake and keen, taking in the nuances of the gentle forest noises. Aspen branches rustling. Distant birds singing. The stench of slain prey. The stiff breeze that carried the smell to her and obscured her own from the creature ahead.
Leiyn stared at the beast in the clearing as it feasted on a deer. A thorned lion, Tadeo had called it, and Leiyn judged it an apt name. Black spines bristled around its neck, sharp as any porcupine’s, but large enough to gore a man. They marked it as male, for the females only had thorns along their back.
The rest of the creature was no less impressive. His body stretched longer than a human’s, and was built with powerful muscles evident beneath its short, orange coat. When he looked up after ripping free a fresh bite of flesh, his amber eyes seemed to possess a sharp intelligence. Each of the lion's massive paws had sharp claws. Even his flicking tail was a weapon, a fan of smaller spines tipping it.
Here was a sight few in the world could claim to see, even among her fellow rangers. Won't Isla be jealous. Leiyn smirked as she anticipated her friend’s expression.
Her hand itched to capture in meticulous lines the impressive beast standing not twenty strides before her. But she’d left her charcoal pen and hidebound journal back with her horse. Now was not the time for idle hobbies.
Still, she committed every detail to memory while she waited for Tadeo's signal.
Their plan was simple. As thorned lions were a danger to any who happened across them, it was necessary to drive the beast back into the mountains. Fortunately, Tadeo, lodgemaster to the rangers, had done this duty once before, and had learned from the previous lodgemaster that thorned lions were particularly averse to the scent of fennel. A couple of torches smoking with fennel might drive a predator such as this safely away from the civilized lands of the Tricolonies and back into its native territory.
Presently, Leiyn's torch was slung over her shoulder. Before they could enact their plan, they had to wait for the lion to eat his fill. Move before then, and he would defend his kill to the death. So she held her longbow instead, an arrow nocked and ready in case something went wrong and the lion sensed them.
For the moment, however, all was proceeding to plan.
She glanced over at the brush to her left. Somewhere among the leaves, Tadeo waited as she did. Even without seeing him, she would know when it was time by his lit torch.
Patience is a hunter's greatest gift, the lodgemaster would often say. Unfortunately, in Leiyn, patience ran in short supply.
Still, she restrained herself as the lion took a bite, chewed, laid down, then rose and took another bite. Light was bleeding out of the sky as afternoon waned into evening. Hunger gnawed at her belly. But Leiyn didn’t make any unnecessary movement. Long had she grown used to the privations of her profession, and she knew better than to risk exposing herself for a little relief.
Then her nose caught a whiff of something that stiffened her spine.
Leiyn tilted her head back and breathed in, slowly and fully. The odor was unmistakable, reeking of cadavers long since spoiled. It was what the slain deer would smell like in a week or two, but fresh as it was, there could only be one other source.
Jackals.
She clenched her jaw as she slowly looked around the woods behind her. Tusked jackals were one of the many dangers in the Titan Wilds. Aggressive and violent, they hunted in packs that could take down any beast or human they set their minds to, and would ravage the homesteads in the Titan Wilds as well as the Lodge until they were put down. In her five years as a ranger, she’d contended with them twice and always come away with a new scar.
There was no driving jackals away with herb and torch. Arrows and knives were the only deterrence they understood.
The thorned lion seemed to notice the jackals, for he, too, came alert. His jowls drew back, revealing bloody fangs. As if they knew they’d been detected, the jackals sounded their eerie howls. The din came from the north beyond the lion, though nearer with each moment.
She didn’t have to wait long. They bounded over the hill's crest, yapping and snarling, their eyes wide with bloodlust. Their tusks curled from their mouths like a boar’s. Ears, ragged and torn from dozens of battles, twitched atop their heads. Bits of the carrion, in which they liked to roll and for their characteristic stench, clung to their black and gray coats. There were dozens of them, a score at least, and by their scrawny torsos, they were starved for their next meal.
Her skin prickled into gooseflesh. Though every creature had a right to eat, these were a scourge upon the land. They couldn’t be allowed to roam free.
A branch snapped.
Leiyn froze. The sound had come from her left. Tadeo. She wanted to spit curses, but silence was more important than ever, for she wasn't alone in noticing the noise. The tusked jackals had stopped to stare at the patch of forest where the lodgemaster hid. She and her mentor had disguised themselves well, but all it would take was the interest of one to alert the others.
She waited a breath, then two, daring to hope they would be preoccupied by the predator before them. One jabbered, then two more.
The three began to pad cautiously down the hill, heading in Tadeo's direction.
She moved by instinct, setting down the torch, then reaching slowly for her quiver so as not to draw any eyes. There was no conscious decision.
Death was the least she would risk for Tadeo.
The arrow hummed as Leiyn drew it from the quiver at her hip. Nocking it, she set it to her anchoring hand against the nicked ash of her longbow. The three jackals were halfway down the hill, while the others still ringed the lion, waiting for the violence to begin.
Leiyn bared her teeth as she rose to her feet. In one smooth motion, she drew back the bowstring.
Then she loosed.
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